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Starting up as a builder/distributor?



 
 
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  #11  
Old December 9th 03, 01:59 AM
George
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"Mad Ad" wrote in message
...

To find trade sources, get a copy of CTO and/or CTS, but don't expect
discount bits unless you buy a bit of quantity, even then, the discounts

are
small. If you're serious about starting up, form a ltd company and

register
for VAT, you'll find the trade suppliers easier to deal with then.


Yes I realise being a registered co. and vat registered to boot would help
market presence from all angles, however to achieve that kinda turnover
(what is it, 46,000 pa rolling or something atm?) Id would have already
progressed to a stage 2 or 3 situation with the business plan rather than

a
green first year startup. (The initial hurdles are always the hardest to
jump). Finally, Thanks for the pointer to CTS/CTO (not sure what you mean

a
copy? cto's a distributor no? Ive just joined anyway.


You don't need to reach the turnover threshold to register for VAT. I found
I had to register almost immediately as it was often one of the first things
asked when contacting suppliers. At the other end of the scale they also
liked you to have a fax machine. Prestigious item a fax machine! :-) I
found CTO trade magazine was little help and better prices were available
elsewhere often from retailers. In the end I packed it in.


  #12  
Old December 9th 03, 02:12 AM
Mad Ad
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hey I bought one of those once, twin fan, gold case, kettle plug the wrong
way up - iirc 25 quid from maplins. Ive never found why they are so cheap,
mebee they were measured at minus 30 degrees or something daft? lol.

As soon as they were in maplins, they also started to appear on pc fair
tables in london and the counties, naturally some company must be dumping
large cheap stocks of them somewhere.

Ad

"tinklemagoo" wrote in message
...
e buyer sell q tec 550 watt psus at £20, they buy them for £10 each, my

local store cant get them for £20! and they seel them at £40


Ebuyer bulk buy 10000+ at a time direct from manufacture unless you do

same
you wont get big discounts.




  #13  
Old December 9th 03, 03:10 AM
Mad Ad
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"Daibhidh" wrote in message
...
Mad Ad wrote:

Say I wanted to set up as a pc builder and/or a parts supplier, then how
would I get good prices to be able to compete? I assume Id get some

kinda
trade account, but from who? And what kind of discount are we talking?


As a lot of people have said in reply to your post, you're never going
to get really good discounts unless you're buying in real bulk.

I run a small PC repair business, and I also do some cheap PCs for some
of my customers. By doing a lot of shopping around, and by offering
added "extras" along with the PCs (a month's on-site tech support,
installation & setup help etc) it's pretty easy to build PCs that aren't
too much more expensive than elsewhere, but are pretty attractive in
terms of added value.

Just my 2p worth.


Hi Daibhidh, thanks for the 2p .... I agree absolutely with what you say
there, at this point im still trying to learn how good means how bulk, I'm
familiar with electronic houses and have sold b2b consumables from an office
many years ago so i do realise these discount levels may not ramp up for
quite a while. Hey im still feeling my way.

Agreed too, the barebones market is rock bottom for some configurations (amd
based especially) and isnt it ohh soo much easier to maintain something you
built yourself . Its just me having the confidence to invest the time and
marketing into the build side as a plan (rather than one offs as an
inevitability of a repair business) even if it is small numbers to begin, I
can hope for high turnover despite low quantity

Good luck

Ad


  #14  
Old December 9th 03, 08:44 PM
Well-Tech Computer Consultancy Ltd
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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.




  #15  
Old December 10th 03, 11:24 AM
Daibhidh
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Anul Samoo wrote:

Do you have a shop or operate from home? What kind of money are you
making? Is there any long term future in this kind of business? How
long before PC's/computers are just throw away electrical goods like
lots of other things like VCRs, Microwaves, Kettles, Toasters, Irons
etc and all you kind of people are out of work?


I work from home, and I'm based in a very rural part of Scotland, so my
costs are pretty low, and there's a fair number of people with PCs but
neither the knowledge, nor the access to mainland-based services to help
them when they get into bothers.

I'm making enough money to get by, and I do a few other things in
addition to the PC repair / building thing too (as is the way in this
part of the world).
  #16  
Old December 10th 03, 01:28 PM
Tx2
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In newsgroup meesage ,=20
, a.k.a Anul Samoo says...

How long before PC's/computers are just throw away electrical goods like
lots of other things like VCRs, Microwaves, Kettles, Toasters, Irons
etc and all you kind of people are out of work?


"You kind of people"? Please enlarge on your definition...?

FWIW, and i know i do, most "PC experts" have many strings to their=20
bow, and when their is little PC repair type work available, they turn=20
to other computing areas in which to exercise their skills. ad=20
infinitum.

I don't think the "specialists" will be out of work for some=20
considerable time yet. It'll be those who are in it for a quick buck=20
that'll disappear first, as in any trade.

Yes, PC's have virtually become a throw away item; there's a local=20
independent round here doing systems for under =A3200. They are of course=
=20
a complete pile of ****e, which helps any PC troubleshooting or repair=20
business immensely.

Of course, the sort of people who buy such cheap crap are usually=20
uninformed, or on low income, and when the whole thing goes tits up,=20
and the guy who sold it to them is a shiseter who doesn't want to help,=20
they'll call the "expert" in, who'll do a good job, ensure they see the=20
error of their ways, and buy something half bloody decent next time.

At which point, you get a referral to their mates, family et al because=20
you are such a nice bloke, who does a good job, at a fair price yada=20
yada .... at least, that's how i get a fair portion of business.

And of course, you've got another area of failure with computers that=20
generates the need for the specialist.=20

The ID 10 T error.=20

Users have this error all the time...
 




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