Is reselling Apple worth the hassle?

What do you do when times are tough at your Church of Technology? Easy. Ask the faithful to throw a few more coins into the collection plate.

You know they are the true believers. You know they can afford it. You know they won’t let you starve. Praise the fruit and pass the plate.

And so it was that Apple embarked on yet another round of devotee-squeezing with updates to the things in its portfolio that aren’t iPhones.

And the strategy will probably work just fine. After all, the company has been flogging Macs with positively archaeological processors for many years now, at premium prices. And, quite obviously, the price is no longer the issue, as growth in Mac sales outpaced the rest of the PC market.

If the faithful show no real signs of straying from the one true path, why not bump the tolls a little? It’s not as if the brand-conscious are going to save much money if they de-camp to the Microsoft church.

Sure, if you’re happy to get your device from somebody who doesn’t own the operating system, you can save some bucks. But you could also drive a Toyota instead of paying extra for the same thing with a Lexus badge. Most do.

But for many, if you have to ask the price, you’re just not a true believer. You’ve drunk the Kool Aid. You’re hooked. Who cares what it costs? You can’t put a price on faith.

And that leaves resellers to survive on the not-so-famous brands that remain in the wild. You won’t make much (i.e. hardly any at all) margin selling Apple or Microsoft kit. Not when both companies, along with Dell, sell their stuff online and deliver next day for free. Why is anyone going to make the effort to visit your computer shop?

Here at Rabid Reseller, we just sit and watch the world go by. And the shoppers. Anybody who ventures in just wants to see and touch the real thing before going home, or just as far as the bench in the mall,  before ordering online straight from the manufacturer. Who’s going to pay extra for service? Only those who don’t happen to have, or know, any 10-year-olds who can set up their tech for them.

Sure, there are still those who are loyal to their local reseller, but that’s a pretty tiny congregation, and they’re not the people who can afford to pay a premium for the privilege. There are also people who still like to ride on steam trains. And only slightly more who still watch movies in the cinema. There are even some who still read newspapers, allegedly.

Time to order more stock. That’s Apple and Microsoft stock. From the stockbroker. Not their actual products. And not even from an actual stockbroker. Just the online one, right next to the tab in the browser where all your customers go for their tech.

Gotta go! Markets to watch!