what should i charge for mindee starting in march????????????

[KiddieCare]

parents are coming on tuesday to sign contract and pay deposit/retainer, but as i have 2 spaces and its not that far away, i was thinking maybe a one off payment-non refudable. how much would you charge???

my cm didn't charge me anything, either with dc1 or then dc2 (dc1 hadn't been with her for over a year while I was on Mat leave). I whould have been happy to pay a retainer that would have been offset against the first month's costs. I wouldn't have paid a fee simply to secure the place - do people do this?

I usually charge a deposit which is equal to the first months fee

is that a fee to secure the place though, or do you then refund it against the first month fee?

i charge half fees if theyre under 5..up to you i guess, but who knows if you are going to get an enquiry for both spaces tomorrow???? your call what you charge them?

They only get the place if they pay the first month up front (non refundable)

chasingsquirrels, most cm charge a fee to secure a place if there is availability straight away but place not needed for a while.

wow, no one ever mentioned this when I was looking, maybe not common practice round here.
I would happily pay the first month up front when booking the place, and accept it is non-refundable. I wouldn't pay a fee just to secure a place, on top of the minding fees.

this the first time doing this for me, so really dont no wat to do, i dont want to put them off by charging so much, (i really like mum and baby is great).
its about 7 weeks i will have to hold 3.5 days place for, so weekly fee is £192.5, i wud feel bad to charge half fee at £96.25 a week for 7 weeks seems to much.
has any1 ever neg wit a parent to make sure they are able to afford retainers /deposits.

i am a parent who has used a childminder.. my childminder sprang this retainer charge on me ( she charged me half pay for about 8 weeks before my dd started) when i sent to sign the contracts with her. She had not mentioned this charge either on the phone or on a previous visit. It was quite a lot, about £300. I paid it but left really really annoyed with her and having to pay it. It was the amount (rather than the principle as i understand why she wanted a retainer). It started us off on a wrong footing and is one of the reasons why i won't be using her for my ds. Basically, what i am saying is be careful with this charge especially if she is unaware of it. If you want to keep relations good and her as a long time client, it might be better to go with a more resonable amount (such as £50 - £75) than risk losing her or pissing her off.

she no's about payin a deposit but we have never disscused figures, i was thingin possibly £50 per week also,

I think I've mentioned this in another of your threads (i had different name) but I'll repeat anyway.

I personally would only charge a retainer if I was turning away other enquiries (never charged one yet as not been in that position). I've met people in the past who wanted to sign up but didn't need me for X weeks. I explained that if someone enquired for the same space and wanted me sooner, I'd have to charge a retainer if they wanted to guarantee the space for them, but that nothing would be charged if I had no enquiries. My son is classed as an over 5 from Monday and I started advertising around August time. One lady wanted to book a space for Jan/Feb and I said that I'd have to charge a non-refundable deposit to secure the space but that this amount would be deducted from the first invoice. I said space was available from X Jan 08 so I'd charge a retainer from that point if they didn't want to start then. I then let this family know before Christmas that I was pregnant and offered them a refund of this deposit if they decided they no longer wanted to use me. To my surprise, they were lovely and are still coming I did however decide to leave the retainer as it's only 3 weeks until they start anyway.

BTW, the one off deposit I charged was 2 weeks worth of fees.

I'd pay a months deposit and understand it was non refundable in the event I changed my mind - the deposit would then I assume be used for the firsts months fees. Wouldnt personally pay a retainer.

Mums with babies are probably only on maternity pay or even no pay if AL so may simply not be able to afford retainer fees.

I charge 1 months deposit which is returned at end of the agreement less any outstanding payments, unless the parents choose not to take up the place in which case I would be entitled to keep it.

Retainer fees don't go down well with parents, although its standard practice with many childminders and most people appreciate that if they don't pay a retainer its quite possible the childminder could simply return the deposit and give the place to someone else who wants to start sooner or requires more hours.

Instead of the retainer fee, I've sometimes arranged a schedule of settling in sessions in the run up to the original start date requested. I give 1st 2 hour session free, but everything else is chargeable. Payment at time of booking and non-refundable if child doesn't show.

If the place is available now, I charge retainer till they start ie half normal rate. If space not available til needed i ask a £50.00 deposit.

But CM's here are like gold dust and parents are prepared to pay that