PCX
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I HAVE NOT PROOF READ THIS YET . . . This was originally in response to another thread and was never inteded to be so long . . . but since it was such a long response, I felt it would be better if it were its own thread.
To those who have not done any refurbs yet, or those who are just starting, or those who have only done a handful or so . . .
Acquiring or purchasing computers to be refurbished:
This is not the same as buying a bunch of pre-refurbished computers in bulk and reselling them. There is very little profit in doing that and usually you are getting super old business line computers with XP. Anyways, these are some ways you can get computers to refurbish.
1. Craigslist or some other local online thrift store: We used to (don't really have to much any more) advertise that we buy broken laptops and desktops on sites like these.
2. Ebay: Not a whole lot of profit margin there either, but some times you can find good deals on broken computers.
3. Offering to purchase broken computers from your current customers: I personally use this as a selling point on services. If I think a computer is worth repairing, but the customer is on the fence, then I tell them that if its not worth it for them, that it's worth it for me. In any case, some would rather sell it. You can also offer to do a data transfer, secure wipe, and recycling in exchange for the their computer.
4. Advertise partial credit towards one of your already refurbished computers.
There is more profit margin in refurbs than there are in new computers. There are several ways you can price or make an offer on a laptop.
A. You can take the estimated value of the laptop, subtract parts and what you would normally charge for the service and give your self a little cushion, and then offer what you have left over.
B. You can go on sites like ebay, look at the completed listings for that particular computer and see how much broken ones ended for and offer accordingly. Take shipping into consideration.
C: Set your self a certain dollar amount or percentage of profit margin that you would like to make per computer. Subtract that number and the cost of the parts and what you have left is what you can offer.
D: None of the above.
Personally, I try to make about as much if not more than I would if I were charging a customer for the same service. But, I am not too concerned if I make less, here is why. Selling computers is just another foot traffic item. It gets people in the door and it potentially gets them to keeps you in mind for future purchases or repairs. Also, you should be up-selling and making money on items like AV, cooling pads, wireless mice, cases, sleeves or services like data transfers and AV installs. Finally, I am willing to pay a little more if I think it will win them over as a customer in the future.
Some Rules of Thumb
1. Stay away from old laptops and desktops: If you want to make little to nothing, then go for it, buy that old XP machine . . . Unless the laptop or desktop was way expensive or high-end in it's day( and is decent today) and would be worth upgrading to Windows 7 (if you are a Microsoft Refurbisher) then don't even bother with anything older than Vista. Everything has a life span and you should be offering a warranty, so don't buy or sell anything that might come back to haunt you later.
2. Don't purchase computers solely for the purpose of reselling: I buy a crap ton of computers that I simply use for parts. I fully test everything and instead of spending $50 plus on a hard drive, I will use a fully tested drive that is at least the size of the original. I will NOT use crap drives. Even if I have a dozen Toshiba hard drives that all tested good, I will spend the extra $70 to install a new 320gb WD Black instead. I will not sell anything I am not comfortable with warrantying.
Some things that are good to purchase laptops for when it comes to parts: screens, hard drives, memory, WiFi cards, CPUs, cables, cases, covers, keyboards, just about everything that has either been tested good or that is in good condition. For instance, you get a good laptop that has solid parts, but the case looks like crap (scratches, dings, cracks, missing chunks, etc.), but you kept the case and covers from another similar model that will look much better, now you don't have to buy these parts on ebay. If you did not keep these parts or did not come across any in the past or they are too expensive or unavailable, then stick it in a box, put it into inventory for the future and when you do come across something with the case parts you need, pull it out and make use of it.
3. In the light of #2, do not sell crappy looking computers: It just gives you that pawn shop appearance and it says a lot about you and your business. Keep in mind, these computers could be your businesses first impression to the customer. That said, some scratches and dings are to be expected. Customers know that these are used, so just use common sense.
4. Also in light of #2 and #3. Do not sell gross looking computers: Again, this is something you see in pawn shops. Clean the keyboards, wipe the screen, blow out the dust from the vents. Make it look as new as possible. Even if you are not selling a crappy computer, if it looks like crap, it might as well be crap.
5. Do not buy or sell computers that you know have issues: For instance, do not sell your customers an HP DV series laptop with the AMD processor. You will never, ever ever ever see an Acer (except for some of the tablets and netbooks), gateways, emachines or problematic HP's or any other laptop that I know have common issues out of my shop. I just wont do it. I have a very high standard when it comes to what I will and will not sell to my customers. Why? One, I do not want to screw over my customers by flogging some piece of crap on them. Two, I have to warranty it, nuff said. The exception to this rule of course is buying them for parts.
6. Give a warranty: If you do not feel comfortable with giving warranties . . . then you need to reevaluate what you are doing and what you are selling. I offer a 90 day warranty with the option of a 1yr warranty for $100. I have sold hundreds of laptops and desktops and I have had 4 come back in the last 2.5 years. I offer the extended warranty for two reasons. One, some people love their warranties . . . its an obsession I guess. Secondly and most importantly, it shows your customer that you trust your own choice in computers and that you trust it will last. In fact, I use this as a selling point. I tell the customer that we offer it because we know it will last.
I am sure there are tons more, but I think that covers the main ones.
Letting people down and not looking like a shady pawn shop: Some computers are simply not worth crap. Some computers are worth something, but just not to you. Here are a few tips.
1. For computers with common issues like motherboard issues: I simply explain to the customer that even though their motherboard may not be failing, I have to treat the laptop as it was because its such a common issue and because I would never feel comfortable with reselling it to another customer. Pull up Google if you have to and show them the page after page of the issue you search for. This is especially easy for HPs.
2. For disgusting computers: Honestly, I could really care less if I gain this customers or not. Typically customers that don't take care of their computers are bad customers for so many reasons that I will not go into. Point being, I am not concerned about letting them down easy. In any case, I still try and find something or anything to immediately tell them no on without completely offending them. For example, if I see that it has an XP sticker, that will be my reason. If I see an AMD sticker on an HP, that will be my reasons. If its a cheap laptop, that will be my reasons. I try my best to avoid the whole "sorry, your a disgusting creature and I do not want to clean the disgusting creatures that live in your computer"
3. Your broke: You do not have to tell them your broke, but some times that is just how it is. Let them know that currently you have exceeded your budget for broken or used computers that week and that they can try you back in a week. If its a used computers, explain to them that you make your profit from refurbishing them and that they would make more money from craigslist or ebay. Just make sure you do not appear cheap like a pawn shop.
4. Some times there is nothing you can do and the best you can offer them is to do a data transfer, securely wipe their drive, and recycle it for them.
5. Ultimately, the goal is to not look like a shady pawn shop, otherwise they wont want to use your services in the future.
Pricing Computers - Estimated Value:
This should not be difficult, but I will give you guys a few pointers. Before I do that though, I want to clarify something. It is absolutely irrelevant that you can go to Walmart and buy a new computer for $200 to $300. Absolutely irrelevant. I tell customers all the time. You can get a piece of crap computer new for around $200 to $300. It will be new, but it will more than likely be a piece of crap. I tell them that if they want to buy a new computer that is decent, they will need to spend about $500 or more in most cases. After I explain that to them, I let them know that we have very high standards and that we test everything bla bla bla bla, and that for about $300 to $400 (or some times less) they can get a good (not a piece of crap) computer from us, rather than spend $500 to $600 dollars on a brand new one. Point is, you can easily sell them if you use logic. I sell them all day long and make tons of money. Anyways, to the pointers.
1. Ebay and or other online resources: Find out what a refurbished or used computer of that same or similar model sold for in the past. Make sure you take everything into consideration including its specs and condition and if it was sold by an individual or a business. Then raise your price about $25 to $50. Keep in mind, they are coming to you and not going online for several reasons.
- either they trust you more than some random person online or in the least they can meet you in person and make a judgement call
- they can touch and feel the computer
- they can easily ask questions from an expert
- and expert is selling this computer rather than some random person
- they do not have to wait or pay for shipping
2. Look locally and take everything into consideration: Are comparing to new of equal quality? Are you comparing to used from a pawn shop or a reputable computer shop? Do they run full diagnostics and ensure that everything works well? or do they flog their crap and or have make you feel slimy inside? Keep in mind, people are willing to pay more if they trust you and your products and if you can give them a peace of mind.
Dealing with overflow: You will not sell every laptop right away. You will be tempted to lower your prices just to make a buck and sometimes you will have to. That said, typically they should sell very quick. Even if they do not, keep in mind that everything has a season. Right now for us, its slow on the computer sales side, but we will be absolutely slammed when school starts. So, do you stop buying and refurbishing them? No, keep buying them, even if you have way more than what you can fit on the shelves. What are you going to do if you have 3 or 4 laptops on the shelf and 20 people demanding laptops? Purchase more now in anticipation of the need later.
Other things to consider:
1. Honoring Warranty Claims: I don't care if its a netbook or a $1000 gaming laptop, if you are clearly at fault or if there is a manufacture defect, you better care care of that customers. Be very clear on what your warranty covers and if you think you are dealing with someone who might try to pull a fast one, let them know that your tests will show whose at fault.
2. Try to stay away from super cheap computers: Super cheap computers attract super cheap customer and I have said it many times before, cheap customer are usually bad customers. I try not to sell anything that I cannot put on the shelf for at least $200. The exception of course are netbooks and tablets.
To those who have not done any refurbs yet, or those who are just starting, or those who have only done a handful or so . . .
Acquiring or purchasing computers to be refurbished:
This is not the same as buying a bunch of pre-refurbished computers in bulk and reselling them. There is very little profit in doing that and usually you are getting super old business line computers with XP. Anyways, these are some ways you can get computers to refurbish.
1. Craigslist or some other local online thrift store: We used to (don't really have to much any more) advertise that we buy broken laptops and desktops on sites like these.
2. Ebay: Not a whole lot of profit margin there either, but some times you can find good deals on broken computers.
3. Offering to purchase broken computers from your current customers: I personally use this as a selling point on services. If I think a computer is worth repairing, but the customer is on the fence, then I tell them that if its not worth it for them, that it's worth it for me. In any case, some would rather sell it. You can also offer to do a data transfer, secure wipe, and recycling in exchange for the their computer.
4. Advertise partial credit towards one of your already refurbished computers.
There is more profit margin in refurbs than there are in new computers. There are several ways you can price or make an offer on a laptop.
A. You can take the estimated value of the laptop, subtract parts and what you would normally charge for the service and give your self a little cushion, and then offer what you have left over.
B. You can go on sites like ebay, look at the completed listings for that particular computer and see how much broken ones ended for and offer accordingly. Take shipping into consideration.
C: Set your self a certain dollar amount or percentage of profit margin that you would like to make per computer. Subtract that number and the cost of the parts and what you have left is what you can offer.
D: None of the above.
Personally, I try to make about as much if not more than I would if I were charging a customer for the same service. But, I am not too concerned if I make less, here is why. Selling computers is just another foot traffic item. It gets people in the door and it potentially gets them to keeps you in mind for future purchases or repairs. Also, you should be up-selling and making money on items like AV, cooling pads, wireless mice, cases, sleeves or services like data transfers and AV installs. Finally, I am willing to pay a little more if I think it will win them over as a customer in the future.
Some Rules of Thumb
1. Stay away from old laptops and desktops: If you want to make little to nothing, then go for it, buy that old XP machine . . . Unless the laptop or desktop was way expensive or high-end in it's day( and is decent today) and would be worth upgrading to Windows 7 (if you are a Microsoft Refurbisher) then don't even bother with anything older than Vista. Everything has a life span and you should be offering a warranty, so don't buy or sell anything that might come back to haunt you later.
2. Don't purchase computers solely for the purpose of reselling: I buy a crap ton of computers that I simply use for parts. I fully test everything and instead of spending $50 plus on a hard drive, I will use a fully tested drive that is at least the size of the original. I will NOT use crap drives. Even if I have a dozen Toshiba hard drives that all tested good, I will spend the extra $70 to install a new 320gb WD Black instead. I will not sell anything I am not comfortable with warrantying.
Some things that are good to purchase laptops for when it comes to parts: screens, hard drives, memory, WiFi cards, CPUs, cables, cases, covers, keyboards, just about everything that has either been tested good or that is in good condition. For instance, you get a good laptop that has solid parts, but the case looks like crap (scratches, dings, cracks, missing chunks, etc.), but you kept the case and covers from another similar model that will look much better, now you don't have to buy these parts on ebay. If you did not keep these parts or did not come across any in the past or they are too expensive or unavailable, then stick it in a box, put it into inventory for the future and when you do come across something with the case parts you need, pull it out and make use of it.
3. In the light of #2, do not sell crappy looking computers: It just gives you that pawn shop appearance and it says a lot about you and your business. Keep in mind, these computers could be your businesses first impression to the customer. That said, some scratches and dings are to be expected. Customers know that these are used, so just use common sense.
4. Also in light of #2 and #3. Do not sell gross looking computers: Again, this is something you see in pawn shops. Clean the keyboards, wipe the screen, blow out the dust from the vents. Make it look as new as possible. Even if you are not selling a crappy computer, if it looks like crap, it might as well be crap.
5. Do not buy or sell computers that you know have issues: For instance, do not sell your customers an HP DV series laptop with the AMD processor. You will never, ever ever ever see an Acer (except for some of the tablets and netbooks), gateways, emachines or problematic HP's or any other laptop that I know have common issues out of my shop. I just wont do it. I have a very high standard when it comes to what I will and will not sell to my customers. Why? One, I do not want to screw over my customers by flogging some piece of crap on them. Two, I have to warranty it, nuff said. The exception to this rule of course is buying them for parts.
6. Give a warranty: If you do not feel comfortable with giving warranties . . . then you need to reevaluate what you are doing and what you are selling. I offer a 90 day warranty with the option of a 1yr warranty for $100. I have sold hundreds of laptops and desktops and I have had 4 come back in the last 2.5 years. I offer the extended warranty for two reasons. One, some people love their warranties . . . its an obsession I guess. Secondly and most importantly, it shows your customer that you trust your own choice in computers and that you trust it will last. In fact, I use this as a selling point. I tell the customer that we offer it because we know it will last.
I am sure there are tons more, but I think that covers the main ones.
Letting people down and not looking like a shady pawn shop: Some computers are simply not worth crap. Some computers are worth something, but just not to you. Here are a few tips.
1. For computers with common issues like motherboard issues: I simply explain to the customer that even though their motherboard may not be failing, I have to treat the laptop as it was because its such a common issue and because I would never feel comfortable with reselling it to another customer. Pull up Google if you have to and show them the page after page of the issue you search for. This is especially easy for HPs.
2. For disgusting computers: Honestly, I could really care less if I gain this customers or not. Typically customers that don't take care of their computers are bad customers for so many reasons that I will not go into. Point being, I am not concerned about letting them down easy. In any case, I still try and find something or anything to immediately tell them no on without completely offending them. For example, if I see that it has an XP sticker, that will be my reason. If I see an AMD sticker on an HP, that will be my reasons. If its a cheap laptop, that will be my reasons. I try my best to avoid the whole "sorry, your a disgusting creature and I do not want to clean the disgusting creatures that live in your computer"
3. Your broke: You do not have to tell them your broke, but some times that is just how it is. Let them know that currently you have exceeded your budget for broken or used computers that week and that they can try you back in a week. If its a used computers, explain to them that you make your profit from refurbishing them and that they would make more money from craigslist or ebay. Just make sure you do not appear cheap like a pawn shop.
4. Some times there is nothing you can do and the best you can offer them is to do a data transfer, securely wipe their drive, and recycle it for them.
5. Ultimately, the goal is to not look like a shady pawn shop, otherwise they wont want to use your services in the future.
Pricing Computers - Estimated Value:
This should not be difficult, but I will give you guys a few pointers. Before I do that though, I want to clarify something. It is absolutely irrelevant that you can go to Walmart and buy a new computer for $200 to $300. Absolutely irrelevant. I tell customers all the time. You can get a piece of crap computer new for around $200 to $300. It will be new, but it will more than likely be a piece of crap. I tell them that if they want to buy a new computer that is decent, they will need to spend about $500 or more in most cases. After I explain that to them, I let them know that we have very high standards and that we test everything bla bla bla bla, and that for about $300 to $400 (or some times less) they can get a good (not a piece of crap) computer from us, rather than spend $500 to $600 dollars on a brand new one. Point is, you can easily sell them if you use logic. I sell them all day long and make tons of money. Anyways, to the pointers.
1. Ebay and or other online resources: Find out what a refurbished or used computer of that same or similar model sold for in the past. Make sure you take everything into consideration including its specs and condition and if it was sold by an individual or a business. Then raise your price about $25 to $50. Keep in mind, they are coming to you and not going online for several reasons.
- either they trust you more than some random person online or in the least they can meet you in person and make a judgement call
- they can touch and feel the computer
- they can easily ask questions from an expert
- and expert is selling this computer rather than some random person
- they do not have to wait or pay for shipping
2. Look locally and take everything into consideration: Are comparing to new of equal quality? Are you comparing to used from a pawn shop or a reputable computer shop? Do they run full diagnostics and ensure that everything works well? or do they flog their crap and or have make you feel slimy inside? Keep in mind, people are willing to pay more if they trust you and your products and if you can give them a peace of mind.
Dealing with overflow: You will not sell every laptop right away. You will be tempted to lower your prices just to make a buck and sometimes you will have to. That said, typically they should sell very quick. Even if they do not, keep in mind that everything has a season. Right now for us, its slow on the computer sales side, but we will be absolutely slammed when school starts. So, do you stop buying and refurbishing them? No, keep buying them, even if you have way more than what you can fit on the shelves. What are you going to do if you have 3 or 4 laptops on the shelf and 20 people demanding laptops? Purchase more now in anticipation of the need later.
Other things to consider:
1. Honoring Warranty Claims: I don't care if its a netbook or a $1000 gaming laptop, if you are clearly at fault or if there is a manufacture defect, you better care care of that customers. Be very clear on what your warranty covers and if you think you are dealing with someone who might try to pull a fast one, let them know that your tests will show whose at fault.
2. Try to stay away from super cheap computers: Super cheap computers attract super cheap customer and I have said it many times before, cheap customer are usually bad customers. I try not to sell anything that I cannot put on the shelf for at least $200. The exception of course are netbooks and tablets.
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