Posted by Treasure Valley Notary - Tina on 7/23/12 11:28am
Msg #427686

How Much Of A Cut Should A Signing Service Get?

Just got a call from a large signing service. Their offer was $60 for a 50 mile, one way, location. No fax backs, same day drop, edocs. I told them my fee was $150 minimum for that job. They then told me that after $120 it comes out of their pocket.

Well, first, $120 for all assignments is ok for them. They get bulk. But it is not ok for the majority of my locations. If they under commit to a fee, that is their problem, not mine. They should be charging more than they are as far as I am concerned.

Second, just how much of a cut should the signing service get? His first offer was 1/2 of their fee. What? I'm the one who has to have the equipment (phone, computer, laser printer(s), fax, etc). I'm the one who has to take the time to print the docs, prepare the label (although I will admit that more and more are sending a predone label and I love it!), and make endless phone calls at times to the borrowers. I am the one who uses my car and my gas to travel to the predetermined locations. I am the one whose time it takes to execute the documents properly. And I am the one who goes out of my way to make sure that ALL docs go out in a timely manner. Even if I have to go back to the office to fax some of the docs back. After all that, did he earn the other 1/2 of my fee?

Not in my opinion. I don't mind them taking a cut. But 1/2 is just not "cutting" it. Thank goodness I know what I have to make on every assignment. Otherwise I would go broke doing their work.

Reply by Larry/IL on 7/23/12 11:40am
Msg #427688

How much....simple...

If your the signing coming, you should get all. If your the NSA they shouldn't get any. What I am trying to say is it's all relative. If you don't like the fee offered, don't take the job! If the fee is too low and enough NSAs don't play the game, the rules will change.

Reply by Les_CO on 7/23/12 12:52pm
Msg #427695

There is only ONE reason that SS and Title Companies offer low fees….Because they can! If EVERY NSA out there would only accept $125 or $150 single for an e-doc refi, guess what they would pay? The low paying SS and Title Companies are NOT the cause of low fees…it’s your fellow notaries. Don’t concern yourself with what percentage someone else gets/makes of what the borrower pays, concern yourself with doing an excellent job and what you yourself charge.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 7/23/12 1:26pm
Msg #427702

This is why I rarely ever work for signing services anymore. Signing services are fine for areas where there are a lot of notaries competing for assignments and have lower expenses... but they simply don't work well in the more remote areas, such as where I live. Being a mobile notary in the the sticks of California is expensive. There's a reason there aren't very many of us.

I am expensive and I don't apologize for it. I have to market myself directly to the title and escrow companies to let them know I'm out here and it works well. It also helps to make friends with the local real estate brokers.

But, a lot of the signing services know not to call me now because they know darn well they won't meet my fee. There are a few that do, but most of them simply don't grasp the idea that it is normal for me to drive 1-2 hours each direction to an appointment -- and that's not just paper and gas. It's a significant chunk of time, too. For me, 3 loan signings in a single day is a long, busy one... primarily because of the travel involved.

Signing services don't appreciate the fact that we're not all sitting a couple of blocks away from our appointments in the middle of a city...or even suburbia. Some of us live out in the sticks... and even beyond the sticks and have to drive around military bases to get anywhere.

It's pretty funny, though, when I get bombarded with phones calls from 5 or 6 different services in a single day, all them them trying to get me to take the same assignment for under $100 (not happening, ever)...then a few hours later, the title company calls me directly and says, "We've been trying all day to find somebody to take this assignment, and nobody's available." Then they follow it up with an offer at least double what the signing services were claiming was the highest they could go. This happens a lot on Fridays... and it's always amusing.

Reply by MW/VA on 7/23/12 2:25pm
Msg #427720

Many take 50%, some less than that. I know a few that only

make $20 or $30. I wouldn't accept a $60 offer period, certainly not for a 50 mile trip. I think the fee you quoted is very reasonable. That fee was insulting. It's not our problem that these ss are bidding work & then expecting us to take the low fees.

Reply by Les_CO on 7/23/12 4:45pm
Msg #427750

Re: Many take 50%, some less than that. I know a few that only

Almost on a daily basis someone posts about how little a SS has offered for a job, or how much of the fee they keep, or that they aren’t entitled to make so much for just a phone call. This is usually from someone that hasn’t a clue of what a SS actually does, has never been employed by one, or has ever owned one. Yes this business is rife with crooks, deadbeats, undercapitalized inexperienced startups, some that do ‘farm-outs’, and low paying, handholding, uncaring, high volume,(mostly overseas outsourced) pain-in-the-butt lowballers. If you think they charge too much, don’t start a Title Company and hire them. If you think they offer too little for the job you do, don’t take it. If you don’t like the general idea of SS’s don’t work for them. But don’t blame them for the low fees they offer. This is not their doing; these low fees are primarily the cause of the NNA running notary mills, and ignorant notaries with no idea of the value of their service. I too dislike the low fee SS and title companies, mostly because they waste my time with ridiculous offers, but that said there are some good, experienced, honest, timely paying SS out there that provide a necessary and useful service, and are a boon to this business. JMO

Reply by MW/VA on 7/23/12 7:01pm
Msg #427773

I wouldn't be in business except for some great ss that have

supplied me with regular, good paying work. Also, this forum has had the reputation of bashing ss. There are some really bad ones, but there are a lot of really good ones. It's that way in any business.

Reply by Q_in_Sac/CA on 7/23/12 11:36pm
Msg #427799

This is the same as the trucking industry. Everybody undercut each other just to get the business. But the under cutters, don't understand their "cost of operation". Yes, these notaries just starting out taking low ball offers just to get going. But when they start counting the cost, it too late and their out of business.

I'm new to this business and there is no way I would take a $60 offer and travel 50 miles one way. That just covers your gas. Your time and work is free. Nah, it just doesn't compute.

Hold your line and be patient.