My Business Plan

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Charles Gripp

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Hello, I am considering refurbishing laptops for a living. I am 28 and have experience refurbishing handheld barcode scanners. I got the idea while I installing a lightweight Linux distro and realized I should buy old laptops in bulk, slap a new OS on it and sell it.

Low spec laptops (duo core, 1-4gb ram) command prices well north of $60 on ebay even if they have Linux installed. Linux doesn't seem to effect price. From what I can tell people, don't want an old computer with an old Windows OS. And old computers cant handle newer windows. Also Linux will cut overhead since its free.

I am looking to make a $50 profit on each unit. I think I can get 500 laptops for $30 or less on AliBaba. I am hoping that 80% will have nothing wrong and just need OS switched. The other %20 I will triage depending on whats going on. I will them market them on Ebay as refurbished units for $100 or more. That leaves $20 margin for overhead costs such as shipping, buying chargers, ebay fees etc..
Alibaba merchants generally sell many units of the same model. This helps with time efficiency because once a find the best distro for that specific model, I can be confident putting it on all of them. Also, I will have plenty of spare parts.

For sales marketing, I will explain the reasons for buying in item description with a generic jpeg with my business logo and motto. the selling points are these.
1. Linux rocks and isnt just for techies! it has a learning curb JUST LIKE any other OS.
2. Buyers are getting an incredibly affordable computer that RUNS WELL.
3. Lightweight Linux distros are a FEEL GOOD purchase because they reduce E-Waste.

Perks of this business model:
1: I can work at my own pace.
2: Can work at home.
3. Labor of love

If i can restore and sell a computer every hour, my income would max out at $100k a year not including tax and workspace rent.


Do you guys think it could work?
 
Charles Gripp said:
Low spec laptops (duo core, 1-4gb ram) command prices well north of $60 on ebay even if they have Linux installed. Linux doesn't seem to effect price. From what I can tell people, don't want an old computer with an old Windows OS. ...

I will them market them on Ebay as refurbished units for $100 or more.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's more clear to you than what you've written or maybe I don't understand what you mean by well north of $60. But if they're selling for around $60 why do you think you can sell them for $100?
 
timeshifter said:
Maybe it's more clear to you than what you've written or maybe I don't understand what you mean by well north of $60. But if they're selling for around $60 why do you think you can sell them for $100?
Click to expand...

Most refurbishers are around $100. but i did see a few deals around $60 not including shipping. I would do a test run and try to sell a few before i made a large investment. I was really suprised 10 year old computers are selling for so much. people are selling my computer (dell latitude e6400) for $150!! its a ten year old computer! other sellers have it priced cheaper so theres a mix. before i started poking around, i assumed i wouldnt be able to give my computer away! let alone sell it for $100!
 
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You planning on giving any sort of warranty with these things? Because if they're ten years old, something is waiting to go wrong with them pretty soon. And: Assuming a five day week at eight hours a day, you're suggesting you can unload over 2000 of these units, year after year? Who to? Anyone here will tell you, the customers buying on price alone are the worst ones to have.

Edit: My bad - I now see it's your computer that's ten-years' old, not necessarily the ones you're thinking of selling.
 
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The thread title says business plan. Have you actually written one up? As in a document you can post for someone to evaluate/comment? If not that's the first step. @Your PCMD put together a template you can use.

Some observations.

On the Linux thing. There's a reason it hasn't taken the world by storm and it has little to do with the OS itself. No one owns it, so theres no one to call when theres a problem. Because of that adoption rates have never taken off in the consumer market. In the B2B market it has because companies have their own employees to support things.

Pricing. Just because it's lists for something doesn't mean it's moving. For every eBay listing you see a price you have to monitor that over time. Hopefully the "sold" count is accurate so you can get an idea movement.

You can't make it up in volume. That's a commodity market which is 99% based on price.

Any extensive work in actual computer repair? As in volume like working for a shop/store? For you to sell 1 computer an hour means you have to process probably 1.2-1.3 computers, because of failures, etc, per hour on AVERAGE.
 
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I would definitely test the waters first. I've used Linux since the Ubuntu 8.04 days (12 years) ago and always thought it was on the verge of critical mass but that still hasn't happened. Your market is residential and that market is just not accepting of Linux. People can't get help from family and friends (which is usually the first round of support) and they most likely can't run their favorite games and programs (Office/Quickbooks/Turbotax/etc.). On top of that, any Win7 machine (and later) upgrades to a Win10 machine for free and coupled with an inexpensive SSD will outperform even fast Linux distros running a HDD.

I would like to say you have a great plan and to go for it but everything I know says it will be a struggle.
 
If they're listed on Ebay, its probably because its junk that they cant shift in their shop.

I personally wouldn't touch a laptop that's 10 years old - and I know for a fact that not many of my clients would either.

You're right about Linux - it does rock. But the majority of home users have never heard of it, won't want to learn how to use it and they simply wont get it and they'll whinge when they cant run Office on it or get their printer to work on it or run software they're familiar with 'out of the box'.

As soon as they hit a snag and it's not to their expectation, they'll be putting claims in through ebay or PayPal.

If you want to sell as many as you're hoping to sell to domestic users, you wont do it with Linux. You'll either have to lower your expectations of sales targets - or install Windows on them.
 
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Mick said:
You planning on giving any sort of warranty with these things? Because if they're ten years old, something is waiting to go wrong with them pretty soon. And: Assuming a five day week at eight hours a day, you're suggesting you can unload over 2000 of these units, year after year? Who to? Anyone here will tell you, the customers buying on price alone are the worst ones to have.

Edit: My bad - I now see it's your computer that's ten-years' old, not necessarily the ones you're thinking of selling.
Click to expand...
I havent decided on warranty. Maybe a 30 day? I am not suggesting I can sell 2000. I don't know how often I will sell one. Part of the beauty of this business model is I can do it part time. Theres no pressure to pump out units and I wont need a big workspace. I will sell them on ebay, CL, Letgo etc...
 
Diggs said:
I would definitely test the waters first. I've used Linux since the Ubuntu 8.04 days (12 years) ago and always thought it was on the verge of critical mass but that still hasn't happened. Your market is residential and that market is just not accepting of Linux. People can't get help from family and friends (which is usually the first round of support) and they most likely can't run their favorite games and programs (Office/Quickbooks/Turbotax/etc.). On top of that, any Win7 machine (and later) upgrades to a Win10 machine for free and coupled with an inexpensive SSD will outperform even fast Linux distros running a HDD.

I would like to say you have a great plan and to go for it but everything I know says it will be a struggle.
Click to expand...

I didnt know a duo core could run Windows 10 well with an SDD. ty for that info
 
Markverhyden said:
The thread title says business plan. Have you actually written one up? As in a document you can post for someone to evaluate/comment? If not that's the first step. @Your PCMD put together a template you can use.

Some observations.

On the Linux thing. There's a reason it hasn't taken the world by storm and it has little to do with the OS itself. No one owns it, so theres no one to call when theres a problem. Because of that adoption rates have never taken off in the consumer market. In the B2B market it has because companies have their own employees to support things.

Pricing. Just because it's lists for something doesn't mean it's moving. For every eBay listing you see a price you have to monitor that over time. Hopefully the "sold" count is accurate so you can get an idea movement.

You can't make it up in volume. That's a commodity market which is 99% based on price.

Any extensive work in actual computer repair? As in volume like working for a shop/store? For you to sell 1 computer an hour means you have to process probably 1.2-1.3 computers, because of failures, etc, per hour on AVERAGE.[/URL]
Click to expand...

Most common problems can be fixed with a google search. I know Linux has a horrible stigma from 15 years ago, but I think after the proliferation of mac in the 2010's, it has opened peoples mind to the idea of "hey i can learn a new OS. Its not the scary. After all I switched to Mac. and now im poor and need a need a $100 facebook machine"

The "sold count" doesn't mention what time period they were sold so sadly I cant rely on those numbers too much. But I think the price says alot about the demand. If there was no one to buy them, the price would slump down to $30 range. Do a filtered ebay search "duo core", "refurbished" "HDD". The prices on these things shocked me. In fact I think the prices might be rising as crazy as that sounds. I bought my Latitude E6400 refurbished in 2017 for $100. Theres a couple for of these on ebay for $85 but alot of sellers are pricing them at $150.

Not sure what you mean by the volume comment.

I dont have experience with PC's. I have alot of experience with old school handheld computers but those are different beast. but I would assume the workflow is similiar. I don't need to rely on this for money, it can be a part time gig, so I can learn as I go. Also most of these Alibaba suppliers allow 100 lots purchases so I can spend $500 and if my business falls on its face then its okay.
 
Charles Gripp said:
Most common problems can be fixed with a google search. I know Linux has a horrible stigma from 15 years ago, but I think after the proliferation of mac in the 2010's, it has opened peoples mind to the idea of "hey i can learn a new OS.
Click to expand...

The high return rate of Chromebooks suggests otherwise.

Most people know Windows either through past experience or work. There will be a small number willing to learn Linux - but not many.

Those that are willing to learn will be fairly open minded and tech minded - so I would imagine they're not going to be the type to buy a 10 year old laptop via ebay.

If they're buying from ebay, its likely to be for convenience - otherwise they'd go to a local shop. If they want convenience, they're not going to want to faff about learning a new OS.
 
Charles Gripp said:
I didnt know a duo core could run Windows 10 well with an SDD. ty for that info
Click to expand...

That's typically my "Pandora" machine and as I've mentioned here before I repeatedly hear about it becoming people's primary machine as it outperforms their shiny new Core i5 running on a spinning HDD.
 
timeshifter said:
But isn’t 2020 supposed to be the year for Linux?
Click to expand...

I think that's clear for all to see.... LOL!!!

I was a member of Boston Linux & Unix, the LUG for the area, in the mid to late 90's. For one meeting they had Linus come in to give a talk. Of course the turn out was huge, filled the auditorium, like 1000 seats. Of course many the local Linux Illuminati were there, like Richard Stallman and Jon "maddog" Hall. I think it was 1996. At any rate that's all anyone talked about on stage.

At a different meeting, which Stallman was present at, I asked the question about support. After all everyone needs support at one time or another. Stallman launches off on this rant about man pages, usenet groups and how the upcoming web technology provide all they want and/or need.
 
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