How do I find a computer parts wholesaler?

July 12, 2005 11:59 PM

How do I find a computer parts wholesaler?

I'm about to put about 50 thin client systems (LTSP, big honkin' server, bunch of diskless workstations booting via pxe) together for a client, and I'd rather buy the parts wholesale. I can't find anyone who's shipping a system I want at a price point that meets my clients needs. I would love to find a computer parts wholesaler, but google's just about useless for that task and my local parts retailer wouldn't like me trying to cut around them. I need to buy cases, motherboards, processors, and RAM. How do I go about finding an appropriate wholesaler, especially since I'm going to be doing this a lot?

posted by SpecialK to Work & Money (5 answers total)

I remember back in the day that people coveted their copies of Computer Shopper. It was at least gigantically massive and it was bought almost always for the ads and parts list from various companies. I would imagine that some/a lot of the companies advertising in there would be wholesalers. At the very least it will give you lots of places to source your components from so you should be able to get the best price possible.

This should be available on most well stocked newstands.
posted by mmascolino at 6:44 AM on July 13, 2005

I don't think you will save much money at a wholesaler, markups just aren't that high... For a $10,000 order I bet the right mom & pop would be willing to cut their margin right to the bone, and the wholesale price they can get will be much better than the wholesale price you can get.

Long term a wholesaler might be the way to go... If you are talking about one $10,000 order every six months or so, I doubt it...
posted by Chuckles at 9:05 AM on July 13, 2005

If you really want to maximize the price performance trade off you should probably consider a pallet of old Dells that are being swaped out by some richer company. A 1GHz PIII is still plenty for almost anything you can think of, it would be much cheaper than new stuff. The usual complaint with used is the maintenance issues, but it is the drives that fail most of the time.

I don't suppose your clients want to take that kind of kick in the ego though, so it probably isn't even worth suggesting. :)
posted by Chuckles at 9:18 AM on July 13, 2005

Response by poster: I found one last night ... http://www.evertek.com/ ... and I was hoping to find more companies like that. They cut $100 off of the local mom & pop's price for a similar system, and our local mom & pop's prices are pretty decent.
posted by SpecialK at 9:33 AM on July 13, 2005

Are you going in to the stores with an order, or are you basing it off of their price list? If you're buying 50 machines they will definitely beat their list price.

Take a 'request for quote' in to three or four reliable local stores and see what they say to you personally. It will be important to convince them that this is a real order though - try client name dropping if it would do any good - they might just think you are being funny.
posted by Chuckles at 11:11 AM on July 13, 2005