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From: Melanie Holtz <>
Subject: Re: [TGF] Haggling Over Fees and Raising Fees
Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 15:10:21 +0000
References: <mailman.57343.1199736727.4585.transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com><00a701c851b1$e421f0f0$2f01a8c0@ch8s101><0df401c851b5$aaf4f5d0$2101a8c0@CEB><98F7AE9C14A04D52BC11B61AD8B24286@MissysOffice><9fa11cd20801081104h3a26ba17u6ffbac4b626fd4a9@mail.gmail.com><BAY107-W22EC85F752D692D11E012C92480@phx.gbl> <4B9FCFB7516D47958C9E38E562D733CB@MissysOffice>
In-Reply-To: <4B9FCFB7516D47958C9E38E562D733CB@MissysOffice>


Exactly Melissa, however I had to learn this. In my work most of my clients don't know a lick of Italian so they are also paying me for an abstraction into English for them. They wouldn't know the first place to look because they cannot read the language.

As for your question, is it a simple document request or is there analysis involved? If a report and analysis is expected I would remind them of that.

I'd like to bring up another question. When I first started my business I started out at one fee and then increased it after some discussion with the other members of the NCAPG. I have kept two of my repeat customers at this old rate because I felt awkward raising it on the 7th or 8th contract. How have others handled this situation?
Sincerely,Melanie D. Holtz Holtz Research Services www.holtzresearchservices.blogspot.com Member, Association of Professional Genealogists

> From: > To: > Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 08:49:11 -0600> Subject: Re: [TGF] Haggling Over Fees> > Good Morning List,> > Melanie brought up something in her latest post that I would like to > discuss. She mentioned clients haggling with us about your fees. I have > had only 1 or 2 people try to do that with me and I stuck to my guns and > they hired me anyway. I call it the "yard sale" tactic. I am sure a lot of > you have had yard sales or have gone to yard sales. I believe the people up > north call them tag sales. Anyway, I have had these sales before and it > never ceases to amaze me how some people will try to haggle with you on a > $.25 plastic bowl! They don't want to pay that expensive $.25, they want to > pay less.> > It's the same thing with these people that try to haggle down the price of > your services. There will always be people out there that are looking for > the bargain. The fact is, we are already giving them a bargain and we all > know it whether we want to admit it or not. Just think how much it would > cost a client to travel to the area where you are researching and do the > work themselves. Think about the years of educating yourself that you have > invested, to me it would be hard to put a cost on that, but our clients are > paying us for this knowledge that they either don't have or don't have the > time to use. I think a lot of us on this list charge $15.00 per hour, at > least that is what I have seen so far. I would say that is a bargain!> > I do have a question for you guys though. What do you do when someone asks > you to do a document retrieval and your fee is $15.00 per document and the > client comes back at you with "Well I know the archives will copy the > document for $.50, I am not going to pay you $15.00 to get a piece of > paper".? I usually respond with "Well then contact the archives yourself > and get it, have a nice day".> > To me, this is just as bad as an hourly client trying to haggle with you on > your charges. Sure, the archives might only charge $.50 for the document to > copy it, but I also have my time, gas, experience in locating and sourcing > the document properly, etc.> > Just another aspect of our wonderful profession!> > Sincerely,> Melissa Barker> Genealogist for Tennessee and Kentucky > > > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

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