Posted by Leon_CO on 1/20/09 5:03am
Msg #275112

'Volume discounts' for notary signing agents

'A reduction in price based on the purchase of a large quantity.' is the way one dictionary defines 'volume discount'.

It makes a lot of sense for a consumer. The more you buy, the more you save.

But how does that work with notary signing agents?

I have been contacted by several companies in the past asking me to give them a 'volume discount'. It was their first time calling me. My initial thought was: Where is the volume?

Imagine going into an appliance store and buying a television. Then asking the store clerk for a volume discount. The clerk says, 'but you've only bought one television'. You promise to buy many more in the future. You can imagine the reaction of the store clerk.

So a company asking a notary signing agent for a 'volume discount' on the first closing assignment is like that consumer purchasing one television, but promising to buy more in the future.

I have often wondered about the efficacy of volume discounts for signing agents. A company can't guarantee how many assignments they are going to be able to offer in the future. And even if they have given many in the past, the past is not a reliable guage of what the future may bring. I know I said I would take more risks, but the risk of offering a volume discount isn't one that I am willing to take in this economy.

Just my opinion.

Reply by Julie/MI on 1/20/09 5:48am
Msg #275113

My experience is they don't work. For example, during the summer, a title company that shall remain nameless (one that I rarely work for due to their paltry fees for my home county, but get big bucks for another county) called and said that there was $3,000 worth of closings in my home county and if I reduced my base fee to $50 and my edoc to $15 I would be the first call and get the volume work.

So for experimental purposes only, I signed up. I had not worked for this company since 2006, but just wanted to see if my phone would ring. Well it didn't. So I raised my base fee and e doc fee back to where it was and they are still not calling.

Now I must clarify, that I would have not done the work for $65, it was merely an experiment to see if they phone would ring.

Reply by PAW on 1/20/09 8:20am
Msg #275116

I do provide a volume discount, but right now, it's only for one company. In order for MY customer to qualify for volume discounts, they have to have a proven track record of orders. Only then will a discount be considered. For this one company, the discounted rate may or may not have resulted in additional orders. I just don't know, but I am okay with the amount of work and compensation provided.

Reply by 101livescan on 1/20/09 8:31am
Msg #275118

I had such a suggestion/offer made to me recently. I had never worked for this company before, completed one signing and they called me for a second one the following month. I don't call that much of a volume. So they went on to the next notary for $10 less. I don't care. I don't see that there will be much of any kind of volume for some time to come. Such another hoax...way to get notaries to bite and lower their fees. $10 is gas for my trip. It adds up!

Reply by MW/VA on 1/20/09 9:11am
Msg #275121

Unfortunately, this is where the problem with many ss lies. Many of them bid work based on volume & then try to pass the "discounted" price onto the notary. Case in point is Nations Direct, who offer outrageously low fees. It basically comes down to the same concept of those who shop at Walmart or not, based on low prices. My business approach is to work smarter, not harder. I set a fee that means I won't get all the work, but what I get pays me what I need to make a profit.

Reply by JerryhFL on 1/20/09 10:52am
Msg #275128

It would seem to me that applying the discount should be on your end

In other words, you start out the month at your list price and as you get more volume from the same requester you then adjust your price for each additional signing. This pricing can be agreed upon in advance and will put the pressure on the requester to give you more so that they pay less.

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 1/20/09 11:50am
Msg #275131

Volume discounts should be based on past history ...

not future promises .....

Reply by 101livescan on 1/20/09 12:04pm
Msg #275133

Re: Volume discounts should be based on past history ...

I concur, they'll say anything to get you to bite, but fail to deliver. In the days when I was doing 12-16 signings a day for my local escrow/title company in their offices, I offered a discount to everything I did on site, and more on those where I drove to the client's home/office, depending on distance of course.

This to me is another feeble attempt to take advantage of our industry members. How about if we stick together on this. Get them to define "volume discount" and what do they consider "volume".

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 1/20/09 12:05pm
Msg #275134

The promise of more work in the future in exchange for lower prices is not a "volume" discount. It's a negotiation.

A volume discount would apply when you have a lot of work in a single transaction. For example, being called to a school to notarize travel permission slips for 100+ kids in a single morning. In a case like that, the notary (where state law provides) could easily reduce their fee per signature. In CA, we're allowed to do that, and I would easily agree to reduce the $10 fee down to $3-$5 each. It's a value to all of those people needing notarization and a nice paycheck for a morning worth of work.

I don't see how a volume discount can apply to signing services unless a signing assignment involved multiple signings in the same place at the same time -- such as having a Title Company ask you to their office and spend the day there as the signers came to you.

No, a reduced fee agreement from a signing service would have to involve a written contract of exclusivity or guarantee of first-call for assignments based on a guaranteed X number of calls per month, else the standard rate applies. Either that, or they agree to pay up front for 5 signings at a time -- and we all know they'd never do that.

If I buy the same can of corn at the grocery store once a week for a year, the store isn't going to start charging me less because of loyalty. Oh, they might give me a coupon once is a while, but that's it. If I want to get those cans cheaper, I need to go to Costco and buy a whole crate full of them at one time. That's why it's called volume. Frequency and volume aren't the same thing.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 1/21/09 3:43am
Msg #275186

Bingo!!

"If I want to get those cans cheaper, I need to go to Costco and buy a whole crate full of them at one time. That's why it's called volume. Frequency and volume aren't the same thing."

Exactly!! The only way other business get volume discounts is buying buying in large quantities up front or at once, like you said. That's the difference between retail and wholesale when you're talking about products.

What the ss's don't get is that a volume discount may make sense for them because they are multiplying their time by having other notaries do the work. For us, we can only do one signing at a time. So any discount reduces what we can make in any given time slot. And if we fill our calendars with lower paying work, we are then not available for better paying assignments that come along. The assumption is that we are sitting around with nothing else to do, so they think we should be thrilled to get something rather than nothing. (Unfortunately, it sounds like that may be true for some... ) If that volume ever materialized, it would mean that we had just locked ourselves into a lower rate of pay for more of our work hours.

Reply by Kevin/Ct on 1/20/09 12:33pm
Msg #275140

The title abstractors have learned that volume discounts do not work. The volume may be there for a few weeks, but rarely is the other party able to deliver on the volume long term. Yet, they seem to expect the discount to continue regardless of whether they deliver.

I had one signing service call last year that requested a volume discount that was absolutely ridiculous. In return they were prepared to assign all of their closings to me. The problem was that they could not define "all their closings". It could have been only one per month.

The only way to structure volume discounts effectively is to require a specific number of closings per month. Pricing can be structured on the basis of full fees to a certain level on the early closings with the discount being delivered on the later closings during the month. In the event that the SS fails to deliver the volume....there is no discount for the month.

Reply by Lee/AR on 1/20/09 1:00pm
Msg #275141

That's been my response to 'volume discount' for a couple of

years now. OK...after X signings/mo., I will reduce my fee for the rest of the month by X%.
('X' figures vary by who is asking & my mood.) Haven't had any takers yet! I started doing this when some SS called & really put some pressure on to reduce my fee 'because of all the volume she had & could give me'. I replied, "Tthis one at normal fee & the next one this month will be at a reduced rate, OK?" (Now that's NOT volume, but I was caught offguard.) Didn't even ask me what the 'reduced rate' would be; gave it to me at normal fee....and I've never heard from them again.

Reply by Mia on 1/20/09 2:46pm
Msg #275152

Fagettaboutit !

This type of..... what do I call it....... scam...con... swindle etc. has been going on for years.
You have to remember that YOU are a business owner - you have to act like a business
owner. If you want to give them a discount, then that is up to you. If you want to make
a profit, then price accordingly.