I do this day in, day out. I charge £25 to set-up a tv if its local, £30 if theres more than 20 miles travelling involved.

Wouldnt dream of charging more than £30 unless there was a lot involved like a new home cinema system etc. I only charge £40 for wall mounting and setting up a tv if the customer provides the bracketry. I'm only a small business so not vat registered but competition is high round here (up to 6 companies in the local paper) so I feel my price reflects value for money.

Also, setting up the tv can lead to other jobs from the same customer, or recommendation which makes the initial visit worthwhile, even if it is a bit cheap.

 

You're cheap, my dad who has his own business doesn't charge that. It's hardly worth going out if you factor in diesel there and back.

 

Cheers Ant, I'll go £45 for the thick and £30 for the elderly!

 

I've always based my work within a small area. There are 3 large towns, Melton Mowbray, Grantham and Stamford which are all 22 miles apart from each other.

I try and group my work into different areas on different days, customers permitting so the travelling from 1 job to another is minimal. If I do get a specific callout to do that is a long was from home or a previous job then I price it accordingly. At the end of the day, setting up a tv takes 30 minute maximum, theres no materials required and the only costs are fuel. If I need a gallon to do attend a callout then thats £18 profit for 30 mins work, with a cuppa tea if i'm lucky. I'd happily do 5 callouts a day to earn a living if it meant little outlay on materials. But thats just me, i've never been in this industry for the money, i'm in it because I enjoy it and it gives me the free time/flexibility to do the things I enjoy.

I'll never be a millionaire, but i'll never be stressed or told that i'm a rip off.

 

Oh I'm not worried, Jamz. I just thought it was a cheap shot
Thanks anyway

 

Comes to us all eventually Jamz, but I know what you mean!

Les

 

Depends on your location though.

£45 may seem cheap in Kensington but extortionate in Gateshead

Up it by a fiver to £35, £30 upto £45 is a 50% jump, too much.

 

Surely boils down simply to demand? If you are flat out and too many calls then put your price up small at first to see what the impact is. If business is just ticking over nicely then why upset a steady stream of work?

And yes it does make me laugh about you and tv licenses even though are still a p!key for not having one. Oh and as for cash in hand and asking about it on a public forum that is not something i'd ever want to do. If the tax man does catch up with you I hope you have enough to pay what you owe plus the fines etc.

 

If I started paying Tax on what I do in my spare time, I'd have to seriously hike up my prices to make it worth my while. If I hiked up my prices the elderly wouldn't get their TV's installed and would DIE of loneliness. I'd rather evade the Taxman than have an elderly persons death on my conscience.

So like the TV Licencing man, the Taxman can go **** himself.

 

FPMSL, I've not heard that word used for a long time

TX.

 

So those of you that are doing this think it's worth it?

I had the same idea but also include smartphones and consoles etc (aside from TV, home media, PC).

Got the website sorted, leaflets printed but they're just sitting there to be posted thru people's boxes!

 

Well it depends, I charged a fella £40 to install his TV a few days ago. Seemed an easy enough job so I accepted. He looked rather posh and his house was in probably the most expensive part of NI and he had a rake of expensive cars...all good I thought! Sadly this fella lived in his own filth, I have never been so disgusted in my life at the mess I was working in, I lifted his DVD remote and physically felt sick and couldn't use it.

Was it worth it? No. £400 and decontamination suit and I'd consider doing the job again.

What's more he really thought he was getting a bargain at £40 as he wanted me to fix his computer as well. I reminded him that I was there to fit his TV and that was it.

Worst job ever.

I also had an old lady decline my services as £40 was too dear to delivery, fit and dispose of her TV. She offered me £20 instead so I laughed at her and told her to catch a grip as she was playing the ol' "I'm a pensioner line".

 

See some people will pay it happily and some won'

Just don't be scared to tell people to jog on if they're taking the ****. Which clearly you don't have a problem with

 

See some people will pay it happily and some won'

Just don't be scared to tell people to jog on if they're taking the ****. Which clearly you don't have a problem with

 

I'm contemplating doing similar stuff, pcs/laptops/tv/sky/consoles/mobiles etc as a big elderly population in the surrounding area but going legit so need to revisit sole trader vs limited company etc. It may turn out not viable but i'm not risking tax evasion. I don't know how those who do cash in hand sleep at night knowing they could do time for it if caught.

 

on a massive bed of money helps.

 

If she had of been a nice granny, £20 would have done the job but she was an aul witch buying a seriously expensive TV on her little ol' pension.

 

fair enough.

 

quality.

 

Tbh this service is swamped with people who already do this.

I'd look elsewhere for a side line. The only reason jamz is making it work is that he's selling them the TVs so he's in there 1st.

A lot of people will have someone in the family to do it for them.

I work for a national cOmpany that plow £25k a month advertising and I see three or four set up tv jobs a month.

 

Fitting tv's to the wall is where the money's at.

 

It's not really those that have a legit job and sometimes take cash that need worry, more those that take cash and are claiming benefits.

 

Even at that its still not easy, if I can get 2 a week that is a very good week! My work sells cheap TV's and the chances of me installing a cheap TV is almost zero. DLA Darren wants the biggest screen for the smallest outlay and is quite happy to live with an "HD picture" via RF as that is how his old screen was connected.

On the other hand more mature customers that see a TV as a once in a blue moon purchase and would rather buy something that is likely to last more than the warranty period are more likely to want their TV setup properly.

This is something I have yet to be asked to do.

 

I'm not expecting much from it if anything only a case if anyone actually calls up. I'm only sticking an advert in the village shop where all the local oldies go for their paper and browse the window ads. Just seeing if there is any interest that's all.