Posted by Irma on 7/15/04 9:27pm
Msg #4494

Did I charge enough?

Reply by Irma on 7/15/04 9:30pm
Msg #4495

Sorry , about the double posting, my granddaughter ran by and I double clicked.
I took my first signing today. It is about 60 miles round trip. The docs will be delivered to the borrower and I don't have to fax back anything.
I had written all my fees on a index card, but, they caught me off guard. I charged them $60.00
Do you think I did ok?

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 7/15/04 9:35pm
Msg #4496

You set your own fees, but that should have been $75 - for a signing service.
(1.25 per mile x 60 = $75)

Reply by Irma on 7/15/04 9:47pm
Msg #4498

You mean charge the base $50.00 and, then mileage on top of that? I am so confused.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 7/15/04 11:01pm
Msg #4501

Sorry - didn't mean to confuse you.

What I always advise when starting out with loan signings, is figure your base area as 20 miles , which is a 40 mile RT. Now if you charge $50 as a base fee, that works out at $1.25 a mile $1.25 x 40 = $50, so your base fee is $50 for a 40 mile RT (20 miles each way) figure out $1.25 for each extra mile rounding up to the nearest $5.

So if you are going 30 miles, which is a 60 mile RT - then you would figure $1.25 x 60 = $75
So, $75 would be your total fee for the signing.

Did this explain it better??

Reply by Anonymous on 7/15/04 11:48pm
Msg #4504

I'm new to this too.

Standard Fee is 50.00
plus 1.25 x 20 = 25.

Always

Reply by Carolyn on 7/16/04 12:40am
Msg #4510

Re: Did I charge enough? Probably

Most signing services have a max they will pay. If you want the job, you have to take what they pay. $60 is probably all this particular SS pays.

In my area, there are enough notaries that if I ever name a fee over $50 to an SS (even if I name $55), they say "thanks" and hang up. They can always get a notary for $50 here.

As you work with more SSs, you will catch on to how much you can get each one to pay without losing the job.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 7/16/04 6:51am
Msg #4521

Re: Did I charge enough? Probably

I found out when I raised my base fee from $50, I lost quite a few companies, but more than made up for those with the better paying companies. That was almost 4 years ago, and I have not taken a signing for less than $65 in a long time.
Sometimes it is worth losing those $50 companies - unless they pay fast and the signings are in your immediate area.

Reply by HisHughness on 7/16/04 7:43am
Msg #4526

Re: Did I charge enough? Probably

Ditto on kissing off $50 signings. They might be feasible if the time is left open and they are either close to the office or close to another signing, where the two can be piggy-backed. I have had one or two of those.

Reply by Carolyn on 7/16/04 11:58am
Msg #4533

Sylvia is right AND You may not want to lose those $50 SSs

Sylvia is right. When I raised my base fee last year, didn't mind losing the $50 companies.

But work is slow now so I am even taking the $50 jobs. $50 per day is better than 0 jobs at any price. I hate the $50 SSs. I hate working for so little but I do this full time and need the income.

You will have to feel your way through this one. Mostly it will depend on how much work there is and how many notaries there are to do the work.

Reply by CarolynCO on 7/16/04 8:17am
Msg #4527

Same name -- different location ??

Just want to clarify that my posts show me as "CarolynCO" -- There would be less confusion if you would you use your location as well as just your name to help differentiate the two of us. Thanks.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 7/16/04 8:27am
Msg #4528

Re: Same name -- different location ??

Not only that, it would help when a question is state specific. If posters identified their states in their name then they are more likely to get a response from someone in that state.
Many a time someone will ask a question, then we have to ask where they are from, so we can give a state specific answer.
Put your state in your name - like Sylvia/Fl Carolyn/Co etc

Reply by Elizabeth_CA on 7/16/04 11:41am
Msg #4532

Re: Did I charge enough? Probably

Carolyn, what city/state are you located?

Reply by Anonymous on 9/30/04 5:55pm
Msg #9107

prices for multiple signatures of the same person?

I received a telephone call from a television station yesterday at 4.00 pm. They wanted 300 invoices notarized by 8:30 am this morning. I aske dhow much were they prepared to pay? They said a dollar a signature. When I went to pick up the documents, she said that there were 285 invoices. I went home & counted them, there were 308. When I returned them this morning, she took them into a seperate room and counted them and said that there were only 273. I did not believe her. But realize that she was savvy enough to remove some of the documents when she was out of my presence. My questions are:

1. Did I charge enough?

2. Did I handle this correctly?

3. What are the going rates for multiple dcouments?

4. For 'rush' jobs?


This happened in Maryland.

Reply by CaliNotary on 9/30/04 6:17pm
Msg #9109

Re: prices for multiple signatures of the same person?

Aren't the documents supposed to be signed in front of you? I don't understand why you took the documents home in the first place, unless Maryland notarization law is drastically different than California law.

Obviously you didn't handle it correctly if you got stiffed for 35 bucks. As for rates, those vary from state to state so I couldn't begin to tell you if you charged appropriately.

Reply by Maureen/nh on 9/30/04 10:59pm
Msg #9123

Re: prices for multiple signatures of the same person?

Was she the one who signed all these? If not where were the signers? This really has me concerned.

Reply by CaliNotary on 9/30/04 11:06pm
Msg #9124

Re: prices for multiple signatures of the same person?

I have a feeling from the way the post was worded that she just took the stack of documents home and notarized them all, that she didn't actually witness each one being signed.

Reply by maureen on 9/30/04 11:12pm
Msg #9125

Re: prices for multiple signatures of the same person?

Sorry, this should have been in the singular. How long did it take you? A couple of hours, you made a good paycheck. Were you cheated, I would say so. Go to a manager and complain. You have the right. Do you keep a journal--tell them you have to reconcile it. We are dealing with legal docs here. I could see a misount of maybe five but that is way beyond minor error.