On 12/13/2013 03:30 PM, Irreverent Maximus wrote:

mentioned it to him but I took it.

The only thing I feel guilty about is not charging him for the data
recovery jobs. A lab would have charged at least $600 per job.

Context is everything. If the customer asked you to get the best price,
that is one thing. A bait and switch is another. Charging more than you
paid for something is to be expected, yet does not have to happen if you
are not putting yourself in a financial hole to accomplish this.

People will treat regulars differently than an out of thin air customer.
A repeat customer will get better deals. A new customer, unless work
is grim, will get the standard quote with expected mark up. I worked for
a man that high-balled all new installations. He did not care. He did not
want the work. He made his money off of fixing other people's mistakes.
He would tell his customers to put the job out to bid and that he would
come in later and make the system work.

In the end, the customer paid around the same price, but my previous
employer
did not have to mess with the hassle of a new installation,
change-orders, time-
lines, and the usual cost overruns associated with getting a facility up
and running, either as a gen or sub-contractor. I care not to explain the
entire process, but he had a niche market for himself, and that was
beneficial
to me at the time.





Well, most of the people I repair computers for have very little money
so if I charge at all, it's typically just $25.

Only once did I get a job for a very wealthy business man but since it
went over 5 hours, I gave them a 20% discount.