Printing costs are about .08 a page SL only pays $12 for printing, extra $12 if package exceeds 165pgs and you have to ask for the extra. 165pgs printed twice 330pgs X .08 = $26.40
Travel costs per mile prior to crazy inflation approx. .62 per mile
30 miles of travel costs you $18.60
Taxes @30% (if you don’t pay taxes consider this your retirement fund) $45 x 30% = $13.50
Now consider the time you pull away from your life per file. Prep,Print,Travel,Sign,Travel,Scan,Travel etc…~3hrs
$21.50 for 3hrs is $7.16 per hour. Now name another professional in-home service provider who charges $7.16 an hour.
Doesn’t matter if you are new or like myself you have been doing this for 14 years, we are worth more, demand more and don’t settle for less. We could show them just how much they need us by taking a few days off to protest the lowball fees, who’s with me!
How long after you signed up did it take them to call and confirm your signup? I’ve been trying to get my signup confirmed for about too weeks. Am I being impatient?
I personally did A ton of closings for them for over 20 years then fees were literally cut in half 3 years ago I refuse to lower my fees so I don’t hear from them anymore same with Fass and Amrock. All of these companies have built new offices all over the country and while they are getting richer on us the notaries we are struggling to buy all the needed supplies and put gas in our vehicles to get their closings done. The only thing I miss about working for them is they pay weekly or biweekly. Sorry I had to vent. $72 is an insult to all notaries old or new !!!
Maybe I’m wrong, but .08 a page seems very high. I think it’s more like.008 a page. Here’s my math:
1 case = 10 reams at 500 sheets per ream or 5000 sheets of paper.
Cost per case is $40.00. $40.00 divided by 5000 sheets is .008 per sheet.
It seems unlikely that 330 sheets would cost more than 1/2 a case of paper would cost ($26.40).
I’ve done this math thing about 20 times. Costs vary, for sure. In the end, notaries don’t make a ton of money unless they are extremely efficient and have direct sales (not using SS) or they have a lot of GNW. We can complain and negotiate and commiserate and all that, but for the majority of us, it kinda is what it is. It’s tough to grab the jobs off the computer and then try to up the fee to something more profitable. The newbies and the bottom feeders will always take the lowball jobs and the saturators compete with all of us for the higher paying jobs.
Demanding gets us nowhere. Smooth negotiating sometimes gets us an extra $25. Being efficient yields another $10-25 if we’re lucky. It’s building relationships with TC, EO and SS that will win the day if reasonable fees are agreed upon. Then, it’s a matter of doing flawless work and being available all the time. Am I right, everybody??
You’re thinking just paper, gotta think equipment purchase and maintenance, gotta think toner and other consumables, .08 is from this site and was on the high side in 2019 before crazy inflation. We should never print at a UPS store or FedEx but call them tomorrow and ask what they charge for self service mixed ltr\lgl 330pgs…
As a new notary I would accept that fee in a heartbeat. Please keep in mind that it’s very difficult to get foot in the door in the busy areas. One has to start low. I was willing to do for free when I started because I couldn’t get any signings. Really, The Closing Exchange is the only one (that I know of) that was sending notifications consistently and didn’t require meaning of one year experience or 100 signings.
I was lucky enough to get a call from snapdocs after multiple tries to accept offers. And I was told that I don’t have any experience with them. There just aren’t any other options until we reach 100 signings.
I felt better after I saw your statement. I just signed a contract to get onboard with another local title and I almost throw up when I saw the fee is only $140 for a refi but I’m going try them out and see how that goes. I’m not happy with the fee but I think it’s because I was spoiled by other companies making up to $400 per closing. Not all Title Companies pay you big bucks anymore:( Yep, they all jump on the bandwagon to keep as much as they can due to supply the demand:( Ugh.
They have a long waiting list for new notary acceptance. The fees they charge or recommend that the notaries charge are based on the area rates. So if the notaries in the area are setting the fees at $100 and you set your fees at $150 for example you won’t get any signings unless they have no other choice. I don’t think you really need them based on the volume and relationships that you have already in place. For me though the price point is competitive for me and their market price works as I have very little overhead and expenses… at least for now.
Trust me you are doing fantastic. I would be ecstatic about a $100 fee. With most companies new notaries have less than a split second to either accept the offer or lose it. Negotiating is not an option.
I was able to get one from them. It’s been over a month and I haven’t received my payment yet. Will follow up in a bit. But they are my other option. Hopefully things pick up soon.
My big lender client asked me to sign up ServiceLink that was who they switched to! I finally sent my package today to a private email for one of the vendor management people. She said she got my package and she’ll process it ASAP. I think the fee is higher if the lender asks for their preferred notary instead of through a blast.
This is NOT the norm!! However, the only thing that has become a norm is that SS companies are all starting to race to the bottom. They are competing with each other to get TC business and are offering the lowest fees. I’ve been seeing some SS companies offer as low as $125 to the TC and ask the notary to do it for $75. That SS only recently in my area started asking for fax/scan backs. Before, it was always just do the work and drop the package. Also, the largest package size was 150. Additionally, the SS companies were charging extra for scan backs. Now, I think they are marketing to the TCs and Banks that they can do it as a package deal and they are expecting us to follow suit with them to do all of that for $75, ridiculous!!!
I agree, I am a newer notary and in my area that is what most of the signing companies are offering. I get consistent business from ServiceLink and they have good customer service.
This is a low ball offer. Service links low balls and I do not work for them because of it. I set my fees at the price I charge instead of what they want. Because what happens is that they get paid $250 to get it sign and pay you $80 and keep the $170 for not doing anything.
Yep, they all jump on the bandwagon to keep as much as they can due to supply the demand:( Ugh.
