how much do you charge?

funkywaggnelz · 01-16-2008, 02:49 AM

So I have had a bunch of people at my school ask me to help them fix their computers for various reasons. Up until recently, they have all been friends of mine and have payed me with like a case of beer here and there. For them, I usually just do it for kicks cuz I enjoy fixing stuff to begin with and they would just give me a case as a like thank you. Well some of their friends are asking me now and I need money desperately, sooo yeah. I'm not wanting to get like as much as a shop would charge but something reasonable to make it worth my effort... So I was curiou what you all charge people for side work on their computers?

Keyboard Cowboy · 01-16-2008, 03:27 AM

It's really comes down to how much you value your time.

For me.... I tend to charge the following :-
$80 plus tax per hour. First 1 hour onsite in chargable, after that it's 30 minutes blocks at $40 plus tax.
If I have to travel out to some remote location, then I will charge $120 for the first hour. Especially with the price of pretrol these days.

Pass on any expence like timed parking. If I got a job in the city, metered parking is expensive.

BTW, do you have public liabilty insurance? If you don't, I suggest you get that too.

As for working for frreind. I try to avoid that as freinds tend to be all fine with you until you start asking them for money. Especially for the value that you deserve for the work being done.
Just 30 minutes after i when on my christmas holidays, I had a freind that wanted to pay me a few fireworks for me to fix both his and his mom's computer. Both computers needed a format and reinstall with updates. This is about 2 - 3 hours work for me, and he's expecting to pay me a few rockets that i would use up in about few minutes on new years eve. I don't think so......

Jorsoft · 01-16-2008, 04:04 AM

I've basically stopped doing work for friends and family for the same reasons Harper stated. They always seem to want everything for free and it's just not worth my time. I'll always help my mom and two brothers (all 3 have computers built by me, actually, and have had zero problems with them) for obvious reasons, but I'm done helping my aunts and uncles. Bad experiences with them making too many demands on my time for simple problems (changing the display resolution and so forth). Living 25-30 miles away from all of them it's too much to ask.

For your friends, either take the beer if they offer it or don't do it at all. Most of your friends won't want to pay you cash. Best not to mix money and friends.

Metal Chaos · 01-16-2008, 04:10 AM

If I was fixing someone's PC I'd charge only about $20 for most things, something huge or time consuming maybe $40 or 50 but that's about it. Last thing I got for technical stuff with PCs was for telling my aunt what she needed to get her PC and my cousin's Xbox 360 online at the same time, I got some of her famous candied yams for that and that's better than any amount of cash to me. But yeah, I don't usually charge people since I don't do it that often and I never have to do much, so if you're looking for a decent price to charge 20-30 seems to be a good bet.

funkywaggnelz · 01-16-2008, 09:35 AM

I'm not really sure what public liability insurance is. This is just something I am going to do on the side for a few extra bucks cuz the tech dept. at my school blows. There are like 3 of them and the profs take preference over students so the students w/ problems never get their stuff fixed.

Saxon · 01-16-2008, 10:18 AM

Liability insurance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Public liability

Industry and commerce are based on a range of processes and activities that have the potential to affect third parties (members of the public, visitors, trespassers, sub-contractors, etc. who may be physically injured or whose property may be damaged or both). It varies from state to state as to whether either or both employer's liability insurance and public liability insurance have been made compulsory by law. Regardless of compulsion, however, most organizations include public liability insurance in their insurance portfolio even though the conditions, exclusions, and warranties included within the standard policies can be onerous.

Those with the greatest public liability risk exposure are occupiers of premises where large numbers of third parties frequent at leisure including shopping centers, pubs, clubs, theaters, sporting venues, markets, hotels and resorts. The risk increases dramatically when consumption of alcohol and sporting events are included. Certain industries such as security and cleaning are considered high risk by underwriters.

Private individuals also occupy land and engage in potentially dangerous activities. For example, a rotten branch may fall from an old tree and injure a pedestrian, and many ride bicycles and skateboards in public places. The majority of states requires motorists to carry insurance and criminalise those who drive without a valid policy. Many also require insurance companies to provide a default fund to offer compensation to those physically injured in accidents where the driver did not have a valid policy.

In many countries claims are dealt with under common law principles established through a long history of case law and, if litigated, are made by way of civil actions in the relevant jurisdiction.

fade2black2004 · 01-16-2008, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harper

It's really comes down to how much you value your time.

For me.... I tend to charge the following :-
$80 plus tax per hour. First 1 hour onsite in chargable, after that it's 30 minutes blocks at $40 plus tax.
If I have to travel out to some remote location, then I will charge $120 for the first hour. Especially with the price of pretrol these days.

Pass on any expence like timed parking. If I got a job in the city, metered parking is expensive.

BTW, do you have public liabilty insurance? If you don't, I suggest you get that too.

As for working for frreind. I try to avoid that as freinds tend to be all fine with you until you start asking them for money. Especially for the value that you deserve for the work being done.
Just 30 minutes after i when on my christmas holidays, I had a freind that wanted to pay me a few fireworks for me to fix both his and his mom's computer. Both computers needed a format and reinstall with updates. This is about 2 - 3 hours work for me, and he's expecting to pay me a few rockets that i would use up in about few minutes on new years eve. I don't think so......

wow man thats kinda a rip off
so for you to reformat, instal, and update you would charge something ike 160-240 bucks??? at that price they would probably be better of going to geeksquad or something

for friends it usually little things and ill charge 10-20 bucks depending on what it is or if its something really simple ill do it for free.
for other people id do 40 bucks for a reformat and os instalation, thats with them bringing and picking up the pc, and if they want a lega os they have to provide that as wel

Brinson · 01-16-2008, 11:21 AM

Never charged anyone for fixing their pc...if I know them, I do it for free, if I don't, I don't do it...

Unless it takes more than a couple hours I wouldn't really think about it. What ever happened to being nice?

Brinson · 01-16-2008, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harper

This is about 2 - 3 hours work for me, and he's expecting to pay me a few rockets that i would use up in about few minutes on new years eve. I don't think so......

2-3 hours of sitting on your *** watching a screen 80% of the time hitting the occasional enter key...

Realistically, I don't think reformatting someone's pc and installing updates is worth more money than doing something of comparable difficulty. Something as easy as sitting down and watching a load screen won't earn you $80/hour. And if it does, it shouldn't...that's what screwed up about capatalism, how poorly we decide how much people's time is worth.

CrazeD · 01-16-2008, 11:35 AM

Wow, glad some of ya'll aren't my friends. >_>

If my friends or even people I don't know (over the net) have PC problems or really any problems, I'll try to help them the best I can.

I can't think of how many times I've had to reformat my friend's PC, or my sister's PC, replace hardware...etc. All for free. Because number one, I'm always looking for reasons to do something to a PC, so it gives me an opportunity. Number two, I guess I'm just a nice guy...

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