Starting my own pc repair business, please read.

[Alvis]

I am starting a pc repair business. This is not meant to be a means of supporting myself, although I wouldn't mind if it turned into that. Right now, I would just like to learn more about pc's(I do have enough experience to repair them) and get experience with different kinds of pc problems. I would also like to earn a little extra income. This is going to be a "see how it goes" thing. Right now, I am not planning on making a lot of money, just not losing any.

I have already read up on the negative aspects of having your own pc repair business. But I believe my attitude of at first wanting to learn and just making a little money will serve me well. I have already read the book "Start Your Own Computer Business, the Unembellished Guide" by Morris Rosenthal. It has a lot of good tips, but of course it can't replace experience.

So far I have a dba license. Here some things I am looking for comments on:

1. Who do I get replacement parts from for maintenance on customer pc's? By mail, such as Newegg, or a place like Fry's or Best Buy? Or all three?

2. What kind of rates should I charge?
I am currently thinking $50/hour in home and $35/hour at my shop(garage). I probably need to raise these a little. I have noticed that some places like Best Buy charge a set fee for certain tasks(such as virus removal) but charge by the hour for troubleshooting. I live in the Dallas area.

3. When you buy and install a replacement part(i.e. modem), do you mark up the part's cost or do you charge what you paid?

I'll probably think of more questions later. Your responses would be appreciated.

Thanks.

PS
Constructive criticism is appreciated, but please be nice and civil.

 

[Joker81]

Parts maybe Cost + shipping. If you get it lower then what the user could get it for then maybe +10%. Sounds like a good price. What you need to do then is hire a college student that does all the work for you and you give them $20/hour. You make $15/hour just ording parts and stuff.

 

[mcveigh]

I charge 75 hour but don't have a shop jsut a small office so 99% is on site, get your parts anywhere you can. mark EVERYTHING UP even if it's only a dollar, you can afford to give stuff away.

get a good accountant.

 

[jjessico]

When I do work for people that involves new parts I tell them what it would cost at Best Buy to get it this afternoon or what the mail order cost is and let them decide. I do not mark up prices on hardware as it helps make happy customers.

As for your rates, they are decent. I suppose you can get more money per hour in Dallas than in a smaller town.

 

[Kenazo]

find an actual supplier once you are doing enough volume to warrant it. this will bring down your prices substantially.

 

[PanzerIV]

Originally posted by: Kenazo
find an actual supplier once you are doing enough volume to warrant it. this will bring down your prices substantially.

I know a guy who runs a retail computer shop and rarely are his prices much better than Neweggs to be honest. Not enough where I would have to go through the whole tax ID thing and set up an account. For small to medium volume which I am sure this guy will be dealing with a place like Newegg is fine. l

 

[benliong]

If you can afford, stock some of the more common replacements like power supply or optical drives. Things are always cheaper when you buy in bulk, so even if you don't want to mark up the parts prices, you would still be making money on parts.

I think it really does help in having a store, even a tiny little one for people to drop off their computer when they go off to work.

Just my 2 cents.

I know a guy who runs a retail computer shop and rarely are his prices much better than Neweggs to be honest. Not enough where I would have to go through the whole tax ID thing and set up an account. For small to medium volume which I am sure this guy will be dealing with a place like Newegg is fine. l

He's right. Prices are rarely a lot cheaper than Neweggs, but it's still worth setting it up just in case people can't wait for the parts to be shipped to you from newegg.

I would suggest to do a on-site pickup but not on-site repair if you want to do onsite at all. That way you can pass the work to the guy you hire.

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: Kenazo
find an actual supplier once you are doing enough volume to warrant it. this will bring down your prices substantially.

Not going to happen. I have seen wholesale price lists and most of them are equal or higher than pricewatch

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: PanzerIV

Originally posted by: Kenazo
find an actual supplier once you are doing enough volume to warrant it. this will bring down your prices substantially.

I know a guy who runs a retail computer shop and rarely are his prices much better than Neweggs to be honest. Not enough where I would have to go through the whole tax ID thing and set up an account. For small to medium volume which I am sure this guy will be dealing with a place like Newegg is fine. l

That is what I was going to say....No way can you get it cheaper then buying it from Newegg for the most part.


Sysadmin

 

[amdskip]

I fix them on the side and just get stuff from newegg and sometimes forsale/trade. I do mark the stuff up but I'm too nice and usually do no end up charging enough. I replace a Dell laptops keyboard and modem the other day. I charged $45 labor and he had the parts for it already. It took me like 10 minutes and it was easy. It probably wasn't enough though.

 

[marquee]

You'll need to also consider what you want to charge if you come across a computer you just cant fix. Or if you spend 3 hours find the problem, and inform the customer the parts will cost $200, and the customer decides not to repair the PC afterall, how much do you charge for your time.

 

[Ranger X]

Problem with PC repair business is there are one too many nerds willing to do it for free. It cheapens the knowledge.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: amdskip
I fix them on the side and just get stuff from newegg and sometimes forsale/trade. I do mark the stuff up but I'm too nice and usually do no end up charging enough. I replace a Dell laptops keyboard and modem the other day. I charged $45 labor and he had the parts for it already. It took me like 10 minutes and it was easy. It probably wasn't enough though.

Wait.....you charged $45 in labor alone for a ten minute job? And you're saying it wasn't enough? My god....I'm glad I know how to fix my own sh!t!

 

[TSDible]

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet

Originally posted by: amdskip
I fix them on the side and just get stuff from newegg and sometimes forsale/trade. I do mark the stuff up but I'm too nice and usually do no end up charging enough. I replace a Dell laptops keyboard and modem the other day. I charged $45 labor and he had the parts for it already. It took me like 10 minutes and it was easy. It probably wasn't enough though.

Wait.....you charged $45 in labor alone for a ten minute job? And you're saying it wasn't enough? My god....I'm glad I know how to fix my own sh!t!

If it was onsite, $45 sounds about right.

Many shops will charge 30 min or 1 hr minimum regardless of how long it takes.

 

[Joker81]

and don't forget to have a expedited service. 5-7 days normal to fix problems. expedited = 48. cost $50 more or something.

 

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: TSDible

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet

Originally posted by: amdskip
I fix them on the side and just get stuff from newegg and sometimes forsale/trade. I do mark the stuff up but I'm too nice and usually do no end up charging enough. I replace a Dell laptops keyboard and modem the other day. I charged $45 labor and he had the parts for it already. It took me like 10 minutes and it was easy. It probably wasn't enough though.

Wait.....you charged $45 in labor alone for a ten minute job? And you're saying it wasn't enough? My god....I'm glad I know how to fix my own sh!t!

If it was onsite, $45 sounds about right.

Many shops will charge 30 min or 1 hr minimum regardless of how long it takes.

I picked it up and delivered it back the next business day.

 

[Antisocial Virge]

Originally posted by: Ranger X
Problem with PC repair business is there are one too many nerds willing to do it for free. It cheapens the knowledge.

Bingo. Around here this 45 and 75 an hour would get you laughed at. "I'll just get my 15 year old neighbor to do it for nothing" and 9 times out of 10 he would.

 

[gistech1978]

i like your username; you have a feast named after you.
based on the two basic tenents of liquor and revenge.

 

[rubix]

i never charge people when i fix their computers. it feels wrong because it's doing the same 5 types of things or whatever over and over again.

 

[benliong]

Originally posted by: rubix
i never charge people when i fix their computers. it feels wrong because it's doing the same 5 types of things or whatever over and over again.

Well, the same goes for painting the house, fixing the piping, and a lot of other services. The golden rule is, if people are willing to pay for it, business will charge it.

Plus sometimes time really is more important than money. Most businesses won't mind paying a little more to get things done fast so they can get back to business and earn more money. It's all about opportunity cost. Fixing personal computers for that much, on the other hand, is hard to justify.

 

[Workin']

Originally posted by: Alvis
Here some things I am looking for comments on:

1. Who do I get replacement parts from for maintenance on customer pc's? By mail, such as Newegg, or a place like Fry's or Best Buy? Or all three?

Wherever is cheapest if time is not an issue. If time is an issue, wherever is cheapest that can meet the time constraint.

2. What kind of rates should I charge?

I charge $70/hr or a flat fee depending on whether I can adequately determine the scope of the problem. Usually I charge $70/hr to diagnose the problem then a flat fee to fix it.

3. When you buy and install a replacement part(i.e. modem), do you mark up the part's cost or do you charge what you paid?

Definitely mark up the cost. The more expensive the part, the higher the mark up.

I don't work on "personal" computers without the explicit understanding that my time costs money, my services are valuable, and I deserve to get paid for my knowledge. If you want the kid next door to fix it, be my guest. Remember you usually get what you pay for.

Businesses understand that people should be paid for their time, my fee has never been an issue, ever. Even when I charge what I think is an outlandish amount of money. If you know your stuff, or even if it just looks like you know your stuff, people will gladly pay you for your services. For example, to install a broadband router on someone's cable internet connection, I get a router from newegg for about $30. It takes about 15 minutes to install and configure. Then I spend another 15 minutes explaining to the customer what it does and how it protects their computer - in terms they can understand. Then they happily pay me $150 for $30 worth of parts and 1/2 hour labor.

 

[mcveigh]

Originally posted by: Workin'

Originally posted by: Alvis
Here some things I am looking for comments on:

1. Who do I get replacement parts from for maintenance on customer pc's? By mail, such as Newegg, or a place like Fry's or Best Buy? Or all three?

Wherever is cheapest if time is not an issue. If time is an issue, wherever is cheapest that can meet the time constraint.

2. What kind of rates should I charge?

I charge $70/hr or a flat fee depending on whether I can adequately determine the scope of the problem. Usually I charge $70/hr to diagnose the problem then a flat fee to fix it.

3. When you buy and install a replacement part(i.e. modem), do you mark up the part's cost or do you charge what you paid?

Definitely mark up the cost. The more expensive the part, the higher the mark up.

I don't work on "personal" computers without the explicit understanding that my time costs money, my services are valuable, and I deserve to get paid for my knowledge. If you want the kid next door to fix it, be my guest. Remember you usually get what you pay for.

Businesses understand that people should be paid for their time, my fee has never been an issue, ever. Even when I charge what I think is an outlandish amount of money. If you know your stuff, or even if it just looks like you know your stuff, people will gladly pay you for your services. For example, to install a broadband router on someone's cable internet connection, I get a router from newegg for about $30. It takes about 15 minutes to install and configure. Then I spend another 15 minutes explaining to the customer what it does and how it protects their computer - in terms they can understand. Then they happily pay me $150 for $30 worth of parts and 1/2 hour labor.

amen!

 

[SNC]

My rates are $96.00 per Hr. One Hr min. Network Diag. 125.00 per Hr.
Drive times over an hour are billed at 1/2 rate both ways.
I never have a complaint.

You will be hard pressed to find prices lower than NewEgg or ZipZoomFly.
I have accounts at all the big guns. They are all about 10-15% higher.
Buying in bulk does not allways save money. Most times you pay to have 10 CDROMs shipped. A single drive, depending on where is free or nominal.
Just my $0.02

 

[Workin']

One of my biggest clients is a plumbing contractor - sometimes they tease me about my $70/hour rate, then I just ask them if they would rather have one of their plumbers fix the computers. Since union plumbers at the shop are charged out at $86/hr they get the point.

 

[Alvis]

anks for all the great feedback. I don't doubt my ability to fix a pc or to solve a problem, what I am lacking is experience in charging people for my work. I want to be fair, but I also don't want to rip myself off.

I have a question on a job I might me offered. It involves setting up a network so that three computers can use the same printer. Two of the machines are laptops and one is a desktop. Currently, there is no network set up. My suggestion to them will be to set up a wireless network as I really don't want to wire the house and I think it would end up costing them more than going wireless. Incidentally, the client does not have broadband they are sharing with all three machines so that is why they don't have a network. I think they will need a wap/router, 2 pcmcia wifi cards(for the laptops) and a pci wifi card for the desktop. (I am open to suggestion for different equipment set ups.)

Here are the prices I am thinking of charging(labor only, doesn't include parts costs):

Wireless LAN Access Point Hub $50.00
Wireless PC Card Installation (per system) $50.00
(This is from my tentative price list.)

Based on these prices, would you charge $200 in all(3x$50 for each pc card and 1x$50 for the wap/router) ?

Or would you cut them a slight discount because of setting it up all at one time?

I know that most of this I am just going to have to learn from experience. To reiterate, I would also like to be fair, yet also not rip myself offEdited:

As someone pointed out to me, I won't need a wifi card for one of the machines if I connect it to the wap/router via a cable, thus saving them $50 in labor plus however much in parts.