How much to charge for IT support

I`m an IT Tech in a school with that of course comes the "can you have a look at my home PC" I`m never sure how much to charge I end up feeling guilty about taking colleagues money (even tho they earn more than me).

 Iv got a job on today friend of a friends wants me to sort a p[roblem out with his PC, I want to make some money on this but, dont want to take the piss, whats the going rate for this kind of work and where should I pitch my prices? 

PC World offer in home services for PC problems and chage £89.99 + 4.95 travel charge.

I suppose that gives you a yardstick.

You have a set of skills that they do not and they should be happy to pay a fair price for your time and effort.  Don't forget that you are giving up your valuable leisure time to sort out their problems.

I would suggest a set 'call out' fee of around £40 (to include first 30 minutes on site) and then £40 per hour.   

 If they don't like it suggest they pick up the phone and see just how much a plumber in your area would charge for a similar amount of time out of normal working hours......

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Beware that if you charge for doing these sorts of things you are supposed to declare it to the tax man  Only mentioning cause someone may take offence at being charged for something they expect to be free and then drop you in it

Few years back I was charging £67 for the first 30mins and £67 for every hour (or part of) there after, plus parts

if ur a friend if a friend then the £ has to reflect that.

if i were to help my mate with his bike,garages charge £30 an hr say,if i were to ask for wedge, if it took 2 hrs if i had to ask for wedge id ask for £10 say.

i too am in I,.T Support, if you want repeat custum,dont be silly, for 3 hrs work, charge £50/£60.

if you were running your own company,then yes, £35/£40 an hr would be feasable,but your not, its a "favour" of sorts.

Bollocks. Repeat business is easy - there's a load of muppets out there who have no clue.

People are willing to pay - local firms are charging £80 an hour because they can make a fortune at that rate. Plus VAT. Computers are difficult to the lay man and scoundrels onlt get one go at coming to your house.

I'm recruiting friends to go to other friends houses cos there are so many IT "experts" out there screwing up computers.

By charging, you're entering into a contract.

Say you touch someone's machine to 'fix' it and they decide you've just wiped out some irreplacable family photos. Next thing you know you've got a summons to court....

 Get good insurance. I'm an IT Contractor working in Local Government, and I have to have £1,000,000 of insurance 'just in case'.

I would say that around £20 - £30 for the first half hour or hour is average. You can usually determine within that time if the job is going to take much longer.

 Ever built a PC from scratch, without any of the recovery disks handy? Can take a few hours, and if you suddenly spring a bill of £120 on someone when the whole PC only cost them £300 you may get a row.

Maybe have a 'shopping list' of services...

Supply and install anti-virus (incl 1 years updates from mfgr) - £40

Install OS onto PC - £30

etc. etc.