How do I price my work ?

[George_Bud]

So, my friend, family and friends of my friends, know that I can do stuff with computers.

Installing a windows, build a pc, general diagnosis of a pc, data recovery, cleaning, or even soldering things and stuff like that.

I am not really good with money, so when ever they ask, "How much ?" for what I did, I always say something like, "I dont know. How much you like".

I don't know how to price the stuff I do with PC or laptops. Can someone point me to a video or book or something to help me with this ?

I will move out soon and get myself a new apartment. I would like to do this as a hobby. Any extra money wouldn't be bad.

[Princess Luna]

I'd just charge a lil less than specialized local shops in your area would normally do...

[George_Bud]

5 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

I'd just charge a lil less than specialized local shops in your area would normally do...

Thank you your Majesty. It is an honor to be visited by your presence. :))

 

Serious now, thank. But I still dont know how much. I never used specialized local shops to fix my pc. I never had to. 

How much is an OS instalation in your area, and cleaning a pc / laptop ?

[Princess Luna]

2 minutes ago, George_Bud said:

?

Since I am currently living in Brazil which is a lot more deficient in this type of service my personal experience probably isn't valid enough to serve as a base to yours.

 

You could always just do a lil research on your own, visit these places and what not.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

I charge $50 for a build and $25 for service, plus parts price, obviously.

[George_Bud]

1 minute ago, orbitalbuzzsaw said:

$25 for service

Like all kind of services ? What about data recovery and cleaning ? 

[George_Bud]

4 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

Since I am currently living in Brazil which is a lot more deficient in this type of service my personal experience probably isn't valid enough to serve as a base to yours.

 

You could always just do a lil research on your own, visit these places and what not.

As I will move soon, I might do that in my new city.  

[Crunchy Dragon]

25 minutes ago, George_Bud said:

Installing a windows, build a pc, general diagnosis of a pc, data recovery, cleaning, or even soldering things and stuff like that.

Installing Windows is basically a cakewalk unless the HDD isn't formatted properly. I live in the US, so my prices would be in USD. You can adjust as needed depending on country.

 

But for installing Windows, I would charge no less than $20. Maybe up to $30 if I need to format the drive.

Building, I would charge the price of the parts plus labor, so maybe just $10-15. I have a lot of experience building, so it doesn't take much for me.

General diagnosis, maybe $20.

Data recovery, I've never done so no real idea.

Cleaning, I would charge $25.

Never soldered or needed to solder anything, so no input there.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

11 minutes ago, George_Bud said:

Like all kind of services ? What about data recovery and cleaning ? 

I just charge a flat $25 fee for every 2 hours and $50 for a build plus price of parts

[d3sl91]

In my area, and at a shop I used to work at: 

Services:

Diagnostics: $60 (not charged if you do the recommended repairs). 
Virus Removal and Tune: $150
Tune: $80
System Setup: $50
 

Al la carte:

OS Installs: $120

Hardware Installations: $40/ea
Software Installations: $40/ea
Data backups or transfers to new drives: $70 per 100GB, cap at $250
 

There were other services, that I am forgetting exactly how we billed them - such as weird non-routine repairs. Likely we just did the hourly rate for the labor. Such as, tearing down a laptop to replace bad power jacks, screens, keyboards. Alot of those intensive repairs were billed at an estimated hourly rate. $80 minimum for the labor, + $40/hr after that. 

But really, you need to base your prices off of how much you need to make in order to at least break even. A shop has much higher operating costs vs someone in their garage fixing computers, for example. 

[George_Bud]

18 minutes ago, d3sl91 said:

Al la carte

AI ? I can't code an AI. :))

[George_Bud]

24 minutes ago, d3sl91 said:

In my area, and at a shop I used to work at: 

Services:

Diagnostics: $60 (not charged if you do the recommended repairs). 
Virus Removal and Tune: $150
Tune: $80
System Setup: $50
 

Al la carte:

OS Installs: $120

Hardware Installations: $40/ea
Software Installations: $40/ea
Data backups or transfers to new drives: $70 per 100GB, cap at $250
 

There were other services, that I am forgetting exactly how we billed them - such as weird non-routine repairs. Likely we just did the hourly rate for the labor. Such as, tearing down a laptop to replace bad power jacks, screens, keyboards. Alot of those intensive repairs were billed at an estimated hourly rate. $80 minimum for the labor, + $40/hr after that. 

But really, you need to base your prices off of how much you need to make in order to at least break even. A shop has much higher operating costs vs someone in their garage fixing computers, for example. 

When I install an OS I usually take 50 lei ( 12,5 $ ) + doing the windows updates and installing microsoft office. 

I guess that wouldnt be a bad deal in USA. :))

50 lei is like, approximate 10 bags of chips. Something like that.

[Tosa]

I recently helped my uncle with his computer, which didn't boot. He don't know much about computers, but he though he'd gotten a virus or something. I figured the HDD was dying, and was able to recover his files so he could RMA it.

Now I didn't charge him anything for this. However, I did have a favor to ask of him: My car's turbo was broken, and my dad found a cheap replacement online. I don't have the necessary skills to replace the turbo myself, but my uncle does. That's a win-win.

[George_Bud]

1 minute ago, Tosa said:

I recently helped my uncle with his computer, which didn't boot. He don't know much about computers, but he though he'd gotten a virus or something. I figured the HDD was dying, and was able to recover his files so he could RMA it.

Now I didn't charge him anything for this. However, I did have a favor to ask of him: My car's turbo was broken, and my dad found a cheap replacement online. I don't have the necessary skills to replace the turbo myself, but my uncle does. That's a win-win.

Yea. I guess that would work. I dont charge my family, like my cousins, uncles. I dont even ask for anything. If they decide to give me something they will do, if not, not. Fam is important.  

[d3sl91]

Heres the thing though, by giving out completely free services, you are setting a precedent. If you do plan on trying to make money off of this, you will need to start charging people real money - or else you will be known as "that guy who does cheap work". Not "That professional I know". 

[Jtalk4456]

ok question, what is your area? I can look up some local prices and give you some more specific info based on it

[George_Bud]

1 minute ago, Jtalk4456 said:

ok question, what is your area? I can look up some local prices and give you some more specific info based on it

Europe, Romania, Satu Mare. 

[George_Bud]

3 minutes ago, d3sl91 said:

Heres the thing though, by giving out completely free services, you are setting a precedent. If you do plan on trying to make money off of this, you will need to start charging people real money - or else you will be known as "that guy who does cheap work". Not "That professional I know". 

Yea, I know. But I will move soon. I will keep that in mind when I will do some pc work next time.

[Jtalk4456]

56 minutes ago, George_Bud said:

Europe, Romania, Satu Mare. 

I can't read that language, but i found a few for you to compare to

I'd go 10-15% lower price as a rule of thumb

http://saimonelectronics.ro/ro/

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Simon+Electronics/@47.7975532,22.8455252,13z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sit+services+in+satu+mare!3m4!1s0x4738060895b2ac17:0x788b0cce56d0cb27!8m2!3d47.794521!4d22.868828

 

[Canada EH]

2 hours ago, George_Bud said:

"How much ?"

How much is your time worth?

How much is your knowledge worth?

Look at the prices your competitors charge?

 

It is really that simple.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, George_Bud said:

Al la carte

 

AI ? I can't code an AI. :))

Also apparently cant speak french.

 

But yeah charge about 20$ and the cost of the replacement parts if needed. But it depends on how poor the regio  you live in is, so maybe 10-15 dollars.

1 hour ago, George_Bud said:

 approximate 10 bags of chips.

But what brand? Is it supermarkets own nobrand chips or Lays?

[bimmerman]

Figure out how long does it take you to do any given task you mention, in terms of hours.

 

What is minimum wage in your area? Or, how much do you value your time? $10/hr, $20/hr, etc.

 

That's your bill rate. Multiply the time it took you to do X with your hourly charge rate and then that is what the job costs.

 

I.e.. If it takes you 2 hours to build a computer, and your rate is $20/hr, bill the client 2 hrs * $20/hr = $40.

 

That is assuming you have zero overhead (eg tools, software, supplies like zipties, fasteners, etc) that need to be paid off/paid down. In that case, bill higher than your desired hourly take-home.

 

I.e. You need to buy $30 worth of incidental parts and tools, with which you can build computers for people. You need to pay for this with invoicing, not out of pocket. Instead of billing just for your time, increase the bill rate to cover this overhead. I.e., if you were asking $20/hr before, ask $25 or $30.

 

The idea here is that if you are being paid for working on computers, don't get screwed. Get paid a wage for your skills and to cover your expenses. Don't pay for stuff out of pocket.

 

Add a whole bunch of additional overhead expenses (staff, rent, soften effects of non-billable time) and you have why lawyers bill $500/hr or more. Their take-home is far less than that.

[George_Bud]

1 hour ago, Some Random Member said:

Also apparently cant speak french.

 

But yeah charge about 20$ and the cost of the replacement parts if needed. But it depends on how poor the regio  you live in is, so maybe 10-15 dollars.

But what brand? Is it supermarkets own nobrand chips or Lays?

Lays. A 155g bag.

[Guest]

10 hours ago, George_Bud said:

Lays. A 155g bag.

Then that's a fair price.

[Canada EH]

or just undercut the competition in hopes you make it big later