----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Vic Fraenckel" <windswaytoo@gmail.com>
To: "PICMIT" <piclist@mit.edu>
Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2010 2:46 PM
Subject: [TECH] Pricing of PCB job


>I have been asked by an acquaintance if I would be interested in doing
> some PCB board stuffing/soldering on a piecework basis. I said that I
> would be interested and of course the question of costing came up. The
> boards he wants done range in size from approximately 4"X3" up to 6"X8".
> They are all of the ThruHole type. The components will be supplied with
> the boards so all I have to do is stuff them and solder them. A run will
> be all of one size, only two sided and will never be greater than 30
> boards. The component count will be reasonable for the board size. There
> is a possibility that the boards will already contain a few SMT 
> components.
>
> I am at a loss to know how to price a job like this out. I consider
> myself competent to do the work satisfactorily and am confident that I
> can do the work in a timely manner. I would appreciate any comments as
> to how to quote a job like this.
>
> Any enlightenment will be appreciated.
>
> Vic Fraenckel
> KC2GUI
> windswaytoo ATSIGN gmail DOT com
>
> -- 

It doesn't matter how much you guess, you'll never get the right price.

The only real way of doing it is to ask for a sample, build a board up and 
see how long it takes you. You can then work out what you want your hourly 
rate to be and work from there.

I've lost count of the jobs I've underquoted and ended up grinning and 
bearing working for a far lower wage than I'd have liked. On one job I 
managed to make about half the UK minimum wage for a week.

Dom 

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