Demand high for refurbished laptop computers

In an inconspicuous white house on West Battlefield Road, a company called Laptop Outlet USA Inc. is steadily gaining national recognition by using the Internet to meet an ever-growing demand for refurbished laptop computers.

According to President and Chief Ex-ecutive Officer Renee Goodwin, the company was known locally as Laptop Refurbs USA until its incorporation in July 2001. At that time Goodwin and Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Brian Vogt decided the new name would better illustrate the company.

For some, the word "refurbs" might carry a negative connotation, Vogt said. "They might wonder, What was wrong with it?' and that's not the case at all." Computers sold by Laptop Outlet are in top working condition, he said, refurbished after coming off a corporate lease when the lessee company upgrades to a newer model.

Power and speed

Although some consumers feel they need the newest, fastest machines available, Goodwin said that most users don't need a great deal of power and speed. "Unless you're an architect, an engineer, an accountant or a graphic designer, you're not going to need a processor that's that fast," she said. Vogt added that failing a lot of advancement in existing software, for a lot of people, a high-end processor "is just an overkill and a waste of money."

Rather than spend $1,500 to $5,500 on a new laptop, consumers can purchase a higher-end refurbished model from Laptop Outlet for $500 to $800. "That's a price range that we have pretty much stayed in," Goodwin said. "We stay under $1,000. ... Our customers can buy a good, like-new' laptop that still has the manufacturer's warranty."

When potential customers learn the computers come with a warranty, it tends to ease reservations about buying a refurbished model, Vogt said.

"A lot of the computers, in fact, have a next-day, onsite warranty," he said. "We get computers off corporate lease, so we deal with the highest quality. If there's a corporate warranty, in fact, you're getting treatment like the corporation had, even though you're an individual."

Warranty terms

The warranty remaining on the laptops varies from three months to 2-1/2 years. In rare cases when there is no warranty remaining, Laptop Outlet still provides an in-house warranty and offers toll-free tech support.

Even after the warranty has expired, Goodwin said, the company will do everything possible to help its customers. "We don't leave our customers high and dry; we stand by them," she said. "That's why we have so much referral business. That's why we're thriving today."

The company is doing so well, in fact, that a teller at its former bank turned it in to the IRS for "suspicious activity."

"They didn't know, or believe, what we were doing," Goodwin said. She said that often when an account's cash transactions exceed $10,000 per day, the account is "red flagged" for suspicious activity. "I guess when you are doing money wires for thousands of dollars more than once a week, it would tend to raise eyebrows," Goodwin said. "We had everything on paper to show what we were doing, but there were times when it was said that we were doing things that were illegitimate."

"They don't understand the Internet and what a huge networking opportunity it is," Vogt said.

The company has since switched its banking to Firstar. Goodwin noted that by selling primarily online, the company is on track to do $2 million in sales this year. "It's really been a profitable business," she said.

Comdex

Recently Goodwin and Vogt received tickets to Comdex, the largest computer convention in the country. "It's an honor to be recognized as being big enough to be there," Goodwin said.

Although Laptop Outlet is still a home-based business, the company is expanding.

Besides their Springfield location, the company has an office in Erie, Pa., and plans to open another office soon in Michigan.

Goodwin also hopes that Laptop Outlet's affiliate program will be a key part of the company's expansion. "Ev-eryone that we have come across felt that our concept and our business model was such a good thing," she said.

Affiliates can work from anywhere in the country using a personalized Web page with a link to the company's site. "Anyone can do this; if I can sell a laptop, anybody can sell a laptop," Goodwin said.

Southwest Missouri State University, already involved in an affiliate relationship with Laptop Outlet, will be further promoting the company when the university opens a computer store on campus,

Goodwin said. "We're going to refocus on our original niche, which is the college crowd. That's where our greatest demand is. Also, we're starting to refocus on the market in Springfield, Missouri. Brian's strategy as far as sales was to just go ahead and capture our Internet market, which led to a lot of sales online and created a lot of repeat customers and referral business," she said. "However, we feel that here locally, we have a really good strong market for laptop computers."

Giving back

Goodwin was recently elected to the North Side Betterment Association board, "which was such an honor," she said. She also was glad to form a partnership with the NSBA to raise money for the organization through Laptop Outlet. "That was very exciting, because now we feel like our company is doing well enough to where we can give back to the community of Springfield."

Now that the company is starting to turn heads locally and nationally, Good-win is excited to tell their story. "There have been so many individuals and small businesses that have approached me wanting to know, How do I get a presence online? How do I sell online?'" she said. "So Brian and I have put together a seminar on how to have a million-dollar business on the Internet while working at home."

The seminars are for anyone, she said, from the budding entrepreneur to the small business owner who wants to increase sales or enhance the company's online presence. "There are so many small-businesses that don't have the know-how to do that, and I think we can be an asset to them," she said. "You can do so much with the Internet now. I want the chance to tell people and show people how to do it the right way."

The company's informational Web site is still located at www.laptoprefurb susa.com; but its new e-commerce Web is under construction to open soon at www.laptopoutletusa.com.