Agency Rates

[ContractorMike]

Is 50% a reasonable cut for an agent or should you haggle?

[tarbera]

Sounds very reasonable for the agent

[northernladyuk]

Is 50% a reasonable cut for an agent or should you haggle?

I would be happy if it was 50% of £5000 pd, but unhappy if 50% of £500 pd.

[WordIsBond]

I would be happy if it was 50% of £5000 pd, but unhappy if 50% of £500 pd.

And this is the only way to look at it. If someone got me a contract at twice my normal rate, I wouldn't care what cut they were getting. I'd hope it paid off for them. You make your assessment of what you think your time is worth, and if you get that much or more, and someone else gets a win out of it as well, good for them.

I don't care how big the pie is, who else is eating, and how much they get, as long as my piece of the pie is big enough.

[uk contractor]

10-15% is the average but others have said it all depends on your rate who cares of the agent can get well above the average rate for the role.

[northernladuk]

Joined date Sept 2009 and you are asking a question like this?

[jmo21]

made me think of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J-xweGuXI0

[malvolio]

BTW - it's not a cut. You get a percentage of the agency's charge to the end client, not the other way round. Don't ever forget that minor detail.

There's also a bottom level of income the agency need to live on of course, so the lower the fee the higher the apparent percentage they will retain.

[TonyF]

Is 50% a reasonable cut for an agent or should you haggle?

How many people are going to accept it if you don't? How many other contract offers do you have / are you likely to have soon?

If the agent can drop any of 30 people into the role easily, and you are out of work for another three months, what does that cost you?

Final question - if you reduce their margin, who are you expecting to benefit from that? Are you expecting that the agent increases your daily rate at their expense or do you want them to charge the client less, or a mixture of both?

[tarbera]

Agency Rates

In 1999 my very 1st contract was was £1500 a week (Sony music) I was over the moon

Six months later I discovered agent was getting £3000 a week

I was still happy