I’m a newer notary, looking to build my business.
Another local notary reached out in a local group and asked to have something notarized for himself. It was after hours (730 PM) and would have required a 40 minute round trip drive to him. It was 2 signatures, and he asked how much I’d charge. I replied it’d be $80…2 hours of travel @ $30/hr (which is permissible under our state laws) and $20 for the signatures.
He came back at me “woah…I’d do it for $25”
Was what I was asking for out of line?
@emtcater Hmmm . . . that’s certainly a broad-sweeping query!
Truly, there is no ‘One-Size-Fits-All’ response when touching on the topic of Fees as they can vary in range from Region-to-Region as well as from State-to-State.
NOTE: There is no specification given for your State nor your Region. Ergo, unable to respond directly to the Fee query.
Each business owner (you) must take the time to calculate specific individual expenses and then create your own Schedule of Fees (reference this thread for a Guideline).
First, 40 min. RT is not 2 hrs. At $30/hr that is just $20 + 2N/$20 +unknown mileage @ IRS .725… probably doesn’t add up to $80. His $25 is too little, imho.
In Nevada, you can charge 2 hours travel time for mobile work.
@emtcater – Am I reading your Nevada notary laws correctly? Don’t you have to have prior disclosure to the requester and agreement from that requester in order to charge those travel fees? (scroll down to FEES) FAQs | Nevada Secretary of State and NRS: CHAPTER 240 - NOTARIES PUBLIC AND COMMISSIONED ABSTRACTERS
You’re definitely not out of line. Two hours of travel is worth $80 by itself, let alone any notary work that you perform.
You quoted your fee schedule - that’s what a business does. It’s up to the client to either accept, negotiate, or decline the quote. Nothing out-of-line about that.
You’re 100% correct, of course. However, in our business, we are usually not the ones who are quoting the initial fee. The email or text blast offer we receive offers the fee that the signing service wants to pay. So, we are immediately put in reactive mode. We can accept, decline, or counter that fee. Unless the offer is over a specific amount, I will always counter. I’ll win some and lose some. Only when they call directly on the phone and “ask” our fee (which is pretty rare these days) do we have the upper hand.