Building for Forum Member - About Shipping?

[volkgren]

A forum member asked me if I would build the system I recommended. It will have a GTX 1050 Ti and R1 Universal cooler. Would the GPU and cooler be okay inside the system if it were shipped after assembly? (It's a video editing system, not gaming.)

How would you go about doing this? Have all the parts shipped to you. Build it. Send it to the buyer. (Ask him to pay shipping? PayPal?) When to ask for payment for the labor?

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[aquielisunari]

A forum member asked me if I would build the system I recommended. It will have a GTX 1050 Ti. Would the GPU be okay inside the system if it were shipped after assembly?

How would you go about doing this? Have all the parts shipped to you. Build it. Send it to the buyer. (Ask him to pay shipping? PayPal?) When to ask for payment for the labor?

Any insight would be appreciated.

These are all questions only the buyer can answer.

Okay. You asked have all the parts shipped. That obviously won't work because apparently the buyer said BUILD IT. Sending a deconstructed PC isn't building it. They can easily buy the parts themselves.

How can we say anything about shipping cost? That is a discussion for the buyer.

All payment discussions need to happen before you do anything for the buyer. Oh, btw...

 

[volkgren]

I know this will have to be discussed with the buyer. But I'm asking how YOU would go about it since I've not built for someone over the internet before.


Here's how I would do it, let me know if you would do it differently:

I would ask buyer to purchase parts and have them delivered to me. Build it. Ask buyer to send me shipping money and labor cost via PayPal. Ship it to buyer.

But, the buyer doesn't exactly have any insurance on the parts he buys and ships to me. Is there any way to insure that for the buyer?


*Or would you ask for the entire amount of money up front, buy all the parts yourself. Build it. Ship it. The PayPal exchange up front being the insurance?

 

[aquielisunari]

I know this will have to be discussed with the buyer. But I'm asking how YOU would go about it since I've not built for someone over the internet before.


Here's how I would do it, let me know if you would do it differently:

I would ask buyer to purchase parts and have them delivered to me. Build it. Ask buyer to send me shipping money and labor cost via PayPal. Ship it to buyer.

But, the buyer doesn't exactly have any insurance on the parts he buys and ships to me. Is there any way to insure that for the buyer?


*Or would you ask for the entire amount of money up front, buy all the parts yourself. Build it. Ship it. The PayPal exchange up front being the insurance?

Shippers do offer insurance. Ask the buyer if they want that extra protection.

Negotiate full price upfront.

You do all the legwork like ordering because your labor cost should include that.

Make sure your shipper includes a tracking number and delivery confirmation.

 

[volkgren]

Alright sounds good. I guess my problem now is it's a $2,000 build and I was wanting the buyer to pay up front. But maybe that's not a good idea? That's what I meant by insurance for the buyer if he pays up front.

Maybe exchange picture of both our driver's license and a Bill of Sale with our signature.

*Remember, he/she asked me. I haven't responded yet. But I am interested in doing this as I've built many systems for myself, friends, and family. Just never over the internet to someone I don't know.

 

[Math Geek]

[strike]there's not really a way for you to guarantee the build for the buyer. they will just have to trust you to get the parts, build it and ship it to them. unless you own a business doing it and have some type of insurance that way, they won't have any fall back if you chose to keep the stuff for yourself. well other than taking you to small claims court.[/strike]

all a complete trust transaction. this is what i think you are asking anyway. swapping id pics or something like that could be a way to get some assurance for the buyer. i've done this before as well for members and had no problems but then i wasn't planning on scamming anyone

as for shipping it together, pack the inside of the case with material to keep it all steady in shipment. packing peanuts or foam is a good way, though a tight packing with newspaper would also do the trick in a pinch. idea is to ensure the cooler and gpu don't flop around in transit. they should be as steady as can be tightly packed in there. having them flop around is a good way to snap the pcie slot or cpu socket or worse crack the mobo do to twisting forces. slots can break from just the weight of the gpu sagging as it sits on your desk. so pack that sucker as tight as can be to ship it. then make sure to insure it through the post office, ups or whatever. this way any damage they do can be recouped.

i repack the case assembled into the box it came in. they are pretty sturdy and already have all the foam to protect the case. then i pack all the manuals, extra pieces and so on into the mobo box. they are big and shaped well to hold all this stuff. then ship this separate so he has all that stuff. all those stickers, cd's, manuals, ties, extra screws, psu cables if it's modular and anything else they ship with the parts like extra mounting brackets for aftermarket coolers...... basically i give literally everything except the boxes everything came in. even those pop out slats from the back of the case you pop out for the gpu to stick through. front panel pop outs for cd drive and so on. basically anything and everything they may need/want in the future.

he'll be happy to have it all in one spot and can go through it if/when needed.

edit: i forgot you said paypal for payment. they will actually mediate if there is an issue and freeze funds if there is a problem reported from either side and so on https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/paypal-safety-and-security

so there is some protection from either direction. not sure how great they are at handling problems but they are a rather large company and handle tons of transactions.

 

[USAFRet]

$2,000 upfront
or
$2,000 after the sale

Either way is risky for one of you.

Upfront...he's out $2k until it arrives on the doorstep
After, you're out $2k, in the event he has "issues" with it later.

 

[USAFRet]

An alternative is for the two of you to look for someone local to him that will assemble. Maybe $100.
Have him buy the parts, shipped directly there, and the local guy does the assembly.

 

[volkgren]

there's not really a way for you to guarantee the build for the buyer. they will just have to trust you to get the parts, build it and ship it to them. unless you own a business doing it and have some type of insurance that way, they won't have any fall back if you chose to keep the stuff for yourself. well other than taking you to small claims court.

all a complete trust transaction. this is what i think you are asking anyway. swapping id pics or something like that could be a way to get some assurance for the buyer. i've done this before as well for members and had no problems but then i wasn't planning on scamming anyone

as for shipping it together, pack the inside of the case with material to keep it all steady in shipment. packing peanuts or foam is a good way, though a tight packing with newspaper would also do the trick in a pinch. idea is to ensure the cooler and gpu don't flop around in transit. they should be as steady as can be tightly packed in there. having them flop around is a good way to snap the pcie slot or cpu socket or worse crack the mobo do to twisting forces. slots can break from just the weight of the gpu sagging as it sits on your desk. so pack that sucker as tight as can be to ship it. then make sure to insure it through the post office, ups or whatever. this way any damage they do can be recouped.

i repack the case assembled into the box it came in. they are pretty sturdy and already have all the foam to protect the case. then i pack all the manuals, extra pieces and so on into the mobo box. they are big and shaped well to hold all this stuff. then ship this separate so he has all that stuff. all those stickers, cd's, manuals, ties, extra screws, psu cables if it's modular and anything else they ship with the parts like extra mounting brackets for aftermarket coolers...... basically i give literally everything except the boxes everything came in. even those pop out slats from the back of the case you pop out for the gpu to stick through. front panel pop outs for cd drive and so on. basically anything and everything they may need/want in the future.

he'll be happy to have it all in one spot and can go through it if/when needed.

That's great. Exactly the kind of info I needed. I'll just have to let the buyer know that it is a trust situation and explain the transaction process and let them decide to go forward with the deal.

 

[Math Geek]

check that post again!! i looked some up and new info posted about paypal

 

[volkgren]

$2,000 upfront
or
$2,000 after the sale

Either way is risky for one of you.

Upfront...he's out $2k until it arrives on the doorstep
After, you're out $2k, in the event he has "issues" with it later.

This is troubling to me. How exactly would I be out $2k? I would purchase insurance through the carrier. The only way I'd be out the money is if the buyer was scamming. But even then, I don't think I'd give the money back unless he sent the parts back.

An alternative is for the two of you to look for someone local to him that will assemble. Maybe $100.
Have him buy the parts, shipped directly there, and the local guy does the assembly.

 

[USAFRet]

$2,000 upfront
or
$2,000 after the sale

Either way is risky for one of you.

Upfront...he's out $2k until it arrives on the doorstep
After, you're out $2k, in the event he has "issues" with it later.

This is troubling to me. How exactly would I be out $2k? I would purchase insurance through the carrier. The only way I'd be out the money is if the buyer was scamming. But even then, I don't think I'd give the money back unless he sent the parts back.

An alternative is for the two of you to look for someone local to him that will assemble. Maybe $100.
Have him buy the parts, shipped directly there, and the local guy does the assembly.

I meant "payment after he has it".
You buy, build, ship, and then he pays.
Strongly not recommended for you.

 

[volkgren]

check that post again!! i looked some up and new info posted about paypal

That sounds good. I think it will be okay to go through PayPal. Also, I was just going to ask for $100 fee for the build. I get to build an awesome system and keep a small fee. I just hope all goes well.

 

[volkgren]

I meant "payment after he has it".
You buy, build, ship, and then he pays.
Strongly not recommended for you.

Right. I will be asking for payment up front. So the buyer will have to agree else there's no deal. He asked me so it wouldn't bother me if he changed his mind.

 

[USAFRet]

I meant "payment after he has it".
You buy, build, ship, and then he pays.
Strongly not recommended for you.

Right. I will be asking for payment up front. So the buyer will have to agree else there's no deal. He asked me so it wouldn't bother me if he changed his mind.

If he agrees, go for it!

 

[Math Geek]

$100 to built it and get windows/drivers running is a good price. it's what i charge to do it myself. though i work locally most of the time.

if he buys the parts and has em shipped to you and then paypals the other costs to you, you would be pretty protected overall. shipping should be costly though. do a quick check with basic weight of about 50-75 pounds and see what the rates are. good to have info upfront when discussing it with buyer.