Fair Labor Price

[Tgdrysix]

Due to the prior events (the blowing up of my graphics card which the replacement has yet to come back to me).....my daughter's friend offered to build a gaming computer for me for $500.00 (US $'s) plus cost of parts....he gave me a figure of around $1600.00 (for everything, depending on what case I decide to go with)....so I was wondering mainly about his labor fee.....is $500 a fair price to pay someone to build a computer.....he will also transfer my data that I need and will set up some type of switch system between my old tower and new.....the old one will be for my personal stuff....like bill pay etc....the new one will be strictly for gaming.....so is this :

a.) Good deal take it and run!!!

Or....

b.) Boy are you a sucker!!!!

 Thanks everyone, Tgdrysix
 I have to add he is saving money for school....so I don't mine paying him if it's a fair price....and I don't have any idea how much work is involved in building a computer sooo.... ....just looking for some feedback.....

[HRH Posie]

I've been building my own machines for years.  It takes me around an hour to get the hardware setup.  Putting in hard drives cards etc takes minutes however connecting the silly little led lights up can be trial and error due to some motherboard instructions   Personally I help my friends for free but if I was to charge someone I would probably stick to £30-50.  Creating a backup of the current drive isn't a hard thing to do either.  I actually have two machines sharing a monitor, keybord and mouse and the cabling for that is plug and play.  Setting up a home network can be done in a few minutes these days too.

[Ruann]

That's a wee bit high on the price scale, but not in the danger zone.  A good tech is worth about $60 to $100/hour.  That's what I would charge, at least, if I did freelance work.  You're typically looking at a 2 hour minimum payment on such work as well.  If he has to obtain the parts himself, you're looking at another hour or two.  So it's not out of the realm of possibility, but it is at the high end of the scale.

In terms of just building a PC and installing the operating system and software (and making sure it runs) you are looking at 4 to 8 hours of work.  Unless something goes badly.

[Minena]

hmmm..I just upgraded my system, new mainboard, processor, memory, video card and power supply. Pretty much the same amount of work as a "new" build, and it took me all of 10 minutes to install them in my old case. I formated my hard drive and reloaded my OS, like a new build, took 15 minutes. Asume I had to install my 2 rom drives, a floppy and the hdd (physically screw them into the case bays) say 10 minutes. Install drivers and OS, 30 minutes.

I was online again in about an hour.  Average hourly rate at a computer store for in shop work is $50-$70 an hour.

So, do the math..$500 for about an hours work.

Depends on how much you want to help him out.

the rest of his "fee" is $1100 for parts? I'd like to know what he's building, my new parts came to $491 for mainboard, processor, video, memory and power supply.. I reused my case, dvd, cdrw, floppy and hdd, and that is including shipping. This was less than a week ago also, so I'd say very recently.

[Tgdrysix]

That's a wee bit high on the price scale, but not in the danger zone.  A good tech is worth about $60 to $100/hour.  That's what I would charge, at least, if I did freelance work.  You're typically looking at a 2 hour minimum payment on such work as well.  If he has to obtain the parts himself, you're looking at another hour or two.  So it's not out of the realm of possibility, but it is at the high end of the scale.

In terms of just building a PC and installing the operating system and software (and making sure it runs) you are looking at 4 to 8 hours of work.  Unless something goes badly.

He will be ordering the parts for me and then putting it all together at his house, hoping something doesn't go badly..... .....thanks for the feedback....tgdrysix

[yetyak]

For $1100 you'd better hope the parts are gold plated....  Does the price change if something does go wrong, and it takes him considerably longer than planned?

[Tgdrysix]

I've been building my own machines for years.  It takes me around an hour to get the hardware setup.  Putting in hard drives cards etc takes minutes however connecting the silly little led lights up can be trial and error due to some motherboard instructions   Personally I help my friends for free but if I was to charge someone I would probably stick to £30-50.  Creating a backup of the current drive isn't a hard thing to do either.  I actually have two machines sharing a monitor, keybord and mouse and the cabling for that is plug and play.  Setting up a home network can be done in a few minutes these days too.

Exactly how much is "£30-50" in US dollars.....and this is what I am aiming for "machines sharing a monitor, keybord and mouse and the cabling for that is plug and play"....I already have a network set up with the other computers in the house....2 laptops, a desktop upstairs and my desktop downstairs that will have the new tower added to it....And free is good.....doesn't apply in my case unfortuantely.... .....but the money would be going to a "good cause" so it wouldn't hurt as bad to pay him....even if it's a little on the high side.....but not extremely so......thanks for the feedback.....tgdrysix

[Tgdrysix]

For $1100 you'd better hope the parts are gold plated....  Does the price change if something does go wrong, and it takes him considerably longer than planned?

No.....he'll get it fixed/working for the same.....I don't have the parts list here....he has it but if I get a copy I'll try to post it....thanks for the feedback.....tgdrysix

[HRH Posie]

Exactly how much is "£30-50" in US dollars.....and this is what I am aiming for "machines sharing a monitor, keybord and mouse and the cabling for that is plug and play"....I already have a network set up with the other computers in the house....2 laptops, a desktop upstairs and my desktop downstairs that will have the new tower added to it....And free is good.....doesn't apply in my case unfortuantely.... .....but the money would be going to a "good cause" so it wouldn't hurt as bad to pay him....even if it's a little on the high side.....but not extremely so......thanks for the feedback.....tgdrysix

$52-88.  The Belkin switch I purchased 2 years ago was £20 ($35).  I have my main server and my partner's machine in a computer cabinet.  As I rarely need to log on to the server I use a switch to conserve space.

[gethane]

i built computers for a living for 2 years at a local computer store. I built close to 2000 in those two years.

I think he's ripping you off.

On the other hand, when you have no way of doing or knowing how to do something yourself, and no friendlies to help you, I suppose you'll have to pay. But, if I were going to (for whatever reason) spend that much money on a computer, I would buy from someone that provided me a warranty. Like HP or Dell. And it takes a LOT for me to recommend that.

Good luck

[J. M. Pescado]

*$1600* for building a computer? That's OUTRAGEOUS! For that kind of money, I could have two NEW computers! This is robbery!

[Tgdrysix]

*$1600* for building a computer? That's OUTRAGEOUS! For that kind of money, I could have two NEW computers! This is robbery!

You really think so?   It's for both the parts (all the guts that go inside to run it) and the labor.....and it will be of the highest standards for a gaming computer....more than I'll actually use and/or need.....(of course it will be only the tower....not the monitor or keyboard or other accessories)....I was pricing the dell XPS's and after "adjusting for preferences" the thing was almost $4000 bucks.....so maybe I'll get him to tweak his stuff he's looking to use....it's all from newegg (?) and another site I don't remember the name it starts with an "x".....I've seen the list of parts and it seemed reasonable.....the most expensive things are what I figured to be the most expensive things.....anyway thanks for the feedback.....tgdrysix

[Tgdrysix]

i built computers for a living for 2 years at a local computer store. I built close to 2000 in those two years.

I think he's ripping you off.

On the other hand, when you have no way of doing or knowing how to do something yourself, and no friendlies to help you, I suppose you'll have to pay. But, if I were going to (for whatever reason) spend that much money on a computer, I would buy from someone that provided me a warranty. Like HP or Dell. And it takes a LOT for me to recommend that.

Good luck

Thanks for the feedback.....all of my other computers are Dells (4 in all) and I was looking at the XPS's and he said he could build me one cheaper than that.....sooo I was just seeing if it would actually be cheaper for me to get him to do it ......again thanks, tgdrysix

[J. M. Pescado]

Dells are ripoffs.  They use substandard, bare-minimum parts, often lacking in upgrade options. They charge outlandish prices, the cases are ugly and bloated, wasting immense amounts of deskspace because they tend not to stack well, not being properly blocky, and funny-colored to boot. And they COST TOO DAMN MUCH considering how many corners are cut in the parts, and they have weak cooling systems and are thus prone to overheating....or would be, if it weren't for the fact that their parts are so lousy that they can't actually put out any heat because you can't *DO* anything with them.

[Tgdrysix]

Dells are ripoffs.  They use substandard, bare-minimum parts, often lacking in upgrade options. They charge outlandish prices, the cases are ugly and bloated, wasting immense amounts of deskspace because they tend not to stack well, not being properly blocky, and funny-colored to boot. And they COST TOO DAMN MUCH considering how many corners are cut in the parts, and they have weak cooling systems and are thus prone to overheating....or would be, if it weren't for the fact that their parts are so lousy that they can't actually put out any heat because you can't *DO* anything with them.

"that they can't actually put out any heat because you can't *DO* anything with them"   WELL YEA !!!! .....that's why I'm having one built....  .....so does he seems soooo expensive now?......tgdrysix

[BlueSoup]

I think $500 labour is a lot, probably too much.

As for parts, I don't really know.  There are lots of websites out there where you can buy the same components for around $500-600.

I work in a car dealership, as a Service Advisor, and $500 is 5 hours of labour.  That seems like a lot to install hardware and transfer software (even if you don't want to try to install the hardware yourself, installing software is not hard).

We have a local computer shop who charges $30 - $60 /hour.  You may have one too.

[J. M. Pescado]

WELL YEA !!!! .....that's why I'm having one built....  .....so does he seems soooo expensive now?......tgdrysix

Because he thinks you're stupid and is trying to rip you off. Just order the parts and assemble everything yourself. It's not really hard, everything goes in a specific labelled slot and can't really go anywhere else.

[Tgdrysix]

WELL YEA !!!! .....that's why I'm having one built....  .....so does he seems soooo expensive now?......tgdrysix

Because he thinks you're stupid and is trying to rip you off. Just order the parts and assemble everything yourself. It's not really hard, everything goes in a specific labelled slot and can't really go anywhere else.

Just order the parts and assemble everything yourself  Okay come clean you just want to point and laugh at me!!!! .....I don't care if the dang slots were color coded and had specific instructions like "put this here you blundering idiot".....I don't think I would even attempt this....ordering the part myself ..... well I'll probably wind up doing that.....that I could possible handle......the other just go ahead and have a good laugh.....tgdrysix

[Ruann]

Is he paying for parts and legal copies of the OS and several application suites of which he will give you the boxes and discs and all CD keys and manuals for?  I suppose the cost of materials might push $1,000 at that point, but I typically only buy the hardware and the OS, provided I don't have a spare key lying around at home.  I have all the software I would want at home.  Yeah, my version of Photoshop is a bit out of date and I'm running Office 2000, but they're legit and it's not like I use them in any professional capacity or anything.

Yeah, I'm one of those weirdo's who wants a legit OS.  

Personally, I'd charge $100 to $200 for labor on building a PC for someone depending on if I knew them.  Of course, I'd also charge them if they broke it and I had to fix something later.  


In my time estimate above, I didn't look at it as "I'm building a machine for myself".  This is now a paying customer situation, which means everything gets installed and tested in the proper order.  Even if that test is as simple as "does the program load".  If I'm building a machine for myself, I don't sit around and wait for the boring stuff to finish.  I wander off while it reformats and then installs the OS and installs a bazillion security updates.  If I'm building it for someone else, I sit there and make sure nothing goes wonky, since I am getting paid for it.

[Tgdrysix]

Is he paying for parts and legal copies of the OS and several application suites of which he will give you the boxes and discs and all CD keys and manuals for?  I suppose the cost of materials might push $1,000 at that point, but I typically only buy the hardware and the OS, provided I don't have a spare key lying around at home.  I have all the software I would want at home.  Yeah, my version of Photoshop is a bit out of date and I'm running Office 2000, but they're legit and it's not like I use them in any professional capacity or anything.

Yeah, I'm one of those weirdo's who wants a legit OS.   

Personally, I'd charge $100 to $200 for labor on building a PC for someone depending on if I knew them.  Of course, I'd also charge them if they broke it and I had to fix something later. 


In my time estimate above, I didn't look at it as "I'm building a machine for myself".  This is now a paying customer situation, which means everything gets installed and tested in the proper order.  Even if that test is as simple as "does the program load".  If I'm building a machine for myself, I don't sit around and wait for the boring stuff to finish.  I wander off while it reformats and then installs the OS and installs a bazillion security updates.  If I'm building it for someone else, I sit there and make sure nothing goes wonky, since I am getting paid for it.

Is he paying for parts and legal copies of the OS and several application suites of which he will give you the boxes and discs and all CD keys and manuals for?  I suppose the cost of materials might push $1,000 at that point, but I typically only buy the hardware and the OS, provided I don't have a spare key lying around at home .   I'm not exactly sure what you are "talking" about here but I want to really really say yes....he sure is....I vaguely remember him mentioning something about window professional edition.....keys to something or other....I just nodded my head like I knew what the heck he was talking about..... ......I'll probably order the parts myself.....after I get a list from him telling me what to order that is..... .....I will however question him again regarding this matter but will pay attention this time around.....thanks again, tgdrysix

[witch]

NZ$50 - $100 is what I charge for building and setting up a PC for someone. Mind you I only charge $30 an hour if I can do it at home and wander off between the loading bits and it's low also because I'm a newbie at this and quite slow and thorough - don't want to have to replace bits if I break them.

[RainbowTigress]

$52-88.  The Belkin switch I purchased 2 years ago was £20 ($35).  I have my main server and my partner's machine in a computer cabinet.  As I rarely need to log on to the server I use a switch to conserve space.

Hey, that's exactly the same switch I use!    I like it because it lets you share audio too, which most switches I've looked at don't.  It uses a key combo to switch, so I don't even have to have it taking up desk space; it hides out underneath my desk.  I paid about $60 US for it from Best Buy online.  I even lucked out on the shipping, because they were offering 2-day shipping for the price of standard.

My ex-husband built all our PCs, and he built some for people he worked with.  He worked in a computer shop for a short time, and he said people make it sound like it's a big deal, but there is nothing to building computers, especially after you got a system worked out.  He'd usually charge around $50 labor, and either they would obtain the parts and bring them to him, or they'd tell him what they wanted, and he'd look the stuff up on Pricewatch and let them know how much it would be. 

My brother-in-law builds PCs on the side, but I don't know what he charges for labor.  He's helped me a few times for free, but I'm family, and I help him out because I want to learn.

[Minena]

WELL YEA !!!! .....that's why I'm having one built....  .....so does he seems soooo expensive now?......tgdrysix

Because he thinks you're stupid and is trying to rip you off. Just order the parts and assemble everything yourself. It's not really hard, everything goes in a specific labelled slot and can't really go anywhere else.

Just order the parts and assemble everything yourself  Okay come clean you just want to point and laugh at me!!!! .....I don't care if the dang slots were color coded and had specific instructions like "put this here you blundering idiot".....I don't think I would even attempt this....ordering the part myself ..... well I'll probably wind up doing that.....that I could possible handle......the other just go ahead and have a good laugh.....tgdrysix

I don't think anyone is laughing, but seriously, if you can stack lego's you can build a computer. All the advice has been dead on. You are getting charged too much and the best suggestion really is to take your parts list to a local shop and see what they would charge to do it for you if you are that uncomfortable attempting it yourself.

I believe Gethane was suggesting Dell as an example of getting warranty coverage, which most home builders won't give you. Even brand new parts can be wonky and fail. Joe computer builder will say, aww thats too bad. A larger manufacturer will replace it for maybe the cost of S/H. They will also provide legal copies of all software such as windows, any office programs, etc.

Read the advice given, and do what you are most comfortable with. Good luck

[Tgdrysix]

"i if you can stack lego's you can build a computer"  I hate legos they hurt really bad when you step on them!  ...I have my parts list....most the the prices seem reasonable.....they will run about $1000 us dollars.....including the tower....I finally picked one out.....the person that will be building the computer for me works at a computer store....so I couldn't exactly bring in the parts list .... ....at least not to that one....I would have to check around for others to see if they "do that"....thanks very much for your help and suggestions....I have to decide this week what I'm going to do.....I'll be talking to him again soon so I will ask about adjusting his "labor" quote....tgdrysix

[Mike]

Good luck with your computer and have fun in the process.

if you can stack lego's you can build a computer

By the way, I can't stack legos.