Be careful of using machine prices to set charges. Long ago (1990s), when Silicon Graphics ruled the world of film, a high-end film editor used an SGI Onyx running a program called Inferno to edit film, composite effects into the scene, and generally make the picture look the way the director wanted. Shops charged from $1500 to $5000/hour. An Onyx went for $500K, the software went for $180K per seat, and all was well with the world because the charges were based on the price of the equipment and software. Time passed, graphics cards to do the equivalent of an Onyx Graphics Pipe ($125,000), cost $1,250, a PC with quad processors for $15,000 would out run the Onyx with 32 processors, so the customers, not being fools, demanded that the cost per hour drop. It did, and lots of businesses in Hollywood died. But to their horror, customers no longer could find the editors they used to depend on, and the quality dropped down the same slippery slope the pricing did. Now there are lots of cheap, low quality shops, but the big budget shows go to the quality shops.
The moral of the story, price based on the quality and experience of your employees, not on the cost of the machines they run. That way as machine costs drop, you can gently lower prices, or improve margins, your call. Know your value, make sure your customers know your value, and particularly, make sure you and your customer know the value of your employees.
