How much should I pay someone locally to build my PC?

Don't your self, just research the parts, these days you have less of a chance it does not work. Or just pay the shop
 
Kenai said:
Honestly didn't expect it to be that much in excess for a pre-built unit :cry: Gotta pay for them McLarens somehow I guess :p
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Any sort of new pre-build PC is almost always going to have a high profit margin. The one company I know that don't charge excessively for this service, is Best Buy, where you can select and buy all the parts in-store and then they build it for you in-store. - US only.

A lot of the UK companies that do this like OCUK or PC Part Specialist, they make a killing from this. So clearly there is a market for it.

I am just a customer in the middle: I don't really care about building it myself, but also don't want to pay for a complete prebuild with an almost 4-figure commission. Surely there must be local IT technicians offering to do it to make some cash on the side.
 
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Nasher said:
Are there services which actually do that? Properly?

Most people I know wouldn't do it for strangers, even for money. Because when something goes wrong with it down the line they come back expecting them to fix it for free.
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Yeah but these days it's just like any other DIY job. You wouldn't do any job you do around the home for strangers.

Agree with do it yourself, it's basically lego now. Who knows if whomever you get will be good anyway? You've done the hard part by making sure everything is compatible.
 
Haggisman said:
When I used to do this my standard charge was 10% of parts cost plus £50, but that was 15+ years ago, I'd probably bump the fixed cost up these days, maybe £80-100.

As @Nasher points out, for some people, this comes with an expectation of free tech support for life, even if the "problem" has nothing to do with the build.
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Infact, just noticed you live in Brum! I live in the JQ.

Fancy building mine once I've bought all the parts + installing Windows 11 Pro (you would need to source the USB for Windows) ? - £200 cash on the day. I am flexible with days. I am 100% serious by the way.
 
I put together a good handful of gaming systems for us from 2000 to 2015, but I've done nothing for almost ten years. I'd probably be fine, but I expect it would take longer.

I really don't miss helping out friends and family one time for a pc issue for free and then being expected to be their pc engineer for life! :cry:
 
Actual_Criminal said:
A lot of the UK companies that do this like OCUK or PC Part Specialist, they make a killing from this. So clearly there is a market for it.
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I'm not disagreeing as such , but if they sell complete builds they are on the hook for anything that isn't working properly, sorting RMAs diagnosing, shipping back and forth etc.

I imagine for every so many they are making a killing out of, they probably making a loss on the odd one.
 
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Actual_Criminal said:
Infact, just noticed you live in Brum! I live in the JQ.

Fancy building mine once I've bought all the parts + installing Windows 11 Pro (you would need to source the USB for Windows) ? - £200 cash on the day. I am flexible with days. I am 100% serious by the way.
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It's not really something I do these days, it was fine when I was a student/young, free & single, but with a full time job, partner, 2 kids etc. I value my leisure time too much :p

Plus as mentioned, the implication that it's my responsibility if something goes wrong with it 6 months later (again, not really something I have time for).

I would be open to helping out/supervising "as a mate" if you fancied bringing the parts over (although if you've done builds before then I expect you know what you're doing anyway!), but I wouldn't want to do it for money; turning it into a "professional" service.
 
Haggisman said:
iIt's not really something I do these days, it was fine when I was a student/young, free & single, but with a full time job, partner, 2 kids etc. I value my leisure time too much :p

Plus as mentioned, the implication that it's my responsibility if something goes wrong with it 6 months later (again, not really something I have time for).

I would be open to helping out/supervising "as a mate" if you fancied bringing the parts over (although if you've done builds before then I expect you know what you're doing anyway!), but I wouldn't want to do it for money; turning it into a "professional" service.
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Haha, ah well, I thought i'd ask. - Yeah exactly, time is money and precious after all which is also another reason why I'm trying to find someone else. They could probably do it in a few hours, my last one took me all day!

Thanks for the offer, I may take you up on it if I do decide to build it myself lol. ;)
 
Ill build it,

All I would ask for, is


£100

A bag of crisps (monster munch)

Chocolate

Cider

A stripper

I need my car cleaned
 
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Actual_Criminal said:
Haha, ah well, I thought i'd ask. - Yeah exactly, time is money and precious after all which is also another reason why I'm trying to find someone else. They could probably do it in a few hours, my last one took me all day!

Thanks for the offer, I may take you up on it if I do decide to build it myself lol. ;)
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Took about three hours to transfer motherboard, GPU, PSU from one case into another that's including putting in upgrading HSF. Also the old case was prebuilt so had to learn how to take that POS apart

Also had to figure out correct pin layout on a properiatary front panel connector, had to work out which was reset and power switch
 
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It's very simple to do yourself.

Ram can only go in one way, cpu similar, heatsink usually 4 screws. M2 drives attach to motherboard with a single screw...

Fiddly bits are usually the power connectors the motherboard/header cables etc but in reality it's 60/90 minutes to build from scratch taking your time.

Either that or just buy a pre-build one from somewhere. I doubt you'll find anyone local who will build a pc for you and give you satisfaction/insurance that if they break something, they will pay for it.
 
hornetstinger said:
Took about three hours to transfer motherboard, GPU, PSU from one case into another that's including putting in upgrading HSF. Also the old case was prebuilt so had to learn how to take that POS apart

Also had to figure out correct pin layout on a properiatary front panel connector, had to work out which was reset and power switch
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To be honest it's cable management which usually takes the longest! Putting the components in place is the easy part :)

Even installing Windows is pretty quick these days - I remember that alone used to take over an hour
 
Actual_Criminal said:
I wouldn't expect any sort of post-build troubleshooting advice or help. If parts are discovered broken when building or down the line, I would just do the RMA myself.
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Thus is where it could it could start getting expensive. How much troubleshooting is the builder expected to do for the build cost if things don't work properly i.e. not a D.O.A part. Even it is a simple RMA return, they would want paying for that day and then again for when you get the replacement sorted.

The reason places like OCuk charge more is because they warranty the whole system and provide tech support on the phone/online for it as part of the package.

As with others here, I dread to think how many hours I lost providing support for friend's and family, as well as the friends of family who inevitably hear how helpful I was. I stopped doing it because my time is more valuable else where, and I don't even mean in monetary terms.

To me it's do it yourself and have full control or buy prebuilt and know the seller is there to deal with support. Anything else is too much risk of buck passing and warranty/support hassle.
 
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