Refurbishing and Reselling Older Machines

[t20user]

I imagine there are a number of people here that repair older machines and resell them. I have always been curious about trying it and reselling them on ebay or CL. I consider it about every 2 years and every time I look into it the margins look horrible. I estimate I might make $25/laptop on average not accounting for my time... so in the end not worth it.

I have seen a few sellers on ebay that post buy it now for lots of T4x machines that need repair. By the time you buy the AC adapters, HDD+caddy and RAM those bargain lots are junk not worth time. I guess the only way to actually make money would be to have a contact at a company that sells there older IT equipment on a closed market instead of auctions or classified ads.

Anyone care to share their experience/secrets?

[Neil]

I think you already have it figured accurately. Some who are running repair shops may be profitable, but since I'm not one of them, I can't say for sure. I think for most of us, t's just a hobby that we enjoy doing.

[ajkula66]

My biggest - and best ever - source was a non-profit organization that everyone and their seventh cousin donated the ThinkPads to...but they're long since gone...

The good old days...my budget misses them dearly...

It was sweet while it lasted. Wish I could locate another place like that, but no luck this far...

[billp117]

Tying Flies is a close second...it is an addictive hobby. I love giving them to relatives and dear friends that need a nice reliable laptop. Giving back has its merits.

[lead_org]

some broken Thinkpads are shipped back to China Guangzhou and is refurbished there for reselling in both China (mostly) and in oversea markets. But these old Thinkpads are sold to these Chinese refurbishment company by the kg. One of the guy i know, gets second hand c grade T60 and T61 from USA for around 100 USD per machine (a minimum of 1000 machines per order).

They are profits to be made only if you can get these machine cheap, the no. of hrs devoted to refurb is minimal (and not requiring too many expensive parts) and you have a market that willingly accepts your machine at the price level you set. Otherwise, it can only be a hobby and not the main source of income.

[Unknown_K]

You can make a few bucks doing upgrades or swapping parts for people locally. I know people who fix things like broken power jacks, bad HDs, mallware, etc.

Local recycling places seem to refurb older laptops they get in for free (some are fine most need stuff like screens). The problem then have is not knowing how to take things apart without breaking them (not too bright), having to deal with ebay for the spare parts like screens (super expensive), older types of RAM, and finding a supply of cheap HDs and working batteries. Few people want a laptop without a good battery, yet the prices they are willing to pay for used equipment is pretty low or they would be buying a new netbook instead at wallmart (what are they like $300 new?).

I guess you need to look at the local Craigslist advertisements to see what laptops are going for in your area (what sells and what lingers forever).

[AMATX]

Disposable commodity, no profit margin, way too many hassles. There's easier ways to lose money than messing around with this biz plan...

[ThinkRob]

Personally, I do it because I enjoy working with the hardware.

I buy machines that I like or would like to try, refit/upgrade them, use them, then sell them (here or elsewhere). I find it to be fun, plus it lets me use hardware that I normally couldn't afford. Would I do it as a business? Absolutely not. Too little margin for the hassle. It's the hobby factor that makes it worth it.

[t20user]

I guess its a little like running a small used car lot, you have to have a wholesale source for your inventory. And in the end its not a great business to be in since there are no warranties and margins are low. I know of a bunch of companies that deploy Thinkpads for their field sales team and I imagine they retire the machines in bulk to a wholesale PC recycler. Those are the guys who probably make the cash.

[Unknown_K]

I guess its a little like running a small used car lot, you have to have a wholesale source for your inventory. And in the end its not a great business to be in since there are no warranties and margins are low. I know of a bunch of companies that deploy Thinkpads for their field sales team and I imagine they retire the machines in bulk to a wholesale PC recycler. Those are the guys who probably make the cash.

I bet those recycler bid to get the units and many machines probably have issues so the margins are tight even there. When times are good there is more wiggle room, but these days few people in the supply chain for used laptops make much money doing it in bulk. An individual can make money buying and reselling a few machines here and there if they know how to fix small issues and do software reinstalls, but we are talking a few bucks as a good deal comes around not steady work.