NYC or Philly - Sources for computer hardware?

[Kevin G.]

Hello all,

I own a small computer repair business, and typically I get all my
stock via internet orders from places like Geeks.com, Newegg, etc..
Basically, whoever is running a good deal at that given time, and who
isn't hammering you over the head for shipping.

However, I've been kicking around the idea of making a physical parts
run once or twice per month instead of continuing with the mail-order
route. I live in an area of PA that is centrally located to both
Philly and NYC, so making a trip to either city is only about a 2hr
drive for me.

So basically I'm looking for some advice on suppliers in either the
NYC, or Philly areas that deal in computer parts/accessories.
Obviously the supplier would have to be selling their inventory at or
below internet-standard prices, otherwise it wouldn't even be worth the
trip. Some things I do stock would be memory, hard drives, input
devices (keyboards, mice), USB cables, computer cases, DVD burners,
etc.. And I'm not a big enough operation to be buying in large
quantities, so if giving any suggestions just please keep that in mind


Many thanks in advance for any advice.

KG

 

[philo]

Hello all,

I own a small computer repair business, and typically I get all my
stock via internet orders from places like Geeks.com, Newegg, etc..
Basically, whoever is running a good deal at that given time, and who
isn't hammering you over the head for shipping.

However, I've been kicking around the idea of making a physical parts
run once or twice per month instead of continuing with the mail-order
route. I live in an area of PA that is centrally located to both
Philly and NYC, so making a trip to either city is only about a 2hr
drive for me.

<snip>

For your standard parts such as keyboards, mice and harddrives...
most any office supplier (such as Office Depot or Staples etc) will do.

I've found that in general...you can usually buy on-line cheaper than your
local computer supply store

 

[Kevin G.]

Thanks for the quick reply philo... actually, the only reason I'm
really investigating this route is because a few years ago I lived in
San Francisco. And in SF, there were quite a few computer parts stores
(selling mostly OEM stuff... but that's fine for my needs), and their
prices were just as good if not better than what you would find on
pricewatch or any of the other price aggrigators. So I figure there
must be some similar type places in Philly or NYC, being large metro
areas.

You mentioned office supply stores, and yes... those types of stores
sometimes do have good deals on hard drives or even blank CD/DVD media,
but prices on just about everything else are pretty staggering. For
instance, I can pick up a standard 108-key keyboard from some online
sources for less than $5, but in Office Max or Staples I'm looking at
probably $15 for just your average run of the mill wired keyboard. So
for a re-seller perspective, it's just not worth it.

The big-city computer parts supplier really comes in handy with bulky
items, like computer cases that cost more to ship than they do to
purchase. But I guess the purpose of this post is just to put the
feelers out there and see what others suggest, and maybe get lucky with
a few suppliers. But thanks again for the input

KG