JH fees

[solomon]

What is "predatory pricing" to one is what the market will bear to another. Keep in mind the local franchise owners in one of these chains pay a hefty off the top take of all fees to the franchiser.

[sea-tax]

I think it all depends on what type of practice you are trying to build. I personally would not or could not prepare a return for less than $150.00 unless it was for a clients kid and even those I charge $50.00. I think it boils down to perception is reality. The more you charge the more a client values what you do. If you charge nothing for a return then the client assumes that it must not be that hard so that is why he didn't charge me. This is also why I no longer put a line item on my bills for discounts. If I want the client to pay less than what I set the program to charge I simple override it. I think when people see a discount on the statement they sometime devalue the work that you do.
Let's face it we have all spent many years in this profession and spent many hours gaining this vast area of knowledge , why shouldn't we be compensated for it?

If a client is truly worried about my fee and this is there only concern I would prefer that they went somewhere else. I have lots of clients who are happy with my fees and see what I do for them as a good service. I would rather work with those types of clients

[Zee]

What is "predatory pricing" to one is what the market will bear to another. Keep in mind the local franchise owners in one of these chains pay a hefty off the top take of all fees to the franchiser.

Ouch! I should look up the definition of a term before using it. This was a poor use of the term.

Here's how "predatory pricing is defined:

"Predatory pricing (also known as destroyer pricing) is the practice of a firm selling a product at very low price with the intent of driving competitors out of the market, or create a barrier to entry into the market for potential new competitors. If the other firms cannot sustain equal or lower prices without losing money, they go out of business. The predatory pricer then has fewer competitors or even a monopoly, allowing it to raise prices above what the market would otherwise bear".

I view the practice as similar to check-cashing services. Their clients generally don't have bank accounts and can't obtain them. As a result, they're stuck paying a fee. You're correct. The fee is determined by what the market will bear, and there is a need. It just seems to me that these practices take advantage of those least able to afford them. But, that's life...

[solomon]

Ouch! I should look up the definition of a term before using it. This was a poor use of the term.

Here's how "predatory pricing is defined:

"Predatory pricing (also known as destroyer pricing) is the practice of a firm selling a product at very low price with the intent of driving competitors out of the market, or create a barrier to entry into the market for potential new competitors. If the other firms cannot sustain equal or lower prices without losing money, they go out of business. The predatory pricer then has fewer competitors or even a monopoly, allowing it to raise prices above what the market would otherwise bear".

I view the practice as similar to check-cashing services. Their clients generally don't have bank accounts and can't obtain them. As a result, they're stuck paying a fee. You're correct. The fee is determined by what the market will bear, and there is a need. It just seems to me that these practices take advantage of those least able to afford them. But, that's life...

Liberty has tried this in the past in some places.

[DaveO]

Check cashing services provide a needed service

as well. In fact in states where the services have been banned or curtailed the low income consumer is worse off. While $15 interest on a 2 week loan of $200 may seem high it stacks up pretty well against a $39 overdraft fee. People who can't handle checking accounts shouldn't have them. It's cheaper to pay the loan shark in the strip mall than the one in the bank.

We don't do RAL's don't agree with the idea. Mostly we prefer to work with small business people, middle class workers and retirees. The HRB or JKH refugees we do service know that they just have to wait for their direct deposit and not to bug us. If the RAL user was paying with their own money they wouldn't buy the RAL. Since it's almost always EITC money they don't care.

[Zee]

. If the RAL user was paying with their own money they wouldn't buy the RAL. Since it's almost always EITC money they don't care.

Agreed. Nobody said check cashing services aren't needed. It's just too bad there isn't a better way to allow those without checking accounts the ablility to cash a check with a lower fee.

[jeff501]

I can't confirm this but someone who came to work for me last year used to work for HRB. She said if it was slow they would raise rates by $5-10 as they had to maintain a certain hourly $$$ inflow average. Could have just been a local thing, I have no way of knowing, just what she told me. She came to work for me as she didn't agree with some of HRB's practices.

We charge by the return, and adjust accordingly if it's more involved. Still, we're way lower than the chains. Get quite a few "refugees" from them every year. Even if someone gets a RAL from us, the total fee is still well over $100 less than the big guys. I'm not a big RAL fan, but if we didn't offer them there's plenty of other places that do. Don't push them but there's always a certain percentage of clients who ask for them right up front.

As someone else said, my wife doesn't always agree with my pricing, but we try to build long term relationships with our clients. Would rather they come back each than replace them with someone else. They also appreciate the yearly Christmas cards, birthday calls, etc.