Anyone else adding iPhone repair etc to their service offerings?

[pcbox]

About 6 months ago I started buying broken iPhones, iPods, iPads, etc off craigslist and reselling for a profit. I also recently started repairing non apple cell phones, which landed me a well paying side job with a local cell phone repair company.

Anyone else here made the jump to cell phone / tablet computer repair? If not, I highly recommend learning as the benefits over traditional computer repair are many:

People rarely travel without their cell phones, so it's not a matter of if they'll drop them, it's when. And when they do, it's immediately apparent that something is broken, whereas desktop users will go months or years without recognizing a software issue. And speaking of software issues, they make up a very small portion of overall repairs, probably 80% is all hardware related issues. The difficulty of the repair lies in the physical skill of dissecting the device, rather than banging your head against the wall trying to narrow down a software issue that could be any number of things.

Profit margins are pretty much in line with traditional computer repairs. Average profit per job is about $50, each job taking an average of 30-45 minutes.

Cell phones vital to every day life, so people are generally less likely to put off the repair. If you can repair a laptop, repairing cell phones isn't much more difficult.

If you haven't made the jump yet, you're missing out.

 

[PCX]

Not I.

==============

 

[callthatgirl]

We opted out of those repairs and opted in to do the software side, synching with gmail/outlook, etc.

 

[TechLady]

Too time-consuming and it also just irritates me the way Apple likes to make things as difficult as possible.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Nope.
Nearly disposable
Leave 'me to the 88 kajillion cell phone stores around..that's their expertise.
I won't fix cell phones, the cell phone guys stay out of computers.

 

[PCX]

You guys are absolutely right, they are time consuming, but once you become more familiar with repairing phones, they become just like any other repair. That said, they are still too time consuming for me to do, which is why I hired another tech to do them for me. Even at $50 a phone for labor and what ever you make on the parts, if your tech complete 1.5 to 2 per hour and you are paying your tech around $10 an hour, you still make a decent profit just for offering the service. You also got to keep in mind that all the different services and retail you offer feed off each other and give those same customers more reasons to come back to you in the future. Anyways, not exactly a feasible service for a mobile tech or a network / business guy, but if you have a shop, its a very viable and worth while service to provide.

 

[NYJimbo]

About 6 months ago I started buying broken iPhones, iPods, iPads, etc off craigslist and reselling for a profit. I also recently started repairing non apple cell phones, which landed me a well paying side job with a local cell phone repair company.

This is the aspect of phone repair I am interested in. I tried to do regular walk-in phone repair but I cannot offer fast turn around as we have so many laptops coming in that require dedicated time during the day I can't drop everything and work on a phone. So the best thing for me would be either buying, fixing and reselling OR some other kind of batch repair where the customer is not waiting like a hungry dog for their phone.

I just haven't figured out the best approach to this, but for the times where I go idle for short bursts it would be nice to have this alternative to make some extra money.

 

[PCX]

This is the aspect of phone repair I am interested in. I tried to do regular walk in phone repair but I cannot offer fast turn around as we have so many laptops we have coming in that require dedicated time during the day I can't drop everything and work on a phone. So the best thing for me would be either buying, fixing and reselling OR some other kind of batch repair where the customer is not waiting like a hungry dog for their phone.

I just haven't figured out the best approach to this, but for the times where I go idle for short bursts it would be nice to have this alternative to make some extra money.

I suggest starting with the iPhones and iPods, then move on to some of the more popular Andoid phones. iPhones seem to hold their value better than most Android phones, so I would start with those till you are familiar with what Android phones are the most popular and sell well.

 

[frodo7200]

been interested in getting into this as im in a rural location with hardly any competition in this field, unlike laptop/pc repairs where everyone has a go at it.
anyone already doing this in the uk that can suggest any good training sites/companies for parts and training? been ripped off in the past by courses which promise the earth but deliver little.

 

[Von Rutch]

I did and I don't agree with you guys. When mastered, it is not time consuming at all and definitly worth you while. Parts are very easy to get and don't cost that much anymore.

My experience is that people who call to get their iPhone repaired will return with a laptop or desktop. You are now not just the 'computer guy' but the 'electronics guy'. And though not everybody likes it, expanding your business just a little bit gets you a lot of work.

And besides, replacing a glass screen on a iPhone is not that different than replacing an LCD screen on a laptop. There are so many guides for almost any iPhone problem that it's an easy expansion to you business.

 

[pcbox]

been interested in getting into this as im in a rural location with hardly any competition in this field, unlike laptop/pc repairs where everyone has a go at it.
anyone already doing this in the uk that can suggest any good training sites/companies for parts and training? been ripped off in the past by courses which promise the earth but deliver little.

ifixit.com has some great tutorials, and tutorials in general are great for supplemental study but the only way to really learn is by doing it. Invest a bit and buy used phones off a local classifieds site and have at it. Tutorials are also invaluable for teaching you where the sensitive areas of a phone are, and also offer tips for becoming more efficient.

I recommend buying iPhone 3G and 4 while you're still learning. They're cheaper and they're structured almost the exact same as the 3GS and 4S.

Follow along the teardown tutorials for each device you work on, and keep tearing down and building up until you know exactly where each component goes/what purpose it serves. Then just keep doing at it until you don't need the tutorials anymore.

 

[nightkingdoms]

I was glancing at cell phone repair but never could find a set of suppliers that could provide all the parts. Can't exactly make a good decision without a way to judge the parts/time cost. Their prices also varied wildly and didn't seem to leave much room for profit. Anybody know about suppliers for both Apple and Androids?

 

[hightechrex]

An iPhone screen repair can take anywhere from 10-45 minutes depending on your tools, skill level, and dexterity.. Once you've found a good site, your set...


Best Site: www.etechparts.com

iPhone 4S digitizer: 50
Delivery (overnight shipping): 16.43
Tax: 7%
Total: $71 before labor

You can easily make about 60-70 bucks on labor (raw profit) Don't get me started on iPad repairs now.. You can make 100-120 dollars profit on those. There's plenty of money on fixing mobile devices. Many of you dont realize that.

 

[dgiles79]

What do you like about etechparts.com, do they offer higher quality parts or better service than some of the cheaper places?

I have found Wholesale Gadget Parts to be pretty good, and there 4S screen runs about $36.

 

[frodo7200]

yeah i've used ifixit guides in the past, their very good. think i'll try get some broken ones just to play with. what about UK parts anyone?

 

[hightechrex]

What do you like about etechparts.com, do they offer higher quality parts or better service than some of the cheaper places?

I have found Wholesale Gadget Parts to be pretty good, and there 4S screen runs about $36.

Etech parts offers overnight and saturday shipping. Huge plus, keeps turnaround down. Parts are also OEM and very good quality. I've had no problem with them, they've delivered me nothing but quality parts.

 

[PCX]

Etech parts offers overnight and saturday shipping. Huge plus, keeps turnaround down. Parts are also OEM and very good quality. I've had no problem with them, they've delivered me nothing but quality parts.

For the most part, there is no such thing as OEM parts for Apple mobile devices. Most parts are 3rd party manufacture. As for down time, you would save a lot of money and time in the long run by stocking up on common parts, rather than paying for overnight shipping.

 

[pcbox]

An iPhone screen repair can take anywhere from 10-45 minutes depending on your tools, skill level, and dexterity.. Once you've found a good site, your set...


Best Site: www.etechparts.com

iPhone 4S digitizer: 50
Delivery (overnight shipping): 16.43
Tax: 7%
Total: $71 before labor

You can easily make about 60-70 bucks on labor (raw profit) Don't get me started on iPad repairs now.. You can make 100-120 dollars profit on those. There's plenty of money on fixing mobile devices. Many of you dont realize that.

Wow etechparts is a complete ripoff. Anyone who is paying that much for iPhone 4/4S display assemblies would never survive in any sort of competitive repair market. There are guys on Craigslist who include parts and labor for $71.

When you're starting out, a good ballpark price for iPhone 4/4S displays is somewhere between $30 and $40 each including tax and shipping. $71 is ridiculous.

I've repaired hundreds of iPhones and I'm constantly trying out new distributors. I can tell you the variance you see in quality between different suppliers isn't that noticeable, and should equate to no more than a $10 difference in price.

We used to buy from Wholesale Gadget Parts for about $33 per iPhone 4/4S display assembly, and they're a very reliable company to work with when you're starting out.

We've since gone through the motions of finding reliable chinese distributors, and we're now getting very high quality iPhone 4/4S display assemblies for about $28 each, free shipping.

 

[PCX]

Wow etechparts is a complete ripoff. Anyone who is paying that much for iPhone 4/4S display assemblies would never survive in any sort of competitive repair market. There are guys on Craigslist who include parts and labor for $71.

When you're starting out, a good ballpark price for iPhone 4/4S displays is somewhere between $30 and $40 each including tax and shipping. $71 is ridiculous.

I've repaired hundreds of iPhones and I'm constantly trying out new distributors. I can tell you the variance you see in quality between different suppliers isn't that noticeable, and should equate to no more than a $10 difference in price.

We used to buy from Wholesale Gadget Parts for about $33 per iPhone 4/4S display assembly, and they're a very reliable company to work with when you're starting out.

We've since gone through the motions of finding reliable chinese distributors, and we're now getting very high quality iPhone 4/4S display assemblies for about $28 each, free shipping.

It would be great if you posted these distributors. If you do not want to post it publicly, please send me a PM.

Thanks.

 

[hightechrex]

Wow etechparts is a complete ripoff. Anyone who is paying that much for iPhone 4/4S display assemblies would never survive in any sort of competitive repair market. There are guys on Craigslist who include parts and labor for $71.

When you're starting out, a good ballpark price for iPhone 4/4S displays is somewhere between $30 and $40 each including tax and shipping. $71 is ridiculous.

I've repaired hundreds of iPhones and I'm constantly trying out new distributors. I can tell you the variance you see in quality between different suppliers isn't that noticeable, and should equate to no more than a $10 difference in price.

We used to buy from Wholesale Gadget Parts for about $33 per iPhone 4/4S display assembly, and they're a very reliable company to work with when you're starting out.

We've since gone through the motions of finding reliable chinese distributors, and we're now getting very high quality iPhone 4/4S display assemblies for about $28 each, free shipping.

All this is true, but when I started I didnt have the money to purchase them in bulk. I have no interest or don't care for people who do it for $71. What I've been doing is this...

Step 1: Ordering part with customer over the phone. They give me there CC# and they pay up front. I email them an invoice so they know im for real along with a waiver.

Step 2: They keep their phone and I give them a call to schedule a pick up when the part comes in..

Step 3: I replace the screen usually within a half hour and return there device upon them paying labor.

All that has worked just fine for me. The invoice is usually around 140.. It's on par with what my competitors are charging so I never really saw the reason to lower the price. When I have the money and a more steady stream of business for iPhone screens I will order parts in bulk. But until then my system has been working for me swimmingly.