[mUj0]

Ok, I started this discussion last night. I was just asking around the server seeing what people thought, or have had experience with. I'm looking to build a couple PC's for two people at work, and was wondering what a good pay rate would be. I did however get some good ideas from people last night on the server, but I wanted to broaden my horizons a bit.

Just for some basic info on me. I'm not certified in anything. I've only ever built two computers, ever. I do however know the ins and outs of hardware/software and building one won't be a problem whatsoever. I just finished up a PC Upgrade/Repair class in college (grade: A-), and have taken a Operating Systems class (grade: B+).

I was also wondering what was actually considered chargable. I.E. the actual planning, shopping, etc. thats involved in building. The customers have no idea about PC's so its pretty much they're telling me how much money they want to spend, and I'm building according to that. One PC is for an older lady's son, It is going to be a mid-range gaming rig priced at under $900. The other one is for a rich guy at work who just works at Sam's Club for something to do. He's wanting a Low-end gaming rig, basically he plays party poker, and he wants something that might also play ROller Coster Tycoon lol.

That should be about it, Thanks in advance for any help. And thankyou Replica, Sarge, Strontium, Duke, and Stevo for your help last night. I appreciate it.

...Replica, I did a small google search last night and couldn't come up with anything. Could you direct me to the site you went to for your information?
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[loka]

First off now that you have the price range they want what you do first is go to newegg.com.

Put everything in a basket and see how much it comes out to. From then on print out the list and explain to the customer what each part represents in the computer and what there getting for there buck. From there you can also have them decide if they want to upgrade or downgrade. Building a nice gaming computer should cost nothing more than around 800. Also the first thing you should always stress is the labor fee is not included on the computer estimate.

My friend who also builds computers for others charges a flat $100 fee to build a computer. You might just want to include a flat fee instead of charging a percentage to each parts or charing hourly...
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[mUj0]

Thanks Loka for your input. I've already formed the newegg lists and are printed out. The researching/planning is already done, I'm just waiting on authorization (and funds) to order the parts. This flat rate sounds easy I like easy
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Colossians 2:20 "You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the evil powers of this world. So why do you keep on following rules of the world"

[Hamese]

I would get all the parts pricing in order. Whether it be from Compusa, Newegg (I recommend like Loka), or TigerPC. Select the best parts with the best pricing and with shipping it is probably cheaper to buy all in one place.

Mark everything up 10% or so, give them an itemized estimate, and do not charge them a labor fee. The 800 dollar gaming machine will easily bring in 100-150 dollars.

Works best when you know they will not take the time to check prices and say, but I can get this cheaper. If that happens you can tell them they can buy it, but then it will be a labor fee to put it in
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[all-star]

what did you learn in these "PC upgrade/repair and operating system classes"?

[loka]

well heres the thing about percentaging the fee for labor.

this guy who wants the low end gaming rig would probably come out around 500 maybe less...

at which point may i suggest two labor fees. low end cost machines that are lower than 600 get a flat fee rate of 100.

anything higher than 600-700 starts to become a gaming machine in which case you might want to charge a fee of 150...and then anything higher than 900 that becoming the ultimate hardcore gaming machine could get a fee of 200.

the percentage rate would be great if you worked at best buy and sold 10 5,000 big screen HDTV's.

however when it comes to computers and each part it becomes some what tedious. you could set rates for different costs of machines.

so the example of
anything from price range 0-600 100 dollars
600-900 150 dollars
900- up 200 bucks
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[gator]

Mujo - this isn't a law firm, I don't believe thinking in terms of "billable time" is the best way to approach determining how much profit you want to make.

Regurgitating the earlier choices:
1) Take the COGS (cost of goods sold) - then add in a profit margin (i.e. 20%). The profit margin is what you pocket and covers your research, labor, whatever.

2) Simplify #1 and just do a flat fee like Loka suggested. I'd be careful about charging too high a fee for a low end system - accelerate the fee based on the system price, as you know the richer customers have more disposable income to throw away.

Either way should be dead simple, only difference with #1 is you do one extra step of actual calculation instead of looking up in a table what to charge.

[Willie Busserhimen]

If you decide to charge by the hour... Everything you do for the computer is chargeable. Essentially, they're paying for your time, skills, and knowledge. If you spend and hour searching for the right part or have trouble getting something to run, even the time laying out the plan.


... that's how it is in my world, sound design and video production. But since its not a business and/or youre not basing your income on it. I would suggest a flat rate either by percentage+ or whatever u think is fair.
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[Ricen]

You guys are making this way to hard. You only need two things to make this work. A 4'x4' pice of plywood, and a chicken. What ya do is take the plywood and mark it off into 2" squares. Then write a dollar amount that you may want to charge in each of the squares. After this is done you take your chicken and place it in center of the board. Watch your chicken carefuly! When the chicken leaves its droppings on the board you simply check the square and charge that dollar amount.


BTW...... My chicken says you owe me $5.00 for this advice.
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Rather we should thank God that such men lived."
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[loka]

exactly what gator said...

but consider yourself as a business when it comes to this matter in a professional matter.

you have to think about what other people are willing to spend...honestly i would shell out the 150 for a flat fee medium range computer...i wouldnt shell out 200 because if i did...i would spend that on my own computer you know what I mean?
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[mUj0]

[Stevo]

I liked $50 an hour for all time you spend on the project. Or the flat fee sounds good, too. Just make it simple...
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[PolluX]

I live in a somewhat economically depressed area so adjust to your local ideals, but I charge $25/hr for all computer work I do....outside of web design which I charge differently for.

So whether I'm installing software for a customer or building/ordering a new rig it's $25/hr. Make it easy for me to keep track of everything.

If I ever do flat rate work (I rarely do, but some projects demand it), I pretty much start at a minimum of $100 and go from there depending on what the needs of the customer are....but $100 usually covers most requests.
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[Canadian Rifle]

r u going to out to buy the parts or are they providing them for u, cuz if u do have get ur own parts then i think u should get paid a bit more!
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[l3eeron]

I'm relating this to construction, cuz that's what I do. And this is like construction, you're building something. First rule on bidding anything is to be weary of the "unforeseens". I don't care how easy it may look on paper, when you get down to business, it very rarely works out like you thought it would. The general rule is to get your labor amount as if the job would go perfectly smooth. Then add 30%. So, if you think you would like to make 100 dollars for building something, charge 130.00. I swear, this 30% has saved arse in many cases. I've gone up to 40% even. It's better to be upfront on the labor then to wait and stick em with a bill they weren't expecting. Or even worse, you end up making 5 bucks an hour cuz it took you 20 hours to build/test and now you can't raise the price!


If you want to be as profitable as possible don't do the flat rate. It's easy but less money. Take how much you make at your regular job (if you have one, or whatever your last pay rate was) and double it. Use that for your hourly rate. Other wise you're just doing the person a favor. Which is cool, if that's what you want to do. Lastly, keep track of every second you spend researching/ordering/travel time (if applicable)/building/testing and bill em for it!!!



All in all, I would say building PCs prolly aint that profitable, too much competition. You can buy em off the shelf to fit just about any need.
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