Local tech in our area charges time on location plus travel time. $75/hour. He does try to schedule several stops in the same general area so that he can spread the travel cost across several customers.

$125 first hour (minimum) $75/hr after. .34 cents a mile (total).

Up around here you’re starting at least $150 just to show up and most repair outfits around here charge $100 an hour. The work they do is atrocious to boot!
I’ve bought several machines from different people who’ve used local repair guys and the work makes me cringe

How old is the game you are working on? If it’s older and you fix just a broken flipper wire beware when they start playing it again after it’s been sitting for years odds are they’ll find something else sooner than later.

Food for thought.

I get $125 for 1st hour and $100 each additional hour. No mark up on parts.

Just think of how many plumbers and electricians are out there and what they charge. Then look at pinball a specialized item. They aren’t just paying you for solving that wire back on (still using the same metaphor) they are paying for your expertise, and any chance you drop a screwdriver on the playfield or the playfield or backglass breaks by accident.

I do mine for free

As a commercial HVAC tech, my company was charging way more than anyone here listed. Trades have gone through the roof because business is endless right now

As do I. It's the best way to do it.

you need to get paid for your knowledge and experience as well, $35 is no where near enough. Think auto repair, hvac and any house call related repairs.
Also, for thos eof us who work fast but efficient, hourly wage can penalize us. Charge by the job (not hour), charge initial cost to show up and diagnose, then give the repair estimate.

Not sure what you mean by in this market. Pinball machines in the home are luxury items. Like boats or dirt bikes. If you can't maintain the game yourself, you should be able to afford a skilled tech to repair it. $60 an hour is cheap. I charge more for the first hour (one hour minimum) and include up to one hour of travel time (round trip). Most calls get no travel time charges. After the first hour, I charge a slightly lower hourly rate in 15 minute increments. I also charge the lower rate for travel time over one hour, also in 15 minute increments. Parts get marked up slightly to cover my time ordering the parts and any possible parts warranty issues, which do occasionally happen.

I used to do house calls for a company like Geek Squad for computer issues. I’m not defending atrocious work, but there were many times I said “I can hack it together in 1 hour” or “I can fix it correctly in 3 hours” and the client always chose 1 hour. Perhaps that was a factor.

In 2022 there is no one who will walk into your house to fix anything for less than $100/hr. Don’t sell yourself short because of a love of the hobby or feeling guilty about charging people for the true amount of a time for a fix.

I recall a story, I think it was shortly after the Challenger disaster. NASA had an outside tech company inspect the shuttle debris and determined it was the o-ring, put an X on the blueprint of the malfunction.

NASA wanted an explanation for the $10,000 invoice they received.

"Inspection fee:$500. Knowing where to put the X: $9500.00."

Not enough. My issue is that, unbeknownst to me when I moved here, most of the machines I service is in homes that are rented to as vacation get aways. This translates to people playing tables that they could care less about and often abuses it. A homeowner who lives with their machine is someone who actually understands and cares for it.
The other issue that has soured me on the whole fixing gig. "Flipper doesn't work can you come and fix?" Yes but when I travel 45 minutes, I fix the flipper but notice 5 other things wrong but I don't have the parts on hand.

Fix a broken flipper and a week later a bulb burns out....."WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY MACHINE" no thanks.
Local calls.....no charge to show up, diagnose and quote. I often end up getting it free or buying it.

I once did a favor for my dads coworker maybe 10 years ago.

Had an HUO SafeCracker in his basement just had the manual ball plunger housing coming loose. Just needed tightening. Probably less than 1,000 plays.

Charged him $75 cause I was in the area.

After I fixed it he took me out to his garage to show me a custom lift for his garage so he could fit a second corvette inside. Both were less than 2 years old. There was a 3rd car in there couldn’t remember what.

Next day get a call from my dad the guy is upset because he thought he was overcharged.

That was the last time I ever charged someone for an in home service call.

I tell people $100 an hour plus parts, after the first hour I charge by the half hour.

All of my time spent repairing other peoples pinball machines is time away from my family, Plus the expertise that I have spent over a decade learning and teaching myself how to repair things quickly, not to mention the small fortune I have spent on tools.

100 bucks to fix local, free if I can't.

I have slowed down repairing EM games since I got back to working a full-time gig, however I will take on jobs from time to time in the DC-NoVa area... first hour + travel is 175/275 depending on miles away from my home and then 75/100 an hour thereafter (75 - previous customers, 100 new).

I'd say your charge was right on. Then again it only cost me 3 beers and Dave drank those.

Most I know do $125 first hour and around $75 or $85 per hour after.

We’re easy to please. Much more fun fixing everyone’s stuff for free anyway. You can pick and choose whose stuff you care to work on.

I only did it once, some guy who lived about a mile away called and wanted his Jack in the Box EM cleaned and restored mechanically and electrically so I hauled it to my house and fixed it up. Charged him 300 though that was a loooong time ago. I was doing it more for the enjoyment of it than the money. Worked out fine but that's when I decided to only fix my own machines.