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How much do I charge?

Last response: in Windows XP
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I recently go a job asking me to;

(1.) Format Hard Drive
(2.) Install Win Xp or Vista with Service Pack 2 or 3
(3.) Microsoft Office Package
(4.) Recent Anti Virus Software with (Free Lifetime Updates)
(5.) Adobe Acrobat
(6.) Diagnosing of the entire system with checking hard drive, CD & DVD ROM, floppy Disk.

It has to be done on a total of 7 laptops

He then asked me to give him a price. I have no idea how much to charge since I am 16 about to be a senior in high school and have never done anything like this professionally before.

Any input would be helpful and is really welcomed

Thanks,
-Scoobysnkk

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scoobysnkk said:
I found an add on craigslist asking for someone to

(1.) Format Hard Drive
(2.) Install Win Xp or Vista with Service Pack 2 or 3
(3.) Microsoft Office Package
(4.) Recent Anti Virus Software with (Free Lifetime Updates)
(5.) Adobe Acrobat
(6.) Diagnosing of the entire system with checking hard drive, CD & DVD ROM, floppy Disk.

He then asked me to give him a price. I have no idea how much to charge since I am 16 about to be a senior in high school and have never done anything like this professionally before.

Any input would be helpful and is really welcomed

Thanks,
-Scoobysnkk


I didn't see the part where customer is in possession of all that software and only wants your labor to install it. If they have the software, make sure it's all legit (for your own protection).

Your time is worth money in that setting. Charge enough to make it worth your time, but not so much that they could have bought a new machine with all that already installed. It's Ok to come close to price of new machine because a new machine is mass-produced, you are not. Nobody is selling a new computer with that software package unless it is a custom-built machine, and then it's far more expensive than one "off the shelf."




Ask a computer store how much they would charge for the job, then charge half of that. (That seems fair if it's you first paid job.) Make sure you have insurance to cover the possibility that any of the machines get damaged whilst you are responsible for them and get the employer to sign off in writing when the job is done to his satisfaction.
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Normally, $30 an hour is good, and is less than most computer shops. If you check on prices for geeksquad, you can get a good idea of what they charge. I don't charge for full hourly rate while waiting for file copy during setup. Usually a XP setup with driver and security updates come out to about $90 a system.

If all of the laptops are the same model, you may want to check on some disk cloning software so you can do one setup, teak it as needed, and then image the drive. Save yourself about 90% of the work on the other systems.

You really need to understand what is going on with craigslist job posts. the post lures you with the promise of a job, then the "employer" asks you to pay $30 for a "background check."
After 100 background checks, the "employer" has $3000, but you never get a job.
So when this guy asks for your $30, what are you going to tell him?

scoobysnkk said:
I recently go a job asking me to;

(1.) Format Hard Drive
(2.) Install Win Xp or Vista with Service Pack 2 or 3
(3.) Microsoft Office Package
(4.) Recent Anti Virus Software with (Free Lifetime Updates)
(5.) Adobe Acrobat
(6.) Diagnosing of the entire system with checking hard drive, CD & DVD ROM, floppy Disk.

It has to be done on a total of 7 laptops

He then asked me to give him a price. I have no idea how much to charge since I am 16 about to be a senior in high school and have never done anything like this professionally before.

Any input would be helpful and is really welcomed

Thanks,
-Scoobysnkk



Did you ever do the job? Or is this a scam? I got the same offer yesterday and was trying to figure out how much to charge and came across this post.
Funny, they requested 7 laptops as well.

TheGlove23 said:
Did you ever do the job? Or is this a scam? I got the same offer yesterday and was trying to figure out how much to charge and came across this post.
Funny, they requested 7 laptops as well.


What's it end? You took the job or not? Or just do what it was? Because I also have two suggestions to this work at 8 and 10 laptops))
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