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One comment from a retired guy made me rethink how I quote board repairs
Was doing a power supply fix for a customer in Cleveland last Tuesday, the old one just had a blown cap and some bad solder joints. A retired TV repairman was waiting and watched me work, then said 'you charge for the part, but you give away the diagnosis for free.' Hit me kind of hard because I've been pricing like that for years, just parts plus a flat rate. But the real value is knowing where to poke and what to test first, that's what takes 20 years to learn. He said he used to charge double his hourly rate just for the first 15 minutes of looking. Now I'm trying to figure out how to price my bench time without scaring off regular folks. Has anyone here moved to a tiered diagnostic fee and kept their repeat customers happy?
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max_schmidt7719h ago
This is the same thing that happens everywhere once you notice it. People pay for the thing they can see and hold, but the thinking behind it feels like it should be free. A doctor gets paid for the visit, not just the pills. A lawyer bills for the hour, not the piece of paper. Trades are one of the last places where the knowledge gets thrown in with the parts. The retired guy was right. Your hands are not the skill, your head is. So charge for the look, even a small fee, and most folks will pay it once they see you actually know what you are doing.
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