Posted by yoshaCA on 8/15/11 6:10pm
Msg #393737

Packages getting bigger

I read an interesting article today in USA Today. It was in regard to small banks no longer wanting/being able to do mortgages due to the amount of paperwork and the staff time needed to comply with all of the new laws as of July 2010. Furthermore, in the articles it talked of even more paperwork coming down the pipeline currently and even more paperwork at closing that would affect us. Does this mean that we are to look forward to 200+ regular refi (one set) in the future as the rule and not exception? How will this effect the future of print fees?

Reply by ME/NJ on 8/15/11 6:23pm
Msg #393739

Know your cost.

Wholesale ream legal - 4-6 dollars/ream
Toner - 24-60 (I get 7 240 packages per toner)

Next I multiply by .50 and that is my price for printing

Reply by Alz on 8/15/11 6:57pm
Msg #393746

This is very important point that often gets overlooked. n/m

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 8/15/11 8:02pm
Msg #393757

Re: This is very important point that often gets overlooked.

Printing fees shouldn't just cover paper and toner --- although that is big percentage. It also includes power consumption, wear and tear on the machine itself, part replacement (drums, trays, etc.) your time in collating and prepping the docs, etc.

You should have a profit margin built in to that cost, too. $25 - $30 dollars is a bargain for them.

Reply by NJDiva on 8/15/11 8:16pm
Msg #393758

Thank you Marian!

"It also includes power consumption, wear and tear on the machine itself, part replacement (drums, trays, etc.) your time in collating and prepping the docs, etc. "

How about it's also saving them at least $25 for me to print them, rather than them having to print AND ship them? MORE savings (and profit) in their pocket.

In essence, $25 is a much more profitable deal for them, which is why they don't necessarily balk at it. They know it.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 8/15/11 8:39pm
Msg #393760

Re: Thank you Marian!

They know it.... but they still try to claim it only costs us $5-8 to print a package, and therefore, they can "only pay" $10 for printing. I'm not kidding, either... I've been told that by several companies.

And it doesn't help when a lot of the cheap notaries who work nights prints their pacakges at their employers expense and aren't seeing that cost for themselves. Hint: That's stealing!

However, there are a LOT of them out there who do this. I've witnessed it personally, and I've even had one lady openly brag that her printing costs are "Free" to her because her boss "lets" her print whatever she wants at work because she doesn't have a laser printer at home.

My guess is that her boss doesn't know the volume that she's printing. I'm sure that "whatever you want" thing is for occasional pages here and there.... not 300+ pages at a time.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 8/15/11 9:19pm
Msg #393767

Adding that if they overnighted, they would have to pay

minimum wagers to do the clerical = hiring. We're sooo much cheaper - plus, they can try to blame the remote closer for any printing foofoos.

Our clerical time is worth alot. An old business maxim: it takes a year to really learn a desk. Any desk, including mine when I answered the phone one day in 2003. The more experience one has to set up one's 'office,' learn the rules, ropes, laws; to develop scheduling finesse and business relationships; become proficient in successful Accounts Receivable, and Budget adjusting; and, depending on the circumstances, juggling work-at-home work and family - the better the chances for success.

As for doing this clerical work at another workplace? Marion, you nailed it; plum foolish unless there's (that ol') Full Disclosure.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 8/16/11 12:38am
Msg #393789

Re: Adding that if they overnighted, they would have to pay

I believe Susan's point is much more relevant than equipment, material and shipping costs when calculating how much to charge for printing. I'm not actually convinced it's saving tc people much, if anything at all, for us to print the docs - at least in hard costs. It depends on the size of the office, of course, but larger offices can probably justify higher capacity printers and volume will bring the cost per page way down. The same will hold true for shipping - especially with high volume offices. You wouldn't believe how low they can negotiate shipping fees! I'd be very surprised if even the smaller offices pay anywhere near what we would pay for shipping costs.

But it does save them clerical time in packaging docs, etc. and it frees them up from having to worry about cut-off times for their shipping company - which might be much earlier than their office closing time. As most of us know only too well, when they email docs, they can just send them right out whenever they're ready. Much faster.

Similar concepts apply to us with setting our printing fees. First of all, do you know of any tc that would only charge the borrowers their actual costs if they were printing the documents? I don't think so... Likewise, our actual out-of-pocket costs for printing a set of documents should only be one small part of the pricing for print fees. Like with a signing, the biggest consideration we need to factor in when setting fees is the value of our time! (That doesn't mean we shouldn't make sure we are also covering hard costs and the other things like insurance, etc. that don't relate to one specific assignment, but are necessary for us to be in business.)

So when a company starts trying to tell me that I should reduce my printing fees on the basis of what they think my real costs are, it's telling me that either they are ignorant, or they think I'm ignorant, or they have no respect for me as a business person, or they're just desperate. None of those options give me a warm fuzzy about working for them.

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 8/16/11 10:08am
Msg #393801

Bravo! Marian, Susie, & Janet :-) n/m

Reply by Ali/IL on 8/16/11 12:31pm
Msg #393834

Re: Thank you Marian!

Reminds me of something a friend of mine told me. She needed some divorce stuff copied to send to her attorney. I told her I could copy them for her she said no hon it is far too much.
She told me her cousin did all the copying at her city job she said it took almost three hours to copy everything. That disturbed me.

Reply by Joeycaps on 8/15/11 9:33pm
Msg #393770

Re: This is very important point that often gets overlooked.

I agree

Reply by ME/NJ on 8/15/11 9:48pm
Msg #393774

Re: This is very important point that often gets overlooked.

Figure other cost.

In ten years I've bought two printers 600 bucks
My electric bill is 160 month office is 10% of home = 16/ month (printer does not run 24 hours a day)

So you tell me what the true cost to print is.. I just love how people cry when you break it down you know real cost.

Reply by Joeycaps on 8/15/11 6:24pm
Msg #393740

if the packages get bigger, we need to charge more for edoc fees. my fee right now is 25 dollars. but if there going to be 200 pages plus then my fee will go to 40 dollars. its cheaper to send e doc then overnight fed x, or ups. so 25 bucks is a bargain for them.

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 8/15/11 6:48pm
Msg #393745

Increased printing costs are only part of the reason one should look at their pricing structure. Increased packages also means increased prep time and increased time at the table.

My higher fee for RM signings not only covers the normally larger packages but also the increased amount of time involved verses say a Quicken loan refi signing.

If the avg. refi package end up being about the same in size or time involved as a RM, then my prices will eventually reflect those required increases in costs and time. For now, I'm happy with my pricing structure.

Reply by DaveCA/CA on 8/15/11 8:21pm
Msg #393759

Can you hear the signing service now...?

I need a favor...don't worry, it's one of the old small packages. Then we get them emailed and it's only 150 instead of the new 200. ha ha ha. don't forget to fax back just the essentials...everything but the bullseye document.

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 8/15/11 11:54pm
Msg #393787

LOL, Right!

I learned a long time ago that "favors" don't pay the bills and that I offer my services for pay, just like they do.

Reply by SharonMN on 8/16/11 11:41am
Msg #393820

How about those title companies that send everything they can think of as a separate attachment? I'd rather print on 200-page PDF than 16 individual PDFs! You've got to think things get missed that way, too.

Reply by jba/fl on 8/16/11 3:55pm
Msg #393856

One of my biggest pet peeves - always late too.

Give them to me all at once - or send them early so that I don't feel crunched. There is just no good justification for this.