ScrapSilicon
Lifer
- Apr 14, 2001
- 13,625
- 0
- 0
:thumbsdown:
:thumbsup:Originally posted by: John
If Ad-Aware is all you run to clean up a system it's no wonder your labor rates are so inexpensive.I run Ad-Aware, Spybot, Spy Sweeper, CWShredder, HiJack This, scan w/ Trend and Panda online virus scans and still have to do a few manual file/regedits to get some system 100% clean.
T2urtle
Diamond Member
- Oct 18, 2004
- 3,432
- 3
- 81
i'm never going to do sidework ever again.
I did one for my g/f's uncle i was gonna get paid to built them a comp. $50 labor plus parts. parts come to $300. So they owed me $350. I got paid $110 a month after i gave them the system no problems period. another month after they screwed something up and i repaired it thinking i'll get my 240$ now. NOPE. they 3 months after that the computer doesn't post. now i have the computer sitting here right now. thinking what should i do. they fried the board. I dont wanna be mean or anything but $240 is a lot of money to me. Plus the cost of a new board. I figure i just wanna get done with it. i'm just gonna repair the comp and hold it untill i get my $240 aleast and then give them back the comp and say the hell with it. it breaks u take it to geeksquad or w/e
I will never say " oh i can help with that " ever again.
I did one for my g/f's uncle i was gonna get paid to built them a comp. $50 labor plus parts. parts come to $300. So they owed me $350. I got paid $110 a month after i gave them the system no problems period. another month after they screwed something up and i repaired it thinking i'll get my 240$ now. NOPE. they 3 months after that the computer doesn't post. now i have the computer sitting here right now. thinking what should i do. they fried the board. I dont wanna be mean or anything but $240 is a lot of money to me. Plus the cost of a new board. I figure i just wanna get done with it. i'm just gonna repair the comp and hold it untill i get my $240 aleast and then give them back the comp and say the hell with it. it breaks u take it to geeksquad or w/e
I will never say " oh i can help with that " ever again.
The reality is that all you have to sell are the hours of your day. Every one of those hours that you give away is not just money not earned, but money you will never earn. That hour will never be paid for.
I'm not sugesting you never do someone a favor, or that you not help out someone in need, you just need to be aware of how much you're giving away.
I'm not sugesting you never do someone a favor, or that you not help out someone in need, you just need to be aware of how much you're giving away.
Um .... each hour of my life doensn't have a dollar amount attached to it. I don't live to make money, I live to...... live. You seem to be suggesting that one should spend evey hour of their day at their job making money, as that is the point of life. Sometimes its just nice to do a favor for someone.
slightlyhuman
Lifer
- Oct 9, 1999
- 19,632
- 38
- 91
erikistired
Diamond Member
- Sep 27, 2000
- 9,739
- 0
- 0
when i worked for a company that fixed pcs the charges were 60/hr in shop and 80/hr on site. when i do stuff on the side i usually charge around 50 for however long it takes unless it's very involved (a reinstall is something that you can do almost unattended these days) like spyware/virus removal and then i might charge 100. the work i do is for companies tho and not family friends or old people. they all bought dells so i tell them to deal with dell.
you're going to end up answering a lot of phone calls for free, so it's best to get paid fairly up front. that's just how pc repair goes. i'm not saying you should gouge people, but at the same time you're going to get followup calls and whatnot that you can't really charge for.
erikistired
Diamond Member
- Sep 27, 2000
- 9,739
- 0
- 0
Originally posted by: John
If Ad-Aware is all you run to clean up a system it's no wonder your labor rates are so inexpensive.
yeah. i haven't had anything as easy as just running adaware in awhile. it took me 8 hours of futzing around to get all the garbage off a friend's laptop recently. that's not 8 hours of sleeping, that's 8 hours of actual work. of course he hooked me up later when i needed a new paintball marker, so it all works out.
Alot of people don't have a problem paying $60-$80 to fix their computer if you do a quality job. If someones a cheap skate, chances are you don't want to deal with them.. because their computer is probably old and pieced together with old crap anyways making your life harder when you work on their PC.
I would agree with many of the guys here, just dont do this as a regular hobby. Try to find a fair price, but above all do not make this a big business. It will drive you nuts with the support calls and aggrivations, as well as the potential risks it something gets screwed up by the users.
I did alot of this sort of work during highschool as a side/part time job for family friends and while I did make alot of spending money I wasted alot of time and was frequently frustrated with clients who were poor users.
Got blamed and yelled at over the phone for a WiFi setup I put together when all it took to get it working again was flipping the power reset button on the router.
Also had an old lady contact me daily for about a month on questions I was not getting paid for and didnt really have any experience with/could not answer intelligably over the phone.
Spyware and virus' are the worst because 90% of the time the users are doing P2P or looking at naughty sites and even if you tell them "dont do XYX" or you will get spyware they continue to do so and after "fixing" the computer 2 or 3 times they blame you, because they are not satisfied with your work.
Just not worth it, i am thankfully in college and only helpout hallmates now, ones i am friends with and its fun because I do it as a nice favor, no money is exchanged and everyone feels good. When i get home for the summer i am hiding because the last thing i want is the hassel and the pains of fixing computers.
I did alot of this sort of work during highschool as a side/part time job for family friends and while I did make alot of spending money I wasted alot of time and was frequently frustrated with clients who were poor users.
Got blamed and yelled at over the phone for a WiFi setup I put together when all it took to get it working again was flipping the power reset button on the router.
Also had an old lady contact me daily for about a month on questions I was not getting paid for and didnt really have any experience with/could not answer intelligably over the phone.
Spyware and virus' are the worst because 90% of the time the users are doing P2P or looking at naughty sites and even if you tell them "dont do XYX" or you will get spyware they continue to do so and after "fixing" the computer 2 or 3 times they blame you, because they are not satisfied with your work.
Just not worth it, i am thankfully in college and only helpout hallmates now, ones i am friends with and its fun because I do it as a nice favor, no money is exchanged and everyone feels good. When i get home for the summer i am hiding because the last thing i want is the hassel and the pains of fixing computers.
What the? That doesn't make any sense. If you have such a good heart, then why is it ok to overcharge them for parts. Whatever...
Edit: I'm pretty much in the same boat. I have been working on family and friends' computers for free for some time now. I was wondering if I should start charging them, or at least advertise and do this for money on the side for strangers.
This has nothing to do with being mean. If that same person couldn't fix something on his car, you think the mechanic is going to give him a break on labor (which typically averages $85/hr for car repair these days)? They have employees and other overhead to pay.
In this case, you work for yourself, but that's almost no different. You have to maintain your tools (both mechanical and software) AND make sure the repair is actually worth your time, not to mention that you're likely driving out to the client's house (costing you money in gas and wear/tear). I personally do flat fees because they're more consistent (for example, I charge $40 for a restore, which includes finding the customer's drivers). $45/hr extra for labor-intensive repairs. That's more than fair. Best Buy will charge a LOT more. I should know, I used to be a tech there before I got tired of the crap and left. $300+ for a restore/data backup/"tune-up" was typical, and now the prices are even higher now that they have the new "Geek Squad" thing....
MrControversial,
Erasmus-x has given the most logical advice so far.
Bottom line is that you need to charge them a rate that you think is fair. You've already rejected some suggestions this thread because you feel it's too high or a rip-off, etc. You asked what's "normal fee for repairing..."
The so-called "normal" fees depends on the area you live in and the going rate in your city. Here in Chicago, the going rate is anywhere from $45-$95/ hr. It all depends on the type of work you need done. It's nice that you have a good heart or not inclined to rip people off. The reality is that these people that you are helping out - would eventually have to go to Best Buy or pay exhorbitant fees elsewhere if you weren't helping them.
For you, it doesn't sound like you do this as a primary source of income - but just on the side which you do sometimes for free. If you did this for a living, then you charge accordingly. In another words, you would charge according to what is the going rate in YOUR area. If i were you, i would charge what I think is fair but certainly NOT more than what these people would pay at a PC repair shop since you do this as a hobby.
I work for Microsoft and all day long I take calls from people all over North America so I can fix thier Windows XP machines. I wish I got the rates per hour that you guys get/ask! And phone support is 100 times harder, especially when the caller is as dumb as a bag of hammers. "Huh? Wutch 'all mean 'right click the mouse?"
You're comparing apples to oranges. What your employer pays you is different from working for yourself as your OWN employer.
I charge a flat initial fee of $70, plus $45 per hour for on site. But, I also offer free support via e-mail for a week after the visit. People like knowing they have someone to turn to for support, even if it's only through e-mail.
I meant it's easier to tack on on labor to the cost when hardware is purchased. I can just say, "The hard drive cost this much." When it's really the hard drive plus the labor. Makes it easier for me to charge for labor.
That's deceiving. If the true cost to you for the part was $40 - just tell them I'll charge you $40 and additional $10 for the labor to install it. Or whatever! You plug in the numbers on what you think is fair and based upon the going rate in your area.
when i was working at this hotel, id fixed this lady computer for her. the power supply in the computer was going bad. So id had to order her a new case and power supply, today powersupply were to big to fit in her case from like 8 years ago, it was this really small tower case. She also wanted a bigger faster harrdrive. the total came to like $111 for the part. and $40 for the labor. All i got out of it was $20 and she has the computer. she was suppose to pay me over a few months. but the hotel fired her and id had no way to contact her.
bob4432
Lifer
- Sep 6, 2003
- 11,727
- 46
- 91
this sh!t will kill you and drive you nuts if you live
i usually help friends out for free but that is coming to an end, i am getting machines now that won't even boot up and they ask me to get it going after i have told them over and over not to use kazaa and other sh!t like that. please use firefox but no, they must use ie... on and on...I hate tech support unless it's for someone who actually appreciates my efforts, which is nobody.
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