Need some serious advice

[Galion]

Hi everyone, my name is Daniel, I usually Work at my uncle's hardware shop after school, I started a PC building service part-time inside since he gave me permission. I charge like $50 for the put together and delivery and set up, It's been about a month since I started, sometimes when the client that request for the systems put a deposit with me give me more then the parts cost. 

Sometimes when I calculate the cost of the system I built there are leftover cash after the rebates, and make me wonder if I should have gone for the 2700 over the 2600 or gotten the GTX 1070 over the 1060 or maybe a tempered glass case over the normal acrylic, like today I got an order for a system that only needs a G2400 to run for the retired guy to relax and enjoy smite, overwatch abd Battlefield 4,but his son gave me a budget of $900.

It made me want to add a 2600 and a RX 570.

Is my thinking wrong as someone in the forum said I'm just maximizing the budget

It kinda feels wrong myself 

Please advice and thank you

[bleedblue]

My advice, spend as much as the budget allows to give the best experience possible. Client is willing to spend that much anwyay.

[r4tch3t]

I'd be straight with them and tell them that they don't need to spend that much, however you could get them better hardware if they wanted.

As for the rebates you could provide them with details on how to redeem them? 

$50 is very reasonable, you should up that at some point once you have a bit of proven work behind you.

You're doing way better than me, i never charged. I just wanted to build pcs lol. 

[Cereal5]

Just cause your client gave you that money does not mean that you have to spend it all. I would approach it like this:

 

1. Talk to your customer and tell them when they need in order to do what they want. This would be the "minimum requirements".

2. Recommend to your customer what you think they should get in order to get the all important price to performance ratio. This would be the "recommended requirements".

3. Listen to what they want and don't force anything on them. This is the most important, because it will quickly turn away your customers and encourage them to buy a prebuilt.

6 minutes ago, bleedblue said:

My advice, spend as much as the budget allows to give the best experience possible.

I disagree with this, as working with people is more nuanced then that.

 

Ultimately you're trying to build something that the customer will be happy with. But you cannot spend their money without you consulting them first. Even if they don't understand the difference between a 2400G and a 2600/2600X, you can tell them one will do what you want and is cheaper, the other will do more than you want but still fits in your budget, and will keep up with games for a longer period of time.

4 minutes ago, r4tch3t said:

I'd be straight with them and tell them that they don't need to spend that much, however you could get them better hardware if they wanted.

As for the rebates you could provide them with details on how to redeem them? 

$50 is very reasonable, you should up that at some point once you have a bit of proven work behind you.

This I agree with much more.

 

edit: Props to you learning different/new ways to make more money. These are the signs of a business man lol.

[Galion]

6 hours ago, r4tch3t said:

I'd be straight with them and tell them that they don't need to spend that much, however you could get them better hardware if they wanted.

As for the rebates you could provide them with details on how to redeem them? 

$50 is very reasonable, you should up that at some point once you have a bit of proven work behind you.

You're doing way better than me, i never charged. I just wanted to build pcs lol. 

Usually I send in the rebates for them lol, most of my clients are retired soldiers and grandmas and their children

 

6 hours ago, Cereal5 said:

Just cause your client gave you that money does not mean that you have to spend it all. I would approach it like this:

 

1. Talk to your customer and tell them when they need in order to do what they want. This would be the "minimum requirements".

2. Recommend to your customer what you think they should get in order to get the all important price to performance ratio. This would be the "recommended requirements".

3. Listen to what they want and don't force anything on them. This is the most important, because it will quickly turn away your customers and encourage them to buy a prebuilt.

I disagree with this, as working with people is more nuanced then that.

 

Ultimately you're trying to build something that the customer will be happy with. But you cannot spend their money without you consulting them first. Even if they don't understand the difference between a 2400G and a 2600/2600X, you can tell them one will do what you want and is cheaper, the other will do more than you want but still fits in your budget, and will keep up with games for a longer period of time.

This I agree with much more.

Thanks I do tell them they could go for a prebuild usually the children tell me that they've had bad experience with pre-builts so I see I can do

[bleedblue]

4 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

 

I learned something today. That does make a lot more sense. I don't interact much with the clients in my job, I'm given deliverables which I make sure my team...well, delivers. Working with people is a lot different, thanks, I'll keep that in mind when it's my turn to have to talk to clients.

[Cereal5]

1 minute ago, bleedblue said:

I learned something today. That does make a lot more sense. I don't interact much with the clients in my job, I'm given deliverables which I make sure my team...well, delivers. Working with people is a lot different, thanks, I'll keep that in mind when it's my turn to have to talk to clients.

I'm definitely the opposite, the majority of my jobs have been customer service. But I'm glad.

 

4 minutes ago, Galion said:

Thanks I do tell them they could go for a prebuild usually the children tell me that they've had bad experience with pre-builts so I see I can do

Best of luck. I wish I could have a job building custom PCs

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

1 hour ago, Galion said:

like today I got an order for a system that only needs a G2400 to run for the retired guy to relax and enjoy smite, overwatch abd Battlefield 4,but his son gave me a budget of $900.

you are being trusted to build that PC but doesnt mean you should use all the budget,. what if you are given 2000 for this task? 

you should understand clients needs, offering slightly better quality/ recommended requirements etc.

its all up to you whether you could be an honest guy or some salesman to max the profit

[Turtle Rig]

Wow your only 15,  good for you Daniel.  I think the first question you should ask the client is what they intend on doing with the PC.  Do they intend to play games and do general desktop work.  Or do they not want to play games and instead use PC for video editing or 3D modeling or AutoDesk or Maya etc.  Or do they want you to build them a DAW.

 

It is that simple, ask the question and when you get the answer ask them their budget.  Then ask them do you want fast or really fast or super fast.

 

Those 3 things.  If they say super fast, then you get them a 2080 GTX and a 8700k and 32GB RAM.  If they say really fast, get them a 1080 Ti and fastest i5 there is and 16GB RAM.  If they say fast, then get them a 1060 GTX and a lower end i5 and 8GB RAM.  Also on all 3 answers you get make sure you put a M.2 or SSD in there.  Do not give them a hard drive in this day in age.  That simple.  Hope this helps a bit. 

[Galion]

4 hours ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

you are being trusted to build that PC but doesnt mean you should use all the budget,. what if you are given 2000 for this task? 

you should understand clients needs, offering slightly better quality/ recommended requirements etc.

its all up to you whether you could be an honest guy or some salesman to max the profit

LOL I don't earn much just the $50 after delivery and setup nothing else

It doesn't matter what stuff my clients buy I just do it so I earn some cash and the elderly don't get screwed over

 

4 hours ago, Turtle Rig said:

Wow your only 15,  good for you Daniel.  I think the first question you should ask the client is what they intend on doing with the PC.  Do they intend to play games and do general desktop work.  Or do they not want to play games and instead use PC for video editing or 3D modeling or AutoDesk or Maya etc.  Or do they want you to build them a DAW.

 

It is that simple, ask the question and when you get the answer ask them their budget.  Then ask them do you want fast or really fast or super fast.

 

Those 3 things.  If they say super fast, then you get them a 2080 GTX and a 8700k and 32GB RAM.  If they say really fast, get them a 1080 Ti and fastest i5 there is and 16GB RAM.  If they say fast, then get them a 1060 GTX and a lower end i5 and 8GB RAM.  Also on all 3 answers you get make sure you put a M.2 or SSD in there.  Do not give them a hard drive in this day in age.  That simple.  Hope this helps a bit. 

>.< all don't work for the elderly and retired 

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

6 minutes ago, dieegoperi said:

Call the client and explain him the benefits of the CPU+GPU combo instead of an APU. If he agrees, then green light. Better go for owner's permission always.

Most client have very minimal knowledge of PC building, so thats why you have clients.

its easy to trick/ take their permission by persuade them getting what parts and performance, like my region stores are promoting selling last gen products, unbranded psu etc for what they call a discount.

[Galion]

4 hours ago, dieegoperi said:

Call the client and explain him the benefits of the CPU+GPU combo instead of an APU. If he agrees, then green light. Better go for owner's permission always.

I agree

 

3 hours ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

Most client have very minimal knowledge of PC building, so thats why you have clients.

its easy to trick/ take their permission by persuade them getting what parts and performance, like my region stores are promoting selling last gen products, unbranded psu etc for what they call a discount.

WTF, these bastards should lose their right to sell computer parts and forced to shut the doors

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

2 minutes ago, Galion said:

WTF, these bastards should let se their right to sell computer parts and forced to shut the doors

yep dont grow up like them, by the way theres a whole shopping mall full of these shop (in HK).

and everytime I walk by, someone is always being fooled

[IntMD]

It is all about trust, so make sure you tell them if they don't need to spend as much as their budget actually is. You should however, also advise on the pitfalls of buying something is too low a spec for what they want. Why certain things may be a bad idea or experience and why spending the extra $20-50 on something slightly more expensive will give them a better experience right now and likely a significantly better experience in the future.

 

You don't need to up sell them, but make sure you tell them if their request for an i3 with 4gb ram, 1tb HDD, no discrete GPU is going to be on the slow end of things & might not be the experience they want, and why they should get the SSD, even for just a boot drive, pretty much no matter what.

 

Have a cheapo system set up (if you can), so that you can show them the difference between a HDD & an SSD so they can see the difference in boot times & responsiveness when booting from either of them. Physical demonstrations will generally go down better with anyone who isn't computer literate as they can see the difference in their own eyes, rather than glazing over why you throw a bunch of specs at them that they have no clue about.

 

Do a base spec sheet for several systems if you don't already have one, and what you could expect those systems at approximate price points to be able to do well at. You could even set them up as PCPP lists (for yourself) so you can update them easily, and see current parts prices etc. for a system that should satisfy their current needs. Also, round the prices up to allow for some fluctuations in the component prices. If total comes to $470 or something for the parts, tell them $499.00 on the spec sheet for example. You don't have to charge them for the extra you have put on (unless they are an asshat, in which case, definitely charge them the extra), but it gives you some wiggle room which can come in handy and save you having to update the sheets as often. It also might come as a little surprise for them when you say you can save them an extra $25 or $35 off the sheet price.

 

• Basic system for web browsing, email, super light gaming & other basic stuff (i3/APU 4/8gb RAM, 120gb SSD, 1tb HDD etc.)
• Mid range system for the above and light/mid/decent enough level gaming etc. (i3/i5, Ryzen 5, discrete GPU 1050-1060/560-580, 240gb/512gb SSD, 1tb/2tb HDD, 8gb RAM)
• Gaming heavy system (higher end i5/i7/i9, Ryzen 7, higher end GPU, 16gb RAM, 512-1tb SSD, 2+ tb HDD etc.) 
• Production heavy system (Ryzen 7/Threadripper/X299/Xeons, 32gb+RAM and whatever storage, GPU/Quadro etc.)

Once they have picked the base level they want as the sheets would only show an approximate price and what they can expect something for that budget to do, you can customise from there to their own specific needs (more storage, more ram, less ram, higher/lower end GPU, better PSU etc.) and then the price can be tailored to them and their budget more specifically.

 

 

 

[Sett]

8 hours ago, Galion said:

Hi everyone, my name is Daniel, I usually Work at my uncle's hardware shop after school, I started a PC building service part-time inside since he gave me permission. I charge like $50 for the put together and delivery and set up, It's been about a month since I started, sometimes when the client that request for the systems put a deposit with me give me more then the parts cost. 

Sometimes when I calculate the cost of the system I built there are leftover cash after the rebates, and make me wonder if I should have gone for the 2700 over the 2600 or gotten the GTX 1070 over the 1060 or maybe a tempered glass case over the normal acrylic, like today I got an order for a system that only needs a G2400 to run for the retired guy to relax and enjoy smite, overwatch abd Battlefield 4,but his son gave me a budget of $900.

It made me want to add a 2600 and a RX 570.

Is my thinking wrong as someone in the forum said I'm just maximizing the budget

It kinda feels wrong myself 

Please advice and thank you

You could alway call the person and tell them you ended up with few extra bucks, and give them options...
If it's your family, or good friend, adding an extra core or stick of RAM will help the build remain usable for longer (GPU - in a gaming build - is likely to be upgraded before anything else anyway). If it's a random person, upgrade GPU to increase wow factor, or save them some money to increase content(ness?). Either way, you wanna make them come back to you sooner *MWAHAHAHA*

Oh, and don't change anything that would result in notably worse price/performance ratio, ever.

[Galion]

2 hours ago, IntMD said:

It is all about trust, so make sure you tell them if they don't need to spend as much as their budget actually is. You should however, also advise on the pitfalls of buying something is too low a spec for what they want. Why certain things may be a bad idea or experience and why spending the extra $20-50 on something slightly more expensive will give them a better experience right now and likely a significantly better experience in the future.

 

You don't need to up sell them, but make sure you tell them if their request for an i3 with 4gb ram, 1tb HDD, no discrete GPU is going to be on the slow end of things & might not be the experience they want, and why they should get the SSD, even for just a boot drive, pretty much no matter what.

 

Have a cheapo system set up (if you can), so that you can show them the difference between a HDD & an SSD so they can see the difference in boot times & responsiveness when booting from either of them. Physical demonstrations will generally go down better with anyone who isn't computer literate as they can see the difference in their own eyes, rather than glazing over why you throw a bunch of specs at them that they have no clue about.

 

Do a base spec sheet for several systems if you don't already have one, and what you could expect those systems at approximate price points to be able to do well at. You could even set them up as PCPP lists (for yourself) so you can update them easily, and see current parts prices etc. for a system that should satisfy their current needs. Also, round the prices up to allow for some fluctuations in the component prices. If total comes to $470 or something for the parts, tell them $499.00 on the spec sheet for example. You don't have to charge them for the extra you have put on (unless they are an asshat, in which case, definitely charge them the extra), but it gives you some wiggle room which can come in handy and save you having to update the sheets as often. It also might come as a little surprise for them when you say you can save them an extra $25 or $35 off the sheet price.

 

• Basic system for web browsing, email, super light gaming & other basic stuff (i3/APU 4/8gb RAM, 120gb SSD, 1tb HDD etc.)
• Mid range system for the above and light/mid/decent enough level gaming etc. (i3/i5, Ryzen 5, discrete GPU 1050-1060/560-580, 240gb/512gb SSD, 1tb/2tb HDD, 8gb RAM)
• Gaming heavy system (higher end i5/i7/i9, Ryzen 7, higher end GPU, 16gb RAM, 512-1tb SSD, 2+ tb HDD etc.) 
• Production heavy system (Ryzen 7/Threadripper/X299/Xeons, 32gb+RAM and whatever storage, GPU/Quadro etc.)

Once they have picked the base level they want as the sheets would only show an approximate price and what they can expect something for that budget to do, you can customise from there to their own specific needs (more storage, more ram, less ram, higher/lower end GPU, better PSU etc.) and then the price can be tailored to them and their budget more specifically.

 

 

 

Can I use some of your ideas thanks