Repost: Mobile Parts Suppliers?

[Chadhardy]

I know this is going to open a can of worms, but since I'm just now getting into mobile repair I don't know who to purchase parts from.

Some of the names that keep popping up in my searching are:
eTechParts
Group Vertical
Wholesale Gadget Parts
ReVampWholesale
Injured Gadgets (they are local to me)

Then I also see people talking about going directly to Chinese sellers through AliExpress.

I'm sure everyone has had good and bad experiences with all of these source, but I have no idea where to even start!

 

[Anthony Gnesotto]

I ran into this problem myself. Places like the ones you listed want substantially more money for parts, because they're US based companies just buying bulk parts from China and reselling them (in most cases).

In my experience, I've gone straight to eBay. I went through a period of time where I would receive DOA parts or parts that were poorly manufactured, but it wasn't long (and didn't cost me a whole lot of time and money) before I was able to decipher the good parts companies from the bad. I had a period of time where it seemed I'd order 2 screens at a time and 1 of them would be faulty or defective.

Sure, you could order from China, but don't expect it to get here in the next 3-5 business days, I made that mistake as well. It was more like 3-5 weeks before I saw my shipment.

My advice. Start on eBay. Decide which companies you like doing business with (pricing, quality, shipping time, etc...) and go from there. If something is broken or defective on arrival, they're very good about refunds/returns. The other thing to keep in mind is whether to purchase just lcd/digitizers or if you should buy full completes (lcd/digitizier/home button/ear speaker/etc...) Typically it's only about $10 more and in most cases it'll be much more pheasible and quicker to install fulls and just keep the extra parts on hand (at least to build up an inventory of parts, you don't have to always continue to purchase full, however it does save time in the repair process) ALSO: keep in mind that the "fingerprint sensor" home buttons, found on the 5s and other newer models, MUST BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE ORIGINAL DEVICE. Aftermarket home fingerprint sensor buttons won't read fingerprints, at least not in my experience.

Anyways, I hope this helps and if you have any questions, you know where to ask!

 

[Chadhardy]

Anthony can you tell me which suppliers you have already vetted and trust? If you'd prefer you can send me a PM if you'd like to keep it quite

 

[maclaptech]

Don't buy from China. You might get a little cheaper, but keep in mind that you still have to pay for shipping and custom taxes, etc. The biggest problem with buying from China are the returns. It will cost a lot to ship bad parts back and you will have plenty to return I promise you.

Unfortunately, iPhone and iPad part suppliers will cause you A LOT of headaches through out your repair business. I have gone through 25 to 30 in the past few years. None will give you good parts all the time because defective parts are VERY common with any supplier.

Stick with US suppliers, at least when you get bad parts, you can return them for a lot less on shipping costs.

 

[atlasmike]

Another bad thing about ordering from China is that Customs can and have confiscated shipments that leave the Apple logo on the flex cables. Cracked iPhone screens with good LCDs get sold back to china and re-manufactured. I use only suppliers located in the US and my supplier in only and hour and a half from me so parts I order are next day and returns are a breeze. But they are a little more expensive than amazon and Ebay. I do not buy from Ebay or Amazon unless I am desperate for screens. I can tell you who I use if you PM me. It's better to have a relationship with a supplier than some anonymous person on ebay or amazon. I use LaptopscreensDOTcom for LCD screens for laptops and I see they sell iPhone screens for a better price than any where else. Have any of yous ordered iPhone screens from them and how was the quality? Oh and I sell my cracked screens back to my supplier and get store credit so it's improving my profit margin and gives me room to give multiple phone discounts and still make a good profit. So for example I get paid "say" $20 for a cracked iPhone 5s and I send back 10 of those. I reduce my cost of goods sold by $200. That is why I deal with the people I deal with. I know I can sell them to others for more money, but I would have to pick up the shipping and I don't trust anyone else. I make sure I mark my screens when they come off the phone weather the LCD is good or not. If it is, I put it in the same plastic sleeve that the new one came in and put it in a box for resell. I know how many are good and my guys have never told me " only five screens worked" when I know for a fact that all of the LCDs work when I send them out. But I can't trust anyone else.

 

[16bwhitt]

eTech Parts is amazing. I would never ever imagine going anywhere else. Great product and customer service is spot on!

 

[JohnDize]

Lcycycle and wholsegadgetparts are my preferred vendors. I do have 2 other backups