Funny you should mention that, a CW was just talking about how someone quoted him $175 to install TWO CEILING FANS. Holy shit, I can't believe even an electrician was going to charge that much.
I almost took the job myself, but I'm too gorram busy... even for half that price I could have driven with a few basic hand tools to BFE where he lives, put them both in, driven home, and still made $40/hr.
I dunno, last time I installed a ceiling fan it was a pain in the ass because I had to install a fan-rated ceiling box (which involved crawling around in the attic). If I had to do that for somebody else I'd want them to pay me $175 for it too!
I definitely recommend a fan-rated ceiling box, we had a chandelier drop 2 stories into our entryway when the plastic box it was mounted on spontaneously broke (nobody was home to be injured, thankfully, it was a small, cheap one but still heavy).
By the way, the lowest quote I got for (1) mounting a replacement, (1) fixing a 2 inch tear in the sheet rock covering, and (3) painting about 1 square foot was $600, and involved two different people, who were going to have to coordinate ladder use. Fortunately I had a ridiculously long ladder from when we were in a house rather than a townhouse, so I did it myself, because I was so annoyed. I *wish* I could find someone in my area (northern New Jersey) that would put 2 ceiling fans in for $175, not that I need that specifically but I'd use them for other things.
There are nice things about living here, but it is definitely not my ultimate retirement destination if I want to stretch my money. I've never seen any area where people hire other people so much to do things, and my wife commented on how big the sections of pre-prepared food are at the grocery store. I think everyone is in a 2-income family with long work hours.