new pc store

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: OdiN


Well...I am an Intel Channel Member and have a IPD number to access their tech support. Do you do this as well? I have had no problems with RMA's. In fact very few problems with Intel boards...only have had to send a few back

Yep. IMHO, all that number really does for you is gets you around their B.S. support script... Oh, and you get a bunch of Intel spam. Can't foget that. When you RMA a board to Intel, you end up with a stripped down refurb, so I have to make sure I don't give the customer a new in-the-box motherboard if they come in with an RMA. In fact, I can't even give the customer a board with a heatsink bracket installed because the replacement board won't even have the damn bracket. If I'm not careful, I'm left with a motherboard that I can't sell... or even use in a build.

And don't get me started on Abit. They're the worse. Not only do they fail left and right but for RMA replacements they just send you someone else's return. I've even received boards from Abit that were too stupid to use a shipping box to send a motherboard back. Yes, I'd get an Abit back in an Abit box with a mailing label from another person stuck to the outside of it.

My problem with Crucial was that I didn't buy the RAM directly from Crucial. I got it from MA Labs, I believe. If you buy the RAM straight from Crucial, they just pull the number up from the stick of RAM. MA only takes RAM back for something like 14-days. So I had these three sticks and our accounts payable lady just got fired, nobody could find the invoices... it was a disaster. Crucial wouldn't take the RAM back because all they show as the "buyer" of the RAM is MA Labs.

You don't want to get me started on RMA's... My stories would make your head-spin: http://www.jonnyguru.com. Of course, if you prefer just pictures: http://www.jonnyguru.com/mishaps.

 

[Mucho]

Offer free install for things like memory and HD and other things to do that wont take more than 10 minutes to do.

 

[Byte]

intel used to outsource their boards to Asus, i heard they changed this year though. I don't see how you guys think intel builds better boards or anything.

 

[Chode Messiah]

who would buy a sempron 2300+ 256mb ram 40gb hdd for $300?
cuz i just built that for $180 on the egg of new.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

service....go out of your way to make the customer happy and they'll be back, also convienience, making sure you stock the latest and greatest.

id shop at a local store if they were nice enough people, trouble is your just money to them, they dont care, will willingly sell complete crap, and talk down to you like you dont know who AMD are.

i bought a computer from a local company at a computer fair, and it was just packed with the cheapest parts they could find. computer barely works.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: MX2times
We offer discounts to repeat/return/loyal customers. It has boosted business significantly since implementation.

:thumbsup:

 

[Ornery]

...what would you like to see in a local pc shop and what would we need to do to keep you as a customer?

Basically, I just need spare parts now and then. How about an IDE and USB cables for a fair price? Brackets screws and faceplates would be nice, as well as gender changers and what-not. Perhaps floppy drives for ten bucks instead of the $20.00 or $30.00 asked for by BestBuy & friends.

I really don't see a mom & pop computer shop making any real money from my business, and I send friends to Dell and HP for prefab boxes. I guess I'd send them there for virus removal if the price was reasonable.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Ornery
...what would you like to see in a local pc shop and what would we need to do to keep you as a customer?

Basically, I just need spare parts now and then. How about an IDE and USB cables for a fair price? Brackets screws and faceplates would be nice, as well as gender changers and what-not. Perhaps floppy drives for ten bucks instead of the $20.00 or $30.00 asked for by BestBuy & friends.

I really don't see a mom & pop computer shop making any real money from my business, and I send friends to Dell and HP for prefab boxes. I guess I'd send them there for virus removal if the price was reasonable.

You know.. That's not such a bad idea. Big chain stores make 500% mark up on that stuff and some things are just plain hard to find. You could do really well buying up the entire IC Intracom and TrendNet catalogs and marking everything up just 1 or 200%. Every town needs a place like that, but often don't.

Like what I was saying about trying to find a simple patch panel. That wasn't in BFE! That was in Miami... and I can't buy a 19" patch panel?!?! I ended up getting one of those crappy Leviton "blank panels" at Home Depot. The kind that fits into a 66-block bracket and I had to use shitty keystone jacks. I ended up spending $125 on the panel and boxes of jacks. BOOOO!!!!!!!

 

[OdiN]

Another thing...what we did in our store is put in a nice leather couch in the showroom and we have an HDTV. It was the bosses leftover TV when he got a new one. This allows people to sit down and wait if there are a lot of people...or if they have kids with them and it's something that's going to take a while, we just flip on some cartoons. It helps that we are a DirecTV dealer so get all the channels free.

That...and have some music playing. Make the store comfortable for customers.

 

[DVad3r]

What sells me in stores is that the people who work there actually know what they are talking about when it comes to computer hardware etc. I like how I go to a store to buy parts and spring up convo's with a guy about what kind of benchies this vid card scores etc. Also like mentioned here, don't rip people off with inflated priced items. Make a website too and keep it updated and on top of things. This is one of my fav local pc shops site:

http://www.pccanada.com/

GL

 

[wcoffey]

the rma problem is geting out of hand with a lot of vendors. they will only take returns for 10 - 30 days and only if the item is doa. after that you need to go straight to the manufacturer. if i wanted to return it to the manufacturer why didn't i buy it from them in the first place??? where i am at now (?) uses three or four wholesale vendors and they order from the one that they payed the bill at. i want to deal with one or two plus i will watch new egg , for specials, and to make sure my prices are in-line. right now i'm looking at D&H as my main supplier and for the second i'm not sure yet. ASI has great coverage but they kill us on shipping and handling (chicago area). i need to find out if it is a problem with our accounts payable or because of the lack of loyalty, or both. sorry no hdtv but i plan on having a media center pc running with a tv tuner card so i can show customers how to watch and record tv shows. when everything gets going forward maybe a projector hooked to a pc or an xbox. will that be ok for you?? i believe in details, it's one of my major flaws, i come unglued about missing standoffs, stray wires and don't even get me started with the optical drives being even with the case.

 

[Kelemvor]

You'd have to sell stuff for less than I can get it online to get me as a customer.

 

[Skiguy411]

I work at a local computer shop and the question I get alot is "I can go to dell and get this computer for alot cheaper, why should I go with yours?" So just prepare your employees for that question.

 

[wcoffey]

can i beat on-line prices?? that is a definite maybe. with coming to me you will have no shipping but you will have tax. if i have it on the shelf you will avoid any down-time waiting on a return. will i stoop to tiger.... prices?? NO! will i have quality products with full warranties and a reasonable return policy?? YES! will i shop around to check prices?? YES! if my prices are way off then my vendor and i have a problem and we will work on a solution. as for the dell prices question, a printed side-by-side comparison will help, plus in-house service and hardware with 2 - 3yr warranties. if a customer still goes with one of the big companies that's fine we will be there for the memory upgrades, soundcards and dead cd/dvd drives. if you read the itty-bitty fine print on one of the cheap dells you can learn a lot and if you get a customer to ask them important questions when they place the order. you will get back a few sales. used components, 5400 rpm h/ds, 90 day warranties and lcd's that use a sun dial to check response times are all normal. you need to use the information to help you. but yes some people will shop price and only price. just wait until their 90 day anti-virus runs out! there is very little markup on hardware anymore so service is huge, the important thing is to sell them on your business

 

[Reckoner]

If your prices can at least come close to competing to Dell, Newegg, etc., with GREAT customer service on top of that, you should have no problems. Dell's Customer Service is horrible. Like someone posted earlier in the thread, don't charge a fee for easy-install items (memory, video cards, pci components, etc.). That's what turns off a lot of people from places like CompUSA, they charge ridiculous prices for installing components like these. The fact that you live in a tight-knit community should help as well. Will you have any competition where you live?

 

[wcoffey]

depending on the situation there may be a fee for installing small items but i'm thinking like $5 and that will include blowing out fans, heatsinks and a vacume job. if they bought the system from me or a local competitor and the ram from me it will go in free. i really need to feel out what my customers think and adjust the policy from there. there are really only two competitors the one where i have been has been around 11 years but the owner has burned out and it's not the same. the other is run by a gentleman fresh out of prison, where he has spent most of his adult life. if people only knew who was looking at personal information!

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

I'd like to see a service offered where I could bring in my computer if I have problems with windows or device drivers or viruses and spyware, etc. Every month, I could bring in my system (or every six months or whatever) in and have some basic system cleanings happen. Scandisk, Defrag, chassis cleaning, windows updates, etc.

 

[ultimatebob]

Don't fill your systems with cheap junk components in order to compete with the big box makers like Dell on price. Both of the local computer stores in my old neighborhood did that, and now they're BOTH out of business.

 

[NiKeFiDO]

make an online portion of your store and make it look professional. who shops for PC parts offline now a days?

 

[wcoffey]

a service contract is something is something that others have shown an interest in and i didn't expect it. i will not get into a race to see who can build the cheapest pc. the industry that i started in called it trying to "out-stupid" each other. if a part is not something i would use in my own computer i will not put it a customer's. i plan on a website with a few items for sale, mainly things i have gotten a good deal on because of a quantity buy or a closeout and i purchased the last 20 that the wholesaler had. the cheap system is one of the things i have a bad problem with where i'm at. the person running it has never had a nice pc and he allows it to interfere with his judgement. at least 75% of the systems the build are celeron based with on-board sound and graphics. i have heard him tell customers that a celeron will run any game that's out there now and anything in the future, plus on-board sound and graphics are better than any add-on cards out there. i broke out laughing right there in front of him and the customer. that was when i decided to open my own place! i stopped in a few weeks ago just to say hi and he was on the phone telling some other poor soul that the 9250se ati video card he had just sold them was more powerful than any of those "old fashoned" 9800 based cards. i didn't stay long!! lets just say it was better for everyone that i left when i did!!

 

[BriGy86]

Originally posted by: RadioHead84
I would also agree witht he epople above me and service is the number one key. NO ONE likes to goto Circuit city or Best Buy becuase no one knows their knows jack and they are all a@@holes.

Another thing I persoanlly would like to see is highend stuff. I understand you probably wont do this because it doesnt appeal to the large base of customers you might get..but I know when I go into my local PC store looking for somethiong for my top end computer..they usually dont have it.

this is another thing,

if you sell crap all you get are cheap customers that will eventually get pissed off

if you sell only high end stuff your amount of customers dwindle and you make hardly any money

so you have to have a balance

variety i guess would be another thing, but that all depends on your space and how much buying your able to do

 

[BriGy86]

Originally posted by: NiKeFiDO
make an online portion of your store and make it look professional. who shops for PC parts offline now a days?

hardly anyone i run into (when they shop for computers anyway)

most people have absolutly no clue what they need/want

<- works at compusa

 

[BriGy86]

another problem we have at compusa is not enough sales people

the front end pages sales guys to the front all the time (for the lazy customers, but thats just my opinion)

and since all the sales guys are busy helping out the people that have no idea what they want or need in a computer no one goes up front... then the lazy customer up front gets mad and leaves

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: OdiN
You won't be offering many motherboards if you will take only ones with 3 years. Abits only have 2 years and they are great boards.

no, they really aren't. and they certainly aren't even in the BALLPARK of being reliable enough for non-gamer use. i would NEVER put one of their boards in a computer i was selling.

<-- has owned three abits over the years, and all of them have died in less than 2 years.