frequently asked questions (FAQ's)


When is your next stock of HP arriving?

I get asked this 30 times a week... the answer is... I don't know for the following reasons:

laptops ONLY become available when companies choose to renew their I.T equipment

I have zero control over when these numerous businesses decide to replace their laptops

e.g. if they have 15 laptops, I will buy all 15. If they have 200, I will buy all 200.

consequently, if I have bought them ALL, that means, I cannot simply pick up the phone and order more when I have sold out

I therefore have to wait until the next batch becomes available

This is typically between April and November, but only once their new equipment has been successfully commissioned

Therefore some weeks there will be none and then suddenly 50 or more will be arriving.

Once they arrive, I prep them up BEFORE I put them on the website



Why don't you refurbish cheap £30 laptops anymore

A £30 laptop will be a slow model from 2013 to 2015 era for this price and it will have issues, such as a noisy blocked fan, faulty keyboard, scuffs and scrapes, needing a new battery together with an SSD conversion and ram upgrade just to make it usable.

The finished product is likely to cost me £60 in parts alone, plus the £30 purchase price.

so, unless I can sell it for £120 to pay me a nominal £30 for the labour time needed to fix it, there is no point doing them and then giving 30 day warranty on them, yet people expect them to be £85 !


How are you cheaper than eBay or Amazon ?

Everything arrives data wiped from my supplier

I only charge a nominal extra prepping fee on top of each laptop to re install Windows, drivers, updates & Office etc.

As I get a one year warranty, I do not have to add any contingency money to cover potential failure 

I offer a 6 month warranty, which gives me plenty of time to sell the hundreds in stock at any given time

I also work from home, which avoids me getting a shop with staff, rents and other overheads.

95% of customers collect, which saves me fuel, travel time and depreciation of the car due to high mileage

I only put them on the website, if I have multiple quantities of the same model as they sell quicker than I can get them


What about deliveries for fuel ?

At my keen prices, there isn't enough profit to pay for an hour round trip sat in the car

collection in person is preferred, where you can see a few of the laptops to chose from

If you are based in Sunderland, I can deliver for free, locally between 10am and 3pm to avoid rush hour, school runs and other congestion, so I can still remain local for stock deliveries and for customers collecting from the house too.

For those further afield, I charge £25 per hour driving time plus 45p a mile (there and back), so it maybe cheaper for you to get a friend to give you a lift or use public transport.

I am only 15 minutes walk from Park Lane bus and Metro terminal

deliveries are daytime only, at mutually agreeable times, 7 days a week between 10am and 3pm


Do you post laptops

I am unwilling to post them as they are not covered for damage in transit 

couriers only pay if they lose it. Their definition of lost is about 21 days AFTER the arrival due date

If you pay by bank transfer, choose and arrange your own courier, I am willing to take it to a parcel shop at your own risk


Proposed price changes in 2024 and why (mini rant)

I sold 570 laptops in 2023, however:

137 customers arrived over an hour late 

83 people were two hours late 

384 people didn't bother to show up at the time that they gave me

I understand that people: 

go to work for extra shifts 
have lessons at college
they miss the bus
it's raining
overslept
the metro's are off
they had a job interview
didn't have enough money to proceed
changed their mind

or

simply forgot

However, I am not a mind reader and I am also not a shop 

I had priced all the laptops at cost price, plus £25 contribution to the time spent to install everything

I have not added any extra for waiting in for 2 hours, or for those people who don't even bother showing up.

I take people at their word and if someone would like to come and view the laptops and they give me a specific day and time, then I make myself available at the time given.

please be considerate and advise me if you are delayed or no longer coming

I have planned my entire day around your visit to make sure that: 

I am home an hour before the appointment, to get a variety of laptops ready for viewing

I also wait in for an hour after the intended visit, in case people are running late.

going forward I will simply be putting my prices up by an extra £20 per laptop as a contribution to this waiting in time


Are they refurbished?

People's definition of refurbished varies !

no, none of these are repaired or refurbished. they have all been taken out of a working corporate environment, then data wiped

I have no history of whether any laptop failed during the initial 3 years of ownership and potentially, out of over 500 that I have sold in a year, maybe, statistically, there is likely to have been one or two that got repaired or replaced under the manufacturer's warranty.


Do you stock Dell, Lenovo

I sell about 25 HP to every 1 Dell / Lenovo, so will be mainly concentrating on HP going forward.


Do you do discount

My prices are already rock bottom and can only be bettered if you buy 10 or more laptops in one go

I don't for example buy a laptop for £50, triple the price to £150 and then give £50 discount to make you feel better !

I sell you the laptop at what I paid for it "plus" a nominal contribution to my labour in getting it prepped up


Do you part exchange

people generally wish to replace their laptop for a reason

so, either their laptop is extremely slow, or has issues, such as loose charging sockets, dead batteries, faulty keyboards, blocked fans etc. and are simply not economically viable to repair.

the price to repair it in parts alone, is often the same as its market value, so there is no profit on the laptop to even pay me any labour to fix it

I don't get any warranty from you, but I do when I buy off my supplier, so there is greater incentive for me to stick with great laptops at an affordable price and let you sell your laptop to friends or family

Those old part exchanged laptops that "I have" refurbished, have been given for free, to save them going to e-waste 


I want a specific laptop with i7, touch screen, can you get me one.

most companies bought fast i5 laptops in huge quantities with 8gb and 256gb SSD

this was to allow staff to work from home during Covid, so most people did not need a core i7 or a touch screen

furthermore, with chip shortages at the time, companies had to buy whatever was available

A team leader or travelling rep might have the only touch screen variant for example

Many students have said to me "why can't you just buy i7 laptops with 16gb ram, touch screen and 512gb SSD storage?"

I cannot dictate what those companies bought during Covid

This means I have to buy the laptops in their original specification, then upgrade to your requirements at extra cost

I get a fabulous warranty and most of these are like new...

every now and again, a few i7 laptops become available, but there is no point asking me to get you one

They are not sat on my supplier's shelf awaiting draw down. They are already here, or there are none

see also eBay explanation below:


Why can't you get me one of those i7 touch screen laptops on eBay?

I cannot buy specific items from eBay any cheaper than you, so you might as well take the risk yourself.

a used item would only be covered by eBay for 30 days, especially when buying from a private seller

eBay states the batteries are a consumable and have zero guarantee, yet mine do

eBay's definition of used is "signs of use" i.e. scuffs, gouges, dents and scratches, but otherwise works as intended

trust me, private ownership of laptops means, shoved in a bag with car keys scratching the lid, pressure marks on the screens, loose usb ports, frayed charger wires, blocked fans from being used on the lap, quilt or sofa arm rest

My laptops have been used in a clean, smoke free corporate environment on a desk


Finally (we got there in the end)


Many thanks for taking the time to read this, it is much appreciated

Let's look forward to a prosperous 2024


regards

Richard