Anyone else adding iPhone repair etc to their service offerings?

[PCX]

All this is true, but when I started I didnt have the money to purchase them in bulk. 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.

Step 2: They keep there 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.

WGP is only like $35 for an iPhone screen and there is no minimal order. Their parts are top notch. I have spent several thousand dollars in just the last 6 weeks and I have had no problem with their parts.

 

[hightechrex]

WGP is only like $35 for an iPhone screen and there is no minimal order. Their parts are top notch. I have spent several thousand dollars in just the last 6 weeks and I have had no problem with their parts.

Yeah, like i said. I don't have a high enough stream of income and don't have as much invested into it for me to pay thousands of dollars up front. I'd rather that money go elsewhere. When I can do it the way i do, still stay price competitive, and have more money to spend. I'm 22 years old; I still like to drink, party, go out, and I still got bills to pay, etc. This works great for me. Thanks for telling me the name of the company; when the time comes I will be switching to them

 

[PCX]

Yeah, like i said. I don't have a high enough stream of income and don't have as much invested into it for me to pay thousands of dollars up front. I'd rather that money go elsewhere. When I can do it the way i do, still stay price competitive, and have more money to spend. I'm 22 years old; I still like to drink, party, go out, and I still got bills to pay, etc. This works great for me. Thanks for telling me the name of the company; when the time comes I will be switching to them

I think you missed what I was saying. There is no minimal $$$ for an order. You can order one screen for $35 and thats it . . . also, I am sure you lose some customers to competitors that always keep these parts in stock. Its worth the initial investment, even if you only buy a couple of each color (black and white) for each screen type. It would cost you less than $450 to start out that way. Or, you could stock the most common ones (Black, GSM, CMDA or 4s depending on your area) and at least you would have those on hand.

As for drinking and partying, thats your own life, but sometimes its better to make the initial sacrifices in the beginning in order to make your business grow. I have had to delay a lot of things (pleasures, toys, etc) in order to grow my business and because of this, we are the fastest growing shop in my area and now I can more freely spend my money on other things without sacrificing the business . . . that said, I still choose to pretty much reinvest everything into the business anyways. I guess the business has become my toy

 

[hightechrex]

I think you missed what I was saying. There is no minimal $$$ for an order. You can order one screen for $35 and thats it . . . also, I am sure you lose some customers to competitors that always keep these parts in stock. Its worth the initial investment, even if you only buy a couple of each color (black and white) for each screen type. It would cost you less than $450 to start out that way. Or, you could stock the most common ones (Black, GSM, CMDA or 4s depending on your area) and at least you would have those on hand.

As for drinking and partying, thats your own life, but sometimes its better to make the initial sacrifices in the beginning in order to make your business grow. I have had to delay a lot of things (pleasures, toys, etc) in order to grow my business and because of this, we are the fastest growing shop in my area and now I can more freely spend my money on other things without sacrificing the business . . . that said, I still choose to pretty much reinvest everything into the business anyways. I guess the business has become my toy

I guess you do bring up a good point. Couldn't hurt to start ordering in bulks of maybe 15 or 20.

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

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.

I bench mark at $50 profit, most phones take less than 30 minutes to repair, and the biggest issue I have is staying caught up.....

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

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.

yup it's why I have a plethora of offerings.... phones, tv's, audio, printing, design and so much more.

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

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.

yikes they are a rippoff for sure!! WGP also offers overnight shipping... cost me $26 on the last order got 25 screens in and we are set for a few more days!

 

[gravator]

We just sub-contract it out to the iPhone repair tech in the neighborhood. Win win situation. Plus its get them in the door to us

 

[acesdeals]

i dont do any mac related at my store, im a microsoft fan, we do phone repair though and they are fragile to work with the ribbons are delicate and takes a different type of skill to do it

 

[Boston Pro Comp Serv LLC]

The mall kiosks around here (Boston MA) change the IPhone screens for about 60$. We change them for 80$ and also use WGP. Customers don't seem to mind paying 20$ more for a local shop compared to the kiosk (which they don't seem to trust much). I wish I could pull off doing IPhone screens for 140$ or making a profit of 100$+ on IPads. We do the IPad screens for 120$, with the cost of the screen about 50$ from WGP that's not that bad. Just can't get any business if we price any higher with all the competition. We are deff not the cheapest, but still make a good profit on volume. Experience + the correct tools like a heat gun (for the IPads) is a must, or you'll spend way to much time on them. I understand not wanting to get into it, we've had our share of losing $$$ on devices here and there, but I still think it's worth it overall. I second the post that said a fixed IPhone turns into a laptop or desktop, that seems to be true for us too. I wish we could just stay with computers but the way things are today it's change with the times or sink. At least around here anyway.

Edit: Texas gadget parts has the iPhone iPad stuff about the same price if not a couple bucks cheaper than WGP. For those of you looking for vendors.

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

The mall kiosks around here (Boston MA) change the IPhone screens for about 60$. We change them for 80$ and also use WGP. Customers don't seem to mind paying 20$ more for a local shop compared to the kiosk (which they don't seem to trust much). I wish I could pull off doing IPhone screens for 140$ or making a profit of 100$+ on IPads. We do the IPad screens for 120$, with the cost of the screen about 50$ from WGP that's not that bad. Just can't get any business if we price any higher with all the competition. We are deff not the cheapest, but still make a good profit on volume. Experience + the correct tools like a heat gun (for the IPads) is a must, or you'll spend way to much time on them. I understand not wanting to get into it, we've had our share of losing $$$ on devices here and there, but I still think it's worth it overall. I second the post that said a fixed IPhone turns into a laptop or desktop, that seems to be true for us too. I wish we could just stay with computers but the way things are today it's change with the times or sink. At least around here anyway.

Edit: Texas gadget parts has the iPhone iPad stuff about the same price if not a couple bucks cheaper than WGP. For those of you looking for vendors.

yea TGP ain't bad either, we are in the same boat $$$ wise, I have no clue how these people can charge that much for screen replacements.... must be nice

 

[PCX]

Yeah, you really just got to ignore those bottom feeders and charge what is appropriate for your market.

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

Yeah, you really just got to ignore those bottom feeders and charge what is appropriate for your market.

yep, thankfully we still make good money at a $50 markup, considering it takes about 21mins to do a full teardown and replacement on an iphone it's still quicker than a $50 tuneup

 

[hightechrex]

i dont do any mac related at my store, im a microsoft fan, we do phone repair though and they are fragile to work with the ribbons are delicate and takes a different type of skill to do it

I agree. When I first tried doing it I snapped a few cables. Almost felt like I was doing surgery. Operating on an iPhone requires very steady hands.

 

[EmpireDigitalTech]

Ive been ordering most of my parts from TGP as well, i just replaced the middle chassis for an iphone 4 for a friend that was bent but the screen was still fine! Made the dumb mistake of ripping the speakerphone mic off the audio flex cable but for $10 to replace it and my friend offered to pay for it, it still makes it worth it.

 

[frodo7200]

wow, you US guys seem to have better suppliers than us Brits. come on guys, no one using suppliers in the UK they can recommend?