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Making money selling custom gaming computers?

Carz728

I built my first desktop about a year ago and have wanted to advance the skill. The only way of doing so is to actually build computers so I was wondering if it is possible to build a computer and then sell it to at least break even. Not planning to make a profit just want to try building computers for practice.

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Bug your friends to see if they want computers. Ask them what they're looking for and learn by doing research.

 

Tying up your capital by buying parts and buying systems without a buyer, and hoping to break even is a bad idea.

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7 minutes ago, Carz728 said:

I built my first desktop about a year ago and have wanted to advance the skill. The only way of doing so is to actually build computers so I was wondering if it is possible to build a computer and then sell it to at least break even. Not planning to make a profit just want to try building computers for practice.

sure, why not, just make sure you can get a client base first.

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1 minute ago, badreg said:

Bug your friends to see if they want computers. Ask them what they're looking for and learn by doing research.

 

Tying up your capital by buying parts and buying systems without a buyer, and hoping to break even is a bad idea.

Yeah knew it probably was thanks for the honest answer.

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you might want to consider working for a local 'mom and pop' computer shop.

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1 minute ago, CodeNova said:

sure, why not, just make sure you can get a client base first.

Would ebay be a good place to sell if I did end up selling?

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25 minutes ago, Carz728 said:

Would ebay be a good place to sell if I did end up selling?

Probably not, the market is saturated with bad systems. search ebay for a 'gaming computer' and look at the specs, then the price.

 

Edit: better example

It looks like they crammed a "HP Compaq 8200 Elite" into an rgb case, computer up-cycling?

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I'm not sure where you reside, but selling locally would be your best option, plus you save on shipping and insurance.

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10 minutes ago, CodeNova said:

I'm not sure where you reside, but selling locally would be your best option, plus you save on shipping and insurance.

Yeah, I could probably sell locally easily. Thanks for the advice.

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be ready to have people come back to you saying that it's not working and it's now up to you to fix it.

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Honestly the margin is so low, you’re much better off just getting a job and doing it as a hobby.

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Don't bother. The space is already filled with lots of businesses and since the margins are so incredibly low, unless you manage to find something that is absolutely unique and becomes in super high demand it won't be worth it

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1 hour ago, CodeNova said:

Probably not, the market is saturated with bad systems. search ebay for a 'gaming computer' and look at the specs, then the price.

 

Edit: better example

It looks like they crammed a "HP Compaq 8200 Elite" into an rgb case, computer up-cycling?

All of the uad core i5 "gaming" systems I've seen relying on the iGPU.....in stores and online.

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'If' you can afford it, you should at least be able to break even.  The problem is, you'd need to invest in the build first and sell it later on.  As long as you can prove it's not second hand, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to make the parts value back.

 

The issue in actively making money though, is most places can do builds now (at least here) for £100 or much less.  And that's for a £1k+ PC.  For that reason, most people inclined to have a PC built for them will just get it done by where ever they buy the parts.

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7 hours ago, Arika S said:

be ready to have people come back to you saying that it's not working and it's now up to you to fix it.

along with sunk costs going into parts, this is the other big reason not to do this.  Are you willing to provide a warranty for your work?  If so, how long?  What is your decision making process for parts selection?  I will only do builds for family members and then only small workstations which place minimal stress on the systems.

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17 minutes ago, Alan G said:

along with sunk costs going into parts, this is the other big reason not to do this.  Are you willing to provide a warranty for your work?  If so, how long?  What is your decision making process for parts selection?  I will only do builds for family members and then only small workstations which place minimal stress on the systems.

Not to mention if something breaks in shipping...

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Being a system builder isn't just about assembling a computer, but being able to offer basic to more advanced troubleshooting and technical support. You'll be hard pressed to find someone who's willing to buy from you if you offer almost no support. In the minds of muggles, the system builder is who they should also turn to if something goes awry. After all, you built the thing, you should be able to figure out what's wrong.

 

There's also the issue with recognition and reputation. If you're just a kid who built their first computer, nobody else outside of your immediate circle of people will trust you over say Dell or HP. But if you're someone who's older with say 10  years of IT experience and a showcase of custom built computers, that gets you more credibility.

 

Lastly I'd argue the building part is the easiest part of system building. The harder parts are selecting the right parts for the user's needs and troubleshooting issues if they arise. The former requires a lot of knowledge of what's out there and how people use it. The latter can be done with any machine. But if you want to just tinker with a PC, then use the one you have. After building seven PCs over the course of 15 years, the only significant difference I've found is working with a particular case. But even then once you have the cables routed and the motherboard and PSU installed, it's more or less the same.

 

But if you're really set on this, I don't think building new systems is the way to go. Rather find and repair older computers to turn around and sell, raid places that are just dumping computers (offices that are doing an overall upgrade) and tinker with what you get, or buy cheap parts off eBay or something.

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I got out of it YEARS AGO once the profit margin dropped to shit in the mid 90's.

 

It just wasn't worth the effort anymore or the time as you have to support them too.

 

When the profit margin was large it was actually worth it when you could make $1,000 profit or more on one machine.

 

Now you would be lucky to break even, and lose because you have to support them.

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To continue on the support issue others have talked about...

 

Nobody is going to buy a system from you if you don't offer warranty. And while you can often get warranty yourself from the manufacturers the problem is that it's up to the system builder, you, to first figure out which part is broken. The second problem is that manufacturers take their sweet time handling warranty cases...

That boils down to you having to have parts in stock, lots of parts. Parts to swap out for troubleshooting - If you're serious about building PC's in volume that means a motherboard for every possible socket you have under warranty, a CPU for every socket, every RAM type, etc... - and new parts to quickly handle cases so you don't have to let the customer wait for a month until the manufacturer manages to come trough on the RMA.

 

That's quickly depreciating stock you have to deduct from your profit margin.

You're probably also going to have to pay taxes on your income earned, check your local authorities.

Add to that the fact that you can't bake an omelet without breaking some eggs (you're going to accidentally break things now and then yourself "cuz you dun goofed") and you'll find it's very hard to compete on price in such a saturated market.

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15 hours ago, Carz728 said:

I built my first desktop about a year ago and have wanted to advance the skill. The only way of doing so is to actually build computers so I was wondering if it is possible to build a computer and then sell it to at least break even. Not planning to make a profit just want to try building computers for practice.

It will be difficult. No one will buy from an unknown individual builder over a corporation like HP or Dell. 

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16 hours ago, Carz728 said:

Not planning to make a profit just want to try building computers for practice

You can practice on your own computer.  Take it completely apart and build it again, work on your cable management until it is really clean, measure how long it takes you from start to finish and try to improve on that, etc etc. 

 

As for building and then selling, that's a good way to waste money.  Instead build or overhaul PCs for family and friends and let them recommend you to others.  Don't expect to turn it into a business though, you'll be lucky if you can turn it into a hobby.

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ha

muh specs 

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