What would you charge? Please help

[rainbowsplash]

Hi all

I have only just registered and have just had my first enquiry.

Mum is coming to see me tomorrow or monday and I have no idea what to charge, I know what the local rates are for childminders but not what to charge re retainers etc.

Mum is looking for care for her 3 and 5 year old. 3 year old in nursery and 5 year old in full time school. Would you charge retainers for time LO at nursery and a minimum charge after school?

At the moment she is not sure how many days as needs to discuss it with her employers.

Hope you don't mind me asking but head isn't in chilminding mode yet. thanks in advance!

xx

[manjay]

I charge full days for a child who is at Nursery for 2 1/2 hours as my parents all want that space in the school holidays too. However I do have some nursery children that are out of my care from 9 til 3 in which case I charge half for those hours (because it suits me) but many would still charge a full day.

For any school age children I charge a minimum of 2 hours. This works for me as I like to finish early and I really don't want to charge a session fee for after school which might encourage them to stay longer than they need to;) This works for me know as I have a young family but later on I may decide I am happy to work until 6 every night and so I may change my pricing structure to sessional fees after school.

Hth xx

[Goatgirl]

Hi :),
Congrats on becoming registered :D

Its really up to you and how much you envisaged earning, how many spaces you have and can realistically fill etc... Is there any way you can ask local childminders what they do re retainers, deposits etc?

It varies alot from Childminder to childminder and between locations, but I often hear people quote 50% for keeping a space open.

I don't take a deposit necessarily, I just say that the space isn't theirs until they have paid the first 4 weeks in full, so the longer they leave it before we complete contracts and they pay, the more chance someone else will come along and i'll give it to them :).
The 4 weeks in advance is effectively a deposit though as it is non refundable if they don't take up the place.

I've never been in a position where someone wanted to book a place that far in advance that i felt I needed to keep it for them, though I would have to do this if that situation arose :cool:

Are they wanting to start soon?

In the situation you describe, I would probably charge round the nursery hours, but that depends when and how long they are etc. as it may block the space up for someone wanting all day but you couldn't accept for the sake of taking LO to and from nusery but not earning much more...
For schoolies I charge my hourly rate, but count 8 to 9am as an hour regardless of whether I drop them at 8.30 or 9. My start time is 7.30 and anything before this I would charge an unsociable hours rate (double). I have a minimum number of hours over the week too, and under this is a much higher rate as it could be impossible to find a child to fit into the other sessions.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ignore too, i've rambled a bit :laughing:

It'll get easier as you go along, honest :thumbsup: I learned mainly through mistakes and wishing I'd been firmer and more businesslike over the money side of things from the outset.

think about what you want to charge; know you're worth it and sell yourself :)

Good luck

best wishes,
Wendy :)

[rainbowsplash]

Thanks both for your kind advice, mum has since rang back and needs childcare asap so wouldn't need to worry about retainers and already said she knows she will have to pay for when LO is at nursery so that's that solved!

I have decided to set a minimum number of hours per day/week and see how this pans out. Same for after schoolies, a minimum of 2 hours I think to make it worth my while.

Thanks for the advice :) xx

[Mykidsrock]

If you go on to the NCMA website, there is a section there about retainer fee's and what is usually charged. I have found it helpful to print this page off and do a general letter that ive attached and given to parents when they have wanted a place so that they could see it is usual practice and also where to look to get more information on it. (has the same info for deposits as well).

I know that it is not needed for this situation, but it might be worth having something ready for any more calls you have.

Sorry ive just had a look for the link but I cannot find it - Im sure someone else on here will be able to help though. Although, having just googled, I did find this which explains it also:

http://www.lbcma.org.uk/newsArticles/fees.asp

HTH and good luck with your first visit!

Jess x

[rainbowsplash]

Thanks for the advice, I will have a look at that for any other prospective mindees parents.