Authorized Dell reseller

start a business, get your DBA, get your Federal ID # apply for a state certificate of authority to collect sales tax, Get a state resellers certificate, call dell create a resellers account, get the contracts from dell, sign them and send them back

basically you need to create a business entity from the ground up.

then you have to form a relationship with your dell rep.

<shrug> the process takes a few months. mainly to get the federal and state certificates and then there is the DBA if you are serious about this then hit me up with a PM I am more than happy to help you out with it.

but I can tell you with all seriousness the margin is slim on what you will be doing, and that is slim at best if you are not investing money that you can afford to lost then don't do it.

If you are not willing to spend an hour or two keeping abreast of the market, then don't do it.

If you are not willing to track coupons for dell (so you can get better deals than the others) then don't do it.

If you don't have the time to invest in establishing relationships with dell spare parts, dell business, dell epp and dell home reps (they are all different) then don't do it.

basically unless you have a corperate account you can piggy back off of or somone who can give you an in with dell reps then plan on spending about the next 4 to 6 months getting everything inline

oh yeah and I almost forgot with your excellent people skills you might want to rethink it.

you know what is funny is I have no problem helping anyone out doing anything they want to, but your sarcasism (spelling) makes wanting to help you trying and tedious at best. Have you ever heard that you get more flys with honey than you do with vinegar?

I spend about 3 to 5 hours a night after I get home from work doing my reselling and posting.

personally I take time out of my day to help others out on this and other forums without any thought of compensation.

So I can tell you that in the end its not about what people get charged its about customer support and I can tell you that you Do not have that in you in any way shape or form

but I am still willing to help you if you want it

Business requirements will differ depending on what state your located in. Some states do not collect sales tax. Most do though. If your wanting to start a business then you should go and speak with an accountant on the matter and he will help you get set up. You can ither choose a sole proprietorship, an LLC, or you can incorporate your business. A Federal ID # is free to get and doesn't usually take very long to get it. My accountant called and got mine over the phone for me. You will also need a sales tax ID number for any resale you do in the state with which you reside in.

I just set up my business as an LLC (Limited Liability Company) which cost me $105 to have it registered at the Secretary of State and i'm doing resale on eBay as well as i'm going to set up a business locally in the computer field.

What about those people selling Dell coupons on eBay, how do they get so many one time coupons to sell?

Doesn't Dell care/track these coupon# sales?

those people are vultures. they go to places like fatwallet.com and such, and just take those coupons and offer them on ebay. people who buy from them apparently have NO idea that the coupon sites exist.

The one time use coupons aren't coming from Fatwallet. I'm not really sure where they get them from in such large numbers. I've bought quite a few of them myself in the past off eBay for Dell deals that are posted on Fatwallet. The multiple use coupons however are the ones you see posted on sites like Fatwallet.

Yeah I saw the idea promoted at many bargain sites as valid & an ebay seller I recently tried this out with (& there appeared to be many) had it all automated so that once they received the $1 from paypal, you get an instant email with a one-time use stackable coupon saving you far more. Made me curious how they get all those single use coupons though...Anyone know?

my best guess is postal workers or somone who has access to a bunch of undeliverable dell catalogs/mailers

Interesting theory...if it's actually all legit, that's seems like an easy gig. Maybe I'll try to email the eBay seller I used or another to see if they care to share this curiosity.

Again, I think Dell's selective marketing (including all those easy to use coupon codes out there) have made Dell the sales leader it is.

If I were to try to become a Dell reseller I would look into adding as much value as possible to the product including utilizing any legit marketing.

truth is for the small reseller like myself the margin is very thin, in order to gain access to dells premium/corperate site you need to do 20,000 in purchases every month for 6 months straight then you get significantly better pricing. I still use every coupon and deal I can to make some money but frankly when dell sells a 9150 with a dual core P4 930D with a 19" flat panel for under $900 shipped its really tough.

Overhead?

Bal`thzar, I second your initial comments about keeping abreast of the market etc-but am curious about your actual overhead?

It seems if you can keep overhead low, risk may not be great beyond opportunity costs..

(Of course one should have a significant interest in the pc market or they are definitely wasting their capital.)

Touchy touchy. You critisize HIM for having bad people skills?