cm club - need clarfication about retainer fee please

[eleanorsmum]

ok am meeting prospective parents on fri who wnat full time term time only from 2nd week of november. i want to charge a retainer fee but the space won't be offical until i get variation from ofsted but if i don't get it they might not use me and i have the space from january as dd starts school full time and have someone else wanting the space from jan.

so should i charge a retainer?
should i not charge it until variation comes in?
does this make any sense!

bump

i dont think you would be able to cahrge a retainer until you actualyl have the space available, otherwise you are charging for a space that isnt there (yet)..you could agree contracts and give mum a timescale to which you will let her know what ofsted say and then once you get variation retainer fee begins from then on, so in effect she's getting you free (if you get variation-hope so) until then??

You can't charge for a space you don't have.

I thought the point of charging a retainer fee was that you were holding a place for them that you could otherwise fill.

yes thats what i thought but i have a space from january and if she says shes going to start and then doesn't i will end up with a vacancy which i could fill with the other lady whos interested!

so i thought i'd not charge anything until the variation comes through and then charge retainer for that space. would that be ok?

Yeah that would be fine.

yes, thats what you should do, hope your variation comes through soon

ok glad i'm getting the idea of this! how much retainer should i charge then? was thinking £100 a month?

I havn't had to do this as yet, but was planning on charging half-fee for each week.

How much will you earn from this mindee each week?

about 160 a week

I would probably charge £80 then tbh

£80 a month or a week?

A week.

thanks abba! seeing them today so am glad i have it all clear now!

Good luck