Building PCs for a profit?

Question

Me and a friend on mine love computers, and know how to build them and most everything about them. We decided we wanted to build PCs for local people, posting them on craigslist brand new. Will we make any profit? Would we have to start repair business too just to get a decent amount of money?

We are not certified in any way, is it illegal to work on peoples PCs if we arent certified? Thanks.

Answer 1

Go look at what complete PC's are selling for on ebay ..

Note especially how the 'big' sellers have plainly broken down complete PC's into the individual parts and are selling those parts one at a time ... they do this because they can get MORE for the parts sold individually than by selling them together as part of a complete PC.

..the fact is, the price of a new (eg Dell) PC is likely to be LESS than what you can buy the individual parts for, even if you buy everything on eBay ...

In fact, chances are, the cost of the Microsoft OS (Vista / XP) ALONE will cost you as much as a basic Dell PC ... (MS sell the Vista Home Premium licence at $240 .. a Dell Vostro 200 Mini Tower starts at is $319 = so not QUITE as cheap as a Vista licence alone (actually the Vostro comes with XP home)

About the only area where money can be made is in CUSTOM PC's for example LINUX Servers, Media PC's or 'pimped' PC's for gamers etc. (with special paint jobs, flashing lights and all that cr*p).

I suggest you focus on selling a 'package' with INSTALLATION and CONFIGURATION (with a focus on secure Wireless setup, Internet and Firewall configuration and Home Server / Media Center setup etc) .. if the customer wants PC's as well, open a Business Account with Dell ..

Answer 2

There isn't a lot of profit in building PC's when you first start off. It can be done, it's just more difficult than other means. There is more profit in support business - setting up and repairing PC's, networks, printers, etc. Software support is also nice profit margin.

Do you need to be certified? No. Is it against the law? No. Certification means that you have sufficient skill level to competently pass their standard at that level. There are many certifications out there with different levels of difficulty. Having certifications is a nice way of informing the customer that you are knowledgeable in such and such product.

Answer 3

I agree with the statement that there is not a lot of profit in building computers. There are too many cheap computers out there, making it difficult. However, if you are going to build and sell something without supporting it, are you going to give a warranty on parts?

You might want to consider a 'mobile repair' business and no, you don't have to have certs.... HOWEVER, I owned and operated a computer service and repair business for 15 years in Florida. It's not all it's cracked up to be.

For all the time you will need to spend, building, burning, trroubleshooting, were I given the opportunity to do it again, I would pass.
~best of luck to you though,
~jennifer