Do you accept payment before or after work is done?

[PCX]

Here how I work, I keep in stock basic item , like PSU, Optical drives HD..... if I have it in stock I give 30 days to my business customer to pay the parts as they do for the labor, if it's something I have to order, I get their credit card and order it a NewEgg, I don,t hassle anymore to chop at distributors for special item, I just restock my basic and fast moving item from the distributors. For my principal customer I even have their NewEgg account credential and the CC, so I just ask them before ordering. For PC , it's simple, for business desktop I order at Dell with the customer account. For special gamers PC, nor any PCs I build my self, I ask the customers to paid in advance. If peoples wants I keep good pricing I have to avoid to hire someone just to keep the receivable.

But I read all your posts, but nothing fix in concrete, I may adjust if I find something that fit my case, we are all a little bit different living in many part of the world.

So, your not making any profit on parts?

 

['putertutor]

100% mobile.

For all my customers, payment for services is due upon completion. On the rare occasion I get into a large/long project, I may set up some billable milestones.

For parts, I don't stock much, two spare drives - one 3.5" one 2.5", couple of sticks of memory, an external drive, that's about it. If parts beyond that are needed, I will order anything under $100 and put it on the bill. Over $100 needs either a partial deposit or payment for the part up front. I've never run into a customer who I have ordered and paid for a part that backed out of the deal.

I don't mind working with customers who order their own parts, but if I order it, I mark it up, without fail. I have been questioned on this as sometimes my price after markup is more expensive than what they can buy the same item for, but I don't waiver on that point. I get paid for my time and expertise in selecting a quality product.

 

[ComputerPro]

So, your not making any profit on parts?

I second what PCX said. Hopefully your not using the customers CC to buy things at New Egg, Amazon etc and not making a dime from it are you? That would be bad.
You would then be doing research, looking up items, ordering things etc... all for free! Scary business model.

If the client is getting large expensive items its one thing, but for all the smaller stuff there is no reason not to order it from NewEgg, Amazon etc yourself. They sell at or close to wholesale anyway. At least then match the price to the local regular retail shops like Staples, Officemax, Sears etc.
You would then make $10-$20 each time you sold stuff. Much better business model lol.

Or if you NEEDED to use the clients CC for some reason, you should at the very least charge a 'Consulting' charge under your labor. You could embellish it on the invoice to say something like:

cst39 - Consulting Fee: covers all vendor correspondence relating to research, pre-orders, orders and returns.

Then charge $39 bucks or so.

Just don't fall into the trap of working for free. If you find youself actually 'working', looking stuff up, doing leg work longer than 2 minutes etc, then you really need to get paid.

 

[pc-quebec]

I second what PCX said. Hopefully your not using the customers CC to buy things at New Egg, Amazon etc and not making a dime from it are you? That would be bad.
.

Working for free, lol I made in the 6 digits a year. Please guy I explain what I do, I don't need everyone explain me how to run my business, everything go well it seems I'm not in the same business as you, I sell services not parts. I pass 25 years selling parts with at the end 3 computers stores, I don't want do that anymore. As I said I get my basic inventory from distributors. The special orders I make at Egg represent only 5-10 % of sales. Anyway , this is the way I work, I'm 52 years old my, house is paid, I pass 20 hours a week to work on my train layout, this is all I need. I already mention in another posts that I'm semi-retire.

 

[ComputerPro]

Sorry mate if I offended you. I was only trying to help as thats what I thought the forums were for.

What I actually meant by working for free was only the work done to investigate what part they need, find the part online, order the part and have it shipped. I only meant if you use the clients NewEgg account for this then you are working for free in respect to your time used during the ordering process. I didn't mean you worked for free in general of course as I'm sure you get paid very well for your labor as you mentioned you made 6 figures a year. I'm sure you are much more successful than we are with all of your years in the business. Had I known that before hand I would have never tried to give you any sort of advice. I thought you were a young guy maybe starting out who could really use the advice. Sorry, won't happen again mate.

Cheers,

Terry

 

[pc-quebec]

Sorry mate if I offended you. ...

Terry

Hi Terry I'm not offended at all, this is normal on forum when you can't interact directly with the person.

I may explain more, for 25 years I ow 1 then 2 and up to 3 computers stores, I build in the same time a strong base of Business customers and I get quite very good house customers. Then at 42 years old I get my first son and in 2006 my second child, so I said, that's it I close the stores and I run only with my good customers and I take care of my kids. My wife is a MD so she do her share in the family finance too. My shop is in my building at the side of the house, so I pay no rent and mainly no customers come here. I have 3 tech working for me. They are mainly working in Montreal and on the North Shore. I'm at 40 miles of Montreal, so I see them once a week as I rarely go to Montreal.

Now that the kids are at school, I'm looking at a way to increase the house customers, but this is not easy as I will need to hire tech and since house pay less, I can't afford to give them the same price as the one I have presently.

To get back on the topic, the problem is not to collect the customers, but to make sure they don't give their money to the clown working for me going there after his working hours. I have fired so many in the time I have my stores for that reasons.

 

[Ken's PC Repair]

I only do residential at the moment (this is a part time job in addition to my regular, full time job). I collect full payment after the repair is completed. At this time I do not charge a diagnostic fee unless it's a laptop I have to open up to troubleshoot. I have the following clause in my terms that all customers sign when I check in their system.

Payment for repairs is due at the time your computer/equipment is picked up. Please make checks payable to Ken’s PC Repair. Cash, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, & Discover are also accepted for your convenience. Equipment left more than 30 days after notification it is ready for pick up will be considered abandoned and subject to disposal at the discretion of Ken’s PC Repair. Any check not honored by your bank will be assessed a $35.00 NSF fee.

Never had a bad check. One customer left their equipment (2 laptops, not worth much) for more than 60 days. They received no less than 6 phone calls/emails reminding them to pick them up. At day 45 one was sold, and the other was put on the shelf for parts. At day 71 they called to claim their systems. I explained they were no longer available, and were deemed abandoned under the TOS they signed (they also had a copy of what they signed). They were disappointed, but understood.

 

[samfrees]

I tend to follow a policy of putting myself in the customer's shoes in most, if not all, of my business practices. If I took my car in for new tires I would not even consider paying for the tires before the work was completed. I would also never expect the tire shop to install tires that I bought from somewhere else. If the new tires were special order and cost more than average, however, I would expect to have to pay at least a deposit for them (my best friend owned a tire shop which is where my tire analogies are coming from).

At this point I do mainly residential pick-up/drop-off service and the customer must pay before they get their computer back. I'm sure I will have to adjust when I open my shop, take on business clients, etc.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

At this point I do mainly residential pick-up/drop-off service and the customer must pay before they get their computer back. I'm sure I will have to adjust when I open my shop, take on business clients, etc.

Yeah..it's the business clients that you can flip that on.
Example....back in November I replaced the hardware at two larger package stores for the owner. Between the server, workstations, bar code scanners, receipt printers, cash drawers.....each of his two stores had over 17,000 bucks in hardware alone. I got his credit card up front for those purchases.

 

[callthatgirl]

All parts are paid for by client before ordering with a quote.
We buy each part after they paid
No refunds if they change their mind

No exceptions.

 

[samfrees]

All parts are paid for by client before ordering with a quote.
We buy each part after they paid
No refunds if they change their mind

No exceptions.

I totally understand the desire to cover our butts by making customers pay ahead of time, but what other service industry does that? I don't pay for auto parts before the work is done, furnace parts, plumbing parts, lawn mowing, refrigerator repair, etc., etc. If I was told I had to pay for a new catalytic converter for my car (a fairly expensive part) before they would work on my car, I'd go somewhere else (protecting my butt as a customer). I am talking only about parts we tell them they need for a repair, not parts they request us to purchase and install. Those I have them pay for unless it's a very common item that I can easily reuse/resell. Just my opinion

 

[TekSolution]

I don't see why some of you do not purchase the parts and charge a markup it makes no sense. Even if it is $5 on a $50 item.

I sold a laptop to one of my clients and to find something for a specific person's needs takes time. You research the product and it's time consuming. I spent about an hour or two trying to find a laptop which has Win7 and somewhat futureproof for a daily user.

Obviously if you're selling a $500 item I'd want part up front or have an estimate for them and if they agree to it that you charge them write away.

pc-quebec which stores did you own? It makes me wonder as I'm from Laval

 

[macboy81]

Because I offer a no fix no fee service I always take payment after the job is complete and customer is satisfied with the job.

 

[joydivision]

Always payment after job is complete. Never ask money for parts unless its a PC build and I will ask for a deposit.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

We take payment when they pickup their computer after we repaired it and for onsite work they pay us before we leave their home/office.

When and if we order a specific part that we normally do not carry in stock for all our clients then we get prepayment for that whole job labor and part.

The only exception is motherboard and screens for laptops. We will not buy a part that is worth more than the repaired computer so we hold the repaired laptop for payment. If they do not pick it up, we sell it as a refurb to pay the bill.

In the first years when we didn't have money to buy the parts we would get prepayment on the part and labor so we could buy the part. That was a long time ago haven't done that in 14 years.

 

[Disposable_Me]

I diagnose, get paid up front, and then fix. All work is quoted by job-type, not labor.

 

[ElementalWindX]

99% of our work is SMB.

Payment for hardware up front...if it's over a thousand bucks. We'll float an order for a client if it's under a thou...like a workstation or something.

But on order over a thou...payment for hardware up front. We invoice for our time/labor/misc material after.

If it's just a job where it involves my time I take payment afterwards.

If it's a job that involves buying parts, I take the full payment up front. I use to do that 50 now/50 then mess and I find it more annoying than anything. Either you trust me or you don't. Either way you better have the money before you approach me to do the job your asking of me.

Those who have done business with me before have 0 problems with paying in full up front. When I do servers for $10k+ I take the full on payment and people know I will always be up to their expectations and on time.

My business has survived mostly off word of mouth so that is just more motivation for me to do a good job, or else.

 

[HawkinsPC]

If my checking account is running low, I'll ask for the customer to pay for the part upfront. I've only had to do this once or twice. Otherwise, they pay when the work is complete. I do charge a diagnostic charge and mark up my parts 10%.

For businesses, I invoice out.... which is starting to tick me off since so many wait until the last minute to pay.

 

[donte10]

For service I charge the client after the service is complete. If there is hardware/software needed upfront and I have never worked with the client before, I charge a 100% deposit. If I have worked with the client before and has always paid me, I will take their word for it and order the parts and they will pay once the project is complete.

I provide onsite/mobile service to both business and residential.