CTO is a magazine, on controlled circulation, advertised in by most major PC
distributors and associated trades.

I can't remember which poster said CTO was rubbish, but CTO is actually a
fairly good source. If you think looking through a magazine will get you
best prices, then you'll never make it in the PC business. Everything is
open to negotiation. It's a monthly magazine, printed in advance, so how
accurate are the prices likely to be ? Prices are obtained by negotiation.

On the question of VAT, if the threshold is 50 grand and you have an average
margin of 20%, that gives you an average annual profit, before tax, of 10
grand. You won't convince ANY distributor that you're seriously a business
if your ambition is to make 10 grand a year before tax. Thats why you should
register immediately. My first year in hardware had a turnover of about
225K. VAT threshold wouldn't have lasted to the end of Q1.

On the question of discounts/volume, different disties give different price
breaks on different volumes. Get CTO and phone round a few with your
requirements and negotiate some discounts on quantities you can afford to
buy. Look at specialising in cables/cases/network products which have a
slightly better margin, or network products with installations, but first
off, address that VAT issue. You can't actually make a decent living, even
if your purchases only account for 50% of your turnover, without going over
the threshold. It's NOT a second year issue.

Regards,

Ally.