How to charge?

[triexa]

Okay so I am aware that prices and such cannot be discussed.. but I think/hope this can. haha

I am scanning a "massive" (in my opinion) amount of documents for a customer who wants them in PDF format on a DVD.

I told him $x/hr, which was fine.

What I have noticed, however, is that this is indeed a VERY long process.

I have an autofeeder, but it still takes time to scan each page, then to wrok with the PDF and save each file individually... and then having to deal with the occasional paper jam.

I feel "wrong" to be charging an hour. An hour of scanning doesn't actually occupy an hour of my time... it's at the computer, I am here available to do other things and regularly pause to take care of whatever is needed. Should I continue to just work out how many hours it took to scan, and charge the $x/hr, or calculate the cost another way?

[Pacifer]

If there's not much brain work or talent involved, you could charge less pr hour, if you want. Because the alternative could be to have a secretary or similular do the job, at a lower salary. But then again the client wants you to do it, so it's kind of up to you.

That's one answer. The second answer goes like this:

Are you a guy or a girl? If you're a girl you can multitask, and do several things at once. Then you could charge less per hour, but actually work for several clients at once. If you're a guy, there's no way you can do more things. ;-)

Then there are a third alternative:

How much would it cost to buy a fast scanner, and accomplish the job faster, compared to doing it like you do now. You can apply this formula:

price of new scanner + (hours of work with new scanner * your rate) < (hours of work with current scan * your rate)

If this equation is true, go buy a new scanner.

Or as a fourth alternative you could simply compare your price with what a copy shop would take.

Good luck!

[shadowbox]

I don't see the problem - the guy agreed that $xx per hour is fine, I assume you gave him an indication of how long it would take you, so do it and bill him!

As a web developer your time is better spent than wasting it on grunt work that any office boy could do, so you might as well get as much money as possible out of it and try to get other work done at the same time.

[chihpih]

the client agreed to pay you, charge the full amount regardless of how much time you actually spent working on it versus total time.

let me give you an example, a few years ago i was called in during the weekend to do some consulting work. i ended up being there for 13 hours of over time but actual work done was maybe for 3-4 hours. this was due to a long wait time for microsoft consultants doing their job while me and others couldnt do anything. so while i was there and overall job was being done, i was not always doing something but i got paid for the full time i was there.

[triexa]

okay thanks everyone

I guess I will just give the final bill and if there are "issues" with the amount I can certainly reduce it a certain amount

And yes I have been multitasking, especially while its off scanning the 50 page documents

[LiamW]

To avoid any shock and problems at the end, you might want to keep the client updated on how long it's taking since you stated it's taking longer than you thought.

[triexa]

To avoid any shock and problems at the end, you might want to keep the client updated on how long it's taking since you stated it's taking longer than you thought.

Will do, thanks!