I was getting 13 dollars an hour to program t2c's(this includes t+, T4, T3, etc.)
with all the bells and whistles. 3-8 channel pages.
One button on (activity select-watch tv, dvd, cd, etc.)and one button off(for everything).
Ir and rf simultaneously, flags etc.
I spent loads of time on the ascetics(my own style) making my own buttons for
systems like niles and ripping the xbox 360 controller up in photoshop
and making buttons out of it and channels buttons and more etc. I even have a clock in the t2c.
Every remote is also different and special depending on the client.
State of the art, fun, and as simple as the client would allow was my goal.
So my point is after completing 80% of my remotes at home and then taking a good 3-? hours at the clients house
I'd average $50-$70 per remote.
I didn't mind because I considered it learning, but now they want me to be an independent contractor(because it was getting
around the time to get health benefits) and asked me to come up with a figure to charge for programming.
I'm in New England and most of the clients are wealthy, so I really, really, need some ballpark figures of what the going rates are.
-I'm ideally thinking flat programming rates.
Also, I copied the new pioneer elite receiver vsx-94txh pronto file(full) from the pioneer's web site into the rti library manager and uploaded it
if you need it. I'm not sure if it is there yet, it's my first upload. I'll try again if it fails.

-Thank You

We charge between $125.00 - $150.00 per hour to program anything.

$125.00 or higher wouldn't be out of line, but it would depend on the complexity of the systems you are able to program, your gui's, and the reliability of the programming.




Are you wanting to charge a flat rate per remote, such as $250 for a T2+, or a flat per hour of programming? I'd shy away from the flat rate per remote, as many systems will require more time than you originally allowed.

A flat rate for most customers might be OK, but then you will get the customer that wants to do a bunch of crazy stuff and......

You might offer a flat rate per remote and show them what it includes. If they want more, then charge the hourly to tweek.

Magilus,

I can get the time, day, and date to show up in the emulator for the the T2-C, T3, and RK3, I just wasnt sure if they sync with the PC and actually show the correct time. I know the emulator is going to to PC's clock to get the information for hour, minutes, day, month and year.

Does the T3, T2-C, and RKS have an internal clock / date that just needs to be synced once to work?

Thanks for any help you can give me on this.

Magilus,

You are selling your talent way too cheaply!

You should be shooting for custom programming in the $80-$125 per hour, based upon the actual tasks required.

I tend to charge a fee on a fixed-job, usually equal to $100 per device, assumming the usual 5-6 devices. Any more devices than that, I usually come down a bit on the "per-device" fee and charge maybe $85 per device for 6-11 devices.

This is assumming custom stuff across the board, including 12-15 favorite channel icons, etc.

Dave

I assume from your comment that your an employee and their withholding taxes. I'm my own programmer and business owner, and I think it would be fair to charge about 50-66% of the going rate for the shop.


I'm also here in New England and I charge $125/hr for programming. That is a fair rate for your boss to be charging in our markets. Higher end systems get higher rate, lower end systems get lower rate. RTi is a great system and I recommend it exclusively.

|Good Luck!

Hey thanks for that observation and unfortunately you're right.
2 way and networked only.

O1R has pretty much set the industry standard... for pricing. They posted screen shoots and a list of abilities with a price. So you have to use that as a base line.

You kind of have to go up from there. Because you are coming to the customer and providing the solution. ...if you don't program. O1R has a program for dealers too.

But I went over to the beach (Location changed to protect the guilty) for a computer job. When I got there I found RTI T3s all over the rental home. Amazing to me, the company that did the RTI work, used the page wizard in Curaco and dropped on codes. They used gear that needed sensors but didn't use them. That required macros that didn't have them. They decided to have 2 T3s in the same room with one that did the house audio and one for the local system... Most of us would have put the house audio on all remotes without much trouble. But I don't think that would have worked straight up in page wizard.

I digress...

They charge $575 for each T3s. Which is right where O1R prices it.

BTW in the DC metro area I am billed out at $100-140 an hour depending on tasks. Need a remote... how about your whole Local Area Network Configured while we are at it.

(If you working with T4s and K4s you are gonna get asked to handle the WiFi stuff... so learn it. With the new stuff all being based on WiFi and Zigbee and what ever else. Spend some time playing at home so you can make good moves in the field.)

The biggest challenge in being a contractor for anyone is setting your prices so that the company that hired you can still make money and win jobs. I know that the "some what" respected retail shops in Texas are charging 125-150 per hour with a minimum of 2 hours on generic remotes (templete style, non-custom). That is not to say that you should base your prices on the cheapest guy or big box retailers. But you must get a good sense of what the market place will demained. FYI, any business owner will want to make at a minimun of 20 percent and really want to be at 30 percent. Good Luck!

What's an O1R? If you wanted this to be cryptic and stay cryptic, please drop me a line.

Only One (1) Remote, they sale custom gui's, program remotes for dealer's and consumer retail.

I didn't want to advertise for the guy!!! :)

$120.00 an hour.