what do you charge for nixers

dbnavan

I fix PC's from home as nixers while at college, worked in the industry in several technical roles so I know what I am doing, get all work through word of mouth and rarely have any problems. I usually charge about 50 euro per hour or flat rate of about 120 for say hard disk replacement and reload.

I never have any trouble getting what I ask for but recently while talking to some friends in college they say I rip people off, however another guy I know who I give major work to, if i dont have time etc, and owns company for last 20 years with vans etc charges 120 + vat per hour, non negotitible. He says I am totally underselling myself for skills I have.

Before anyone asks if I am paying tax, I dont have to as I am registered disabled and full time at college, and not making enough to make it worth while. Phoned tax office to find out.

hardCopy

I don't do a whole lot of nixer work but when I have done it I've charged around €40 - €50 per hour. As far as I'm concerned that's fairly cheap compared to work I've done other areas.

rsynnott

Hmm, somehow I seem to end up doing quite a lot of this stuff for free. Grr.

Laguna

rsynnott wrote:

Hmm, somehow I seem to end up doing quite a lot of this stuff for free. Grr.

Same here, I do it as favours most of the time, I couldn't charge friends or family, however if I was doing a big job for someone through word of mouth and it was time consuming, I'd probably charge them about €50 an hour excluding parts..

dbnavan

Laguna wrote:

Same here, I do it as favours most of the time, I couldn't charge friends or family, however if I was doing a big job for someone through word of mouth and it was time consuming, I'd probably charge them about €50 an hour excluding parts..

I dont really like doing stuff for friends or family, cause I dont charge family, and it depends who friend is, you find you make a lot of friends very quickly when u can fix PC's,"Ah sure i'll fix u up with a few pints on sunday night....." Doesnt pay the rent unfortunatly.

Having said that have an uncle who wont take no for an answer and forces money into my pocket and tells me if i dont take it, he wont ask again. I end up taking it, but thats not charging cause i didnt ask....:) he can afford it anyway!!

Mr. Presentable

Call somebody to fix your washing machine or TV, that'll give you a feel for what's reasonable. You could safely stick 50% on top of that.

cormie

What do you do mostly? My skills are very limited, I can reinstall windows, open up PC's etc, what most people don't know how to do and will end up calling somebody out to the house for. This has only ever happened with friends and I've never charged. What happens if you mess it up? Who's responsible?

You also have to take travel and research expenses into it (where to get the component they need and even picking that up).

dbnavan

cormie wrote:

What do you do mostly? My skills are very limited, I can reinstall windows, open up PC's etc, what most people don't know how to do and will end up calling somebody out to the house for. This has only ever happened with friends and I've never charged. What happens if you mess it up? Who's responsible?

You also have to take travel and research expenses into it (where to get the component they need and even picking that up).

Most calls are spyware, viruses, blue screens, but I do some networking and upgrading too, alot of calls are simple stuff that if the people read the instructions could do theirselves, ie broadband setup, I love them calls so easy.

Obviously, I am responsible if something goes wrong, only ever had it happen once years ago, I was 16, so 10 years ago, I blew a motherboard, I paid for a new one, but now I am older and i know, i know what I am doing. Never have any problems infact some of my 'clients' are businesses.

TommyGun

rsynnott wrote:

Hmm, somehow I seem to end up doing quite a lot of this stuff for free. Grr.

The same here, i always have at least 1 or 2 systems in the house. I always fix them for free.

My own fault, the more I do for free the more systems i get, now l only do it now for close friends.

I think as you have spent time learning all this, like anything else you be able to charge the going rate.

No one would call over a electrician and expect he/she to work for free.

Lump

I'm much the same, I offer advice to Friends and family, but then in work when people get wise of my skillzors, I get quizzed on stuff. It's a bit wierd to refuse!

John

ToxicPaddy

I do a fair few nixers around the place.. started with friends and family and gradually grew from there by word of mouth.

I dont charge friends or family obviously enough but its more than compensated for by the work I get from their friends through word of mouth.

I tend to charge a set rate for most things and rarely go above the €50 or €60 mark as I believe that people do get ripped off enough these days for most things and its cash in hand work.

With most things like virus/spyware removal etc I tend to bring the PC back to my place and fix it there, install the latest updates etc and run the various scans, leaving them run overnight. You cant really charge per hour for things like that and the same goes for OS re-installs etc. They usually get their PC's back with 48 hours max with everything installed and all their updates, latest drivers etc also installed.

Plus there is always the favour that the person might do in return for you in the future as everyone has their own area of expertise, you would be very surprised how much people appreciate not being over charged/ripped off.

Its not something I'm gonna get rich from, but it all adds up and I'm getting into the habit of transferring the equivalent of whatever I get from a customer in cash into a saving account and I can see it adding up over time and pays for things like holidays, weekends away etc.

Its always nice to be nice as someone I know used to say!!!!

Tox

hobie

By the time a guy /buddy has driven over to your place ..... figured out what's up .... maybe taken the Pc home to do the work and then return it etc etc ....

..... if your not prepared to drop him 50 to 80 notes (plus parts) to get you out of trouble you really shouldn't ask him !!!! ..... :rolleyes:

Toxic .... you have a nice attitude man!!!! .....

aaf

Jesus, looks like I'm undercharging. I usually charge €30/hr with a max of €120 plus parts. Tbh, I'm trying to wind down on the nixers front as I end up getting more phone calls and most of the time, I end up having to call the person back to talk them through their problem so it's costing me to solve their problems. Got two voicemails today. One guy says he got his website revamped and wants to know where the 'refresh' button is on his web browser so he can see the changes :rolleyes: I'm not calling him back. He rings so many times during the month and when I do eventually call out, he hands me a certain amount of money before I say how much I want and it's always less than I was going to ask for. Need to take some classes in assertiveness!! The other voicemail was from a woman who opened an email she knew she shouldn't have opened and now is pretty sure she has a virus on both her PC and laptop. Also, her wireless keyboard doesn't type properly. More than likey needs new batteries even though I told her 6 months ago to get a set of rechargeable batteries.

far2gud

Hi Folks,


Is there still money to be made doing this stuff? Might post an add somewhere to see if I can make some extra cash...allthough judging by the last couple of posts maybe not!! I could do without crazy people ringing me about their refresh button.

Giblet

Depends on the job, today I moved a PC, set up DSL and did some cleanup for 100 euro

Hadoken

€50 p/h is what I charge as well..I'm sick and tired of having people asking me to take a look at their pc's and expecting it to be free...I get enough of that at work without having it bite into my personal life

_Kaiser_

ToxicPaddy wrote:

I do a fair few nixers around the place.. started with friends and family and gradually grew from there by word of mouth.

I dont charge friends or family obviously enough but its more than compensated for by the work I get from their friends through word of mouth.

I tend to charge a set rate for most things and rarely go above the €50 or €60 mark as I believe that people do get ripped off enough these days for most things and its cash in hand work.

With most things like virus/spyware removal etc I tend to bring the PC back to my place and fix it there, install the latest updates etc and run the various scans, leaving them run overnight. You cant really charge per hour for things like that and the same goes for OS re-installs etc. They usually get their PC's back with 48 hours max with everything installed and all their updates, latest drivers etc also installed.

Plus there is always the favour that the person might do in return for you in the future as everyone has their own area of expertise, you would be very surprised how much people appreciate not being over charged/ripped off.

Its not something I'm gonna get rich from, but it all adds up and I'm getting into the habit of transferring the equivalent of whatever I get from a customer in cash into a saving account and I can see it adding up over time and pays for things like holidays, weekends away etc.

Its always nice to be nice as someone I know used to say!!!!

Tox

This would be the way I work too, though I usually work from a base rate of €75 for a reload, updates etc (remember, it's costing you money for that broadband link you're updating their pc through) and depending on the job really I may charge more. It's rare I'd have it all done inside of 2 hours anyway - it's never as easy or straightforward as it should be .. especially as I tend to get a lot of older machines to deal with - so I think it balances out in the end.

Per hour work doesn't really fly with friends/family, especially where you're just waiting for the install/updates to finish... anyway, by keeping it reasonable you're guaranteed repeat/more business

mad m

aaf wrote:

He rings so many times during the month and when I do eventually call out, he hands me a certain amount of money before I say how much I want and it's always less than I was going to ask for. Need to take some classes in assertiveness!

If you did say to him from start how much you want, you will probably never hear from him again...Maybe worth a go .