How we measure builder markup
Markup = (builder’s price for a configured PC − the cheapest current UK retail price of the same named parts + Windows licence) ÷ that parts total. We will only publish a markup figure when every price is verified the same day from a live page, with the URL and date shown.
Rules
- Like for like only. Every part must be named (brand + model). If a builder lists a generic part (“750W 80+ Bronze PSU”, “B840 motherboard”), we can’t price it and we will show no markup figure. We will not guess.
- Same-day prices from UK retailers we are allowed to use: affiliate product feeds (Awin: Scan, Overclockers, Box, Novatech, Stormforce) once approved, or prices we check by hand with a screenshot and timestamp.
- Like-for-like extras: Windows licence, delivery, and the builder’s warranty are listed separately, never hidden in the number.
- No scraping of sites that forbid it. PCPartPicker’s terms prohibit scraping and commercial reuse of its price data, so we don’t use it. Amazon prices only via the official Associates API once eligible.
Status
No markup figures are published yet. We checked a live example (OcUK Gaming Mach 3.2, £1,949.99 on 20 October 2026). Its spec lists the CPU and GPU by name but the PSU, case and RAM only generically, so a like-for-like parts total isn’t possible. That is the point of rule 1.