How much and how to charge for on-site computer repair?

[JohnM4]

I'm jumping into my own on-site computer repair business here and I'm currently working on a computer for my accountant (we're trading services) and it is bringing up a lot of questions that I just don't have the answers to and honestly, can't even begin to try and answer myself. No foreseeable answer seems feasible. I took a look at the following thread:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/236-66-charge-computer-repair

but it seemed focused on situations where a person brings a system to you. I don't have an office though and only plan on doing on-site calls.

It started out with some malware/adware, which through some scans and poking around, I think I had gotten rid of. Her computer was slow though, so she wanted me to try and speed it up. I figured there was still something on the system, and at one point I eventually got to doing some windows updates only to find that the windows update service had been removed, then found the BITS was removed. I believe that to be the symptoms of a certain type of virus after I looked it up and using a MS tool (I forget which one, expires every 10 days) I did a full scan and had to leave it going and come back the next day (the scan took overnight). And when I came back the next day, the window was gone, and she doesn't know if she closed it, or if her niece did (her niece probably did, because she does some work for her). At one point I just decided to do a repair install and that fixed the system problems, but when I went to do windows updates...everything broke in a terrible way. In short, it's a mess...the entire situation is a mess that I've dumped hours and hours and hours into, more than half of which I was waiting for a scan, or waiting for updates, or waiting for something to uninstall.

Now...I probably should have just jumped straight to backing up her data and reinstalling. But even that, considering the time the installation takes alone, and especially considering windows updates, it's just not feasible to sit there and wait. And at a rate of around $50 an hour give or take (this is an estimated hourly cost based on prices I've seen), that's not a reasonable price for the customer at all. I'm guessing that many repairs are going to be software, malware removal, virus removal, and re-installs. Full malware scans alone can take overnight, or even longer, IE: Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool, or Microsoft's Safety Scanner. Full scans on those two tools take 8 or so hours.

So how does this type of business work? How much and how do I charge for this work? I suppose with experience in this field, I'll be able to make better decisions to help speed some things up, but ultimately, waiting for installs, and updates and scans...I'm at a loss. Can someone that has been doing on-site work specifically for a while chime in on this and give some advice please? It would be very greatly appreciated!!

 

[altartech]

the current trend seem's to be around $50 a hr


Mike Duncan
www.altar-tech.com

 

[Math Geek]

for on site you do kind of have to go by the hour. i charge a lot less but do very little on site if i can help it. at home i can start the scans and updates and such and walk away. thus my time invested is very little so i charge less.

you could try starting as on site and if it looks like it will be a long one, you could offer to take it home and return the next day with it. offer the option, cheaper off-site, by the hour on site. i am set up at home in an add on garage and am set up to get 6 at a time working. this maximizes my time and still allows for a lot of pc's to go through my hands on any given day. i average about a dozen a week for repair but they always seem to chow up at once. was easier to just be prepared.

plus i have everything i need there and don't have to lug around a fix kit. can trouble shoot any part due to the spares i have for this purpose and all that type thing.

just what i do anyway. about a dozen a week to fix about another dozen built a week and i still have time to kill here helping others.

 

[JohnM4]

I guess then there really is no way to do malware removal, repair installs, windows updates, or backup/reinstalls onsite then. I mean, I knew it to be true, but...I guess I just never realized it until I was directly in the middle of a situation.

I apologize for making this a question, btw. I am realizing now a discussion would have been more appropriate for others to share their experience with this and talk about it instead of it being an "answer". Is there a way to change the thread to a discussion thread?

 

[Math Geek]

it's not that important really. if you got the information your looking for, then that is all that matters.

it is all kinds of awkward sitting there for a few hours staring at a screen twiddling your thumbs while trying to make small talk with the owner. took only a couple of those visits for me to swear off it. the fact your willing to make the house call is impressive. most of my jobs are word of mouth and they either bring them to me or i pick them up at church or something. did not take long once word of mouth started to keep busy enough to quit my job and do it full time. been over 10 years now since i have worked a "real" job. i have done a few commercial jobs but i'm not really interested in being the it guy for a couple hundred pc's in an office.

i did do a massive build once for a company. simple low cost office pc's but it was for 250 of them. i did give them tech support there and would fix hardware issues but their in house "it" guy handled the day to day software issues.

 

[JohnM4]

Well, given the circumstances, I had to see this one through. But I admittedly had no idea I'd be working on it over a week! haha. Even so, this is a business computer and it worked to some extent and it was her only computer that she could operate her business on, so I couldn't take it. What I believe I should have done, however, was suggest a backup and reinstall from the start. That would take a little while, but not so terrible that I couldn't do it on site if absolutely needed (which I ended up having to do, and took about 4-6 hours I think).

So maybe in the future, if it's malware (which a lot of it will be) I offer two options; I either backup everything and reinstall on site (which would be more expensive, but maybe I could charge a bulk hourly fee?) or take it with me, and I still might have to back up and resinstall, but it's a flat fee?

 

[Math Geek]

that sounds right to me. i flat fee virus/malware removal at $100-$150. you could do $150 on site with the straight reinstall or $100 take it home and see what happens.(pricing can be adjusted for your local area) i just assume i am not going to remove it and have to back up/reinstall. at home i give it a quick effort to remove and if it's too stuck in there, i just reinstall. can get lucky if it's a new infection with restoring windows to a previous restore point, but if it's been there for a while, it's so dug in your never getting it out.

you can even do the back-up on site to be sure you get everything important to the customer and avoid the issue later when you "forgot" to back-up something they SWEAR was there. been accused of losing all kinds of data over the years despite backing up all i could.

 

[JohnM4]

I like that, backing up on site for sure. I guess that couldn't take too long, and then just take it with me, or proceed with the reinstall. I'll just need to get a dedicated drive with multiple ways to connect it. I was having frustrations backing up her data due to my not being prepared and relying on a very slow USB jump drive. I'll just need to bring the right hardware next time though.

I guess that settles that then for the most part. Just don't really do on-site work unless it's quick and simple haha. If you have any other tips/suggestions or pricing structures you think might be helpful for me, and willing to share, I'm all ears (eyes?)! Thanks a ton for all the help!

 

[Math Geek]

the fastest way to do the backup is to install an internal drive and copy and paste. they are cheaper than externals and with 2.5" are pretty small. i have sata and even an older ide drive i keep around for this purpose. i still get old pc's with ide stuff in it where the people refuse to get a new one.

it's quick and easy to put an internal one in and windows installs it quickly on boot up. transfer rates are much quicker this way, especially if your grabbing 100+ gb of stuff at once. have an external on hand of course but only use it as a last choice.

i also don't run scans on the target pc. i take out the drive and install it into a pc i have just for this. then i run the scan on the whole drive. many things interfere with the scans and such and by putting it into another system you keep whatever it is from running and now your just scanning data and not running processes. had better luck this way as well. a lot of data still takes a long time to scan but my experience shows better success rate doing it in another pc.

NEVER EVER EVER EEEEEEVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR snoop through people's data. you can't unsee anything!!! opened a pic folder once and saw the thumbnail view of a folder full of this lady i go to church with having sex with her husband. they are both in their 60's and i still can't look either one of them in the eye to this day.

keep a notebook of odd stuff you run across and how to fix it. i have one that i refer to when i run across something odd i have seen before. you'll never remember what to do 2 years from now if it is one of those 1 in a million type problems. huge time saver to go to your book and not spend the 3 hours on google like you did the first time. all kinds of stuff in it for me such as how to port forward to an xbox through a router and then windows connection sharing to avoid buying a wireless card for it. (360's wifi card was expensive when it first showed up) to lists of windows errors and copies of what finally worked for it.

and finally keep a box of pc parts on hand for testing. nice to be able to put in a video card you know works, or a psu or hdd or even cpu's. i still have agp cards and ide devices to test with as well. eventually you will be asked to fix a 2001 pc so having a stick of ddr 1 and 2 ram around is helpful. i have cpu's for most every socket in the last 10 years to test with and the mobo's to match if that seems to be the issue i'm looking at.

just some thoughts thought i would share to help the learning curve some.

 

[JohnM4]

I had actually started keeping a google doc file of hard to find fixes I've found for personal things in the past, and completely forgot about it until I read your suggestion! That'll be a great time saver! All great tips especially the not snooping haha. Thank you very very much! Getting a bit more confident about this all the time. I happen to have some computer parts from 10 years back...a lot actually. But I was trying to get rid of them for a really low cost. I guess I'm glad I never got rid of the lot, seems like it'll come in handy.

I can't understand why people keep computers that old though, especially if they're about to drop $100 or so to get a hardware issue fixed. They could get a used laptop that's 5 years old for $100 that's many times faster than what they have if it's from 2001 :|

 

[Math Geek]

lol, your preaching to the choir. but try explaining that to someone else. they awear they don't need anything better but complain it's "slow" and due to "viruses" it won't even load battlefield 4. can't convince them that a pentium 3 with 512 mb of ram is just not enough to run the program and a virus is not the problem.

 

[JohnM4]

haha, oh boy oh boy. I hope I don't get too many of them

 

[FlowPC]

it's not that important really. if you got the information your looking for, then that is all that matters.

it is all kinds of awkward sitting there for a few hours staring at a screen twiddling your thumbs while trying to make small talk with the owner. took only a couple of those visits for me to swear off it. the fact your willing to make the house call is impressive. most of my jobs are word of mouth and they either bring them to me or i pick them up at church or something. did not take long once word of mouth started to keep busy enough to quit my job and do it full time. been over 10 years now since i have worked a "real" job. i have done a few commercial jobs but i'm not really interested in being the it guy for a couple hundred pc's in an office.

i did do a massive build once for a company. simple low cost office pc's but it was for 250 of them. i did give them tech support there and would fix hardware issues but their in house "it" guy handled the day to day software issues.

Hey there, this is a off topic, but mind if I ask you a couple of questions about getting into computer repair?

 

[Math Geek]

i'll be happy to answer whatever i can

don't know everything but i do have a lot of experience in many different things.

 

[FlowPC]

i'll be happy to answer whatever i can

don't know everything but i do have a lot of experience in many different things.

Thank you so much. I really do appreciate anything you're willing to answer for me

I'm looking into getting started with in home PC service, and was thinking of charging something like $20 - 30 under the local competition. Would this be advisable?

I'm planning to offer basic PC and network troubleshooting.
I was curious what was the most common issues I am going to be running into with residential homes, and how to tackle and charge for each case.

I am also hoping to build a customer base so that I can make this go from a side gig into a real job and the steps I would need to take in order to make that happen. I should mention that my father is willing to let me use his office for my business address, and drop off point for customers to leave their devices.

Also, what are the things to watch out for most in the case of an accident, like data loss, and how to protect myself from it. D:

 

[Math Geek]

i got started the way i assume most folks do. friends and family knew i was a computer geek so they brought pc's to me to fix. they referred friends and other family to me as well. over time, through word of mouth i had built up a sizable client base that was growing steadily. i was a school teacher and never really looked to do it full time so i am not sure how long it would have taken had i dedicated to it full time. but after about 5 years or so, i had enough work coming in and was making enough cash to quit teaching and focus on the repair/build business.

charging less than the competition is a great way to get started. i assume your town has the geek squad type business as well as many other pc geeks working on the side. low prices and great results will help get you noticed and more work through word of mouth. as stated above, if you are working in someone's home, then by the hour is almost necessary. a "simple" job can easily turn into 3-4 hours of fighting with a pc depending on what the trouble is. so quoting $50 for a fix and then spending 3-4 hours on it obviously is not the way to go. working at home for virus removal type work and part repairs is the way to go, especially considering you have an office as a drop off point. i use a converted garage at my house so folks have a structure to drop off pc's at. you can do some initial troubleshooting on site and work there if it is truly a quick job but over an hour and i'd take it home. it's just easier to work on multiple things at once and thus maximize your time and money earned.

i still do some in home stuff, but it is mostly related to home networking. homes now have so many connected devices that static ip's, traffic shaping and some port forwarding is needed. average users can't do this for themselves. $50-75 for an hour of ip setting and some port forwarding is a bargain for all involved.

it took me many times of getting accused of losing data and such to settle on my current policy for customer data. i back up everything with the customer in front of me to a separate hdd. plugging in a spare internal drive is fastest but usb externals work fine but are a lot slower when transferring 100 gb or more of data (some people easily have 500 gb or more of stuff to save). i back up data no matter what since you never know what can happen when you start tinkering and troubleshooting.

upgrades and custom builds involve me asking a million questions about what they currently use a pc for, what they are/might be interested in and where it will be used, etc. some older pc's can still have a lot of life left with a ram upgrade if the use is basic. but a 10 yr old pc won't be much use as a modern gaming rig. it's important to know specs new and old so you can offer advice when asked. i'm old so have grown up with pc's but a younger person may need to learn some basics about tech from the last 5-10 years. win xp looks and works a lot different than win 7/8 and it's always possible one of these antiques will show up on your doorstep.

when in doubt seek help rather than making a fool of yourself in front of a customer. over time, you'll build up a customer base and expand. you can advertise if you wish in local papers, craigslist and other such places, but i'd be careful going to someone's home you don't know. i'd stick to your dad's office as a contact point for business sourced from the web until you get to know the person and feel safe going to their home. better safe than sorry.

basically, quality work for a good price is all you need for word of mouth to bring you all the business you need.

finally, have everything you may need with you. dvd's of os's, thumb/external/internal drives, tool kit, cables/connectors/etc, usb wifi stick in case network card is acting up, a laptop to work on if pc is toast when you get there. binder of how to's and odd ball fixes i suggested above to speed things along. stuff will become second nature to you but you'll never remember the setting/fix for every little thing you run across. especially considering the different os's are way different with settings and how to get to them.

 

[FlowPC]

i got started the way i assume most folks do. friends and family knew i was a computer geek so they brought pc's to me to fix. they referred friends and other family to me as well. over time, through word of mouth i had built up a sizable client base that was growing steadily. i was a school teacher and never really looked to do it full time so i am not sure how long it would have taken had i dedicated to it full time. but after about 5 years or so, i had enough work coming in and was making enough cash to quit teaching and focus on the repair/build business.

charging less than the competition is a great way to get started. i assume your town has the geek squad type business as well as many other pc geeks working on the side. low prices and great results will help get you noticed and more work through word of mouth. as stated above, if you are working in someone's home, then by the hour is almost necessary. a "simple" job can easily turn into 3-4 hours of fighting with a pc depending on what the trouble is. so quoting $50 for a fix and then spending 3-4 hours on it obviously is not the way to go. working at home for virus removal type work and part repairs is the way to go, especially considering you have an office as a drop off point. i use a converted garage at my house so folks have a structure to drop off pc's at. you can do some initial troubleshooting on site and work there if it is truly a quick job but over an hour and i'd take it home. it's just easier to work on multiple things at once and thus maximize your time and money earned.

i still do some in home stuff, but it is mostly related to home networking. homes now have so many connected devices that static ip's, traffic shaping and some port forwarding is needed. average users can't do this for themselves. $50-75 for an hour of ip setting and some port forwarding is a bargain for all involved.

it took me many times of getting accused of losing data and such to settle on my current policy for customer data. i back up everything with the customer in front of me to a separate hdd. plugging in a spare internal drive is fastest but usb externals work fine but are a lot slower when transferring 100 gb or more of data (some people easily have 500 gb or more of stuff to save). i back up data no matter what since you never know what can happen when you start tinkering and troubleshooting.

upgrades and custom builds involve me asking a million questions about what they currently use a pc for, what they are/might be interested in and where it will be used, etc. some older pc's can still have a lot of life left with a ram upgrade if the use is basic. but a 10 yr old pc won't be much use as a modern gaming rig. it's important to know specs new and old so you can offer advice when asked. i'm old so have grown up with pc's but a younger person may need to learn some basics about tech from the last 5-10 years. win xp looks and works a lot different than win 7/8 and it's always possible one of these antiques will show up on your doorstep.

when in doubt seek help rather than making a fool of yourself in front of a customer. over time, you'll build up a customer base and expand. you can advertise if you wish in local papers, craigslist and other such places, but i'd be careful going to someone's home you don't know. i'd stick to your dad's office as a contact point for business sourced from the web until you get to know the person and feel safe going to their home. better safe than sorry.

basically, quality work for a good price is all you need for word of mouth to bring you all the business you need.

finally, have everything you may need with you. dvd's of os's, thumb/external/internal drives, tool kit, cables/connectors/etc, usb wifi stick in case network card is acting up, a laptop to work on if pc is toast when you get there. binder of how to's and odd ball fixes i suggested above to speed things along. stuff will become second nature to you but you'll never remember the setting/fix for every little thing you run across. especially considering the different os's are way different with settings and how to get to them.

Thank you so much for that This was extremely helpful, and I especially love the tidbits on what to carry for a toolkit, making a troubleshoot guide, and carrying a backup HDD for the service. I feel like I may have ended up in that same boat for data loss otherwise

Have you any recommendation for a fast and reliable HDD? I was considering buying a WD blue with enclosure to use USB and SATA,. Passport drives are another one I considered, but I have heard mixed results on the passport drives for writing speed.

 

[Math Geek]

i like the wd blue drives myself. over the years i have used pretty much every brand and feel these have been the most reliable for me all around. the enclosures are pretty good but if you can, plugging it in directly to the mobo is the fastest and most reliable way to transfer the data. dig up an older ide drive or 2 as well, for those older pc's that still use them. 2-300 Gb is plenty for those drives since that's about as big as they got before sata took over. that and folks still using these old pc's probably don't have a lot of data anyway.

re-reading you're post also brought to mind something else. you asked what is "the most common issues I am going to be running into with residential homes". i don't think i really addressed that. the most common thing will still probably be virus/malware removal and/or people who feel they have a virus/malware due to scare tactics from pop-ups and ads. this is why i suggest taking stuff home. the easiest problems (bad settings, driver issues and such) are not as common while these types of issues can be the norm and very time consuming.

finally, when backing up stuff before a windows refresh, don't overlook the browser. backing up bookmarks, settings and credentials the client has and then putting them back is a nice touch. it can take a while for a user to get it just right and not having to start over will leave a nice smile on the client's face when you leave. there are lots of tools to do this for the various browsers (IE, FF, Chrome, Safari) and taking some time to seek out and play with various back-up programs on your own pc will help. install some tools for each browser and then practice on each browser on your own pc to see which you like the best and which seems to do the job right. it's a minor touch that client will remember when suggesting you to friends and family.

good luck, and feel free to keep asking questions. i learned it all in the field through trial and error and if i can save some heartache for you, it'll make it worth the troubles i faced early

 

[FlowPC]

i like the wd blue drives myself. over the years i have used pretty much every brand and feel these have been the most reliable for me all around. the enclosures are pretty good but if you can, plugging it in directly to the mobo is the fastest and most reliable way to transfer the data. dig up an older ide drive or 2 as well, for those older pc's that still use them. 2-300 Gb is plenty for those drives since that's about as big as they got before sata took over. that and folks still using these old pc's probably don't have a lot of data anyway.

re-reading you're post also brought to mind something else. you asked what is "the most common issues I am going to be running into with residential homes". i don't think i really addressed that. the most common thing will still probably be virus/malware removal and/or people who feel they have a virus/malware due to scare tactics from pop-ups and ads. this is why i suggest taking stuff home. the easiest problems (bad settings, driver issues and such) are not as common while these types of issues can be the norm and very time consuming.

finally, when backing up stuff before a windows refresh, don't overlook the browser. backing up bookmarks, settings and credentials the client has and then putting them back is a nice touch. it can take a while for a user to get it just right and not having to start over will leave a nice smile on the client's face when you leave. there are lots of tools to do this for the various browsers (IE, FF, Chrome, Safari) and taking some time to seek out and play with various back-up programs on your own pc will help. install some tools for each browser and then practice on each browser on your own pc to see which you like the best and which seems to do the job right. it's a minor touch that client will remember when suggesting you to friends and family.

good luck, and feel free to keep asking questions. i learned it all in the field through trial and error and if i can save some heartache for you, it'll make it worth the troubles i faced early

Thanks again for the great info. I can't stress how much I appreciate this
I actually have a few questions about back ups, and what the best programs out there are.

I am aware of the windows back up system, but have heard that it is very hardware sensitive. What's your experience with this, and has it caused you issues?

Apart from Windows system backup, I am having a hard time finding good backup software. I am aware that most of these require a purchase, especially for commercial use and which programs you have had the best experiences with?

As for Virus/Malware, I have a couple of tools, namely ( Rkill, TDSSkiller, Malwarebytes ), and AVG, then Microsfot Security Essentials for antivirus protection. Have you any experience with these, namely their effectiveness for cleaning an infected computer?

I also have questions about using these programs commercially, as I have read that using most software for a repair or service can be considered commercial. Would I face any problems for using these kind of free programs to clean people's computers, because it may be considered commercial then :s

 

[Math Geek]

i don't really use those back-up programs. normally, you're doing a fresh windows install so only need to back up data. i simply plug in my hdd and copy and paste the data to be saved (pics, vids, docs etc). most people use the my documents folder so the bulk is in this one place. then some skimming of the desktop for stragglers and rarely do i have to look elsewhere that the owner does not know about.

i really don't bother backing up a whole system no matter what i am doing to the pc. just having the data is good enough. most people could use a fresh windows install anyway so if for some reason, i screw up the system settings (very rare but anything is possible), a quick windows install is not really a bad thing. plus many pre-built pc's have a recovery partition built in so the basic set-up is already back-up for the most part.

windows restore points can be helpful if they are within a month or so old. often malware can be removed by a simple restore to a previous point if it is new enough. this has worked for me maybe 25% of the time for a recent malware infection.

for virus/malware removal doing an actual windows back-up through the various programs available usually keeps the virus/malware in the back-up files and when it is restored it is put right back, so kind of defeats the purpose. as for which av software is best, that is always up for debate. i still use avg for the most part as it works pretty good. in my experience if the virus has been on the system for a week or more, then pretty much no av software will remove it completely. it keeps grabbing more and more from the web and gets itself so deep, it's hard to find all the pieces. running the scan on the drive when it is in a separate pc increases the chances of a clean removal. normal SOP for me is to put the drive into a pc i have set-up just for this purpose and then run the scans on the drive as a bunch of data. whatever the trouble is won't be running now and won't be able to block the av from doing it's job. these new virus/malware are good at messing with the av software to keep it from working.

since i am running the av software on a single pc i own and only running the scan on different drives installed in that pc, i don't think there is any issue with the "commercial" purposes. if you were to install it to different client pc's over and over, then there may be an issue with your key being activated too many times on too many machines. if you are working in house, then removing the drive from the pc, putting it into an enclosure and scanning it from a laptop would be a similar way to clean the drive. now you are only technically running the software on the laptop no matter how many drives you scan

 

[FlowPC]

i don't really use those back-up programs. normally, you're doing a fresh windows install so only need to back up data. i simply plug in my hdd and copy and paste the data to be saved (pics, vids, docs etc). most people use the my documents folder so the bulk is in this one place. then some skimming of the desktop for stragglers and rarely do i have to look elsewhere that the owner does not know about.

i really don't bother backing up a whole system no matter what i am doing to the pc. just having the data is good enough. most people could use a fresh windows install anyway so if for some reason, i screw up the system settings (very rare but anything is possible), a quick windows install is not really a bad thing. plus many pre-built pc's have a recovery partition built in so the basic set-up is already back-up for the most part.

windows restore points can be helpful if they are within a month or so old. often malware can be removed by a simple restore to a previous point if it is new enough. this has worked for me maybe 25% of the time for a recent malware infection.

for virus/malware removal doing an actual windows back-up through the various programs available usually keeps the virus/malware in the back-up files and when it is restored it is put right back, so kind of defeats the purpose. as for which av software is best, that is always up for debate. i still use avg for the most part as it works pretty good. in my experience if the virus has been on the system for a week or more, then pretty much no av software will remove it completely. it keeps grabbing more and more from the web and gets itself so deep, it's hard to find all the pieces. running the scan on the drive when it is in a separate pc increases the chances of a clean removal. normal SOP for me is to put the drive into a pc i have set-up just for this purpose and then run the scans on the drive as a bunch of data. whatever the trouble is won't be running now and won't be able to block the av from doing it's job. these new virus/malware are good at messing with the av software to keep it from working.

since i am running the av software on a single pc i own and only running the scan on different drives installed in that pc, i don't think there is any issue with the "commercial" purposes. if you were to install it to different client pc's over and over, then there may be an issue with your key being activated too many times on too many machines. if you are working in house, then removing the drive from the pc, putting it into an enclosure and scanning it from a laptop would be a similar way to clean the drive. now you are only technically running the software on the laptop no matter how many drives you scan

Okay, that really helped to clear up a lot for me, like A LOT.

Another question of mine is what to do in the rare, but possible case of data loss or hardware failure when servicing someone's property. What kind of waivers, procedures, liabilities insurance, and just general legal fall backs would be recommended for me to have in place?

 

[Math Geek]

that is a good question. legal liability has never been an issue for me. i have had some people over the years claim i lost some pictures or some important document (one of the reasons for my backing it up in front of them) but never had any kind of legal concerns over it.

if i were to damage any hardware i would of course pay for its replacement. it has not happened yet but i would be happy to pay for any mistakes i make. at the beginning when first looking at a pc is the time to suggest possible broken parts if it is the likely cause. you can't be sure right off what the problem is but covering the bases of possibilities early can prevent someone from feeling like you're springing expensive fixes on them after the fact.

creating a simple service form where you document the complaint as well as what you think the problem may be (and estimated cost) would be an easy way to get the options on the table early. of course you won't always be right so ensure it is stated that this is only a good guess and it is possible the problem is something else. it's like taking your car to a mechanic, i like to hear the worst case (and most expensive) scenario right off so i can be ready for it. then when it is something easier and cheaper i can feel happy about it

i try to prepare folks for the worst case yet stress the most likely case so they know. by having spare parts to test with, they would only have to buy whatever part is actually broken. i actually stock a handful of power supplies, hdd's and network cards since they are often the problem. by taking advantage of flash sales and such i have some cheap yet quality parts i can use. for instance i bought a handful of xfx 550w psu's on a super sale for $35. i offer them to customers at $50 which is still less than retail and i make a few extra bucks. hdd's are always on sale somewhere and stocking up on a few 1 tb wd blue's on sale will never go unused.

 

[jimmysmitty]

When I did some work on the side while doing other full time jobs I got some pretty good advice from a guy who handled corporate real estate; "Charge what you think you are worth".

It is actually true. If you charge too little people might think you don't have any confidence in yourself and of course if you charge too much they might think you are ripping them off.

For PC work I typically charge $75/hour. If you look at PC shops or the big guys that is about what most work comes out to for their onsite services, if you average it out.

I know most IT for hire tend to charge more than that. I worked for a consulting and management firm that charged $175/hour to do work. Of course that is for a much more in depth market that takes more time, knowledge and skill.

I typically do as said and always give people worse case scenario in both costs and time to do the repair. That way if it turns out to be less and finished sooner they are much happier.

If you want to define pricing for specific services I would do as my old PC Shop I worked at did:

PSU/CPU install: $50
GPU/RAM/HDD/SSD/other add in card: $25
System build: $100 plus 5% mark up on parts if you want
System diagnostics: $50
Virus removal and cleanup: $75
Windows reinstall: 100

One tricky part about a Windows reinstall is the backup. The shop I worked at could never quite get it right. Either we charged a flat fee and it worked out time wise but every now and then we got a customer with hundreds of gigs worth of data which took more time making it less than profitable. Or we charged too much and people didn't do it as often. That one is hard to nail down and make everyone happy while remaining profitable, remember time is money.

That said, as long as you do good work (efficient, good wiring) and are friendly you wont have much in terms of issue of cost.