I recently just did a signing that required 40 minutes round trip travel, 70 pages of print, 10 signatures and 6 acknowledgments for $25. This has got to end. The fees are many times not posted on the SMS messages for signings and there is little chance of renegotiating after you have agreed. Any thoughts? When I initially got into this line of work I was told the fees would be approximately $200. We spend hundreds of dollars on printers, computers, paper and education not to mention insurance, bonding certifications and platform fees. What they are paying us is an INSULT!
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When you found out the fee was only $25, why in the world did you agree to do it? Fees are not going to get any better for anyone as long as someone will do the signings for minimum wage. When enough notaries wise up and start refusing, companies will start to realize they canāt find anyone to fill their jobs - and then maybe, just maybe, things will change.
Should have just turned the job back.
JMO
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They will always offer less than they are willing to settle for. The notary should always ask more than the notary will settle for. If they will not negotiate, move on.
They are always going to offer you the bare minimum. Even if you have accepted the job, if the price is that low, refuse to do it. I have canceled jobs after the fact before and it has not effected me, but as long as we take these lowball offers they will keep sending them.
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Stay hyper aware of your bottom line. There are times the signing service does not know itās going to be a 200+ page document package so they didnāt know to quote the higher fee. But always let them know, especially as those can cause longer signing times, return document scans. I get a lot of HE offers that turn out to be 125+ pages, thatās a standard loan package in my book and I cannot complete for less than a regular closing package. Trying to catch it as soon as documents are in, sometimes Iām out doing closings and I canāt immediately check the documents. But I open skim the count, make sure that only the signers negotiated are listed and immediately respond with any discrepancies. I ALWAYS apologize for the delay in response when this happens and let them know first line that there is a discrepancy in order received and documents received. But being clear on your own end on what your bottom line and costs CAN be, so you know pretty quickly when you need to fire back quickly so they are aware the TC didnāt provide them the correct info and they can bill higher on their end as well. If itās directly through title, call or email as soon as you can.
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The offered fee is always there. The new game is to put it at the very bottom and stick multiple paragraphs in betweenā¦I assume so that the dumb notary will be more focused on clicking āavailableā quickly (thinking wrongly that āquickā gets the job).
Whatās up is that theyāve learned thereās a lot of notaries who donāt think before they click. Theyāre gaming the system more and more every day. Of course, you can re-negotiateā¦just tell 'em NO.
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I donāt even consider the $20, $40, $50 jobs. I will lose money leaving the house for that. But there are definitely notaries out there working for peanuts. When I send a counter office I will add the note āincludes excessive drive time mileage and printing feesā.
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This is what I will do in the future, for any signing thru any companyā¦ Before I do anything else I will POST the fees that are fair and Equitable for my time travel, the number of pages and the number of signature/signer and acknowledgments. for this example: 75-100 dollars, print fee 10, least $10 for each signature 2, 30 dollars, for each one after that 15 dollars. This may see a litlle out of line. But remember you are using your printer, ink, and paper. The toner I use for the 4 is around 310.00. It will print up to 1600 pager per drum. Paper is per box about 8 per, runs about 42.00. Our time is also valuable. What are you thoughts on this break down.
There is a lot more to a signing than just the cost of each element and the time to do the signing. Just consider:
Each signing is time you will spend being ānot availableā for any other signing that comes along.
The time reviewing the myriad instructions with each signing (Sometimes as many as 20 pages) should add to that calculation.
Almost every signing now comes with a āscan backā requirement, which takes additional time. Most scan backs require you to wait for approval before you can āDropā the package to shipping, again cutting into your availability for other opportunities.
Sometimes you will not get documents until the last minute (SSās will post that you will receive documents an hour before signing!), which means you have to sit around and be available for document drop. That prohibits you from being available for other signings while you wait.
I estimate that all these new ārequirementsā have added an additional 25% time investment into each signing, meaning you/we have lost the possibility of earning for at least 1 more signing per day.
In my case I have the added consideration of island signings nearby, if I want to take them. An island signing is going to take a minimum of 3-5 hrs, just due to the commute. Our ferry system is old and sailing times are unpredictable, which means you need to have a cushion of at least 1 hr. on either side when you are estimating travel. In short, what this means is that given the best and most accurate estimate of time you may be able to squeeze in one more signing for that day. And, many of the signings are coming in at perhaps $100, ferry fee included! The ferry fee can be between $25 - $45/RT depending on where you are traveling. So, estimate that you may have the possibility of earning $55 - $75 for the entire day, if you cannot squeeze in at least one more signing, and thatās before calculating the costs of doing business.
These fees are a loosing proposition for all of us, even at a signing fee of $75-90. Why on earth would anyone accept a fee of $25-50 to do any signing at all? Itās not them, itās us!
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Anybody notice when BNN pays you, they take a few dollars off due to some type of funds transfer fee, into your bank account!? 
I never realized they did that until now. I get a lot of work from them, so those few dollars do add up. Iām about to scratch them off my list though. Itās the principle.
If you only get 1600 pages out of a drum for $310 - you may have gotten the wrong printer in my opinion. I have a Xerox that prints 35 pages a minute a cartridge prints 3000 pages and is $112. A high capacity drum prints 8000 pages for $225. My last ten ream case of letter paper was $49 and a 3 ream case of legal is expensive at $40. Charging per signature - I charge per package I donāt care now many notarizations I do. Regardless of the value we assign ourselves, you get work if youāre aware of what the local market will bear. Thatās just my opinion.