Does this seem like a fair but firm price (recent job from my on the side pc repair business)

[LordSplodge]

If this dentist is happy to pay £90-100 for something he's capable of doing himself with a little research via Google, then fine. .

His time is worth more than that alone. A busy professional is not going to want to spend his valuable time learning how to fix whatever the issue with his computer is.

Their free time will either be used for leisure or to make more money.

This is why people bring their systems to me, no overheads except electricity.

No insurance? Accounting expenses? Gas? Spare parts? Testing equipment? Advertising? Travel? ....and so on.

You business is all above board, right?

 

[fullmetaltony]

Quite an inspiring topic this. I do loads of work on relative's computers.
The risk of advertising your services, I guess, is when you come across something you don't know how to fix.
Have you ever come across that, and how did you deal with it?

 

[Will Gill]

I used to do, no fix no fee, its pretty obvious early on if you can fix an issue or not, if its a crashed head on a disc drive then walk away unless budget isnt a factor.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

His time is worth more than that alone. A busy professional is not going to want to spend his valuable time learning how to fix whatever the issue with his computer is.

Their free time will either be used for leisure or to make more money.



No insurance? Accounting expenses? Gas? Spare parts? Testing equipment? Advertising? Travel? ....and so on.

You business is all above board, right?

I don't take money. I do skills trade.
I don't drive to peoples houses, I don't advertise, I don't use Gas and spare parts is free, Accounting expenses non I do them, Insurance yes.

 

[DJMK4]

Quite an inspiring topic this. I do loads of work on relative's computers.
The risk of advertising your services, I guess, is when you come across something you don't know how to fix.
Have you ever come across that, and how did you deal with it?

Well I did early on have one guy who gave me 3 pc's to fix, the pc's were in absolute dire condition, really really bad,

A) They looked like they had been towed a mile on the back of a trailer across the road

B) They were stinking stinking bad inside, full of dust, crap

C) most of the hardware just would not work because of lack of care presumably or just old and dying hardware

D) I would have spent way longer trying to fix them and get them back in to decent working condition than I could ever invoice someone for, in that situation you have to think not only about his benefit, but yours aswel as its your time trying to fix him, then you have to then pass on a service charge which is not only worth your time, but also fair to them.

As the PC's were ancient I told him the truth, I said you are going to spend more money trying to get these working, than the PC's are actually worth.

 

[DJMK4]

Well just been round to drop off the remaining machines and even stayed for 10 - 15 mins to answer a few technical queries and have a chat

He asked how much, I said £95, passed him the invoice, no problems he said, got out the cheque book and away you go.

I even swindled 1 or maybe 2 hours for lessons for his wife on how to use ebay (As I advertise as tuition aswel)

See!!! Thats how technophobic people are, they dont even know how to use a website and would rather someone spoon feed them the help

I am going to be firm on the prices now, no more feeling guilty about my charges, at the end of the day its my personal time im taking out to do this but at the same time, stay competitive.

 

[Duke]

Very cheap, I charge £45 an hour for that type of work but would probably round it down a touch if its 3-4 hours worth.

 

[singist]

Must confess tha I haven't read 'every' post but IMO... the price sounds cheap so maybe start off by saying ... " I would normally charge ...XYZ but bacause you have used me before and there are several jobs, I decided to give you a discount" etc ... all good business practice etc.

 

[HAz]

Hes a dentist, charge more!!!

They charged me £16 for a 10 min check-up on the NHS

 

[pepp77]

Very reasonable prices if you ask me, Im a telecoms engineer rather than IT and I am charged out at £195 for first hour and then £95 for each subsequent hour, half day at £345 and full day at £595.

 

[swinnie]

He asked how much, I said £95...I even swindled 1 or maybe 2 hours for lessons for his wife on how to use ebay (As I advertise as tuition aswel)

It's the best way to be. You've knocked off some money for him, he's now passing you more work. If you keep him happy, he'll be a customer for some time.

I used to feel very guilty about some invoices I sent out, but as the clients have kept coming back and I've got a good relationship with them, it puts you "at ease".