The Hidden Cost of Low-Fee Signing Assignments

Today I attempted to negotiate for two signing assignments that were far outside my normal service area. One was located about an hour and a half away, requiring roughly three hours of round-trip driving. The other was approximately one hour and ten minutes away, totaling about two hours and twenty minutes of driving time.

In both cases, the travel time was only part of the equation. Any realistic fee calculation must also account for the time spent at the signing table, which is often around an hour. When you add travel, appointment time, printing, vehicle expenses, insurance, supplies, administrative work, and the expertise required to complete the assignment correctly, it becomes clear that these jobs cannot be evaluated solely on the number attached to the order.

What was frustrating was watching these assignments start at fees below $100 and then return repeatedly throughout the day with only small increases each time. Instead of offering compensation that reflected the actual time and expense involved, the hiring company appeared to be testing the market to see how little someone would accept.

I declined both opportunities because the numbers simply did not make business sense.

Later in the evening, one of the assignments appeared on Snapdocs. This is a familiar pattern in the industry. When a signing service cannot find one of its regular direct notaries willing to accept a low fee, the order is often pushed to a broader platform where hundreds or even thousands of agents can view it.

The challenge is that many of the agents seeing the assignment may be newer to the business. Without fully understanding their operating costs, they may focus only on the fee being offered rather than the total time and expenses required to complete the job. What appears to be a profitable assignment on the surface can quickly become a money-losing proposition when all costs are considered.

This isn't a criticism of new notaries. Every experienced professional was once new. The real issue is that many signing services rely on a constant supply of inexperienced agents who have not yet learned how to calculate profitability. As long as someone is willing to accept an assignment at an unsustainable fee, there is little incentive for companies to offer compensation that accurately reflects the work involved.

Running a successful notary business requires more than simply staying busy. It requires understanding costs, valuing time, and making decisions that support long-term profitability. Sometimes the most professional decision is not accepting an assignment, but declining one.

Not every job is worth doing. A full calendar means very little if the work on it fails to generate a reasonable return. Experienced notaries know that profitability—not activity—is what ultimately determines the success of a business.