Charging for personal laptop fix

[dibekem]

Hi guys.

 

Is £25 an hour reasonable to charge a users who wants me to fix their personal laptop?

 

Thanks

[GeekyPete]

Yes, more than reasonable.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Sounds fair. Depending on what I think the problem might be i'd either do that or charge a flat fifty.

[dibekem]

Thanks;)

[enjay]

That's reasonable, I think. You could charge more or less depending on how much of your free time you want to give over to fixing colleagues' computers...

[witch]

I charge £25 for the first hour and then £20 an hour subsequently

[Pyroman]

Depends if i like them or not!

[Oaktech]

Depends what it is...

 

I usually charge in beer for quick config changes, memory upgrades or 'set it cleaning and leave it' fixes.

 

We usually charge between £15 and £25 for anything else depending on whether the laptop is a b*tch to work on or not!

[dibekem]

Thanks for all the replies! Ive been charging similar prices already and no one complained just wanted make sure I'm not ripping them off!

[enjay]

Thanks for all the replies! Ive been charging similar prices already and no one complained just wanted make sure I'm not ripping them off!

 

If they've not complained, then the price is obviously acceptable to them, so don't worry about it!

[dibekem]

Cool. Thanks;)

[yugo]

So I was asked to reinstall vista on a laptop yesterday and started it off around 6 pm, still had the laptop on last night at 11.30 after waiting for SP2 and other updates to install and i'll finish it off this evening. What would yous charge for the like of this? I quoted £30.

[Oaktech]

I tend to work on the amount of time I am hands on with it, not waiting for stuff because I could be getting on with something else during that time.

[cromertech]

I would say £30 is reasonable for that, I generally charge between 25 and 40 for os install depending on the version (how many times it will need to reboot for windows updates is a good indication as the older the system the more updates are required). You have to think about the actual time spent working on the computer and not how much time the task actually take. For example I'll charge £15 for a virus and spyware scan and fix as it's a set it and leave task.

[yugo]

Ok thanks for clarifying, hands on time it is.

[Pete10141748]

For me it depends on who it is, how quickly they need it, if I had plans and move them or if I was free anyway.

 

I've done smal jobs like OS installs for £10-15 and set it running while I watch TV through to complete HDD recovery and replacement in a short timeframe (that same evening, her daughter was off to uni and needed it that next day) which I cancelled a gaming night with my mates for and got £80 for doing.

 

I have a "no parents" rule that is agreed with the headteacher, too many issues could occur from going to a pupils parents' house to do something (call-backs, wanting another fix for free, money issues with being paid, if something goes wrong a week later and they want to blame what I did.... all that stuff).

Edited January 22, 2014 by Pete10141748

[newpersn]

I only do staff own personal laptops. I charged £25 for a OS reinstall with updates.

 

I say unless you need back a.s.a.p then i take around 2/3 days. (i only do it when the kids are in bed, so after (7-8pm)

[chazzy2501]

Do it for free as a favour or charge properly. Remember when you undercharge for your work you're making it hard for others (to whom it might be their only income) to ask what they are worth. People currently balk at a £100 PC fix but would pay a plumber the same and think they got a deal.

 

Because people don't value their skills and undercharge.

[GeekyPete]

For this kind of job I charge by the benchtime at £5/hr. That's how long it's on my workbench for while I'm keeping an eye on it but can still do other things. Again, minimum of £25/five hours or it's not worth the hassle.