Electronics > Repair
How much should I charge my customers for component level repair?
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Stonent:
Many times a company will have you sign a contact with your rates. I think it depends on what work you are doing.  I paid 100 USD to have an electronics shop recap my digital tube tv including parts. But that was probably all through hole. If you're picking resistors up with tweezers and a microscope and / or dealing with bga stuff that requires a lot of skill.
cthree:
I'll add there are a lot of people in this thread talking a lot of shit. If you don't have something constructive to add why do you say anything at all? You are all above being judged by random strangers when you ask for help and feedback I presume?
nctnico:

--- Quote from: elcomtel on July 11, 2013, 01:57:21 pm ---I was asking for advice. Not criticism.

--- End quote ---
Well, making a business plan before starting your own business is good advise. A business plan should have answered questions like the number of billable hours you can make in a year and what the minimum number of hours per year and rate per hour should be to keep your belly full, a roof over your head, pay for income insurance, pension plan, healthcare, etc, etc. This may take  while to figure out. I needed a pretty complicated Excel sheet for my situation and I'm used to doing my own bookkeeping...

I simply charge by the hour and charge a minimum of 4 hours for on-site work. But for big customers I may bent these rules a bit depending on the customer. My golden rule is to never ever compete on price because that will erode price levels and eventually bite you in the ass. Excellent service however is hard to come by so it will provide repeat orders and referrals.
AndyC_772:
For component level repair, your service is worth whatever makes it economic to repair the types of product you're able to fix. If you're looking at repairing PCs, then don't even bother - you'll never do it cheaply enough to make repairing a sensible option. If, on the other hand, you can fix industrial equipment worth thousands, then your service can be quite expensive in terms of an hourly rate and it'll still make sense for people to hire you.

One statement you make does really, seriously put me off, though - in which case the rate you might charge becomes academic:


--- Quote from: elcomtel on July 11, 2013, 01:16:36 pm ---I am a highly regarded electronics specialist and my customers will get exceptional quality of service and the highest quality standards in the country
--- End quote ---

The reason it says to me "run a mile" is that it's so vague. An "electronics specialist" could mean absolutely anything from someone who has done nothing but soldering on a production line all day, all the way up to a degree qualified professional design engineer. If you're "highly regarded", cite people who know your work and who are willing to provide references. If you work to the "highest quality standards", state what they are: IPC, MIL or whatever. Otherwise, a statement like this is pure marketing fluff.

Be specific about your experience, your skills, and the nature of the work you can do, and customers will recognise that you might meet their needs. If you're not specific, don't expect the benefit of the doubt. Customers look for people in whom they can have confidence.
DavidDLC:

--- Quote from: elcomtel on July 11, 2013, 01:57:21 pm ---I was asking for advice. Not criticism.

--- End quote ---

You claim 25 years of experience, you should not be asking this question.

Or on the Welcome note put on the bottom: We still don't know how to charge for component level repair.
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