How much do I charge?

[Doomshepard]

Hi, I'm not sure where to put this question so hopefully I put this in the right section. Anyways, I am just out of college been out for about 3 months now, and I have recently started my own PC repair business and am having trouble trying to figure out how much I charge people for my services as I hear all types of prices quotes from all over.
I just got a nice contract job with Cingular here in my city to upgrade and repair their PC's and to set up a network in their main office. So far I have repaired 6 of thier computers (basically they wanted more RAM, and fresh installs of the OS and their POS software, along with anti virus and anti spyware) I've also made 5 CAT5 cables for them so they can hook up thier store monitoring system and then in a couple days I am going to go set up their network in the main office., in total Ive been working with them for about 2 to 3 weeks now ordering parts and what not and havent billed them yet.
So my question is how much does anyone think this is worth, I don't want to scare them off from future jobs. So far they have been very happy with my performance as it was all done professionally and in a timely manner. (Heck, I even went to the owner's sisters house and set up her wireless card her new desktop and got her wireles in her house up and running) (was kind of a side thing, they couldn't figure out how to do it) So any I ideas on the cost for a job like this, I think the reference alone is a great one seeing it is Cingular but reference doesn't buy groceries or gas. So any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

 

[schneimj]

If I was in your position I would estimate the time each job took me, round it up to the nearest hour and multiply it by whatever you decide to charge per hour. I wouldn't be shy about charging a large company like Cingular either. I am not a PC technician, rather I am an electrical engineer, but I do have some certifications. I recently was called up and used as a contractor for HP to simply replaced 3 monitors for a firm. The job took about 30min and I was payed a flat rate of $80. I wouldn't undercut yourself at the beginning because if you raise the prices on them later they might not like that.

 

[vinman]

I charge $40 per hour including driving time for businesses and they seem to like it and I charge $25 per hour for individuals. Nobody really complains, but this isn't my only job so it doesn't have to support me either, just extra spending $$$.

 

[double_helix]

Keep almost perfect records starting *right* now. It is vital, especially if this is actual income driven business, to record when you performed the service and how long it took to complete the service. This is benificial twofold: benifits you when creating the invoice and benfits you when claiming taxes or having issues with customers. I also do computer repair for individuals and businesses when I'm not working my normal IT job...

 

[aevm]

I'd make a few phone calls to local companies that do the same sort of thing and ask them how much they'd charge to repair my PC. When they give you the number just say you'll think about it and thanks. It's not very nice, I know, but they know your local market and can give you better numbers than us. For example $40 may be cheap in a city and too expensive in another...

Good luck!

 

[DJ_Jumbles]

Wow, this is a loaded question... To be truthful, repair is a HORRIBLE business to get into. The number one reason is because, especially with software and OS's, you might spend 5 hours figuring out what someone's kid has done in the control panel just to get something to work right again. Considering that a new computer only costs $400, it's a relative rip-off to charge someone $300 for a simple fix that took you 5 hours to troubleshoot. I'm just saying this because I also repair computers on the side and this stuff can get MESSY to say the least. For businesses, it's a simple cost/down-time/benefit decision. For consumers, it's a lot different because you may waste 5 hours troubleshooting just to have them tell you to shove it when you tell them how much the repair is going to cost.
That being said, I charge $50/hour on network/business work. I charge $20/hour to fix consumer computers and mileage if they don't bring it to me. You will never get rich repairing computers. You'll never get rich building computers, either.... kind of sad, but it's true. You can make a decent living, but I do it on the side as supplemental income. I have friends and family that trust me and refer me to people. Some people, I don't even charge them because it's such a simple solution. An example of this is a new DSL install. GeekSquad: $120... me: $0. It's maybe an hour of my time (if the customer is a total technophobe or geriatric) and if the customer has any other problems, I don't have to worry about them going to someone else and getting their rig all f'ed up by some kid from church or (worse) the Geek Squad. (Not to mention that they can't take showers with GS in their house!)... LOL!

 

[antsp1]

I have been doing what you are talking about for the last 5 years as my sole source of income.

Don't listen to anyone that tells you that it's a horrible business to get into, and that you wont get rich off of it, and then in the next breath they tell you they don't charge to install DSL.

I set my business plan off of the local electricians and plumbers price for house calls. Whatever they charge per hour to come out to the house, add some more. Try to beat stupid geek squad (easy) and you should be OK. The main driver in this business is word of mouth. I am to the point now where I am only running single lines in the phone book, and still manage to gross decently for my geography. If I tried I could double my gross in less than a year. But I love my summers off.

I agree with the above poster concerning the long hours dikin around with a prob. Eventually you will learn where the cutoff time is. I usually only troubleshoot for about 30 mins, If I don't have the tiger by tail and beating the living daylights out of it by then, I go with a full OS reinstall w/data transfer. Usually charge about $250 for it all together. And quite honestly If I can make 250 in 4 hours I'm doing pretty good.

Other things to help you.

Find and download the UBCD. Very handy to have on calls.
Also carry Dell 2400 drivers with you at all time.

SP1

 

[scorch]

I also do computer repair on the side. I pretty much charge by what I do. For example if I cant fix an os problem, you know the ones with viruses and spyware, adware all at once along with the customer trying to fix the problem them self getting all sorts of goofy errors on startup...... I digress. To delete and recreate partition, format, install os and drivers along with a few programs I usually charge $120. Usually takes about 2 hours. (I never do a quick format)That also includes basic file backup to usb drive and re-copy to fresh system (10min). Memory install is $45. New brodband setup w/ firewall /anti spy &adware install and update $65. These are all onsite setups. With my prices word of mouth is all I have needed. Going through my work orders, this year alone I have made $2250 between home and business clients and actual work time was 74 hours. It kinda breaks down to 30 bucks an hour. Oh yes, I still way undercut geek squad. But I have said before look at the overhead GS has there cars, maintence on cars, insurance, registration... the list goes on and it is why they have to charge so much for there onsite service. If you enjoy doing it go for it. Last year my total for everything was $8954 profit form parts and labor.

 

[440bx]

A fair market rate for work done on computers is $50.00 per hour.

This, of course will vary somewhat depending on where you are.

Adjust that rate based on where you live. I suggest you look at what the Geek Squad charges and undercut their prices. As someone else suggested, make a few calls to computer repair places and ask them what their per hour fee is. Make a decision on what is reasonable based on what the market is in your area.

Since you have a contract with Cingular, I suggest you use a simple per hour rate - $50 is very likely a good deal for a company the size of Cingular.

If you do work for individuals, be very mindful of setting the customer's expectations very clearly upfront before any work is done. Setup a fee schedule for things that tend to be simple - such as memory installations, Windows installations, anti-virus installations, etc - but stress the fact that the fee only applies when there are no unexpected problems performing the job, otherwise, the per hour fee applies. If you perform work at an individual's home, setup a flat travel fee - prorate the $50.00 per hour based on how long it takes you to get there. Working for individuals is much more delicate than working for a business. In that case, my advice is, be cautious and be very very clear upfront.

Overall, you should work things out so that you are making roughly $50.00 per hour or more. If you are making less than that, you should review/adjust your fee schedule.

HTH