Opening a online computer store need some help.

[hockey97]

Hi, I know alot about computers and took many classes and even got a certification as a repair tech but no one in my area is hiring for such a job there are some jobs that would pay minimum wage for a computer repair tech. I spent money on getting certified and was promised that I be making at least 20 bucks an hour yet in reality the jobs offered asked for 7.50 an hour and yet MCDONALDS offers a better wage then that.

So I decided to try and sell computers. I would build a system or sell the parts.

I was told to look into china to get direct or close to direct prices on computer parts.

I would like to know where I should be looking to buy the computer parts at the cheapest price I could get.

I already talked directly to manufactors that redirected me to their distributors but only in the U.S and looked at their prices and found it's more expensive then what retail outlets sell. I found this board at 500 bucks from the distributor of that manufacotr that makes computer motherboards. I found the same exact board online in US e-commerce stores for 350 bucks and the offer was the exact same just the motherboard being sold no cpu and no heat sink etc.

So I looked online and found alibaba and found manufacturers where I verified and so did alibaba verified the company and they offered the board cheap for 270 so I sent the money and got scammed. I did notified alibaba and the explain that the person was a legit business person but they found out he owned about 60 business names and had many complaints about him and bribed local government for the registration with false information plus he created about 30 identities. So I lost that money.

I would like to know if it's really cheaper to buy directly from china for computer parts?

I also was told by many in the U.S that building the computer yourself is cheaper then retail price. Yet I looked at parts and found out that it's more expensive to assemble the thing yourself then just buying a computer already assembled.

would like to know the best route on doing this.

Thank Your for your time.

[akula]

I also was told by many in the U.S that building the computer yourself is cheaper then retail price. Yet I looked at parts and found out that it's more expensive to assemble the thing yourself then just buying a computer already assembled.

yea..that's right. there is no opportunity is you building computers and selling them to the public at a profit.
your competitors, like dell, apple, acer etc source their parts in bulk at cheaper prices than you can get from alibaba
that's why it's cheaper to buy the thing already assembled than to make it your self at home
let it go..it's a dud

the way that people are making money in computer retail is in marketing innovation. for example, companies like woot.com are able to sell lots of stock because of their innovation in marketing.

my advice to you is to capitalize on the most recent and successful innovation in retail: group shopping. I'm not gonna explain to you what it is or why it's good (unless you want me to), but, take my word for it - based on tons of evidence, I think that you would have a great shot at success if you start a "gilt.com for electronics" type of business.

read up about places like gilt or groupon, find out why they are so successful..and then apply their retailing model to computers.

[hockey97]

I read about the group shopping. Currently I need to buy new computers for my business one good server so trying to get good deals on it.
I would like to ask you isn't that illegal in the US? That only Dell and apple etc can have low prices because they buy in bulk. I would think it violates the antitrust laws. The reason I say this is that it dosen't allow anyone new to get into that market. I am currently making a social network and have programming skills and hardware engineering skills. I currently am in college going for a bach degree in accounting.
I do understand the concept of wholesale or distributors. I talked to many people. My dad knew a guy at work that on the side he would buy top brand GPS handhelds from china for 20 bucks a unit. He would then in terms sell it on ebay for 80 bucks. The guy told my dad this telling my dad that he should get in on it. My dad refused at the time. Currently trying to contact the guy to ask him about what company he dealt with. The guy told my dad how he found the chinese company. He said he contacted a reseller paid a high price for just one unit like 50 bucks and found on the box the address and website of the chinese company and he then contacted them and found the price for the same product to be 20 bucks a unit. He didn't have to buy in bulk. Today the guy is retired and we haven't been in touch with him.

I talked to many people that still tells me that in order to succeed in Business in the U.S you must buy products or components from china to stay competitive. So I am still looking for such a thing.

When I was in highschool taking a 2 year course in computer repair. The teacher told us that it's way cheaper to build your own computer then buying it pre-assembled. On my website I was thinking to open a e-commerce store for computer stuff. I would sell the parts or do a custom build for clients.

I looked into what your talking about group shopping which is popular in china. My end goal is to build a eletronic device and have it made in china. I need to raise money for this so I thought make a website and make money.

thanks for your reply. I will keep the group shopping in mind.