Distributors. Partner/Channel Programs

M

multiplexed

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 8, 2003
Messages
88
This very topic may be a little out of my league, but it can't hurt to ask.

I'm starting to set up a tiny little computer repair and networking company and need some suppliers of parts, branded systems, and software.

I was looking at www.pcwholesale.com because from their front page they seem to carry a lot of stuff and they're located in the next state over. I was also looking at synnex, but I don't think they'd give me the time of day because 1) I know I couldn't fullfill any minimum volumes and 2) they require financial statements for new accounts.

My question is what does it take to get an account at a distributor or partner program (HP & MS). I've submitted an application to pcwholesale.com but either their application site is down or I'm being filtered out because I'm not a member of any partner/channel program.

I guess it boils down to my needing a 101 class/tips on getting distributor accounts and partner/channel programs. What are the do's and don'ts?
 
cdw isn't really a distributor

www.asipartner.com
www.dandh.com
www.icintracom.com (cables and networking stuff)
www.sedonline.com
www.avnet.com
www.wintecindustries.com
www.malabs.com (cash or cod only, i have never known any company with terms there)

make sure you sign up on

oem.microsoft.com
www.intel.com/reseller

you're best off to buy from the approved vendor list for your ms and intel products though


most places don't require minimums per month, only like a $50 per order generally, but the more you order, the less you tend to pay

the best, if you're small, get a tax certificate, and order from newegg, there prices will often beat the distributors (they blind ship alot from ingram)
 
after looking at their site, they're not anyone i've ever heard of

they most likely blind drop ship from real distributors and are just a front end web company

no distributor i know of carries 100 mil in inventory, they're desinged to cycle through there stock in 2-4 weeks (because of the constant price fluctuations)

and most of the warehouses contain 6-10 mil in inventory only, the largest distrubutors only have about 5 warehouses (excluding asi, they have 2 branches just in texas)
 
Thanks for the links and information. I'll be looking through those tonight. It's nice to know that most real distributors don't have minimums, even if prices are sort of dicticated by volume. I'm just looking for a fair price from a disributor that carries what I need.

Thanks for the tip on newegg as well.

Thanks again.
 
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