Plenty of shops set their phone screen repair price by checking what the shop down the road charges and taking a few euros off. It feels safe, but it ignores the numbers that decide whether a repair makes money: what the part really cost you, how long the job takes, how often screens come back, and what it costs to keep the doors open.
This guide shows you how to price phone repairs from your own costs upwards. You'll get a formula that works for any model, a worked example for an iPhone 18 Pro screen, and a checklist to keep your price list honest as part costs move.
Why screen repairs quietly lose money
Screen jobs usually leak money in five places:
- Part cost is more than the invoice price. Shipping, discounts, tax you can't reclaim and the odd part that's faulty out of the bag all change what you really paid.
- Bench time is underestimated. The 30-minute job turns into 50 minutes with a stubborn frame, adhesive clean-up, testing and handover.
- Comebacks aren't priced in. Touch problems, dead pixels or a lifted screen mean a second part and more bench time, usually for nothing.
- Overheads are ignored. Rent, wages, tools, software and card fees have to come out of every repair, not just the busy days.
- Discounts happen at the counter. A "regular customer" discount here and there adds up fast when nobody is watching.
Work out the true cost of the part
Start with the landed cost: what the part cost you to get onto your bench. That's the supplier price, plus your share of shipping, plus any tax you can't claim back, minus any discount.
Then add a small allowance for parts that fail. If you find that roughly one in 20 of a certain screen is faulty or cracks during fitting, add about 5% to its cost. Use your own numbers, not a guess.
Say you buy five Galaxy S26 screens for €440 and pay €20 shipping:
- Landed cost per screen: (€440 + €20) ÷ 5 = €92
- Failure allowance at one in 20: €92 × 5% = €4.60
- Working part cost: about €97
If you stock more than one quality grade for a model, cost each grade separately, and give each its own price.
Put a price on bench time
Bench time is the cost shops undercharge for most. Work out an hourly rate for your shop:
- Add up your monthly running costs: rent, wages, bills, tools, software and insurance.
- Estimate the hours your team actually spends on repairs each month. Count bench hours, not opening hours.
- Divide the first number by the second.
For example, €6,000 a month in running costs and two technicians doing about 120 productive repair hours each gives €6,000 ÷ 240 = €25 an hour. That's what an hour of bench time costs you before any profit.
Next, time the job from start to finish: check-in, diagnosis, the repair, testing, cleaning and handover. Time three or four of each common model and use the average.
A phone screen repair price formula that works
With part cost and labour sorted, the formula is simple:
Price before tax = part cost + (bench time × hourly rate) + warranty allowance + profit
The warranty allowance covers comebacks. If around one in 25 screens on a model comes back under warranty, each comeback costs you another part and another hour. Spread that across every job by dividing (part + labour) by 25.
Here's a worked example for an iPhone 18 Pro screen. The numbers are illustrative, so swap in your own:
| Cost line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Landed part cost | €130.00 |
| Bench time (1 hour at €25) | €25.00 |
| Warranty allowance ((€130 + €25) ÷ 25) | €6.20 |
| Profit target | €45.00 |
| Price before tax | €206.20 |
You might round that to €209. Rounding down to €199 looks tidier, but it gives away €7 on every job. Add tax on top where it applies; how tax works on repairs depends on where you trade, so check with your accountant.
Now compare with the market. If your number is well above local prices, don't simply drop it. Look at the inputs instead: a better-priced supplier, a different part grade, faster tools or a second, lower-priced option. If your number is below the market, you may have room to charge more.
Build a price list by model and grade
Good phone repair pricing rests on a list you can keep up to date. Build it once, properly:
- List the models you repair most, such as iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone Duo, Galaxy S26 and Pixel 11, plus the older models that still come in every week.
- For each model, note the part grades you stock and the landed cost of each.
- Record the average bench time for each repair type.
- Run the formula and round to clean price points.
- Write down what each price includes: the warranty period, testing, and any extras such as a screen protector.
Offering two options often works better than one. A Pixel 11 customer can choose between a lower-priced screen and an original-quality one, as long as you explain the difference in plain words: how close it looks and feels to the original, and the warranty you give on each.
Protect the price at the counter
A good price can still slip away at the counter. A few habits protect it:
- Quote before you open the phone, and write the quote on the repair ticket. If diagnosis finds more damage, such as a bent frame or a damaged connector, call the customer before carrying on.
- Take a deposit when you have to order a part specially, so you aren't left holding stock nobody collects.
- Check the device in properly. A pre-repair checklist and condition photos stop arguments about faults that were there before you started.
- Set discount limits. Decide who can discount and by how much, and stick to it.
- Put your warranty terms in writing. Say what's covered, such as a part failing, and what isn't, such as a fresh drop or liquid damage. Consumer warranty rights differ between countries, so check the rules where you trade before you write your terms.
Review your prices every month
Once a month, run through this checklist:
- Has any supplier changed the price of a screen you stock?
- Which models came back under warranty, and how often?
- Is actual bench time close to the time you priced in?
- What was the real margin per job: price charged minus actual part cost?
- How much was given away in discounts, and by whom?
- Which repair types bring in the most revenue, and which barely break even?
If a model keeps losing money, change the price, the part or the supplier.
How Phonesol helps
Phonesol is repair shop software and POS built for phone shops, and it keeps most of these numbers in one place. When a part goes on a repair ticket it comes out of stock with its cost, so the margin on each job shows straight away.
Purchase costs can include tax, shipping and discounts, so the part cost you see is the landed cost. Supplier price history shows when a part got more expensive. You can take deposits at check-in, use a pre-repair checklist with condition photos, keep warranty details with each device's history, and set discount limits per role, with a manager PIN for anything bigger.
At the end of the month, business reports show repair revenue by repair type, parts used and technician activity, and your expenses feed into profit, so you can see which repairs earn their place.
Try it in your shop
Phonesol starts from €49 a month (prices exclude tax), and most teams learn it in about an hour. Try it free for 14 days with no card needed, or book a demo to see how it handles your own repairs.