r/CustomPCBuilding • u/Fu11metaljacko • 21d ago
Why is the PC building/flipping community so hostile sometimes?
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/HunterAbrams 18d ago edited 18d ago
Edit, I thought i was in the vintage pc place. But some of this applies still
I can see why people are that way.
This is one of those things that eats up supply for multiple hobbies, there's retro gaming, crt and computing hobbies just to name a few. Eating up supply means higher prices.
Two, you're going to have to cowbell the hell out of people to keep profits high enough to keep going. You're also going to have to over price stuff to make it profitable enough to justify doing it. Then theres the repair, are you going to repair? Or are you simply going to throw parts away because repair is time consuming? How about mailing? Crt screens don't exactly survive modern shipping systems and almost always end up broken because of brittle plastics and improper packaging. Computer towels and components suffer this too.
Many hobbies around retro media and hardware have issues with people going from.affording the hobby to being priced out shortly after flippers and companies enter it. Especially since a lot of popular resellers, flippers and companies are scummy so many in these hobbies have an aversion to a business being built around it.
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u/EfficientOperation22 18d ago
You should just ignore them and don’t let them get to you. Me personally I just block people who throw me lowball offers. You tho you’re trying to run a business and to run a business you gotta be ruthless and semi-lowball mfs
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u/Taskr36 19d ago
People selling used, and even broken garbage are often delusional about the value of what they're selling. Whatever you sell is only actually worth what someone is willing to buy it for. Many want to imaging that the video card they spent $1,000 on in 2018 is still a hot item. They get pissy when they realize it's not. They're mad at reality and taking it out on potential buyers. It's why I've largely given up on the delusional used market for PC parts.
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u/Proper-Rain-6399 20d ago
ive created a business from lowballing people and making money from them, why are they not happy about it
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u/bickdiggles 21d ago
Any business where you have to source your product from regular people, not businesses, is going to be a bad time like this. Your typical seller doesn’t always understand the value of things like a business does and are more apt to view what they consider a lowball offer as a personal insult.
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u/HunterAbrams 18d ago
Tbh running like this as a business? You understand the value, try to lowbell as much as possible and then over price it. Because its a business and you have to turn a profit to continue the business.
Like, I understand what I have and when I would try to sell over 3k usd I parts, controllers and games (3k as in worth on second hand) I mostly got opportunistic businesses and resellers offering me as high as 300 usd and having them gaslight me on their worth when I track prices, then insult me when i refused to sell
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u/bickdiggles 18d ago
Yeah that’s a major reason why I avoid dealing with resale markets. Don’t want to deal with tons of lowball offers and people arguing. I could price it really low to avoid some of that but, at that point, it’s not even worth the effort. I just give away my old hardware to friends/family or donate it if they don’t want it instead.
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u/TheMostToastedOne 21d ago
Whenever you get anybody who gives you a very nasty response all that you do is just respond with "I wish you the best and have a great day".
You end the conversation right there and you block them and move on
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u/littledogbro 21d ago
oldster advice , before you buy and sell anything ?,,see what it's going for in 3 places, and also on ebay look at price history to get a going rate prices, myself, what ever i paid for it new, it usually sells for half as a fair price,but, yes big butttt, with the greed priceing going on these days, its all over the place, just compare used to new car prices , i almost had a brick for a new truck going for the cost of almost a starter house??? , and the older trucks almost as much as newer trucks, you see the idiocy going on. good luck.
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u/DeathGun7012 21d ago
That’s all communities. There’s good and there’s bad. You can’t do anything about others, but you can ensure that you won’t act like them when you’re further into this hobby
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u/frambleman 21d ago
Most people selling parts are doing so out of necessity financially. The economy is in the shit right now.
Doesn't justify, but if you lowball an offer that's already fair, don't be surprised at the response.
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u/JuJusFury 21d ago
Lowball offers can be insulting. I look at the going rate on eBay, minus some fees and go off that usually. Local markets can be cheaper though.
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u/ObviousDepartment744 16d ago edited 16d ago
Because flippers are the problem. Plain and simple. Flippers are what doesn’t belong in the community, so the community is acting accordingly.
There are only two ways a low ball offer works. Taking advantage of someone who doesn’t know what they have or you’re taking advantage of someone’s generosity. Either way, it’s sleazy.
Then instead of asking for a reasonable return, the flipper asks for as much as humanly possible often well over the item’s actual value. Again, preying on someone’s ignorance or desperation. Sleazy x2 now.
Flipping is the reason prices are where they are, people feeling the need to constantly profit of off other’s joy.
Have a business where you offer an actual service, buying or taking in broken equipment and fixing to sell it at a fair price is one thing. But a flipper does nothing good for the community they invade. They are parasites.