The Two Pricing Mistakes That Kill Repair Shop Businesses
Mistake #1: Pricing too low. Many repair shop owners, especially when starting out, price their services low to attract customers. "I'll just charge a little less than everyone else." The problem is that this starts a race to the bottom. You work hard, you fix a lot of phones, but you're not making enough money to replace your equipment, pay decent wages, or build any financial cushion. Mistake #2: Pricing too high without differentiation. You can charge premium prices — but only if customers believe the premium is justified. A shop with a professional setup, great reviews, a warranty, and excellent service can charge 20–30% more than the shop down the street. A shop that is exactly the same as every other shop but charges more will just lose customers.The goal is to price at a level that covers your costs, delivers a fair profit, and is competitive given your quality and service level.
Step 1: Calculate Your Actual Costs
Most repair shop owners know their part costs. They often underestimate or ignore their other costs. To price correctly, you need to understand the full cost of each repair.
Parts Cost
The most obvious. The cost of the screen, battery, charging port, or other parts you use. Make sure you're tracking the actual cost paid to your supplier, not an estimate.Labor Cost
This is often ignored. If you're the owner doing the repair, your time has value — even if you don't pay yourself a salary yet. If you have technicians, their time is a direct cost.Calculate: If your technician earns ৳500 per hour and a screen replacement takes 30 minutes, the labor cost for that repair is ৳250.
Overhead Cost Per Repair
Your shop has fixed costs: rent, electricity, internet, software subscriptions, equipment maintenance, insurance. These costs exist whether you repair 10 phones or 100 phones.To allocate overhead to each repair: 1. Calculate monthly fixed costs (let's say ৳30,000) 2. Estimate monthly number of repairs (let's say 100) 3. Overhead per repair = ৳30,000 ÷ 100 = ৳300 per repair
Total Cost Per Repair
Parts + Labor + Overhead = Your cost to deliver this repairFor a Samsung Galaxy A54 screen replacement:
Step 2: Determine Your Target Profit Margin
A sustainable repair shop needs a profit margin — revenue above and beyond costs — to cover unexpected expenses, invest in growth, and reward you for the risk of running a business.
Common target margins for repair shops:
For our example with ৳2,475 cost:
Step 3: Check Market Rates
Now compare your calculated price against what the market is charging. Research:
If your calculated price (based on costs and margin) is significantly above market: investigate your costs. Are you paying too much for parts? Is your overhead too high relative to your repair volume?
If your calculated price is at or below market: great. You have pricing room. Consider whether your service quality justifies a premium above the market average.
Step 4: Segment Your Prices
Not all repairs are equal. Here is a framework for common repair categories:
Fast, simple repairs (charging port, button, speaker):Step 5: Build a Service Price List
Create a formal price list for your most common 20–30 repairs. Update it when your supplier prices change significantly. Display it clearly at your counter or on your website.
Having a price list does several things:
In RepairCoreX, you can configure service types with standard prices. When you add a service to a ticket, the price pre-fills automatically — ensuring consistency across your team.
A Word on Discounting
Discounts reduce your margin. Before giving a discount, ask yourself: is this customer asking because they genuinely cannot afford the full price, or because they're testing what they can get?
A better approach than ad-hoc discounting:
These structured discounts build loyalty rather than training customers to always negotiate.
Pricing is not a one-time decision. Revisit your prices every 6 months, especially as supplier costs change. A properly priced repair shop is a sustainable repair shop — one that can invest in better tools, better parts, better staff, and better service.