How much should I charge?

[shikhan]

Hey guys,
I've got a questions for all of you [geez, that was hard to figure out huh?]
Anyways, Someone has hired me to help him out and do the following:
1) Look at his computer, speed it up a bit
2) Fix his sound [wasn't working]
3) Buy and install a DVD drive [i'm going to get him the Panasonic 16x slot loded for 75.95 shipped - nebetter prices out?]

I've done the first two and I just have to do the thrid. We agreed that I would set the payment for all services before I order the DVD drive and he will pay me then. What should I do? THe first two took about 45 minutes and I still have to figure out why his cd-rom wont play cd's [I think i know but i didn't have the time to stay longer last time] Suggestions on price?

 

[glenn1]

how much time did you spend working on steps 1 and 2? 45 minutes? I'd say 20 bucks or so (plus perhaps ordering a pizza for you to share in) is about right.

 

[FiDo14DiDo]

say "how much ya got?"

 

[natto fire]

Depends how well you know him and how nice you are. I would charge max 20 bucks but I am really nice.

 

[Syborg1211]

If you hit kinda low maybe he'll rely on you for the rest of his life for comps and that means plenty of business and maybe he'll tell his friends so then the chain of your niceness will take place! 20 sounds pretty good, maybe he'll throw a little extra in if you're nice

 

[shikhan]

the first two took about 45+ minutes because he wanted to know what i was doing and a detailed explanation of how sound works. I do not know him at all. The way he "hired" me was because he is a co-worker of my grandfather [note, not friend]. Fixing the cd-rom problems going to be a bitch because I'm gussing the cable from the cd-rom to the mobo has been pulled out and the way the case is designed i've got to rip it all apart and put it back to gether. I'm guessing 2 hours minmum if he keeps a light question and answer session going while i'm working. Not to mention the enviroment is horrible [an odd smelling, unkempt bedroom. not horrible, but not nice either]

 

[Linh]

2 hours to reinstall a CDROM? i figured it couldn;t take more than 10 minutes, on any type of case

 

[frizzlefry]

<< [an odd smelling, unkempt bedroom. not horrible, but not nice either] >>

Anyone smell that? UGH!!!

I'd say charge for about 2 hours of your time. Don't want to rip off the old man. I mean judging from your descrip of the room and that it's your Grandpas coworker. Anyways, about $60-100 should suffice.

 

[RGN]

In this neck of the woods (chicago burbs) you would get $80-$120 for a job like that. I would think more toward the higher end. Remember, you are there because they can't do it.

 

[shikhan]

<< 2 hours to reinstall a CDROM? i figured it couldn;t take more than 10 minutes, on any type of case >>



Well, I need to take off the case, then there's this nice little bar, followed by the air duct, followed by the powersupply [yes, the power supply is loaded sideways and obstructing the way to get to teh cd rom, and then finally, the hd's. Worst case I've ever seen

Edit: Thats assuming that my current guess is right of course...

 

[shikhan]

<< In this neck of the woods (chicago burbs) you would get $80-$120 for a job like that. I would think more toward the higher end. Remember, you are there because they can't do it. >>



Do you guys mean $80-120 for time (w/o price of dvd) or with the price of the dvd factored in? Cuz with 80, I'll barely get $5 over what I'll have to pay to get him the dvd...

 

[Scrapster]

Do you guys mean $80-120 for time (w/o price of dvd) or with the price of the dvd factored in?

No, they mean 80-120 total. (Don't charge him for the DVD)

 

[Deeko]

uhh...$20 for the labor is all I'd charge

 

[1967mustangman]

Don't charge too much. You can help him and have him agree to be a reference, if he like you, you can use him a a reference to future customers.

 

[NovaTerra]

<< Don't charge too much. You can help him and have him agree to be a reference, if he like you, you can use him a a reference to future customers. >>



...Customers who will ALL expect you to charge them 5 bucks for labor and parts at cost...
Unless the guy is on welfare, charge him at least 25/hour. You are not going to do major surgery on his pc, but you have to endure the situation that requires compensation.

 

[przero]

$100.00 for straight se.... Sorry, didn't read the full question.

 

[jeremy806]

Don't charge him at all.

Help other people when you can. If you want to make money working on computers, start a business working on computers. Hasn't someone ever helped you do anything before?

I make recommendations, and sometimes provide tech support for people that I don't know. I have made friends that way. A couple hours is nothing. If yout spent 20 hours that would be very different.

jeremy806

 

[Alias]

Dude,

I do this stuff all the time. I charge a flat rate of $25/hr. That is w/o parts! THEY pay for the parts AND my labor. Like some other poster said, they are paying you 'cause they can't do it. Charge whatever YOU think YOU are WORTH! Right now, I am worth $25/hr. Pretty soon, I am raising my rates to $30/hr! My customers know this and are willing to pay to get good service for a fraction of what they'd pay at Compucrap or other places.

Peace

 

[Syborg1211]

Yes, offer for free and perhaps the old man would be nice insist on a payment then say a ballpark of around 20... don't look to make a profit off of him

 

[Infidelity]

I'd say 25 bucks and a beer.

 

[kami]

tell him to give you 100 bucks and call it even. sounds fair to me. (including dvd drive of course)

 

[beamrider]

Flat $60/hr is what I charge, and people pay it happily, because they know that I'm not going to try to rip them off on parts, or replace something that isn't broken, string them along, etc.