How much should I charge my customers for component level repair?

[vk6zgo]

The "beancounters" in the TV networks thought it was a wonderful idea to make all those "non-productive" Technical people redundant & pay a premium for the same people to come back & do the same work as private contractors---Go figure! 

As a result of this,Techs in Perth a few years ago were charging around $75 an hour for work at TV studios,using test equipment & parts provided by the customer----if you are providing all that stuff yourself,you should charge a bit more.

The Electronics community in Aust is quite small,& fragmented,so that not all Technical people in say,WA know all those working in the same area in Sydney,or Adelaide.

People working in a different,but related, area?--------Probably very few would know each other.

If you are known for lousy workmanship,that will get around,as Engineers & Techs are bitchy & will gossip!

It's a bit unfair,but it seems to always be negative--------I've never heard"Gee, Fred does great work!"

I guess the point is that excellence is expected by your peers,& not commented on.

[sleemanj]

You have to be careful not to price yourself too low.

Low prices attract bottom feeders, problem clients, who want everything, think they are your most important client, and most importantly, want to pay nothing.

Higher prices, tend to attract better, easier, clients.  Less work, less stress, more money.

At least that's how it is in the industries I'm involved with (not EE).

Of course, price too high and you're at no work, no money, and an exponentially increasing stress level.

No fix no fee?  If you are going to spend more than 10 minutes looking at a problem to decide if it's fixable, that's $15 to $30 right there you could have earned on some other job while you were applying your years of expertise and knowledge for free.

[Stonent]

Maybe instead of a free no-fix, just reduce it to just a diagnostics fee.

[harveyradar]

I am in possibly a similar situation with regards to servicing electronic equipment as a sole trader.
Two points that may have been overlooked thus far are:
Component level/board level/module makes no difference - the customer just needs it working again - its most likely your call as to which is the most expedient/cost effective way for the customer. Get it wrong & they will remember!
Charge rates are best determined by what it is worth to the customer - the importance of the job is what should determine your price structure. the best jobs are those where the customer pays on the agreed value of the job not on a hourly + parts basis.

best of luck
harvey

[Corporate666]

That's a terrible idea. True you should know what you're worth but you should also know your competition. In the days of the internet, the only way to make a buck is to undersell your competition. If you see "crap" from your competitors then that is what you use to sell your service over theirs.

If it was true that the only way to make money was to undersell your competition, then there would only ever be one supplier in every industry - the low cost supplier.  That doesn't happen, so it must be true that being the cheapest is not the only way to run a business.  I think it is a very bad way to run a business, especially for a new business that needs fatter margins to survive because they don't have the economies that larger more established competitors have realized over the years.

When being the low priced supplier, you guarantee one thing - that you are making less money than everyone else.  It is usually a fatal mistake for any business, especially a new business, to decide that their method to grow their business will be to make less than everyone else.

[Telequipment]

 I now nothing about business, I speaking as a consumer, we just had a electrician in who only repairs cookers, his price is simply £30.00 phr  plus parts. you accept it of reject it, we accepted it because we know he is really good. so this is just my perspective as a consumer, sorry have no idea what £30 is in dollars, we had one who said £10 phr , I think you only get what you pay for, finally what would you pay for your services that's the question.

[David_AVD]

Thirty Pounds is about AUD $50.  That's pretty cheap for a serviceman.  I think I would avoid someone who only charged 10 Pounds ($16.50) per hour!

[AndyC_772]

Too right - I wouldn't want any of the equipment I own being touched by a £10/hr technician. Of course, only you truly know whether you're a £10/hr technician, a £40/hr technician, or a £10/hr technician who happens to be charging £40/hr.

[Telequipment]

Thirty Pounds is about AUD $50.  That's pretty cheap for a serviceman.  I think I would avoid someone who only charged 10 Pounds ($16.50) per hour!

OK that's good , he's semi retired and  so it's pocket money for him, we had to find him by word of mouth, family friend uses him, they rang him for us then he rang us. we would NEVER have used the £10.00p  /$16.00 man, I'd be to scared of fire.

[Telequipment]

Too right - I wouldn't want any of the equipment I own being touched by a £10/hr technician. Of course, only you truly know whether you're a £10/hr technician, a £40/hr technician, or a £10/hr technician who happens to be charging £40/hr.

This was fitted by a supposed electrician from the kitchen fitting company,  so our brought in sparky checked everything for us