I'm makin $$$$ but how much should I ask 4 ?!?

[jadison]

I have a real good friend of mine who I help with on computer related stuff, he's mentioned how well I do on keeping his computer up-to-date with several of his friends, so now I have had about 3 or 4 of his friends come up 2 me and ask for help w/things like burning CD's, how 2 overclock there syst., install cards and drivers and computers, etc. U get the point...So they offer to pay $$, so how much should I ask for if I'd be working about an hour or so on each job????? I'd like 2 rake in the dough but I don't want to lose my customers 2 overpricing!! PLease HElp!

jadison

[CMonster]

I recommend that you shop around some computer service centers and individuals in your area to get a feel for what is right - as a general rule I keep my prices about 1/3 below the average rate.

It also helps to have a pricing policy - a set price for certain jobs and a structured labor rate.

Don't charge too little or the customer will think they are getting nothing.

[daveleau]

I agree w/ CMonster (as usual) http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif Abotu 1/3 and talk really nice to anyone you help and speak in as plain terms as you can with day to day stuff as examples. It really helps them understand and ask for help from you again.
Dave

[OuTpaTienT]

Doh! Ya mean you're suppose to charge them?

If I got paid for all the computer work I do for friends, family, etc., then I'd ...... probably ...... have a lot of money or something. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[KeriV]

Trades are cool too. We just bought a house with a BIG yard and a guy offered us his 38" cut riding mower (4yrs. old) for upgrading his computer. It cost me $380 for parts and the mower is probably worth $800

[bell1]

Hey Jadison
Why would you charge your "friends" any thing ? I can see charging those that are "out of the loop" so to speak, but not your friends and family.

[jadison]

This friend of mine whom I help doesn't have to pay me, but his friends who I don't even know r the ones willing to pay, my DAD wants to pay so that's just A-O.K. w/ me. It's not like I'm charging good friends and family for service. If they offer it, I'll take it...BTW, thanks for ur input CMonster (I can see u r highly recognized here in this forum), and everyone else for their input.

I'll try to make some sort of pricing policy using my Excel 2K software and just print it out.

jadison

[CMonster]

Here is a list I copied from www.mrcomputer.com (http://www.mrcomputer.com)

Rate Schedule

Effective February 1, 2000

Regular service hours: 9AM - 9PM, Mon - Sat

Service Category Description of Service Next Day* Hourly Rate

DOS, Windows 3.x/95/98 -based systems
Consulting
Operating System (OS), Hardware / Software Installation and Configuration
System Setup
System Maintenance $50.00

Windows NT / 2000, Novell -based systems
Consulting
Operating System (OS), Hardware / Software Installation and Configuration
System Setup
System Maintenance $75.00

Other Services
MS BackOffice (Exchange Server, Proxy Server, IIS) installation and configuration $100.00

LAN/WAN Design and Consultation $75.00

Network Cabling (Labor only) $50.00

Individual and Small Group Instruction $50.00 - $75.00


Miscellaneous Fees
Out-of area fee - as determined by travel time over 30 minutes - each additional 30 minutes $25.00

No shows, late cancellations (less than 24 hours notice) 1 billed hour


Terms and Conditions
As of 1/1/2000, *regular billable rates are based on appointments made at least 1 business day in advance (Next Day).
Same Day regular service hours, late evening Next Day (after 9PM), and Next Day Sunday (10AM – 6PM) appointments bill at 1.5 times rate.
Same Day late evening and Next Day Sunday evening appointments bill at 2 times rate.
Same Day Sunday evenings bill at 4 times rate.

Note: All services are billed for a minimum of one hour, then at 15-minute intervals. Discounted rates are available - please call for details. The rates specified here do not supercede any currently contracted rates unless notified otherwise.




There are many other such services. This one is about average for professional level service and support. Most often I charge nothing to "friends" and count these as educational experiences, but when I have occasion to charge for my work I usually charge about 1/2 of the prices you see listed here.

[jadison]

WOW

[OuTpaTienT]

I would slightly amend that with the follow declaration:

__________________________________________

- If you previously tried to do the work yourself
and mucked it up.....additional $10.00/hr

- If you want to know what I'm doing or
observe so maybe you can do it next time.....additional $20.00/hr

- If you did observe last time but still mucked
it up & now I'm fixing it for a 2nd time.....additional $30.00/hr

[bell1]

Hey Jadison
A couple of places close by charge $40-$50 /hr for repairs, and if it's a Packard-Bell they charge $80-$100/hr. Thank goodness i've learned to fix most of the problems myself(with the help of SysOpt of course).

[jadison]

When I was younger that was my motivation to learn how 2 build a computer. My Dad's ol' 486 computer was gathering dust so he wanted to give it to me. We both wanted an upgrade but we didn't want to pay another $800 for a new computer and we sure as hell didn't want to pay Computer Nerds to come to our house and put it together for $100/hr. So we went to Chipsmart to buy computer products 2 or 3 @ a time till I had a complete syst. I didn't even go inside the box after I spent a few days reading all of the manuals. Then after about a couple of weeks...bamm, I had a system working! Now I never call or pay money for tech support. I do ir myself or get help from places like this forum! Now I can use the skills i acquired to make some $$$, speakin of which
I have a customer who just installed Win98SE and wants free internet. I'm about to register him w/ FreeI.net for free internet service, are they a good free ISP?

Anywayz,

jadison

[bell1]

Of the free ISP's, I like WorldSpy the best. Mainly because it has a local dialup number and you don't have to be distracted by a banner flashing on your screen all the time.
I've signed up with AltaVista, NetZero, and a couple of others.

[jadison]

I just drove over to a customer's house and worked on his computer. His house is about 5 miles from mine, should I charge a fee 4 having 2 go 2 his house?

I brought my own tools (computer toolkit, etc), then starting working on the computer...
This is what I did:
-->I started out by familiarizing myself w/his system:
A Gateway Computer with...
Pentium 200MHz w/unusual looking heatsink
ATI Rage II (2MB)
Sound Blaster 16
Western Digital Caviar 2GB HD
4X CD-ROM
Win98 1st ed.
McAfee Antivirus

-->Then, he told me his system was taking too long to boot, I found out that it was the antivirus software that took so much time, I deleted that which now boosts his boot-up time from 3min 30sec to 50sec.
-->Then I removed an annoying network prompt.
-->Went into BIOS and got the mobo to recognize the COM Port, before hand his computer wouldn't recognize the modem, now it did.
-->took off the computer case
-->I uninstalled an old tape backup drive, and replaced it with a newer CD-ROM Drive.
-->Gave Hardware Recommendations for a modem, and memory (brand, price, and where to get it)
-->installed the modem, software & drivers (made sure it was working properly)
-->installed memory stick (32MB SDRAM)
-->Made sure the system and all of the components were working properly

I spent about 2 hours the 1st day working w/the software, replacing the old tape backup w/CD-ROM, and gave hardware recommendations. I left, The customer bought the Processor, RAM, and modem, I drove back the next day to his house and proceded w/the rest of the work--^. That took me about another 2 hours. So a total of 4 hours over a period of 2 days, and 2 trips made to his house.

How much should I charge?

I'm working on a pricing policy tonight...

Any help would be appreciated

jadison

[hd581]

Hey I saw a video card for sale at CompUSA. It was $99. It had a sign next to it: We install $49.

And they prob keep it back there for like 2 hours to hide the fact that it took 5 minutes.

[Mntsnow]

Jadison, Personally I would charge for the 1st trip but not the 2nd in this case, as you were unable to complete the wanted repairs on the first trip (this is due to the fact you didnt have the parts avaliable to sell to them) If you had the needed parts and THEY choose to buy them elsewhere and have YOU install them then charge for the 2nd trip).

I charge on average 20 bucks for house call (within 15 miles and 1 buck per mile over) + hourly rate.

Mntsnow

[This message has been edited by Mntsnow (edited 03-12-2000).]

[oblivion]

If you give him sweet deals on the labor,he will be most grateful to you(and keep in mind that you probally enjoy it much),and he will call you again and tell his friends about your service....I would not recommend charging some high rate to work on his box I.E. 30$ per hour......try to make a minimum
say 4hour charge,and say about $15-20 per hour.


And if you muck something up and you know it is your fault......make it right for free.

And you could also maybe work out deals to get the old parts for free,or dirt cheap,and you can then sell them here or other places to make even more $$$$.

[jadison]

ur right...If a component on the computer that I worked with messes up, it's my fault and I'll fix it free of charge, BUT if after I complete a job and I check the whole system 4 errors and there's none, and after I leave and the customer messes something up-->it's not my fault = I don't pay.

I'll have to have a policy that's on paper, so that the customer understands the payment and the "warranty". That's what I'm working on right now.

Thanks 4 ur help

[shadow]

I have done repairs for friends and contacts on electronics for years...tv's, vcr's, etc. and I found most friends and family want to pay something for the time put in.
I usually charge 1/2 to 1/3 regular shop rates which makes everyone involved happy. I hope to get into more computer repairs as I learn more and maybe get some training.
I am looking into that now, maybe take an A+ course at least.
PW

[jadison]

BTW, do highschools offer A+ training so that u can become certified. I heard some rumors about that @ my local high school here in San Antonio, TX ... where can u get A+ certified, i'm interested

[RobRich]

Not to sure about high schools, but man local community colleges offer an A+ certicifaction course. Usually it's either a couple of long Saturday classes, or a series of night courses. You can also check about just taking the test, but most colleges seel it as a package deal, offering both training courses and the testing.

As for the costs, since your not certified, then I would recommend charging about 25-50 percent of what the professionals in you area get. That way you make some money, learn more about computers through practical experience, and get a good supply of customers once your name gets around. You definitely need to create some type of policy for your work. You don't won't to be resonsible for something that someone else has done to one of your serviced systems. Write a non-specific agreement, then leave a space for more detailed information so that you directly clarify what you did and how you intend to warantee it (with the proper exclusions), then have the customer sign it. A witness to sign it also helps if legal action is ever to take place.

i like what was said earlier about those places that like to keep systems for a long time just to make the customer think something really important is going on. I used to do customer tech work for a large nation-wide retailer (most in the US probably shop there quite often, but I can't diclose it due to a binding agreement). The official policy is three days turn around time, whether it was installing a piece of software or completely changing out a motherboard. Several people in management had issues with me, because my actual turn around times where extremely fast (even "while you shop" in most cases). It made their other lazy and unqualified service techs look bad, and they did nothing but complain about it. I find it unusual to complain to an employee for offering good customer support. I was performing my job effieciently and getting great customer praise. Needless to say, my thoughts and their thought conflicted, so I dropped that place rather fast.

[wyvrn]

Wow this thread has been great. Thanks for everyone who responded. I am thinking about advertising my services at a local university here, and was wondering about the pricing structure myself. You all have answered my questions. Cheers !!!

[MadMatt]

Great thread!

I see people advertise in the paper around here (Nor Cal) for $20-30/hr. I have done work in the $20/hr range and people are GLAD to pay, especially when you take 5 minutes to fix a resource conflict that the local superstore had diagnosed as a bad video card that needed a $150 replacement.

You'll also find that as you build a rapport with people, they will ask you to consult on purchases. I went with a friend of a friend down to the afore-mentioned superstore and was able to save him about $600 (Salesmen thought his wife should have a deluxe 600mhz PIII system so she could send e-mail to her sister!). He was so pleased, he split the savings with me and has refered two other people to me. That's $300 for about 1 1/2 hours of dealing with a jerky, ignorant sales puke - I still have occasional pangs of guilt...

You're doing fine Jadison. I can tell you already know much more than some of my tech support colleagues and they make $35-45/k per year. Make sure you get the formal education, too. It really does make a difference in your career.