What to charge?

[dimegrind]

I have been giving family and freinds help with there computers and networks for sometime now (past 5 years). I dont ever charge them.

Just reacently family friends of ours passed me on to some of their family members...no prob. I worked on ther computer for a few hours (virus adware/spyware and window updates). I didnt charge them even though they wanted to give me $$. I told the no prob, Merry X-mas.

Now the person I just help out just passed me along to another family member and I am starting to see a patern develope here. My question is what do I charge for my time? Do I charge by the hour or the type of work I do. I dont know even if I want this patern to continue.

Granted most peoples pc probs are usually some virsus or spyware issue that can be fixed in a decent amount of time. I just dont want to be someones techie that calls me anytime they have an issue with their comp.

I just wanted to find out if any of you do any consulting with home users and what you charge.

Also any tips you may have for me as I walk into the home tech support realm.

dimegrind

[Martin L]

let them pay you per hour... what they should pay you depends on where you live, i live in the netherlands and if i go do this i will ask 10 euro per hour

[EchoNoise]

You should have a look at what I am doing with my side business... I charge a flat rate for "packages"...

For example:

For a basic package, i will do certain things (too long to list) and it will cost them $30 up front with $20 call-out fee... then after 2 hours it will cost them $10 for every hour after that... After that, they get 10 free days support, and an account on my support system...

For a platinum package, i will do certain things (too long to list) and it will cost them $99 up front with $20 call-out fee... then after 5 hours it will cost them $10 for every hour after that... and then they also get 10 days free support, and an account... PLUS they get an extra 5 days because they chose the platinum package

Works great for me, lots of customers!

I also do pickup and delivery but that costs $30 instead of the $20 call-out fee

Hope that helps you

[gamehead200]

I'm not difficult. I charge $20/hour. It has come to this since many people usually ask me, "How much did you charge so and so?"

[DigeratiPrime]

$20 for first hour $10 per hour after that. *subject to change*

Edited December 13, 2005 by DigeratiPrime

[Wicket20519]

My neighbor pays me by the hour. Sometimes my name will SOMEHOW get into the hands of a complete stranger and I'll get a call and they live "over yonder." When that happens, I'd just charge a fee just to drive over there (just enough to pay for gas) and then once there, assess the situation, then charge whatever rate is necessary.

If all else fails, lock yourself in your room, order pizza online (make sure you get the combos with the 2 ltr sodas!) and have the delivery guy hand it to you through the window!

[Nex6]

wow, i used to do alot of consulting. (I have a full time gig now and don't have the time)

I broke it down acording to what i was doing like so:

basic workstation stuff: 50$ hour

workstation work with networking or advanced trouble shooting: 75$ hour

servers/networking:125$

security/programing:150$

for house calls to normal people sometime i do a favor for 25 an hour for basic PC work.

but i did mostly companys and the like...

-Nex6

[Synapse]

I don't charge anything, mainly cause its all family members, and most of the time its during some sort of holiday... i figure, hell i'm eating for free, they brought soda, food, movies, etc.. i can do somethin for them for free.

if it was a total stranger i'd charge about $10 an hour, subject to vary depending on what type of virus/spyware had to be removed.. or i'd lower my cost if i find it necessary to do a full system format..