I have been asked by a friend to fix her computer. The problem is, she wants me to set my rates, none of this “whatever you think it is worth” crap. She really wants to pay, too, so that’s nice. 
I was thinking of a service call fee, then an hourly rate if it goes over a half hour. What amounts would you think are fair? Keep in mind that this isn’t NYC. Do you have suggestions for other ways to price it?
Call around and find out what repair shops would charge and go from there.
How complicated is the repair?
Not very complicated, I don’t think. She says the computer doesn’t seem to recognize the printer all the time. She has to reboot the computer multiple times to get it to print.
My “friend rate” is $40 for the first hour and $25 an hour after that. A more “commercial rate” might be like $75 an hour. I would also require knowing quite specific in advance what was to be done and give an estimate on the number of hours.
Random people are charged $50/hr, travel included in total time. Businesses are charged $75/hr.
For folks that I’m friendly (family friends, co-workers, etc) with, my standard rate is $50/hr, and travel is billed at 1/2 that rate ($25/hr).
Immediate friends the charge is beer while I work.
Family gets free work (lingering Irish Catholic guilt).
All of these rates are out the window if I’m “visiting” and they ask a question, which I can fix easily.
You don’t need to stick to a “rate” though. If you’re over fixing the computer, and having a nice chat, and it takes 2 hours, you might say that $25 (for example) was a fair repair cost.
Thanks for the responses.
ftg, I was thinking of something along those lines. I was planning on a call out fee which covers the first 30 minutes and then an hourly rate after that.
What do you do or charge if you find a problem you cannot fix, or don’t want to fix (something like a re-install)?
Charge her whatever she makes per hour.