Pricing Question

[Rowena]

I am the office manager of an independent pharmacy and my boss approached me about providing notary services while at work. I am struggling with what to charge customers...not sure if it should be what I would charge customers whom I travel to since these customers are coming to me. Any ideas?

[M. Alexia Shaw]

Check your state regulations. We can only charge for the actual notarization. If there are two signatures to a page, the fee is slightly more. If you have to provide forms, or do any other 'office' duties along with the notarization, you can set your own reasonable fee for that. It would depend on your state, your boss, and what the market will bear, I guess. Just be sure your fees are posted clearly.

[Jim Lissemore]

In New Jersey $2.50 per Notarization. State mandated.

[WILLIAM]

CHECK YOUR STATE LAWS FIRST.
IF YOU ARE NORTERIZING FOR THE BUSINESS HAVE YOUR BOSS REEMBURSIE YOU FOR THE CHARGES OF BECOMING A NOTARTY AS IT IS NOW PART OF YOUR JOB ,BUT REMEMBERER YOU OWN THE TOOLS NOT YOUR BOSS!!!!!!
IF YOU ARE NOTERIZING FOR NO BUSINESS JOBS AS FOR PEOPLE OFF THE STREET WHO DONT HAVE BUSINESS THERE, THE FEES GO TO YOU NOT THE JOB SO YOUR BOSS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THAT
BECAUSE YOU ARE THE ONE DOING THE WORK AND BEING A NOTARY IS WORK,YOU ARE THE RESOPSIBLE FOR EVERY THING IN YOUR BOOK, SO WHAT YOU CHARGE IS WHAT YOU KEEP AND MOST STATES HAVE LAWS ON WHAT YOU CAN CHARGE AND WHEN YOU CAN CHARGE FOR WHAT

[Mike Coticchio]

As others have said, check your state laws. Usually there's a mandated maximum fee you can charge to those who come to you; if that's the case in your state, there's nothing to struggle with.

There may be other considerations as well that you need to discuss with your boss. For instance, here in NY a notary cannot refuse a reasonable request to notarize - which means that if the boss is telling his customers he has a notary available, he can't decide that notary services are only available during certain hours (nor does he have any claim to the notary fee). That could mean you might have to stop whatever you're doing to act as a notary. We are also not allowed to discriminate based on business relationships; for instance, a bank cannot offer notary services for free to customers while allowing the notary to charge non-customers.

Your state laws may very well be different; you need to familiarize yourself with them, and check with the Secretary of State (or whoever is responsible for notaries public in your state) if you still have questions.

[Diana Smith]

Agree with most - check your state laws first. In AZ you can only charge $2.00 per notarized signature.

[AQUICKNOTE]

Yikes-looks like I opened a can o'worms .....yes,yes,yes absolutely-always act in accordance with your State law....I thought that sort of went without saying.... :~) Also, don't take anything I might say as advice....I'm just a Notary....not an attorney and therefore not qualified to give advice. I believe in nothing but conforming to the letter of the law. Thanks for reminding me to be more careful everybody.... :~)

[Rowena]

Thank you all!! I was struggling with telling my boss the fees were mine, and I wasn't going to "consignment" my services because it is my name on the legal documents, not theirs. Not sure how he will respond. Worse that can happen is I don't notorize for them. I will try and dig deeper into TN notary laws to find anything regarding fees. I briefly looked after my boss and I discussed the possiblity of me notorizing while at work, but didn't find a whole lot.

[Linda Maddox]

Wow! In California we have to take classes and a state exam, and it's drilled into us what we can charge for our fees to notarize. However, extra services can be charged.....whatever the traffic will bear! If you're notarizing at work for customers who come in, I'm not sure what 'extra' services you could possibly charge for in that case.

[Staci L. Lewis]

right, we had to go through it here in cali. I was tore up but got through it. $10 a signature and no more. Can charge less. Mobile fee as agreed upon by you and customer. But the fee's are yours. I just started working with someone, but my notaries are my own. He just needs someone to notarize papers he gets.

[Rowena]

Looks like I found my answer:

The Attorney General has opined that the maximum fee that can be charged by a notary public for taking an acknowledgement is $2.25. T.C.A. 8-21-1201(3) states that the fee shall be the same allowed for county clerks. (http://www.rutherfordcounty.org/countyclerk/notaries_public.htm#fees)

[Thalia Ray]

you could also have the boss give you a raise to compensate for the added responsibility. Just a thought.. but as others have said look to the state for the answers on what you can charge for a notarization.
Good luck

[Mary Ellen Harvley]

Would that be ethical?

To be compensated for doing notorial acts during every hour of the work day?