How much would you charge for your services?

[neilmc]

Repaired a laptop over the weekend for a member of staff, and she asked me how much she owed me (question I hate) .

 

As well as having my job I am also self employed but I have never come up with a charge list for what I do. (Because Ive never actually used my self employment properly)

 

So basically the job I did Laptop screen wasn't working totally blank, take case off and cleaned inside of a little bit of dust and pushed all cables back in. Think when I finally got inside the laptop and got it fixed probably 20/30 mins work.

 

So what would you charge?

[pooley]

I would charge £50 mate, if it had been taken to a shop they would of charged more so they getting a deal.

 

It's not just the time the job took it's your expertise your charging for too.

[Garacesh]

If you're pally with said teacher, a pint

 

Although generally when I undetake outside-of-work IT repairs I do so as a favour, and since I have no liability insurance etc I wouldn't deem myself a 'business' and wouldn't charge people. So if you're not pally, this post is utterly pointless to you

Edited May 8, 2012 by Garacesh

[CHR1S]

Depends on the person, I charge £30 p/h to £50 to "customers" and buy me a beer(s) to friends.

 

Your call on what category they fall into

[alexsanger]

I used to charge by the bottle - up to them whether its from the top or bottom (or spirits) shelf. The quality would of course effect the level of service next time!

 

These days a £20 flat rate + parts would be pretty reasonable I reckon.

[Netwacky87]

Yeah snap, I dont charge money just however many bottles/beers they deem

[Jamman960]

I tend to say £20/hr but only charge £50 odd plus parts if I'm able to take it home and do it in my own time.

 

I'm always careful about accepting laptop repair jobs though, one teacher wanted her expensive top of the line dell studio laptop repairing(heatsink/fan replacment) - told her to take it to a shop in the end, I can't afford to replace that thing

[Danp]

I used to be self employed fixing computers etc for personal and business users, I used to charge £25 p/h and never more £75 for personal customers unless I said in advance. For a laptop screen it would have been £25 plus parts, but mates rates are normally quoted at "something fizzy in a can that I can only drink outside school when I dont have to drive", normally works

[soveryapt]

When I'm doing something like this I say I'll look at it for £30 and if possible I'll fix it for that that too, but if it's a longer job or needs parts fitting then I'll let them know how much it will cost based on my looking at it.

 

As said previously, this is cheaper than most shops people would take it too (one teacher I've been looking after recently had to get her laptop repaired locally (she lives about 2 hours from me and it was over the Easter hols) and she wished she'd either waited for me to look at it or driven it to me as it would have been cheaper than the £80 she was charged for the pleasure.

[X-13]

£30 p/h if I don't mind them.

 

£50 p/h if I don't like them.

 

Alcohol and Hobnobs on the rare occasion it's someone I actually like.

[tech_guy]

How much do I charge for my services? It depends on what you're looking for sweetie. Whoops, wrong forum.......

 

[ben604]

I do repairs outside of school and charge £25+VAT per hour, so I usually apply that to the teachers I don't like. If I do, I let them decide what it was worth to them. A bottle of vodka usually does the trick!

[Disaster]

find the PC world services price list and halve it. Still makes you rich but less guilty about it!

[X-13]

find the PC world services price list and halve it. Still makes you rich but less guilty about it!

 

Got a link to that?

[Devontechie]

Got a link to that?

 

Have found some prices on the website..

 

HELP & SUPPORT | Knowhow

[Disaster]

Just tried looking and couldn't find one online. Last one I saw was actually inside PC world at their service desk. I seem to remember seeing a price list there. It had like; Memory Upgrade - £20 (plus cost of stick), Software Installs - £40, PC Health Check - £60 (aka running CCleaner).

I might just pop in next time I'm passing and update my costs

[Disaster]

Have found some prices on the website..

 

HELP & SUPPORT | Knowhow

 

Bang on

[Garacesh]

Just tried looking and couldn't find one online. Last one I saw was actually inside PC world at their service desk. I seem to remember seeing a price list there. It had like; Memory Upgrade - £20 (plus cost of stick), Software Installs - £40, PC Health Check - £60 (aka running CCleaner).

I might just pop in next time I'm passing and update my costs

I might employ this method next time my Gran complains her PC doesn't work xD

[newpersn]

Next door laptop = Reinstalled Whole Os + updates = £30

Unlocking HTC Buzz (wildfire) - French network/Lang = £15

 

Undercharging i feel!

[JJonas]

My going rate is usually a couple of bottles of wine.

[Gardinho]

I've had loads of teachers trying to wrangle free technical support for their home PC as they "often use it for work". If you boot the machine it's nearly always a family member's machine, and full of viruses.

 

On one occasion, I was given a £2 bottle of red wine for 2 hours work. After that, I decided to agree a fee up front. This, however, backfired when said Teacher left a cheap box of chocolates on my desk when I was out of the office, rather than pay the agreed fee.

 

Now I just wouldn't waste my time taking on private jobs, unless it was for a small business (and billed accordingly), or for a friend. I recommend a local support firm and they can see the standard costs involved for themselves.

 

Before I judge whether or not to to take on the job, I ask myself 'Would this teacher offer private tutoring for my kids for free/a £2 bottle of wine/a box of chocolates?' If the answer is yes, I'd repair their machine. It's funny, however, how often the answer to this is 'No'!

[Admiral208]

As mentioned above, the normal fee is a pack of beer. i feel that if i take money from them, I have become their single point of contact if anything goes wrong in the future.

 

If I charge £20 per hour, to that person, I am a business and they have no problem complaining to me when they mess it up again. A pack of beer indicates that its a favor.

[Garacesh]

After that, I decided to agree a fee up front. This, however, backfired when said Teacher left a cheap box of chocolates on my desk when I was out of the office, rather than pay the agreed fee.

If a teacher recurringly acts like a douche when you're doing them a favour, then it's simple. Take the next job they ask you to do. Don't give them their laptop back until they pay. They'll soon learn.

[LpNova_techi]

Buy me a bottle of wine for friends, from £25ph for anyone else. Although I do clean up's for friends for free most of the time they get me something anyway!

[Gardinho]

If a teacher recurringly acts like a douche when you're doing them a favour, then it's simple. Take the next job they ask you to do. Don't give them their laptop back until they pay. They'll soon learn.

 

He just avoids me/eye contact with me now!