How much inventory?

[britechguy]

We live in an age where people will whip out their phone on the spot and price check.

Yup. I may not be this extreme, but close - I believe in doing my homework.

Even though your $30 cost and $45 sale price example is not (at least in my experience) realistic [way low] to me, the idea that a 50% markup is "too little" is ludicrous. When I hear of people charging 100% or more markup all I can think is, "I'd steer clear of that business!" (and I'm presuming we're talking computer repair business).

I can imagine places like Amazon, Best Buy, NewEgg, etc., charging 100%, possibly more, in markup given the volume they buy from manufacturers at the lowest possible prices as a result. But adding another 100%, or anything close, as a reseller? Sorry, but no.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

I wouldn't keep much honestly. ESPECIALLY if your average experience with clientele is that you can't mark stuff up enough to warrant the large tie up of capital. HEY, I can get that SSD on amazon for $30 and your charging $45... screw that man I'll wait the extra two days. Whatever. But some people may need / want expedited service and WILL allow you to charge a reasonable markup.

A few SSD's, a few power supplies, maybe two DVD burner drives and some odds and ends.... a couple HDMI cables, DVI cables, VGA cables and make a displayport to HDMI adapter, DVI to VGA adapter. A set or two of wireless mouse and keyboard. Restock as it gets used. Everything else gets ordered as needed.

If you can find good deals, maybe a small stock of 8GB / 16GB thumb drives.

15K is wayyy more than I'd keep, but then again it's hard to qualify that number for you. If I were doing 20K worth of business every month, I'd be far less apprehensive then say if I were doing 4K or 5K a month.


You'll find most people will wait. With amazon prime, barring special circumstances, you can get things in 1-3 days. We live in an age where people will whip out their phone on the spot and price check.

I normally markup most parts at least 50% and customers get charged extra if they want 24 hour service, if I get an SSD on Amazon for £40 then the customer is going to be paying £60. If they whip out their phone (which they never do) and tell me they can get the same part for cheaper then I would tell them that’s fine you supply the part but if it arrives faulty it's your problem, if you order the wrong part it's your problem, if you get sent the wrong part it's your problem and if the part develops fault further down the line it's your problem.
It takes time to find and order the correct part, it takes time to send back a faulty or wrong part, it takes a lot of time to send back a part that develops a fault further down the line, order and install the replacement. Time is money and I don't think it's unreasonable to charge a decent amount extra to cover those possibilities, it's also standard in many other industries to markup parts.
I very rarely get customers trying to negotiate the cost of parts and if I do, they generally aren’t the type of customers I want.

 

[Rigo]

that’s fine you supply the part but if it arrives faulty it's your problem, if you order the wrong part it's your problem, if you get sent the wrong part it's your problem and if the part develops fault further down the line it's your problem.
It takes time to find and order the correct part, it takes time to send back a faulty or wrong part, it takes a lot of time to send back a part that develops a fault further down the line, order and install the replacement. Time is money and I don't think it's unreasonable to charge a decent amount extra to cover those possibilities, it's also standard in many other industries to markup parts.

100% what I'd say too

 

[brandonkick]

Yup. I may not be this extreme, but close - I believe in doing my homework.

Even though your $30 cost and $45 sale price example is not (at least in my experience) realistic [way low] to me, the idea that a 50% markup is "too little" is ludicrous. When I hear of people charging 100% or more markup all I can think is, "I'd steer clear of that business!" (and I'm presuming we're talking computer repair business).

I can imagine places like Amazon, Best Buy, NewEgg, etc., charging 100%, possibly more, in markup given the volume they buy from manufacturers at the lowest possible prices as a result. But adding another 100%, or anything close, as a reseller? Sorry, but no.

I get it... yeah... but when the cost is low looking at %'s is kinda.... eh. A $1 markup on a $1 part is 100%.

If I'm going to fork out for, and store until someone needs it, even if it's just a $30 SSD.... I'm charging the extra $15 to make it worth my while. Otherwise i'll order it and the customer can wait until it comes in.


When the local oil and fuel supply company sent their tech over to fix my furnace in the dead of winter, at 10 PM at night, and it was COLD (this was bout 4 years ago)... I got a $120 fee for the call alone, plus a honeywell control unit that sold on amazon for $60 and I paid about $170 for. Didn't balk for one second. Was just happy they could come fix my furnace, and had the part in stock. And I get it, they have to make money too. I do get it, the urgency and situation... yeah. My house being40 degrees with a new born baby in it... not something I can wait for. Someone who's laptop goes down and they can't play fortnite until tomorrow.... yeah... maybe that could wait. Or maybe it's a laptop with very important business files on it and it can't wait. Who knows.

I guess it depends on your business model and your clientele a lot. Some folks don't charge much at all for markup, they get their money in their labor and diagnostic fees. Others do like to add in a markup. How much is tolerable, I suppose, is dictated largely by your customer base.

 

[VISA MC]

I get it... yeah... but when the cost is low looking at %'s is kinda.... eh. A $1 markup on a $1 part is 100%.

If I'm going to fork out for, and store until someone needs it, even if it's just a $30 SSD.... I'm charging the extra $15 to make it worth my while. Otherwise i'll order it and the customer can wait until it comes in.


When the local oil and fuel supply company sent their tech over to fix my furnace in the dead of winter, at 10 PM at night, and it was COLD (this was bout 4 years ago)... I got a $120 fee for the call alone, plus a honeywell control unit that sold on amazon for $60 and I paid about $170 for. Didn't balk for one second. Was just happy they could come fix my furnace, and had the part in stock. And I get it, they have to make money too. I do get it, the urgency and situation... yeah. My house being40 degrees with a new born baby in it... not something I can wait for. Someone who's laptop goes down and they can't play fortnite until tomorrow.... yeah... maybe that could wait. Or maybe it's a laptop with very important business files on it and it can't wait. Who knows.

I guess it depends on your business model and your clientele a lot. Some folks don't charge much at all for markup, they get their money in their labor and diagnostic fees. Others do like to add in a markup. How much is tolerable, I suppose, is dictated largely by your customer base.

Exactly. I tell them they can either pay my markup or I will charge for the time it takes to answer their questions to see if it’s the right one, then any time it takes for warranty parts. It quickly outweighs the little bit of savings.

I’ve never had people look up my prices but I did have 2 customers just this week order cable modems they thought were WiFi routers. Both new customers and both now paying my markup.

 

[Rosco]

I'm home-based break-fix too.
I keep three SATA SSDs as they're by far the most common upgrade.
One each of other common items inc powerline ethernet adaptors, universal laptop charger, speakers, keyboard, mouse, usb webcam, usb wifi.
Also a refurb laptop and desktop optimised and ready for sale.
Everything from Amazon and re-ordered as soon as they're sold.

This is the way I have been doing it. I have a couple of ready-to-go computers, a few SSD drives, and not a ton else. Since I am mobile, the only parts I sell are with service 99 out of 100 times. Amazon is the next day in my area, and sometimes the same day, not a huge push to hold a more extensive inventory.

 

[River Valley Computer]

After reading all of these comments about inventory and the ones who don't have a lot of inventory because they use
Amazon - have you been experiencing LONG delivery times since about October? We have sometimes up to 10 days for things we use to get in 2 days. Granted we are not located in a thriving metropolis but we have been here since we started using Amazon. We are a Business Prime member - that doesn't seem to matter either. I called Amazon and they gave me a WOOPING $16 credit. EBay is sometimes beating them now.

 

[seashore]

After reading all of these comments about inventory and the ones who don't have a lot of inventory because they use
Amazon - have you been experiencing LONG delivery times since about October? We have sometimes up to 10 days for things we use to get in 2 days. We are a Business Prime member - that doesn't seem to matter either. I called Amazon and they gave me a WOOPING $16 credit. EBay is sometimes beating them now.

Still getting next day Amazon Prime delivery in UK for most stuff.
I only ever use Ebay if I can't source items on Amazon, eg screens or power jacks. Almost always slower and far more hassle for RMAs.

 

[Rebian]

Where I come from you can order almost anything and have it delivered tomorrow. So I have 3 ssd lying around and a spare power supply.

 

[Erratic]

I keep a a lot of diagnostic parts and about 5 ssd's, everything else i order when needed.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Current stock....just the big items...

Computers...
*Couple of laptops...Lenovo Thinkpad series..specifically P14S models, Ryzen7 Pro, 16 gigs, 512 M.2, optional 3 year premier warranty on 'em.
*Couple of Lenovo TinyPCs,
*Couple of Lenovo Tiny In One monitors for the Tiny PCs
*Couple of Lenovo USB-C docks
*Half dozen monitors, some w/webcam, some without. Usually the T24i and T24v Lenovo models, 24"
*Half dozen Lenovo Pro model keyboard/mouse kits

Network hardware...
*Several Ubiquiti UXG pro gateways
*Several Ubiquiti DM Pro gateways
*A Ubiquiti DM Pro SE gateway
*Several Ubiquiti Dream Machines (none at the moment)
*Several Ubiquiti Dream Routers (none at the moment)

*Switches..usually at least 2 of each if not 4 of each....Unifi Pro 24, Unifi Pro 48, couple of non pro of each too...plus at least several 16, 8, and 5 port Unifi switches.
*At least half a dozen of each model of Unifi AP...Mesh Pro, Mesh, In Wall, nanoHD, still some Pros, still some HDs
*Typically at least 2 of each edgeSwitch model also.
*Lots of various other Ubiquiti parts...the POE converters, RJ45 surge protectors, various mounts for APs, several different airMax radios for spares, a few Unifi protect cameras

*Various surge protectors, at least half dozen workstation size UPS, spare batteries for server size UPS.

*At least half a dozen of 128, 256, 512, and now 1TB SSD. Both 2.5" SATA, and M.2
*Various RAM. We used to stock a lot more, but now more of a huge leftover stock of smaller sizes. We tend to sell workstations with more RAM than most as a baseline, so rarely run into "upgrading RAM" situations.

*Logitech webcams
*Creative Labs Pebble speakers...several

*Tons of patch cables of various lengths...all the way up to several spools of ethernet cable, various types
*Various cables for video connections and other types of various connector cables we may need to grab in a hurry to make parts work
*10 gig DAC, fiber transievers, etc

*A shelf with lots of leftover/mix matched parts for workstations and servers.

*A big boneyard old chassis of common model workstations and servers....for grabbing old parts to revive one still in production. For those motherboards, or power supplies, etc.

 

[kwest]

Looks at what you are selling and order accordingly. If you want to keep inventory low buy enough to cover two weeks. We usually keep one months worth of supply unless there is a long wait time then we will have two months.

 

[frase]

You'll find most people will wait. With amazon prime, barring special circumstances, you can get things in 1-3 days. We live in an age where people will whip out phone on the spot and price check.

When people do that I end it there, well you can go and get it yourself. Thankyou.
These type are simply not worth it and I will not waste my time with them. They will just be annoying throughout the entire process.

 

[HCHTech]

We service both residential and commercial customers, and my inventory has waxed and waned over the years since the things you need on hand change over time it seems. We don't have a retail presence, just service. Quickbooks tells me I have just over $15K in inventory now, which seems like a lot. I know there are some white elephants in there because of bad guesses on my part, Back when I was building servers, for example, I had a hard time getting the $450 Intel cases I was using, hot-swap drive bays, hot-swap power supplies, etc. When they came back in stock, I bought 3 of everything, then promptly stopped building servers a month or so later. I've kept that stuff just as spares, and it has come in handy. I had two separate power distribution boards (built into the case) fail and cannibalized those new cases for the part to get my customers back up and running faster than waiting for the warranty replacement...

Mostly we have tons of cables (Cat6 of 8 different lengths, USB, DP, HDMI, etc), some NICs, some graphics cards, a couple of consumer routers, SATA & NVMe SSDs of a few different capacities, a few high-capacity HDDs because we have lot of NAS units in the field., Good surge strips, webcams, power supplies of a couple of different wattages, 5, 8, 16, 24 & 48-port switches, etc. etc. It adds up pretty fast.

 

[frase]

I just have the bare minimum basics :

x 2 PSU's
x 2 SSD'S
x 2 DDR4 8 GB RAM
Various Cables HDMI, DP, VGA, DVI and a USB>HDMI splitter.

If I need anything else or more my supplier is not far from me.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Pics our our stock room at the moment....

As you walk in....

Pic of "mostly Ubiquiti" shelf....but about 8 units are pulled and in another pic, for a network project.

Some misc wattbox, ups's, shelfs/racks, mounts,

Some "misc" shelf space....


Some misc cables...


Starting to organize more cables, on the bottom...mostly patch cables (starting to use mostly "slim" ones)


A bunch of Ubiquiti stuff pulled aside for a project, I have 5x 48 port Pro POE switches, 1x 8 port aggregate switch, 1xDream Machine Pro for the edge, 4x of the HD access points, 8 of the In wall access points

 

[britechguy]

Pics our our stock room at the moment....

You clearly run a "large small business" if you have this much inventory, and it doesn't have the chance to go stale (and much of it would if your "throughput" were not substantial).

Congrats, seriously. You've got a quite impressive setup there, and are clearly very, very busy.

 

[lan101]

When people do that I end it there, well you can go and get it yourself. Thankyou.
These type are simply not worth it and I will not waste my time with them. They will just be annoying throughout the entire process.

Yeah that's what I've learned to do too over the years. Sometimes if it's an older person that seems nice but doesn't have much money I'll sometimes have them order something on Amazon to save them money and then I'll set it up for them so I still get my cut for the work.