rgreen83.....I feel for you, but maybe you don't understand my background.....I also own a "small" computer company but I've had pretty good expansion in the last 4 months or so (since I actually became a legit business) I've been making high end pc's for about 5 years now mainly thru word of mouth, due to my "excellent service".....I'm currently getting my website designed which had a tremendous cost to it. It would probably put me at a loss (or close to it) for the entire 5 year period, but I love what I do and take pride in only building high-end computers that I know people will enjoy...I really believe people will pay more for excellent service and support when combined with an awesome product- time will tell but it's worked for me so far.....In terms of markup the key (IMHO) is to make people realize what you are doing for them and what your product has to offer......now I'm not trying to say you don't know how to run your business because as long as you're still in business, you know what you're doing
.....My best business aspect is keeping my costs "extremely low".....I only build high end computers ($1300+ for the tower/kb/mouse).......In the last 4 months, I have sold 17 computers.....hardly record breaking but for being open only 1 day a week (I have a seperate full time job that enables me to take more risks with my pc business), it equates to about 1 pc every day that I'm open.....My hope is that by having a good/professional website, it adds credibility to my business and allows it to expand.....
Extended warranties......you are 99% wrong on this end.....my full time job involves selling pc's along the lines of sony, hewlett packard, compaq, and systemax......since I'm paid on commision I have the ability to check what the store cost is on an extended warranty.......perhaps you don't realize this but you can buy extended warranties thru third party insurance companies and they reimburse you for repairs that you do on the computer later on.....I personally do not do this because I dont feel anyone should have to pay extra for excellent service and that all my customers are entitled to it but just to give you an idea the company I work for pays $62 to offer a 3 year warranty (starting from date of purchase) on a tower/monitor/printer package.....they sell it for $150........that is $88 of profit along with profit in labor if the item actually breaks......now your price might be a little higher since this is a big chain and i'm sure they buy them in bulk.....but even so, if you offer better product (and compared to hewlett packard/sony/compaq) I trust that you do...you could probably pass on your additional charges to your customers and get away with it........
How do I sell computers when for like numbers they are paying nearly 20-30% (and it's not because I have more profit it's because my parts cost alot more, OCZ/Corsair/Seagate/Asus and Abit's top of the line equipment costs more then generic equivalents or less featurefull products) more? -Well, it really isn't that hard, you have to remember that the majority of people who are buying a pc do not know anything other then speeds and feeds (ex. 2.6celeron=2.6p4, you'd be suprised) or with Ram (more always being better (which it is but there is other aspects as well, timings come to mind)......I explain to people and freely show them my pricing so they know my business model, people feel much more open to talk to you when they know how much you are charging and they know you truly care about what they need rather then trying to oversell them.....my rule of thumb is I won't build a tower that is less then $1000 at my cost.....If someone wants a tower less then that I will gladly recommend them to a competitor offering the best deal in their price range and wish them luck with it.....However, I also explain to them how they reach that low price point, part of what I do involves showing my customers my cost on different brands of memory and the benefit of the parts I am using.....for example most people don't know corsair from apacer (who usually make decent RAM), but they are smart enough to realize when you start telling them how the memory differs that if it isn't listed on the price tag, it's usually the lower quality stuff (not necessarily apacer but you get the idea).......
My favorite line though is, "have you shopped around at all for computers?" Usually I get a, "yes".....To this I respond "well then you've probably noticed I'm the most expensive shop in the area"........
Spend time on every computer you build, reguardless of it's price or your profit, treat everyone like gold, explain what you offer and emachines does not.......the easiest thing you can show people is a neat, clean, interior to your computer and tell them how you take the time to make sure they get the best build machine for their dollar.....then tell them to look inside the emachine...............You might be suprised how many more computers you sell.....
Good luck with your company............
P.S. I don't know if you sell mainly Intel or AMD, but I find it alot easier to sell either if they have the option of both......