Used PC Pricing

[ComputerCorner]

Hey all,

Interested in hearing how you guys are pricing your machines out. I saw in some other threads that some people have some sort of consistency with what they charge for certain features. We have always just kind of manually priced each one as we set them out, but I recently took the time and put together a basic formula which can help guide our pricing a little more.

This is what I briefly put together so far:

Operating System:
$25 XP
$35 Vista
$45 W7

Processor:
$25 per Core

Memory:
$25 per 512 MB

Hard Drive:
$3 per 10 GB

Media:
$5 CD
$10 DVD
$15 CD / DVD
+ $5 for RW

So a couple of example machines that we have in stock come out to:

Dell Optiplex 755
$35 Vista
$50 Dual Core
$100 4 GB RAM
$48 160 GB HD
$15 DVD-RW

TOTAL: $248


Dell GX260
$25 XP
$25 Single Core
$50 1 GB RAM
$12 40 GB HD
$5 CD

TOTAL: $117

These come in around the right price we'd like to have out there. Anyone care to share what they do for themselves or any criticism for what I put together?

Thanks!

 

[Easy PC]

Depends on price what I buy refurbs for. Currently bought some HP desktops with Vista, Dual Core Processor, 2GB Ram, 160GB H/D, DVD Drive for £80.00 each and selling them at £130 each. I always try to make at leas £45 on each machine.

 

[PCX]

Depends on price what I buy refurbs for. Currently bought some HP desktops with Vista, Dual Core Processor, 2GB Ram, 160GB H/D, DVD Drive for £80.00 each and selling them at £130 each. I always try to make at leas £45 on each machine.

No offense, but if you are only trying to make 45 on each refurb, then why are you doing it at all? Is the laptop only worth that much?

We typically buy broken laptops and desktops and refurbish them to sell. I try to at least make the same amount as I would if I were actually repairing the computer for a customer. In most cases, I make more.

I know you can make more money off up sales on services and accessories, but it just seems that 45 for a refurb is slim profit and possibly a waste of time.

But that is just my opinion.

 

[compnet]

Hey all,

Interested in hearing how you guys are pricing your machines out. I saw in some other threads that some people have some sort of consistency with what they charge for certain features. We have always just kind of manually priced each one as we set them out, but I recently took the time and put together a basic formula which can help guide our pricing a little more.

This is what I briefly put together so far:

Operating System:
$25 XP
$35 Vista
$45 W7

Processor:
$25 per Core

Memory:
$25 per 512 MB

Hard Drive:
$3 per 10 GB

Media:
$5 CD
$10 DVD
$15 CD / DVD
+ $5 for RW

So a couple of example machines that we have in stock come out to:

Dell Optiplex 755
$35 Vista
$50 Dual Core
$100 4 GB RAM
$48 160 GB HD
$15 DVD-RW

TOTAL: $248

4 gigs at 50 bucks a gig would be 200 bucks just for ram..

also.. your cpu pricing is a little confusing... Would a first gen dual core athlon be the same 50 bucks as a ivy bridge i3? Some POS phenom quad core is the same as an I7?

I wouldn't sell a system without a combo drive.

W7 is worth more than 20 bucks to the average person over XP.. The average person also won't care if it has 2 gb of ram or 4 gb of ram, and won't pay an extra 100 on a used computer for that difference.


edit: pcx - 45 pounds is 70 dollars

 

[ComputerCorner]

4 gigs at 50 bucks a gig would be 200 bucks just for ram..

also.. your cpu pricing is a little confusing... Would a first gen dual core athlon be the same 50 bucks as a ivy bridge i3? Some POS phenom quad core is the same as an I7?

I wouldn't sell a system without a combo drive.

W7 is worth more than 20 bucks to the average person over XP.. The average person also won't care if it has 2 gb of ram or 4 gb of ram, and won't pay an extra 100 on a used computer for that difference.


edit: pcx - 45 pounds is 70 dollars

Oops, math mistake! Thanks for catching that.

The processor details are largely irrelevant to our customers as they don't really understand the difference between them. We may adjust the formula a bit to accommodate AMD vs Intel pricing, but I don't see it going much further than that. We try not to stock anything worth more than $350-400 as our clientele is not interested in it.

This is not for the clients to look up, mind you. This is just our reference for pricing things out. Our prices are currently quite a bit higher than what I have shown as examples. We're not in it to sell the cheapest stuff. We're here to make money so that we can stay in business, while offering a quality product and service.

 

[PCX]

pcx - 45 pounds is 70 dollars

I knew it was not in dollars and its still a slim profit margin.

 

[ComputerCorner]

What do you normally aim for, PCX? We generally try to bring in at least $100 per machine that we sell. We basically have the same mentality as you with how you said you try to make at least what a repair would be.

 

[Kitten Kong]

I like the way you have worked your costings out. However I personally think your memory costing is far too expensive.

The rest of it, yes I agree with, with a couple of tweaks here and there.

@easy, do you decrapify the pc, or leave it as is for that cost?, or do you do anything at all to it?

 

[ComputerCorner]

I like the way you have worked your costings out. However I personally think your memory costing is far too expensive.

The rest of it, yes I agree with, with a couple of tweaks here and there.

@easy, do you decrapify the pc, or leave it as is for that cost?, or do you do anything at all to it?

I agree, I need to refine the formula a bit.

 

[PCX]

It depends on EVERYTHING . . . I do not have an exact formula. If we have tons of laptops ready to be refurbished and our shelves are full, we are not going to jump on a laptop and offer a high price for it. That said, if we are running low and they are selling well that month, then we are wiling to pay more.

We take in each laptop and run a diagnostic for free on the ones that we are interested in purchasing. After we are done, we assess its value (you can do this by going on ebay and checking the completed listings) and determine how much $$ is required to put into the laptop for parts and labor. If I cannot make at around the same amount or more as I would if I were to repair it for a customer, then its not worth my time and I may purchase it at a lower price for parts. I do not think we have made less than $100 on any computer (save for netbooks), but we strive to make at least $150 and we usually make that and more.

We also stay away from super cheap crap. We don't sell Acers, eMachines, Gateways, or most HPs. We don't sell anything that is problematic or looks like crap. If I can't make a decent profit from it or use it for parts, then we wont even consider purchasing the laptop.


As for pricing, I have been doing this for so long that I pretty much know what to price the computers at. For those that I do not, I go on ebay and check the completed listings for similar or same model laptops with the same specs and condition, take in consideration new parts that come with warranties like the WD Blacks and tack on a bit more for the simple fact that they can touch and feel the laptop and deal with us directly rather than taking a chance online.

BTW, I say laptop a lot since that is the main thing we sell, but we also do desktops and some netbooks.

 

[ComputerCorner]

Great info, thanks a lot.

Would you say you move quite a few machines in a month, or not so many? As of right now, we move maybe 5 machines in a month, but it certainly isn't something that we aim to push. It's more like a bonus for our customers, having a stocked showroom full of PC's that we can replace their broken computer with if need be.

Again, thanks for offering some insight. It's greatly appreciated.

 

[Easy PC]

Sorry I didn't make it clear..the machines I buy are from a refurb company, and have been fully tested. All I do is install the OS on them and sell them. I buy HP Dual Cores for £79 and sell them for £125 to £130. I have bought Lenovo R400 laptops for £125 and selling them for £200, these are sourced from the same company and just need the OS installed.

No offense, but if you are only trying to make 45 on each refurb, then why are you doing it at all? Is the laptop only worth that much?

We typically buy broken laptops and desktops and refurbish them to sell. I try to at least make the same amount as I would if I were actually repairing the computer for a customer. In most cases, I make more.

I know you can make more money off up sales on services and accessories, but it just seems that 45 for a refurb is slim profit and possibly a waste of time.

But that is just my opinion.

 

[PCX]

Sorry I didn't make it clear..the machines I buy are from a refurb company, and have been fully tested. All I do is install the OS on them and sell them. I buy HP Dual Cores for £79 and sell them for £125 to £130. I have bought Lenovo R400 laptops for £125 and selling them for £200, these are sourced from the same company and just need the OS installed.

Right, I understand, it still seems to be slim profit and you could make way more by purchasing laptops for parts or refurb.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

We rarely do....sometimes we have one of our better clients that cycles computers every 3 years do a refresh of workstations...I have 2x larger clients that are religious with this. We'll take them...wipe them, and "donate" them to some of our non-profit clients. Or for a couple of other more "budget" clients...we'll sell those rigs for 150 or $200.00. Only if they're (at this time of typing this post) Pentium "D" or higher. For Pentium 4 H/T....not worth it IMO, they usually get discarded. Plus once you go back as far as H/T vintage...you're well over 3 years old..that HDD has some major mileage on it..who knows when it will jump off the cliff.

 

[BDPCR]

This makes me want to get rid of the 4-6 desktops i have in the shop gathering dust all Pentium D820 with 300GB HDs vista installed.

 

[Cornerstone Technologies]

Margins are going to vary by locality, so saying a person isn't charging enough is a bid deceptive and short sighted. I would say that if you are making a profit and are satisfied with how you are conducting business by selling refurbs, then you are doing it exactly right. If you are loosing money, then the business owner must determine what needs to change in order to rectify any loss.

 

[Easy PC]

I make £75 profit on the laptops, which is what most people want. The desktops I do not sell as many, but businesses or people who can not afford to buy a new replacement are happy with the price and I do get extras like security, office and set up fee's on them as well.

Bear in mind, people can buy new laptops from £299 in the UK.

Right, I understand, it still seems to be slim profit and you could make way more by purchasing laptops for parts or refurb.

 

[PCX]

Margins are going to vary by locality, so saying a person isn't charging enough is a bid deceptive and short sighted. I would say that if you are making a profit and are satisfied with how you are conducting business by selling refurbs, then you are doing it exactly right. If you are loosing money, then the business owner must determine what needs to change in order to rectify any loss.

never said anyone was not charging enough at all . . . . what I am trying to say is that if you are going to go the refurb route rather than the new PC route, then there are better more profitable ways of doing it.

I make £75 profit on the laptops, which is what most people want. The desktops I do not sell as many, but businesses or people who can not afford to buy a new replacement are happy with the price and I do get extras like security, office and set up fee's on them as well.

Bear in mind, people can buy new laptops from £299 in the UK.

Same here, people can buy new laptops for $300. It still does not stop us from selling better laptops at the same price or more. If you go through the forum, you will read so many times where other techs will say that cheap laptops are no excuse to drop your prices on services or sell crappy or cheap laptops. Its all about how you sell your products. I simply explain to them that they will spend at least $500 - $700 on a decent new laptop and that anything else cheaper than that is going to be crap. I then explain to them that by going the refurb route, they can get a decent laptop for around $300 to $400 instead of $500 - $700. Even if they were to get a higher end refurb from us, they are still saving $100 - $200.


Anyways, my point was that if you are going to go the refurb route (Doing refurbs is actually how I started my business), then there are better more profitable ways of doing it. I was going to do it the same way you are now, but the profits were so slim that it just was not worth my time. Instead, I purchase laptops from locals and then I refurbish them in the shop and sell them in our store.

 

[ComputerCorner]

Instead, I purchase laptops from locals and then I refurbish them in the shop and sell them in our store.

This is what we do as well. We rarely pay more than $100 for laptops. We rebuild them and sell them for 2-3x our cost. They move quickly, too. Everyone wants a laptop, it seems like.

We refined our formula a bit to finally settle on this:
Grade:
A +$35
B +$25
C +$15

OS:
XP +$25
Vista +$35
7 +$65

Processor:
Per core +$25
HT +$25

Memory:
[<1GB Installed] Per 128MB +$3
[>1GB Installed] Per 1GB +$20

Hard Drive:
[<120GB] Per 10GB +$3
[>120GB] Per 10GB +$2

Media:
CD +$5
DVD +$10
CD-RW +$10
DVD-RW +$15
CD / DVD +$15
CD / DVD + RW +$20
Card Reader +$5

It worked out really well and all of our machines came out right where we wanted them.