We all get them - Lowball offers. I regularly see $50.00, $35.00 and hard to believe $20.00.
Today I completed a signing with a fee of $110.00. After completing the signing, scanning it and taking it to FedEx I got an email offering a signing for tomorrow morning for a seller only signing for $50.00 from Loan Pro Closings. I have never worked with them probable due to the fact that I’ve never received an offer that made sense to due. In this case I do what I usually do is make a counter offer, in this case $90.00, expecting I will never get a response.
Surprisingly about 4 hours later I get a text asking me if I was still available and could I do it for $75.00. My response was I am still available but the fee would be $90.00. A little later I got a reply that it was only 14 pages would I reconsider the $75.00 fee?
My response was that signings are not just about the number of pages. It’s also about the travel time and mileage to and from the signing plus the time and mileage to and from FedEx or UPS.
You will not be surprised to hear I didn’t hear anything after that response.
I also received 2 offers today from a signing service I will not name because I have done business with them and I feel the offers of $35.00 for a Equity loan signing on more based on what the credit union that regularly offers them wants to pay and what the signing service would be willing to pay. I counter these offers at $90.00 and once a few months ago actually got $90.00 for a last minute signing. The offers always say “small package - scanbacks.”
I just laugh at the $20.00 and don’t bother to respond.
There is a cost every time we accept and signing order. There are the obvious hard cost such as paper, toner, and gasoline. But you also need to consider the the other costs of operating your vehicle above just the cost of gasoline. You need to consider how many hours you invest in contacting the signer, printing the documents, driving to and from the appointment, actually doing the signing, scanning the documents after the signings and driving to and from FedEx or UPS.
And don’t forget the things you need to do that are not directly involved in the signing. We all need to spend time on record keeping including having a system that keeps track of your income and expenses, I personally us My NotaryGadget. If you were working for someone else you would be paid for all the hours you spend on tasks outside the actual signing.
For me this really boils down to knowing what you and the service you offer are worth, This will be different for everyone but you need to be sure you are not selling yourself short. You became a Notary Signing Agent to make money, not support someone else by accepting lowball offers that in the end actually cost you money.
percent accurate.
