Hit 500 repaired laptops in my home shop last Friday and it made me stop and think

I pulled out my repair log and counted up exactly 512 machines fixed over 4 years, mostly just simple stuff like hard drive swaps and battery replacements, and it surprised me how many people would rather pay me $50 than deal with a big box store's $150 quote has anyone else noticed that gap growing quicker than they expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

susan_wells22h ago

Wow okay that's a lot of numbers for a hobby repair thing. I mean 512 machines is cool and all but you're acting like you cured cancer or something. It's just swapping parts and running diagnostics anybody with a YouTube tutorial and a screwdriver set can do the same stuff. And honestly that gap you're talking about isn't that shocking either big stores charge more for labor and overhead plus they have to warranty their work. You charging $50 is fine but you're not really competing with them you're just undercutting them in a small way. Not like this is some huge industry shift or anything.

carr.willow3h agoMost Upvoted

Oh jeez @susan_wells, but don't you think there's a difference between following a YouTube video and actually knowing what to do when the video doesn't cover your exact problem? Like swapping a battery is one thing but diagnosing intermittent failures takes a whole different kind of skill.