# Building / selling computers for a living?



## velocity92c

Hello. I'm brand new to these forums and looking for some information. If this is in the wrong area, please move it (thanks). 

I'm looking for something I can do on the side to turn a profit. I have a good job but I'd like to make some extra income. I tried doing onsite service for computers/electronics but I live in a smaller city and didn't get a lot of business that was worth my time.


I've decided to give building computers a shot. I see some of the prices manufacturers charge people for subpar machines and I'm convinced I can profit from this somehow. I just have many questions before I get started.

Are online suppliers the route to go? I've always used tigerdirect, but I'm curious if there would be a better supplier for this type of job.

Should I shoot for high end or low end systems? I don't care what I'm building, as long as it will sell. 

How much profit should I look to make per machine to make it worth my time? I was thinking anywhere from 75 to 150 bucks per rig, is this a safe range to shoot for?

Is this something that could be turned into a full time job? I'd be willing to spend 8 hours a day building computers and trying to sell them if it'd pay me what I made at my job now. I like building machines. 

Is craigslist the best place to sell these machines? What about eBay? Should I run ads in the paper? What is the best way to market these machines?

What other advice can you give me? I'm looking for any and all advice. Thanks in advance.


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## bomberboysk

Going to be hard to make a full time job out of this, for a few reasons.

-Time, how long does building one rig with full cable management take you? Enough to warrant how much you will be making?

- Time again, except that you not only would have to build a computer but also wait for the parts to arrive.

-Low end systems you cant charge much or else it will be "overpriced" to most people, high end systems there is less market for.

-The General population doesnt realize as a whole that building computers has advantages over buying from an OEM.

-The profit margin compared to years ago has dropped quite a bit, the real profit these days comes from support and repair.

-Craigslist usually gets a rig sold relatively quickly, if you looking to sell something there shoot for the $800-1000 mark.

Also, newegg and zipzoomfly are usually substantially cheaper than tigerdirect/compusa/circuitcity.com (All three are owned by systemax)


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## OvenMaster

Depends on your market, too. Where I live, there have been at least three(!) attempts by people to custom-build PCs. They all closed within three months due to lack of business. One computer business is still surviving after one year... because their specialty is onsite service.

Most people just go to CostCo or Wal-Mart for a new machine when they feel a need to upgrade or their old PC breaks. Reason: most people don't do much more than email or web surfing. They don't care what's inside the box as long as it works and does what they want. Those that DO want to do more with their PC usually build it themselves.

Yesterday I was in CostCo. I saw a Gateway with a Phenom II quad-core, 4GB of RAM, 640GB hard drive, DVD burner with LightScribe... things that made my present system look sick. $400.


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## Concordedly

Costco kills retail and sometimes build prices. I still don't quite understand how they profit.


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## Bodaggit23

Concordedly said:


> I still don't quite understand how they profit.



Volume discounts.


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## Concordedly

Maybe we should all obtain the same computer at CF and get some hella discounts from Newegg tehehe


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