Ask ten repair shop owners how they price a screen replacement and you'll often get ten different answers, most of them some version of "I looked at what the shop down the street charges and added a bit." That's not a pricing strategy. It's a guess with a markup on it.
Pricing well means separating three things that most shops blend together: the part, the labor, and the diagnostic time. Get those right independently, and the final number takes care of itself.
Start with true parts cost, not list price
You can't price a repair correctly if you don't know what the part actually cost you, not the average across every batch you've ever bought, but what this part, the one going into this repair, cost on the invoice. Shops using average costing routinely under-price repairs when supplier prices rise mid-cycle, because the system is still reporting last quarter's cheaper cost.
A markup framework that works well for most independent shops:
| Part cost tier | Typical markup | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Low-cost consumables (cables, cases) | 100–150% | Low absolute dollar risk, retail-style margin |
| Mid-tier parts (batteries, small components) | 60–100% | Balance of margin and competitive pricing |
| High-cost parts (OLED screens, logic boards) | 30–50% | Customers price-check these; margin comes from labor |
Price labor by skill and time, not by guesswork
Labor should reflect the technician's skill level and the actual time a repair takes, not a flat number applied to every ticket regardless of complexity. A useful starting point is to set an hourly labor rate, then convert common repairs into standardized time blocks:
- Screen replacement (most phones): 20–30 minutes, billed as a fixed labor line, not hourly
- Battery replacement: 15–20 minutes
- Board-level repair (micro-soldering, water damage): billed hourly given variable diagnosis time
- Data recovery: billed hourly or as a flat diagnostic-plus-outcome fee
Fixed labor pricing for routine repairs gives customers price certainty (which they value) while hourly billing for genuinely variable work protects your margin on the repairs that can run long.
Charge for diagnostics, even if you waive it on completed repairs
A diagnostic fee, charged upfront and waived or credited if the customer proceeds with the repair, does two things: it filters out tire-kickers, and it compensates your technician's time on the (sometimes significant) share of devices that turn out to be uneconomical to fix. This is standard practice across the industry. The Consumer Technology Association and similar trade bodies note that transparent diagnostic pricing is one of the clearest ways repair businesses build trust with first-time customers, since it sets expectations before any work begins.
Build sales tax into the price, not onto it at the counter
Pricing frameworks fall apart fast when sales tax is treated as an afterthought. In the US there is no single rate: states set a base rate, and counties and cities frequently stack local add-ons on top, so two of your locations an hour apart can owe meaningfully different amounts on the same $65 screen repair. Several states also tax parts and labor differently, treating the part as a taxable good and the labor as an exempt or separately taxed service.
- Rates should live in the system, per store, not in a technician's head or a laminated card at the register.
- Parts and labor should be itemized on the receipt so the taxable and non-taxable lines are defensible if you're ever audited.
- Sourcing rules matter for mail-in repairs, since destination-based states tax at the customer's address, not the shop's. The Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board is a useful starting point for how member states handle sourcing.
A shop quoting $65 for a screen repair in one city and $72 in the next isn't being inconsistent. It's applying different local rates and different local parts and rent realities. Your pricing system should handle that automatically per store, not force a manual recalculation every time.
Where flat-fee software pricing actually helps your margin
Here's a detail that rarely makes it into pricing conversations but directly affects your bottom line: what your own software costs you per ticket. A POS that charges per transaction or per technician quietly erodes the exact margin you just worked out how to protect. Every extra ticket you write, or every technician you hire to grow, adds a new recurring cost layered on top. Get Repair charges one flat monthly rate regardless of ticket volume or technician count, so pricing repairs correctly actually translates into more profit in your pocket, not more fees to a vendor. Combine that with FIFO-costed serialized inventory so your true parts cost is always current, and a pricing framework stops being guesswork. See pricing or explore features to map this against your own ticket volume.
Frequently asked questions
Should I charge a diagnostic fee even if I always waive it?
Charging and then waiving it (credited toward the repair) is common practice and still filters out low-intent inquiries, since customers commit to the process even if they pay nothing extra when they proceed.
How do I know if I'm under-pricing a repair?
Compare the exact batch cost of the part used (not an average) plus your standard labor time against your charged price. If the margin is thinner than your target tier for that part category, your price needs adjusting, or your parts sourcing does.
Should pricing be different across my US locations?
The framework stays the same everywhere: markup tiers, labor time blocks, a diagnostic fee. What changes per location is the local sales tax rate and the local cost base (rent, wages, parts). Both should be configured per store rather than averaged into one national price.
What's a reasonable parts markup for a repair shop?
It depends on the part's absolute cost: higher percentage markups on low-cost consumables, lower percentage markups on expensive parts like OLED screens where customers are more price-sensitive and margin should come from labor instead.
How often should I revisit my pricing?
Quarterly at minimum, or immediately after a noticeable parts-cost shift. Shops tracking true, batch-level COGS can spot the need to reprice much faster than shops relying on average costing.