Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: SilverZ06 on September 27, 2011, 05:02:28 PM
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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 :huh. 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. :aok
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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. :devil
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that's exactly the price range I was thinking. I'll probably just price it at $100 for my first one.
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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
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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
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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.
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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).
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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
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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.
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Reminds me of the sign in the motorcycle shop:
Hourly Rates
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for just the work: $25
if you watch: $50
if you ask questions: $75
if you help: $100
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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 :(
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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
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he is well aware and ill beat it over his head that the $100 is just to assemble the parts and install the OS with all updated drivers. I will hand him a turn key system and any future issues will be separate. no warranty written,expressed, or implied except from the equipment manufacturers. just assembly not full tech support. I'm not making money on the parts just wanting to be compensated for my time.
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Since it's your boss who's in need of the computer, I'd recommend to wash your hands of the project as soon as possible and lead them to a good builder like mbailey said. That way you don't risk your job in the future if something goes wrong, be it their fault or poor components. If they are happy, it would be polite to reward you with some nice Christmas present for your help and advice. In the opposite case your bacon is at least half saved.
I help people with computers for living, and although I can, I don't build computers for my customers. When you're buying components for just one machine, there's always one missing or faulty component and getting a replacement takes so much time and effort it isn't worth the 100. Not to mention possible breaking under warranty time. As you know, the builder shouldn't charge for his work at warranty issues...
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he is well aware and ill beat it over his head that the $100 is just to assemble the parts and install the OS with all updated drivers. I will hand him a turn key system and any future issues will be separate. no warranty written,expressed, or implied except from the equipment manufacturers. just assembly not full tech support. I'm not making money on the parts just wanting to be compensated for my time.
I've told people that same exact thing in the past and ended up being called several times a month for every little thing. Since I do this as a hobby and not a business then it doesn't feel right to me to charge them for every step of the way and since they knew I did it as a favor they counted on it!
It's simple.. I only do it for family anymore. It's just not worth the hassle. If I was running a business (I wonder if TD needs a partner! haha) then it'd be a different story altogether.
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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
+ infinity! The last thing you want to do is incur the wrath of a friend or employer over something that their kids do to the PC's at home. Especially when it starts taking YOUR time away from doing the things you like to do.
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If you do end up doing it
1. teach him how to backup the system on a regular basis
2. teach him to backup before he updates anything
3. teach him to do a backup on a regular basis and drill into his head how important it is to keep the original disks and updated backups in a safe place.
then inform him how to do a reinstall if anything goes wrong, if you don't - guess who will be expected to do it in the future.
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Do it in exchange for a nice dinner out for you and your wife. That makes it more of an exchange of gifts/favors then a business transaction.
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Do the free thing and take it a step further. Teach the kid how to do it himself
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How do you feel about phone calls at 2am when the kid gets his 1st BSOD? :devil
Seriously, you'll be married to this computer whenever something goes awry.
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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
a bit off topic but it relates
Im gonna have to have T-shirts made up with this as some of the most annoying problems I've run into. Are the ones created when the customer decided to try and help. such as last week. Wallpaper removal and paint job in two bathrooms. which means everything has to come off the walls.
I had all the wall plates in and screws inside the vanity so they wouldnt get lost and the hardware like towel and shower curtain rods set off to the side. Well the customer decided to help and wanted to clean up the wall plates and in the process lost all the screws for the hardware and wall plates. After digging around and comming up with enough screws of the proper size to fit into the wall anchors Im almost done when I get called into the next room to give the husband a hand with something.
I come back in an the last two screws needed that I JUST placed on the counter top are now missing because she decided to help me clean up.
At that point I jokingly told her that if she was going to help. Im going to have to charge her an extra fee
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I tend to charge 10% of the price for parts, a little more if it's a family member or nagging friend.
At 1,000, it's usually someone who it tight on funds so 100 bucks works well.
2,000 is a more involved system, takes more time, etc. so 200 bucks is deserved.
3,000 and above means they want something extraordinary and have no problem shelling out 300 bucks or more for it.