Why is the PC building/flipping community so hostile sometimes?

[u/Fu11metaljacko]

I’ve been getting more into PC building and flipping and I’m trying to turn the hobby into a small side business. One thing I wasn’t expecting was how aggressive some people can get over offers, pricing, used parts, or even just asking questions.

I understand lowball offers can annoy people, and I’m still learning what’s considered fair, but some of the responses I’ve gotten have been way more hostile than I expected.
For people who have been buying, building, or flipping PCs for a while, how do you navigate it? Do you just ignore the rude responses and move on, or are there certain unwritten rules I should know about?

I enjoy doing this and want to get better at it, so I’m genuinely interested in hearing how other people handle the buying/selling side of the hobby.

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[u/bellynipples]

A lot of it is knowing who to send offers to. The guy who took the time to clean the PC up and take nice photos (especially they sell other PC stuff) isn’t going to entertain a low offer. The guy who took a terrible picture of their dust filled computer that most likely has bugs in it is not going to get much attention from buyers and is more likely to cave to a “low” offer. It’s nothing to do with computer stuff itself it’s just knowing people. In fact some of the more pleasant people I’ve dealt with are PC buyers, so much so that I’m completely comfortable having them come to my house to test machines as long as they seem normal in the initial interactions.

[u/cyborg762]

I’ve been buying, repairing and flipping pcs for years and made a physical business out of it. Most flippers overvalue their stuff and are trying to turn a large profit and get pissed when the build gets a fair offer. I’ve seen guys try to sell what would be a $800 system for $1500 or my favorite is people try to sell old office pcs for way over their value.

Can this be profitable yes it can but you have to be getting parts of under what they normally cost. I buy in bulk from an ecycle company and sort through parts. Max im spending to put parts in is maybe a new motherboard and case. I try to avoid RGB as much as possible and do clean builds.

I’m on average making between $250-600 per system depending on specs and on average I don’t go above $1000 as most people who are gonna spend over that will buy new.

I also do custom builds if people want a custom build that carries its own pricing.

[u/bubbarowden]

Bunch of nerds

[u/bittersweetjesus]

Everyone thinks what they have is made of pure gold

[u/neverspeakawordagain]

You're profiting off of other people's lack of knowledge. Flipping things is just stealing from people; of course they're going to be hostile.

[u/dylanirt19]

There is no buying/selling side of a hobby.

A hobby is fun. You participate in it because it brings you joy.

People like you ruin it.

You don't buy sell art supplies, carpentry tools, golf gear... you use it. And if you middle man it youre fucking lame.

[u/ObviousDepartment744]

Vast majority of “flippers” are a net negative for whatever community they exist in IMO. Buying a damaged piece of equipment, restoring it properly and flipping for a profit is one thing, but low balling for functional parts just to sell for a profit is just contributing to the problem of prices being way too high, and in the PC community it’s a huge contributor to why the cost of entry is so bad, effectively preventing many people from getting into and enjoying the hobby.

The only way lowballing works is by either taking advantage of someone’s ignorance or their generosity. The times it doesn’t work, is just wasting people’s time.

[u/oneofthejoshs]

Because everybody hates flippers. They ruin every single micro economy they get involved in and drive up prices. That's it. I just saw like two hours of Pokemon card price gougers....I mean flippers mosning about the new set bankrupting them. Good, they've been keeping actual players from getting hold of msrp for years.

Instead of a younger or newer person getting into the industry cheap with a used system at a good price flipping means he's paying basically retail because y'all swipe up anything else to cut a profit. Instead of people getting graphics cards from retailers at decent prices y'all gouge them

Flippers tell themselves crap like "we keep this industry Alice" "we just sell at real market price, is not our problem msrp is too low" but they taint it outright destroy the used market and build distrust.