BA Rates

[Lucifer Box]

I wouldn't mind that. The rate they quote might actually be a big increase for me

My local Sainsbury's is advertising for shelf stackers at £8.15/hr

[voron]

My local Sainsbury's is advertising for shelf stackers at £8.15/hr

If they include the uniform, I'm sold

[jonhaff]

im in Telecoms and have managed to secure min of 450/d max 500 for the past 5 yrs? You need to negotiate with agents.... they can ALWAYs move their margin. Always ask for the account manager not the pleb that called you. Ive turned jobs down and an hour later had the account manager on phone saying they will put me forward at my rate....it helps that I have a good CV and typically all the right things they are looking for

[jonhoops]

That is just not true. The majority of agencies that work on approved supplier lists work on fixed margins with their clients. This means that the more money they get you, the bigger slice they get. They can always put you forward above the rate card, but they get marked down for that and risk losing their approved supplier status.

Agreed, the dodgy agencies and the niche ones decide whatever margins they want, but the big boys sign SLA agreements and all sorts and for a guarantee of being given so many vacancies they will cut their rate to around 12%. This is non negotiable and they don;t consider their margin when negotiating with you as it is guaranteed.

im in Telecoms and have managed to secure min of 450/d max 500 for the past 5 yrs? You need to negotiate with agents.... they can ALWAYs move their margin. Always ask for the account manager not the pleb that called you. Ive turned jobs down and an hour later had the account manager on phone saying they will put me forward at my rate....it helps that I have a good CV and typically all the right things they are looking for

[jonhaff]

12% is still too much

there can be a margin with the client and a margin with the Contractor. Its always feasable to be able to move these. Nothing is cast in stone. But as you said it all depends on SLA and agreements.

However Im speaking from experience and Ive alwasy managed to adjust an agents rate/margin

[Denny]

12% is still too much

there can be a margin with the client and a margin with the Contractor.

How? The margin should only be the percentage over and above what they are paying the contractor. That's the rate the client should be billed.

[Lucifer Box]

When I was working in telecoms, the client told the agent what the margin was going to be (well low).

[boredsenseless]

12% is a very good margin well below average...

If you don't like it go and find your own work, as I've said before ask for what you want to be paid for the activity you perform. After that you shouldn't give a flying **** what anyone else can squeeze out through negotiations.

If you get 400 quid for a gig you would have done for 350 and then you find out the agent is getting 600 for you, are you

a) Happy that you are getting 50 quid more than you wanted
b) p155ed that the agent gets 200?

Life's a lot easier if you go with a...

If you find agents are creaming you all the time, then put up your rates, they only take what they can get away with, and they'd rather place someone who can do the job and earn renewals than a tw@t who is only there for 2 months before they have to find him a new role.

[omen666]

If the Agent is taking too high a margin it can affect the client's perception of you. I have been in the situation where I requested a rate increase and the agent decided to up their margin too.

My relationship with the Project Sponsor suddenly went cold. After a few days I asked him what was wrong and he said he was pissed off with me because I'd asked for such a high increase when I knew he couldn't let me go. I was surprised as I had a good idea of the agents margin, when I spoke to the agent they denied all.

From the state of the project (I was brought in to turn it around) it didn't take a genius (never mind an agent) to understand it was difficult for the client to turn it down.

Anyway the extension came through, but the relationship with the client never really got back to the same. I caught sight of an invoice from the agent and saw why he was annoyed

Needless to say the contract ended after the extension. To this day I am convinced it was the short-sightedness of the agent that took away the potential for a long-term profitable gig.

It still surprises me how many clients get themselves into these positions, but I am not complaining!

[partimer]

risks

Echoing Omen, normal business really. You can be on 40/hr and last 6 months or 30/hr and last years at the client. You have to weigh up the risks, etc. when negotiating your contract.

One thing most people will agree upon is that in a group of similar contractors, the cheapest always seems to last the longest at the client. Going direct removes the extra layer of cost (of the agent) but getting paid like clock work is the only reason I use them. You (well I do anyway) get tired of having to chase the accounts department.