What to charge for computer tutoring in Australia

Pricing is the question every new tutor gets stuck on, partly because there is very little honest information and partly because it feels awkward to think about.

Here is what I have worked out.

What the market actually pays

For one-on-one computer and IT tutoring in Australia, the range runs roughly from $50 to $120 an hour, with most independent tutors somewhere between $70 and $90.

Agencies and franchises charge more, often $90 to $150, and pay the tutor a fraction of it.

Mobile computer help services, which are repair-focused rather than teaching, commonly charge a call-out fee of $80 to $120 plus an hourly rate on top.

So a client ringing around is generally being quoted somewhere near a hundred dollars, frequently with a call-out fee attached.

What I charge, and why it is not advice

I charge $65 an hour with no call-out fee.

That sits at the lower end of the range above, and the missing call-out fee matters more than the hourly figure. A client comparing me against a mobile service quoting $90 plus a $90 call-out is not comparing $65 to $90. For a one-hour job they are comparing $65 to $180.

I can price there because I have a full-time IT job and this is not how I pay the mortgage. That is a real advantage and it is not available to everyone.

Do not copy my number without doing your own arithmetic. If tutoring is your only income, $65 an hour before travel, admin, insurance and unbooked gaps may not be a living. Work out what you need first. Undercutting yourself into resentment helps nobody, least of all the client, because resentful tutors stop turning up.

Working out your own number

Start from what you need rather than from what others charge.

Count the unpaid time. A one-hour lesson is rarely one hour. There is travel each way, the phone call to arrange it, the follow-up question by text, and writing up the notes. A one-hour booking often consumes closer to two hours of your day.

If you want $60 an hour for your actual time and each booking costs you two hours, you need to charge $120, or accept $60 and understand you are earning $30.

Count the costs. Insurance, fuel, phone, website, equipment. Modest, but not zero.

Count the gaps. You will not fill every hour. Nobody does.

Then decide what the work is worth to you. This is the part people skip. If you are doing it partly because you want to, that legitimately changes the number, and you are allowed to say so.

Simple beats clever

Whatever you land on, keep the structure simple. This clientele has been confused and overcharged enough.

One rate. Not different prices for seniors, students, businesses and evenings. It creates suspicion and it wastes both your time explaining it.

No call-out fee. People hate them, and they make small jobs feel not worth booking. Build travel into the rate if you must.

No minimum block. “Six sessions paid up front” is how tutoring franchises operate and it makes people wary. If your teaching is good they will book again.

Charge in whole or half hours, and round in the client’s favour. If a session runs twenty minutes over because you were nearly finished, do not charge for it. It costs you very little and it is remembered.

Publish the price

Put your rate on your website. Do not make people ring to find out.

Two reasons. First, “contact for a quote” reads as “the price depends on what we think you will pay”, and this clientele has good reason to be suspicious of that.

Second, people genuinely search for what things cost. A page that answers the question plainly gets found by people who are ready to book, and filters out the ones who were never going to.

On charging less for pensioners

A lot of new tutors want to offer a concession rate. Two thoughts.

If you can afford to price low across the board, that is simpler and avoids anybody having to ask for charity. That is why I do not publish a separate pension rate: one clear number, and quiet flexibility for anyone who genuinely needs it.

If you cannot, then rather than publishing a discount, quietly have the flexibility to sort something out for anybody for whom cost is genuinely the barrier. Most people will not ask, and the ones who do genuinely need it.

Getting paid

Invoice after the session, not before. No deposits. It builds trust immediately and the non-payment rate for this work is very low.

Bank transfer or cash. Card readers are not worth the fees or the complication at this scale.

Give them an invoice even if they do not ask. Business clients need it, and older clients often like the formality.

Do not chase hard. In several years I have been left unpaid twice, both times by people who had simply forgotten and were mortified when reminded gently.

The mistake to avoid

The most common pricing error is not charging too much or too little. It is being vague.

“We can sort something out” and “let us see how we go” leave the client anxious throughout the entire lesson, wondering what it will cost. They are not concentrating on what you are teaching, and they will not book again.

Say the number clearly on the phone before you come. Then nobody has to think about it again.

If you are starting out around the Hunter

I am genuinely happy to talk it through with anybody setting up something similar. There is far more demand in this region than one person can cover, particularly for older clients, and most of them are not being reached at all.

The practical setup guide covers the ABN, insurance and working with children side of it.