Posted by jrob on 8/28/11 1:47am
Msg #395325

Fees for signings

I have been doing signing for about two years now and I'm trying to find out if I'm charging enough for my services. I normally charge a 90.00 fee for signings (Printing & Travel) under 20 miles. I haven't had any signing over 20 miles yet; how much do you guys charge for your services?

Thanks,

Jrob

Reply by rolomia on 8/28/11 4:44am
Msg #395326

It varies by region and client. My high-volume clients receive a discount. My once-in-a-while clients do not. In Arkansas (a state that still has the highest concentration of notaries per capita in the good ole U.S.A.), I have received as much as $260 per closing and as little as $50. Most of the time, it falls somewhere in the middle. However, I have met a number of NSA's in Arkansas who are accepting low-ball offers. And, my work load has decreased somewhat. I'm speculating that said drop in volume is due to TC's/SS's finding newbie NSA's willing to accept said lower fees. Of course, with no way to prove otherwise, I have little else to explain my lost income. Still, it would be nice if said companies would call me first, to negotiate. But, they would rather hand-hold a newbie and end up with a package with some mistakes that won't cost them a client but for which they can cheat the new NSA of his full pay than to keep an experienced, knowledgeable NSA in their database that costs them a maximum of 25% of their closing fees, usually much less. If you remain in this industry, long enough, you, too, will be nickeled and dimed. Good luck...

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 8/28/11 9:34am
Msg #395341

Now I'm confused by this post and the one below.

In the one below ( Msg #395321 ) you point out the ridiculousness of accepting low ball offers while in this one you say that YOU have accepted "and as little as $50" for a full signing. What?

If you are willing to accept the low ball offer of $50 for a full signing, just what do YOU consider a low ball offer?

The borrowers are being charged $150-$250+ regardless of where they are in the country by TCs. Are you saying that you have no problem with giving a SS $100 for making a few phone calls and sending 2 emails to you while you do all the work?

Reply by rolomia on 8/28/11 3:31pm
Msg #395373

Re: Now I'm confused by this post and the one below.

The ONLY time that I EVER accept $50 is when my phone isn't ringing with better offers. Unfortunately, in Arkansas, there are too many notaries who have discovered this once-lucrative profession. As a result, the NSA marketplace has become saturated with newbies willing to accept the low-ball offers I mentioned. What would you rather I do? Quit, entirely?! At least, by remaining active, I increase my chances that said companies may reincrease their fees when the newbies they hire mess up and TC/SS has to call me to redo the order. It's happened before and may yet again. I hate low-ball offers. But, I need the money. So...

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 8/28/11 4:22pm
Msg #395378

But, I need the money. So... I've got some yard work.

When a retail establishment or a company is willing to constantly put their items or services on sale, after a while, they have cheapened and devalued their brand (and/or services) so much so that when they wish to stop the discounts they will find that people are not willing to pay the once decent price for something that has been so devalued. That is just a fact of business.

I have a minimum that I have set for my services, knowledge, skills, time, experience, and overhead. My fixed costs do not change nor does the value of what I provide just because business is slower than usual.

I have had several "newbies" enter my area as competition and a few of them have told me that they have stopped working because they can not make ends meet with the low ball offers that they once accepted. They never ran the numbers and finally decided to stop basically working for free. One of them that have since left the business told me that she was unable to get what she had been charging a year earlier because she had continued to accept the lower fees. She said several of the companies asked her why they should pay more since she had been willing to take less for so long?

Yes, I too get the phone calls to clean up work from other notaries. I charge full price and not a cent below for them. I don't offer discounts to once in a while calling companies because I know that they are only calling me because their "normal" low ball accepting notaries are not available for some reason. It will not garner me any additional business to lower my fees for them besides, if I were to do that, they would expect the lower amount every time they call.

The way I see it, for the most part, when one accepts a low ball offer from a SS they are paying that SS even more money to make a few phone calls and send two emails while the NSA is still doing the same amount of work and providing the same important service on the cheap. It is pretty standard for the BO to be charged $150-$250+ for the services of a mobile notary regardless of where they are in the country. Don't know about you, but I am not here to subsidize any SS. There are good SS companies out there and the bad ones make it harder on them as well.

I do offer discounts to my loyal customers (SS or TC's) but not the the companies that only call when their cheap notaries are unavailable.

While you point out the reality of accepting low ball offers in one post, you defend your own actions of accepting low ball offers in another one. How can you be upset with others that accept low ball offers when you do it yourself?

Reply by CopperheadVA on 8/28/11 4:47pm
Msg #395381

Re: But, I need the money. So... I've got some yard work.

I agree. There was a signing service I worked for once quite a few years ago when I first started in this biz. It was overnight docs and I accepted a lower fee since I was not printing docs. EVERY TIME they called me in the future they offered that SAME LOWER FEE even though the new order was with edocs, and when I countered with a higher fee they said, "Well last time you worked for us for $XX" (I guess they actually kept a record of it handy) and then I would have to educate them on the terms of our last dealing.

Reply by rolomia on 8/29/11 7:04am
Msg #395460

Re: But, I need the money. So... I've got some yard work.

Moneyman,

Thank you for your well-written response to my post. To answer your question, the reason that I can be upset with others that accept low ball offers when I do it myself is because I only do so when financial circumstances (read "bills/debts") require me to be flexible. Whereas, newbie and some experienced NSA's do so as a matter of course, on a regular basis. If my phone were ringing more often with better offers, it wouldn't even be an issue. I've turned down most low-ball offers. But, my creditors don't have the luxury of waiting for payment. I've accepted maybe 5 or 6 such offers in the last year. Newbies accept several, each week. July was slow, for some reason. Thus, two of the closings I performed only paid $65, both from the same company. Hopefully, creative minds will share profitable ideas on this forum for additional work, instead of the unhelpful criticism so common on other notary forums. JMHO

Reply by jrob on 8/28/11 10:55am
Msg #395344

Thank you for sharing....

Reply by topflyt on 8/28/11 1:26pm
Msg #395358

I charge $1,000.00 for an e-docs signing over 20 miles...so far I've never gone over 20 miles!
hehe!