Will It or Won't It
Broken tech, $150, and a soldering iron. Every season I chase one goal, and every dollar goes on the ledger.
This season
The rules
- Every season starts with $150.
- I buy broken or used computers, graphics cards, and memory from eBay, Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, or people I know.
- Parts I buy for a repair count against that repair. Tools and supplies (like solder, the metal I melt to connect parts) don't.
- Fees, shipping, and tax all count. The profit you see is real profit.
- I can get help as often as I need, but I have to explain what I did and be able to lead it next time.
- Failed repairs can't be sold. They get stripped for donor parts.
- If I borrow money, loans get paid back first, before anything counts toward the goal.
- A season ends when the goal is hit. Then the next one starts again at $150.
Ready to sell means tested
- Graphics cards: run at full power for an hour (OCCT or FurMark), plus a memory test (OCCT VRAM) and real gameplay. No crashes, no glitches.
- Memory: checked from start to finish 4 times (MemTest86) with zero errors.
- Whole computers: all of the above, plus the main processor gets pushed hard (a CPU stress test) and the storage drive gets a health check (CrystalDiskInfo).
Buyers always get told about the repair. A sale only counts once its 30-day return window closes.
My 30-day seal
Every repair carries my seal and a 30-day promise from delivery. If it fails with the seal intact, I repair it or refund you. If the seal is broken, I'll still take a look, but I can't cover damage someone else caused.