How much to charge for PC work.

mcravenufo

mcravenufo

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My father's attorney needs some computer work done at his place of business.
It sounds like it is going to be some computer configuration, troubleshooting, and setting up a pc for the internet as well as telling the attorney what he needs to do for an office network.

Now I am a software engineer who dabbles in computer hardware on the side so I have no idea how much to charge for this kind of work. Just how much should I charge?
 
mcravenufo said:
My father's attorney
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$75,000........lol j/k :D Honestly, around $50/hr would be considered acceptable; but if you want to make him a good deal, charge him for the parts (if any) and then what ever you feel comfortable with for the labor. It will vary slightly depending on where you live and what's wrong with it (what needs to be done), but $30-$50/hr is usually ok. Of course, you could just pull a Godfather move and tell him that someday you may need a "favor" in return. ;)
 
ya it really depends . . .

I usually charge abuot $50 an hour, but i just recently built one for a customer of mine and worked on it for at least 3 hoursm not including the testing i've done the psat few days, and i just charged him $150 on top of part costs

i think it more or less goes off of how close this person its to you
 
I charge between $30-40 /hr...for business work, $40 is usually a pretty acceptable rate.
 
$25.00 an hour , for troubleshooting.
Flatrate of $125.00 for windows reinstall (drivers provided or not)
$20.00 for install of ram , hd. etc.


custom biulds from scratch are negotiable , lol ;)


example : recently supplied and installed cd burner at work for $100 cash :) ,
not bad for 10mins worth of work.
 
Thanks for the info, I appreciate it!

Since he is close to my Dad I will charge about $30 an hour for the troubleshooting.

<Marlon Brando voice>"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."</Marlon Brando voice>
 
I would suggest three ways to come up with a price:

1) Set an hourly charge rate.
2) Make him buy the components, let him pay you in labor in however he feels fit.
3) Set a flat charge rate for each build or set up.

Option 1 - Hourly rates depends on your professionalism. If you know it all, charge as much as you like (but not too much, tee hee) because you know you're doing your job correctly in the most "accepted" procedure.

Option 2 - The most likely choice because he is your *father*. Something I always offer to my *friends* anyway. You still get decent money. Example: I built a PC for a friend and tweaked the OS and installed several things and got $200 dollars in total. Not so bad.

Option 3 - That works just fine too but the flat rate charges must be set to a reasonable price. Then again, it's up to your professionalism in this area. Bad example: CD burner install for $100 dollars = Rip off (unless you're actually *paying* for the CD burner).

-J.
 
I always wondered how much I should charge peolple too. I usually think between 30-50 an hour is a good rate. I never did a flat rate thing though, I think I will try it out.
 
For the consult, come up with some sort of flat rate.

Actual tech support type stuff, where it takes time and you're not entirely sure what you'll run into, charge hourly. $30-$50, again, sounds OK. If it's dumb shit like "oh, your <insert something> is unplugged", just charge for gas and $5 or something like that.

Any kind of routine maintenance type stuff, like building a computer, cleaning out a computer, or just installing something, set standard flat fees for different jobs. A percentage of parts costs OR a flat rate (whichever's higher) for assembly, flat fee for cleanings, and flat rates for different types of upgrades would probably make sense.

It's your dad's attorney, not your dad, so try to treat him as a regular client and not as "family".

***

Anecdote, the IT contractor I worked with over the summer billed his clients $90/hour. But this guy was a PRO. Like, he set up their office networks, was their sysop, handled regular tech support, etc. etc.—full spectrum support.

Don't even think about charging that much unless you can confidently handle everything about a client's computer systems. ;)
 
Word. Just when I thought I knew everything-- and I stumbled onto a problem, an instant free help from an IT Pro *helped* knocked my ego down. I found out there was MORE to than just those little problems we come across everyday. An IT is surely a guy with a library in his head.

-J.
 
Evaluate the job and then find out what it's worth, and charge him accordingly. I hate getting paid by the hour for hardware work, it never takes that long to do anything. But for software/networking/windows issues, by the hour may be how you want to charge. Just decide on something fair for you and him, and I'm sure it won't be a problem.
 
stumpy said:
Evaluate the job and then find out what it's worth, and charge him accordingly. I hate getting paid by the hour for hardware work, it never takes that long to do anything. But for software/networking/windows issues, by the hour may be how you want to charge. Just decide on something fair for you and him, and I'm sure it won't be a problem.
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You bring up a good point. It's about a 20 minute drive to his office and I would hate to charge by the hour if his modem line was unplugged or something like that.
 
$100 first hour 50 after + parts

since this sounds like you might make a pretty penny I say $45 a hour would be fine, or even $35.
 
I guess my friends get one hell of a deal then.. I work on their computers for free.. but they usually slip me some cash on the way out.
 
Paragon said:
I guess my friends get one hell of a deal then.. I work on their computers for free.. but they usually slip me some cash on the way out.
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Well hell, at least you get cash :) But then again, im normally in and out before they even know i fixed it. Doesn't bother me any.
 
for general troubleshooting, charge an hourly fee. For a specific job on a working computer, say installing a hard drive, charge a set rate. If you feel like you are very good, I'd charge $50+ for general troubleshooting. I'd also set a minimum charge for general troubleshooting, like two-hour minimum charge.
 
Pretty funny when you approach your client you'd have to click on your stopwatch to start counting as he begins to dabble on about the problems with the PC.

-J.
 
GeForceX said:
Pretty funny when you approach your client you'd have to click on your stopwatch to start counting as he begins to dabble on about the problems with the PC.

-J.
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Bad form, you never let the client know that your clocking him like that. Makes you look bad.
 
:D It was a joke!!! That's why I said it would've been funny if that actually happened. Okay, maybe I didn't say it like that but you get the point. :D

Actually, come to think of it, if any guy does that, that's an ego-filled technician with no patience.

-J.
 
Random Digits said:
Bad form, you never let the client know that your clocking him like that. Makes you look bad.
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Well, since the guy is an attorney and they bill by the hour, it should seem acceptable to him... :p
 
Now i feel bad i work 30 hours plus a week for a construction company with a total of 10 workstations that i installed networked and maintain and i only get 7 bucks a hour. God i feel like i got the short end of the stick. From now on my prices will raise, come tommorrow i'm going to my boss and demanding 15 bucks a hour. Its only fare.

Honestly though $100 each day minimum for first hour's work then $35 seems just right. Then you add cost of parts and a small markup on parts of a few percent or a basic cost total for parts getting and searching.

God i need to just make my own buisness. The next Dual line 16 spliter i instal is not going to cost 7 dollars a hour to install. How stupid can i be? I guess its cause i'm only 19 and its my first real job but man i feel like i am missing the vasaline in the love that my boss gives to me.
 
Bad example: CD burner install for $100 dollars = Rip off (unless you're actually *paying* for the CD burner).
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really ...

i supplied the burner AND i supplied the install and software AND i showed them how to use it .

asshat
 
bzchanboy said:
Now i feel bad i work 30 hours plus a week for a construction company with a total of 10 workstations that i installed networked and maintain and i only get 7 bucks a hour. God i feel like i got the short end of the stick. From now on my prices will raise, come tommorrow i'm going to my boss and demanding 15 bucks a hour. Its only fare.
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Damn dude, yeah, you definitely should be getting more than $7/hr. However......


bzchanboy said:
I guess its cause i'm only 19 and its my first real job
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That could be a reason; there's alot to be said for experience. But you should still be getting at least $9-$10/hr. Just my .02
 
$50/hour seems high in this situation, seeing as your not a certified technician/network technician so i would say around $30/hour would be good.
 
Paragon said:
I guess my friends get one hell of a deal then.. I work on their computers for free.. but they usually slip me some cash on the way out.
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Damn, my friends usually pay me in beer. :D



btw, ciggy50............"asshat"? *lmao* I'll have to remember that one.
 
Now i feel bad i work 30 hours plus a week for a construction company with a total of 10 workstations that i installed networked and maintain and i only get 7 bucks a hour.
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now THAT's a Rip-off :eek:
 
I learned last night that he is willing to pay me $45 just to show up and $100 an hour to fix his stuff. I don't think I will accept that much because if he spreads the word that I fixed his stuff I don't want other people, who may ask for my help, to be turned off.
 
My first tech job was working for my IT Instructor at his computer shop (www.brownscomputerservices.com ). I worked 10 hours a day and 8 on Saturday. I agreed to work for $125 a week. I learned more working for him for a year than I did in his 1 year IT class. I should have paid him. This set me on the path to working for Applied Digital ( www.appdig.com ) . bzchanboy, if you are learning and are around high tech stuff and don't have the credentials ( A+ or Network +) to attain another position, stay where you are at and gain all the experience you can...
 
This certified tech does spyware cleanings for baked goodies for my coworkers.

I might not get paid, but it is well worth it with all the referrals I get through them.

If I can fix it in under 10 mins, I charge gas$.

New builds are usually $100-$200 above cost which includes all security and driver updates.

Network installation and maintence is hourly $60. I will hire a friend for a day to run cable if needed because I HATE running wire so that is $100/hr.

Format/Reinstall w/updates is a flat $100.

I always make copies of all reciepts and give customers the originals. You never know when you will need them for warrantys.
 
This seems to be generally accepted by my customers:

Diagnose software/hardware problem: $60
Drive install of any kind: $40
Virus removal: $50
Spyware removal: $50
Card install: $30
Software install: $20

They're reasonable prices and easy to stack - Say a customer wants a virus removed and an antivirus installed $50+$20+parts.
 
Protoform-X said:
This seems to be generally accepted by my customers:
Drive install of any kind: $40
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Now, that's NOT a rip off! :p

Ciggy, read a little bit more...

Bad example: CD burner install for $100 dollars = Rip off.

In this plain line-- does it not sound like it is a rip off? I'm sure most would agree...

Now add this line: (unless you're actually *paying* for the CD burner).

Now does it sound better? No need to call me an asshat.

And considering you paid for all of these INCLUDING showing them how to click a little button that makes it open, now that's not bad. <3

KTHX.

Bzchanboy-- if I were you, I'd feel insulted. If you were just building some workstations leaving them all on their own discretion then that's a good pay. But, WTF? To network AND maintain them? It doesn't matter how old you are in this field. Your experience with computers should speak for itself. You should be getting paid IMO at LEAST $10 dollars an hour to the maximum of $15 dollars if you do your job very very very professionally (if you do tweaking too-- it MUST be $15 dollars). Ask your boss politely and professionally about a considerable raise. The construction business is growing. There is NO reason why he should keep all the money to himself. You could also work out a flat rate deal with him to install each component / Windows environment / Networking / Maintaining (per hour). Etc. Sounds so good so far...

Oh yeah, question for you Ciggy. You said $100 dollars for a drive including a demonstration of how to open the little buggers up within a button-- how do you go about building a WHOLE PC? Charging $100 dollars PER component (including driver update - tweaking and demonstration of how to play a video game)? Oh, does it include the extensive demonstration of how to turn on the PC?

CPU/HSF = ?
HDD = ?
VIDEO CARD = ?
RAM = ?
ETC = ?

:D

-J.

P.S. It's all jokes, folks.
 
You said $100 dollars for a drive including a demonstration of how to open the little buggers up within a button-- how do you go about building a WHOLE PC?
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perhaps i phrased that wrong read this ...

i supplied the burner AND i supplied the install and software AND i showed them how to use it
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i showed them how to use the software , not how to open the drawer. (WIN98)


and in the 4-5 years of serviceing and biulding PC's , i have yet to have a pissed off customer . I live in a small city , the type where everybody knows one another , and were rumors , good or bad , make or break you in business or personal stuff.
I have a thing called it integrity (or concience if you prefer),
you can look that up in the dictionary , im sure

as for the asshat remark ,
i humbly apologize , seems it would have been better to try to put you down through
through childish arguments , but i unconciously decided to sum up the eloquency of my rebutle into one word.


could be that my my patience for needless ,inane arguments isn't any longer than it is for my day jobs customers's retarded attempts at purchasing parts for their vehicles, when they doen't even know what year or what engine they have .
(i am a Ford Partsman by trade)


edit : i need a vacation or at least 3 days off in a row , i think
 
GeForceX said:
P.S. It's all jokes, folks.
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Read some more Ciggy! :p It's all jokes. Hope you're cool with me. ;)

-J.

P.S. I know it's more than pushing a button. :D
 
set a price, stick too it and you should be good. Personally I charge $20 an hour for most repairs, plus parts. I also recommend some new attire.

will-not-fix.jpg
 
Read some more Ciggy! :p It's all jokes. Hope you're cool with me. ;)
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no probs , man

i just need to relax and not take offense at every remark

Oh yeah, question for you Ciggy. You said $100 dollars for a drive including a demonstration of how to open the little buggers up within a button-- how do you go about building a WHOLE PC? Charging $100 dollars PER component (including driver update - tweaking and demonstration of how to play a video game)? Oh, does it include the extensive demonstration of how to turn on the PC?
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everything is negotiable when it comes to work, after all if you are not flexible , then you are not in business very long.
To build a pc from scratch , i usually just take the old hardware in exchange(only 500mhz and up parts are worthwhile to resell , i find)
i purchase all the goodies with the customers money (they get the receipts)
and if their old hardware is too old to be of any good , its generally $100-150 for assembly and burn-in.

That formula has worked well over the years for me , since reselling the old hardware at 1/2 of the cost of new nets a good bit of cash.
( i usually install that old hardware for free as well)

i just enjoy working on PC's , so the money isnt a factor , but customers attitudes IS a factor in price determination, it has to be , otherwise i would have ulcers . lol
 
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