What is a reasonable fee to charge to spec and build a pc

[SilverZ06]

After talking with one of my managers at work he mentioned his son needed a new pc and was looking at alienware's website. When he sent me the list of components he wanted i plugged them into their builder section and almost fell out of my chair $3400 WITHOUT a monitor  .  I show them my new pc and we started going back and forth about what his needs (must haves) and wants (can be added later when the budget allows) are. We have been going back and forth for about 3 days now and are getting close to nailing the system down. My question is what is a reasonable fee to charge him for the actual spec and build time. I don't want to be way out of the park and rape them but I am not a charity either as this will be done on my time off of work. Any input would be appreciated. 

[titanic3]

JUST for work alone? Excluding the PC's price? Then I would say $100-150. Get a sticker and put it on the side of the PC so it's official. 

[SilverZ06]

that's exactly the price range I was thinking.  I'll probably just price it at $100 for my first one.

[ebfd11]

Another good idea is figure out how long you will be working on it then charge him your hourly rate at work at time and a half...

IE: If you make 10 an hour then you charge him 15 an hour and go from there. I found out that on my 1st build it took me aprox 15 hours total to get things right and looking good. After that then you will see that it might bring you more business.

just my 2 cents

LawnDart

[BERN1]

did you offer advice?
or did he ask you to help him build the machine?
I think if you offered to 'help" him you might not want to charge him

[SilverZ06]

did you offer advice?
or did he ask you to help him build the machine?
I think if you offered to 'help" him you might not want to charge him

I never offered to build it for free. He knows he is saving a ton of money by having me build it which is why he wants me to do it in the first place. Free is out of the question. I think $100 seems reasonable.

[titanic3]

that's exactly the price range I was thinking.  I'll probably just price it at $100 for my first one.

Meet him halfway. $125.50 (The 50 cents is to buy yourself a congratulatory snack).

[steely07]

also beware that anything that goes wrong with it in future, software/hardware/user error-wise will be your fault, and you'll be asked to fix it for free <g>

Might want to factor that in also

Salute

Steely

[gyrene81]

what steely said. you build it for any fee and you inherit responsibility for it until it dies. it can come back to haunt you to the tune that friends, relatives, co-workers, etc...can become nuisances.

from experience, what i would recommend is offer to "help" the son purchase the parts and build the system, charge a fee of course but not as much as you would if you were doing all the work yourself. what that will do is shift some of the responsibility for issues onto the son, and maybe teach him a few things so he won't be as likely to mess it up. a little hands on education can go a long way.

[Bino]

Reminds me of the sign in the motorcycle shop:

Hourly Rates
========

for just the work:     $25

if you watch:             $50

if you ask questions:  $75

if you help:             $100

[steely07]

I think gyrene hit it on the head there, that's exactly what you should do.

I actually had to stop helping friends with their PC's as it got way too annoying, getting a call 6 months after upgrading a video card with a complaint that the machine was "slow" and spending 3 hours

removing crapware without even the offer of a drink got to be too much trouble unfortunately

[Tigger29]

what steely said. you build it for any fee and you inherit responsibility for it until it dies. it can come back to haunt you to the tune that friends, relatives, co-workers, etc...can become nuisances.

from experience, what i would recommend is offer to "help" the son purchase the parts and build the system, charge a fee of course but not as much as you would if you were doing all the work yourself. what that will do is shift some of the responsibility for issues onto the son, and maybe teach him a few things so he won't be as likely to mess it up. a little hands on education can go a long way.

I agree almost completely.  Don't charge him a dime but instead offer your advice and help for free.  I've been down that road before and it seems to bite me in the rear every time.  It always seems like the people who wouldn't possibly give you any trouble that end up being a pain in the rear.. ESPECIALLY being that he might have a say in your employment future.  Even then be careful as you can still get in trouble should something go wrong.

I once agreed to look at my (ex) father-in-law coworker's computer.  It was an old Packard Bell system that used a proprietary power supply that was fried.  It really wasn't worth fixing and I found a refurbished Dell P4 system at a really good price which was $250 and then a $50 rebate (for a total of $200).  Being that I was doing it as a favor to my father-in-law I told her to just give me a check for the $200 and I would cover the $50 until I got the rebate check.  It was a risky move but it only took 3 weeks for me to get the rebate check and she had a good computer and I wasn't out anything and all was good.

Then about 3 months later she called me raising trouble because she hadn't gotten her $50 rebate yet!  There was a lot of yelling and cussing over the phone and I tried to explain to her once again that I covered the $50 for her and that she isn't entitled to another rebate.  When she threatened to sue me I explained to her that I didn't make any money off of the deal and that I did it as a favor and good luck with suing and then I politely asked her never to contact me again!  Apparently she gave my father-in-law a real earful about it the next day at work and next thing you know he's all mad at me too!  I still to this day think that both him and her thought I screwed her over!

[BaldEagl]

How long will this take you and how much work are you going to do?  Spec it, build it, test it, tweak it, install the OS, install apps, move files, provide support?  Do you really want to take all that on for $100?

As others have said unless you're planning on getting into the business just offer help and advice and leave it at that.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

what steely said. you build it for any fee and you inherit responsibility for it until it dies. it can come back to haunt you to the tune that friends, relatives, co-workers, etc...can become nuisances.

Same applies if you do it for free for friends/family. Generally best option is to opt out.

[mbailey]

Another option if you want him to get a great computer at a great price would be to check out Tildeath (TDcomputer systems)

He will get a really great build, at a really great price, and you dont have to worry about the headaches of something going wrong.

just my .02