The end is coming

[Cyphrr]

Offshoot from this thread

http://forums.windrivers.com/showthread.php?t=70120

Don’t you know that custom built PC’s from shops is coming to and end, and in that end, goes the shops? Back in the day, you could sell parts at 300 to 500% above cost, not to mention the profit from a PC sale. Those days are gone ever since they started showing up in large chain stores. I mean Christ, f’ing Fred Meyer sells computer parts! Shops cannot compete with chain stores. It’s the Wall Mart, and Home Depot effect. Some may be “loyal” with whom they do business with, but when it comes down to it, money talks. How many have bought parts online looking for a better deal? The market decides. I can see within five years, or less, if you want a computer, it’s going to be from “the big three” (Automotive reference). Oh yeah if I remember correctly shoe repair, for example, was a lucrative business, but where is it now? Case closed. I realize in these ever-changing times, that the economy will evolve. Just my $0.02

[Mayet]

This thread should have been added to the other thread mentioned but no matter now.


When the consumer wakes up to the statement "you get what you pay for" then custom built computers will be back in with a vengeance.

[TechZ]

Customers need to understand why they can get cheaper PC's from Hp/Dell/etc sometimes, its cause of all the stuff they use, onboard graphics, under-powered PSU's, and some really horrible boards. Customers will get it sooner or later, I dont sell very many High-end pc's, mostly simple home users, but I explain to them the difference in parts that I use and the ones the branded PC's use. The small extra touches also makes a big difference when selling custom pc's, makes them stand out.

[Brian G]

The majority of people in my area only seem to care about price, and the ones who know that a custom PC is better, are probably building their own computer anyway. My first computer was a custom build, every computer I've had after that I have built myself, and I always order my parts online because I refuse to pay the mark up that the local shops have.

[Ya_know]

This thread should have been added to the other thread mentioned but no matter now.


When the consumer wakes up to the statement "you get what you pay for" then custom built computers will be back in with a vengeance.

I can't see how you are all saying that the HP/Compaq Dell PC's are crap...I am here to tell you, you are not seeing the trend I am seeing, and that is that these PC are great PC, and no worse than a clone.

Mayet, you said in the other thread that you saw several name brand PC's come in to the shop, even a few that rusted...well first, environmental conditions will hose any PC, not just the big name brands. And why is it that you think you see more HP's and Compaq's in for repair then Clones that you built? I'll tell you, it's simply the per capita syndrome. If HP sells 5000 PC's in your area, and you sell 50, at 5% failure of at least one part in those system you would see 250 HP's and only 2.5 of yours. Do you see the logic in that? It's not a fair comparison to say "they suck because I see more of them in my shop for repair". it's just not.

[Ferrit]

Offshoot from this thread

http://forums.windrivers.com/showthread.php?t=70120

Don’t you know that custom built PC’s from shops is coming to and end

I aint sure what planet your on but here on the real world there are people
in record numbers throwing out the crap built by these chain stores and buying PC's that arent bic lighter throw aways.My customers to a person are asking for something that can be kept and upgraded for a long time. Not to mention the fact that those crappy pc's are filling the dumps in record numbers.

,and in that end, goes the shops? Back in the day, you could sell parts at 300
to 500% above cost, not to mention the profit from a PC sale.

Well maybe if you hadnt tried to make 300 to 500% on your parts you might have a loyal customer base that continues to support you year after year

Those days are gone ever since they started showing up in large chain stores. I mean Christ, f’ing Fred Meyer sells computer parts! Shops cannot compete with chain stores. It’s the Wall Mart, and Home Depot effect. Some may be “loyal” with whom they do business with, but when it comes down to it, money talks. How many have bought parts online looking for a better deal? The market decides. I can see within five years, or less, if you want a computer, it’s going to be from “the big three” (Automotive reference).

Unfortunately your completely unrealistic. That isnt gonna happen in 5 or even 10 years. What more is those big 3 are gonna begin to feel a very serious pinch. That pinch is the amount of their pc's going into the dump. They will be made responsible for that very very soon. And that will take a huge byte of their arse. And because of their crappy looks and naming it will be very very easy to identufy them

Oh yeah if I remember correctly shoe repair, for example, was a lucrative business, but where is it now? Case closed. I realize in these ever-changing times, that the economy will evolve. Just my $0.02

Just my .06 cents worth (I felt I needed 300% profit)

[kato2274]

I can't see how you are all saying that the HP/Compaq Dell PC's are crap...I am here to tell you, you are not seeing the trend I am seeing, and that is that these PC are great PC, and no worse than a clone.

Mayet, you said in the other thread that you saw several name brand PC's come in to the shop, even a few that rusted...well first, environmental conditions will hose any PC, not just the big name brands. And why is it that you think you see more HP's and Compaq's in for repair then Clones that you built? I'll tell you, it's simply the per capita syndrome. If HP sells 5000 PC's in your area, and you sell 50, at 5% failure of at least one part in those system you would see 250 HP's and only 2.5 of yours. Do you see the logic in that? It's not a fair comparison to say "they suck because I see more of them in my shop for repair". it's just not.

gotta agree with ya_know. we are exclusive HP company. The PCs and laptops are just fine, and when I no longer have spare parts laying around my house and need a new pc, I will probably purchase an HP or dell for myself.

[Cleetus]

gotta agree with ya_know. we are exclusive HP company. The PCs and laptops are just fine, and when I no longer have spare parts laying around my house and need a new pc, I will probably purchase an HP or dell for myself.

Exactly, I am 100% sold on the IBM's that we use.

Also, I know of several shoe repair places...

[In The Wind]

The majority of people in my area only seem to care about price, and the ones who know that a custom PC is better, are probably building their own computer anyway. My first computer was a custom build, every computer I've had after that I have built myself, and I always order my parts online because I refuse to pay the mark up that the local shops have.

I think this is a pretty fair comment. I put together most of my own puters, and like the performance I get from them. I was going to put one together for a friend, and was in the process of getting parts/pieces, when she said "all I want is an EMachine from WMart to check email". Done, and cheaper than I could build what I was going to put together.

I think that there will always be a place for custom built, right up to the point that the works is in a sugar cube sized block of silicon, maybe larger, embedded in the monitor housing.

[houseisland]

Vancouver has one of the most aggressive OEM markets in the world.

System builders here are probably looking at no more than 3 to 8% mark up on the cost of major parts in a system if they are competitive, and if they are really competitive, there is no assembly charge. And they have the one year warranty on parts and labour to deal with. And most of them are pretty good about smiling and choking back on the ID 10 T warranty repairs.

It is a harsh business environment.

This site offers a good representative sampling of Vancouver parts pricing. They are not always the lowest but they are seldom far off the mark. (And "no" I am not associated with them in any way other than as an occasional customer.)

www.anitec.ca


(Strange. I went to edit some of the spelling mistakes in the post and wound up with two -- perhaps it was the pint or six with dinner. Oh well... Mods, you can pull the first one if you like.)

[geeksRus]

if a small local shop could buy 10 thousand cpu's, motherboards, cases or hard drives at a time i imagine they would get a considerable discount over what most pay at Newegg or whatever supplier they use. this is one reason for the disparity in what the big boys charge and what a small shop can sell a system for.

[Cyphrr]

,and in that end, goes the shops? Back in the day, you could sell parts at 300
to 500% above cost, not to mention the profit from a PC sale.

Well maybe if you hadnt tried to make 300 to 500% on your parts you might have a loyal customer base that continues to support you year after year

Let me restate the reason why. I am talking ten years ago when I was there, obvious you were not.

[Cyphrr]

This thread should have been added to the other thread mentioned but no matter now.


When the consumer wakes up to the statement "you get what you pay for" then custom built computers will be back in with a vengeance.

I have heard that statement way too many times, but it will never happen. The old song that says, “Love makes the world go around” is false. Its “Money makes the world go around.” Sure there are some people that get burned by name brand PC’s, but the majority still buy them. In your opinion, Dell, HP, and Comcrap would be gone, but ask yourself why they are still here? Case closed. (Up to $0.04)

[Mayet]

I can't see how you are all saying that the HP/Compaq Dell PC's are crap...I am here to tell you, you are not seeing the trend I am seeing, and that is that these PC are great PC, and no worse than a clone.

Mayet, you said in the other thread that you saw several name brand PC's come in to the shop, even a few that rusted...well first, environmental conditions will hose any PC, not just the big name brands. And why is it that you think you see more HP's and Compaq's in for repair then Clones that you built? I'll tell you, it's simply the per capita syndrome. If HP sells 5000 PC's in your area, and you sell 50, at 5% failure of at least one part in those system you would see 250 HP's and only 2.5 of yours. Do you see the logic in that? It's not a fair comparison to say "they suck because I see more of them in my shop for repair". it's just not.

a fair comment but more hardware issues do come from the company built ones. Around here at present its still even between the custom and company builds, they are only just breaking the market barrier now.

[geoscomp]

While it is possible that more hardware issues come from the dells, HP's, etc. (I have been seeing a bunch of hardrives go bad in Dells lately) It's also true that no matter what parts you buy in the competitive price points, it is just as possible for your parts to go bad these days. Witness the rash of bad caps, especially around here in the gigabyte boards the white box shop that I was working for at the time was using. There is simply no way around here that a shop can turn any profit at all on building their own computers, regardless of how they are marketed. The only shop still doing so undercuts the prices and takes a loss in order to get networking and service contracts. I, on the other hand, have extremely low overhead, order parts when they are needed, and make a nice profit just servicing and repairing. I have a contract with Dell for on site, and that helps..but there is no way I would ever go to the trouble of maintaining an inventory for the 10-20% profit available and add a 30-40% shelf cost when I can make 60-70% profit on service work.