For decades now, mediocre Signing Services have tried to rope in notaries by promising them 'volume' if they'll lower their fees. [These days, they use the platform to just offer up signings a lower fees up front.] That works great for them, because their overhead doesn't much change with increased volume - unless they need to add to their staff. We're the ones doing the driving, printing, etc., so 'volume' doesn't work the same for us.
Yoli recently found an old post that did a wonderful job of clarifying the fallacy that we can increase our income by doing more work at a lower fee. Since it might have gotten buried down that thread, I'm posting it here again for those who might have missed it: Msg #488879. In that post, Marian Harmon did a great job of spelling out how that's not the same for us.
While reading over some of the old threads about this issue, I ran across an old post of my own where I used Marian's numbers and tried to spell it out even more clearly with some specific examples, and doing the math. In case you're interested, here's that post: Msg #550749. I realize that platforms and email blasts have changed the dynamics of all of this, but I believe it's important to understand how this impacts our profitability. I like the idea of working less and earning more! That's one of the key reasons I'm doing more GNW these days and am particular about what assignments I accept from signing services.
If/when business does begin to pick up again as interest rates rise, and people start seeing higher rates as a new normal, I urge you all to take these facts to heart, and don't give away your services or devalue your worth, leaving the profit to those in the middle...
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