Anybody ever do any refurbishing to newer computers?

Out of the load I just got recently, I got some I3 towers that are pretty much new, I'm in to electronics and computers so I like building PCs and like fixing them, I was looking on ebay and people are selling optiplexs for a lot to people who know nothing about computers. I was wondering if any body has done any refurbishing of newer computers on ebay and or craigslist? I know I can sell these I3s cause I already have a guy I work with wanting one so he can have a cheap gaming rig.


Here's an example of a refurbished computer

This is the whole bundle but holy crap.
Great Dell Optiplex Desktop Computer PC Windows 7 Keyboard Mouse 17" LCD Monitor | eBay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-DUAL-CO...item4d0d21ee0b

I most always chose to sell towers locally. The shipping part really drags down your profit, and can also be a pain. Laptops sold better, and shipped easier, but towers to me seldom seemed worth it

Take a look at the part where it shows how many of them this seller sold. They sold for 169.98 each, not 599.98. 169.98 with free shipping, plus the possibility of having to purchase a copy of windows 7 for each machine leaves almost no profit for you.

Each machine has its own key for Windows on it. Thats the key that comes with it from factory, can't ya use that key to reimage the towers? I did that when I built my gaming rig, my old dell computer that I bought from best buy had my windows 7 Home premium key on it, so I borrowed a buddy's Windows 7 install disk, put the key in from my old dell and it worked.

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Originally Posted by Kochy

Each machine has its own key for Windows on it. Thats the key that comes with it from factory, can't ya use that key to reimage the towers? I did that when I built my gaming rig, my old dell computer that I bought from best buy had my windows 7 Home premium key on it, so I borrowed a buddy's Windows 7 install disk, put the key in from my old dell and it worked.

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Not legally you cant use the same key on the machine. Thats for use for the original owner only. Will it work for a reinstall? The answer is yes.

I am a Certified Microsoft refurbisher and I have to pay around $30.00 for every copy of Windows 7 I put in a machine and even then it has to already have an older valid Windows COA on it from something like Vista or XP.

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Originally Posted by msearl3244

I am a Certified Microsoft refurbisher and I have to pay around $30.00 for every copy of Windows 7 I put in a machine and even then it has to already have an older valid Windows COA on it from something like Vista or XP.

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I'm just wondering about this, but is it a painstaking process to become Microsoft certified to refurbish?

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Originally Posted by Kochy

I'm just wondering about this, but is it a painstaking process to become Microsoft certified to refurbish?

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Note difficult but if you don't buy enough Licenses in a given time they will cancel your agreement. I know from personal experience.

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Originally Posted by Kochy

I'm just wondering about this, but is it a painstaking process to become Microsoft certified to refurbish?

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Here is all the info and how to become one.

Microsoft Refurbisher Programs

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Originally Posted by msearl3244

I am a Certified Microsoft refurbisher and I have to pay around $30.00 for every copy of Windows 7 I put in a machine and even then it has to already have an older valid Windows COA on it from something like Vista or XP.

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That is an upgrade license only. Full COA licences for a pc w/o a sticker will run you between 60 and 80 depending on volume.

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Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper

Not legally you cant use the same key on the machine. Thats for use for the original owner only. Will it work for a reinstall? The answer is yes.

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Incorrect the license is tied to the hardware not the owner. The PC can switch hands as many times as it wants the the windows license will travel with it. You can also use another windows disk with a different license key to re image the PC as long as you change the windows key to what is written on the side of the case.

I might try and get in that if I keep get good newer computers. I always like working on computers so I could hit two birds with one stone. Scrapping and fixing up computers for resale. Gotta love it.

You are correct. That is why I was referring to them needing an older COA. We do new builds also and they are a bit more expensive. We do not do a lot of volume. I think 633 machines last year that we used full or upgrade licenses for.

Yeah building new machines is fun but expensive. I enjoyed building my i7 rig. Holy crap to me that's alot but prolly to you it probably wasn't nothing.

Say you become a refurbisher for Microsoft and are able to buy windows 7 installations for 30 dollars a piece. Do you have to pay a monthly fee for the certification or no? Cause I'm looking to sell alot of these computer I got, I already am selling a lot of them in which I already doubled and almost tripled my investment as of now.

Most cities have all kinds of people refurbing slightly older but usable machines. Selling them has more to do with how good you are at sales then the product you are selling.

You can probably do pretty well on those locally! I would Craigslist them for $220 OBO and see what offers you get. Just list it as if you have one system to sell, it is nobodies business that you have many. Offer a mouse, keyboard, and (if you have extra) an LCD monitor with it.

Those PC's on ebay are fetching less than $100 when fees and shipping are considered....you can do MUCH better locally.

Used desktop sales are pretty much dead in many areas, everyone wants a notebook and people are buying their kids cheap tablets from China (or just using cell phones). I used to think it was just kids doing everything from their phones but even my barber who is my age (40's) doesn't have a home computer or broadband, he does what little web browsing he does from his expensive cell phone. Could also be he can barely afford the monthly cell phone bill and not a computer plus broadband.

Yeah I'm doing better on reselling the laptops. I sold about 4 or 5 of them and then I only sold two desktops.

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Originally Posted by Enoch43

You can probably do pretty well on those locally! I would Craigslist them for $220 OBO and see what offers you get. Just list it as if you have one system to sell, it is nobodies business that you have many. Offer a mouse, keyboard, and (if you have extra) an LCD monitor with it.

Those PC's on ebay are fetching less than $100 when fees and shipping are considered....you can do MUCH better locally.

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This is probably usually true, but if you have someone with a call center or something like that wanting a bunch of like computers that they can just clone then sometimes a quantity is a good thing.

Sometimes anyway.

I am popping my cherry with the refurb thing. I have had a bunch of dealings with a local college kid that makes his extra money by refurbing. I just broke the limit on what I have ever paid for computers. I paid $15 each for these units. They are Pentium D with no hard drive and between the 2 of us we have enough hard drives to get them up and running.

Can't shoot for the stars with out going out on a limb occasionally.