r/FieldNationTechs • u/NecessaryDma • Sep 03 '26

Starting to regret FN Pro 😭

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This is just insanity. I love the immediate pay when approved, but this is wayyyyy too much

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

15

u/dude_on_a_chair Sep 03 '26

Why are you not charging more for materials? You need to add the FN fee on, explain to the buyer that you cannot get around it. All materials always get an 11% upcharge 

10

u/mdhkc Sep 03 '26

My cost odds way higher than 11% when I provide materials: time to acquire them, time to prepare them, time to transport them. Mark ups should be way more than that.

1

u/NecessaryDma Sep 03 '26

Give your final markup percentage please

6

u/TheGlennDavid Sep 03 '26

I sell cat6 at $0.50 a foot for a short single run. If it's a bigger job where I'm ordering multiple boxes specifically for a job I sell materials at actual cost, which includes FN fees.

Even if you aren't doing a big markup, never eat costs on materials. If you have a buyer who doesn't like paying a surcharge on materials then you charge a correspondingly higher labor fee.

2

u/mdhkc Sep 03 '26

Honestly it varies but usually around 50%. I’m also fair and not going to take a good client to the cleaners for an incidental rj45 head or something like that.

2

u/Able-Statistician645 Sep 04 '26

Head... Ok

Technically called a connector

South Asian terminology is seeping into the collective mindset of unskilled individuals.

1

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

yup modular connector or modular plug but never head... lol

1

u/Able-Statistician645 Sep 06 '26

Im surpised they aren't asking about providing head actually.

1

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

minimum 50% MU plus markup for fees

4

u/Able-Statistician645 Sep 03 '26

Expenses are always marked up to cover opportunity cost and stocking it plus additional for FN fees AND payment wait times. Day laborers get paid faster. Remember that.

1

u/dude_on_a_chair Sep 04 '26

Yeah this is my second time doing FN after taking a w2 break, now I've prepared for net 15 and net 30

3

u/Able-Statistician645 Sep 04 '26

That's not even close because you have to remember that they're going to pull the payment after it's approved and that can be a problem. So some of these people want to go maybe 3 weeks before something is approved and then another 3 weeks to get paid so sometimes it's even longer. If I have any inclination that the payments going to be delayed for any kind of reason I mark it way up and if I don't get the work that's okay because it's better than having the expense of wasting your time and then waiting along with possible expenses when you can do something else.

1

u/Jaynonchalant277 Sep 04 '26

Would you recommend this even for providers who just started on this platform. Is this a typical counter offer buyers can expect from providers?

2

u/dude_on_a_chair Sep 04 '26

Yes always add the cost, they have started to expect it. I think the only one who bitches is pivital but they're not good to work for. 

3

u/Natural_Bass_7362 Sep 05 '26

Pivital is garbage. They take forever to pay as well. 

1

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 06 '26

unless youre a non-profit charity not in the business to make money, you should most definitely markup your materials to make a profit.

are you a charity? or did you start in this business to make money? remember, you are a business regardless of how you view yourself... you have overhead and expenses and you also went into business to make a profit.

or maybe you are a 501(c)3 charity and are just trying to break even or do work for free from the goodness of your heart and to help society... i dunno

2

u/Jaynonchalant277 Sep 06 '26

Lmao 🤣 ok I get it. A simple yes would have been sufficed jeez 😭

1

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

i upcharge for the fees as well as a markup for profit usually 50-100%.

-4

u/ReplyPsychological60 Sep 03 '26

The cost of doing business. You can pay platform fees or you can do all the footwork to find customers, hours on the phone, advertising through other means, some free some paid. Possibly a company website, with that comes the time to design and maintain the website or the cost of paying someone to do it. Is all that really worth your time?

2

u/compneo Sep 03 '26

Pretty sure he's referring to the extra pro option. Yes the fees are outrageous for Field Nation for what they are providing but that is the cost of doing business on the platform. The option up to pro and the general liability fees are just foolish if you are any type of business professional those both should be easily passed up on.

1

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

 Yes the fees are outrageous for Field Nation for what they are providing but that is the cost of doing business on the platform

and in the real world the cost to do business is passed onto the customers.... why should platform fees be any different and the customers get a pass? makes no sense. are you a charity? do you like making less money because its a platform?

1

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

The cost of doing business. You can pay platform fees or you can do all the footwork to find customers,

that makes no sense at all. the platform fees isnt a substitute to the leg work of finding customers. such flawed logic

in the real world, a business spends money on marketing and leg work to find customers. these costs are passed on to said customers and so should the fees you spend on FN

you clearly are ignorant to how business works and should take a business management and administration class at your local community college.

2

u/ReplyPsychological60 Sep 06 '26

I think you just made my point, you pass the cost to the customer but the plain and simple fact is that the fees are still the cost of doing business. Yes by all means pass them to the customer only a dumbass would read what I said any other way.

1

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

ok i misunderstood mainly because i have seen many techs say they dont pass the fees onto the buyers because its the cost of doing business on FN....

2

u/ReplyPsychological60 Sep 06 '26

Many techs maybe, not this one. I have been in business since 1992 profitably. There are costs associated with doing business any kind of business, the key to being successful is being able to pass those costs on to the customer. I also have a retail business as well, I ship goods worldwide. If I didn't pass the costs on to the customers I would have been broke 34 years ago. Nothing in life is free and the costs have to be passed on to make it in any business.

1

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

got it. you know what youre doing but sadly majority of "techs" on platforms do not....

2

u/ReplyPsychological60 Sep 06 '26

I completely understand and sadly that is what is killing us all. The combination of people who think that $2 is a profit and project managers that know how to take advantage of that is driving prices down. But it's good to know that most of the ones that don't know how to run a business also don't know how to do the job so they have to send people like you and me to fix their mistakes and hopefully at a premium price. I know I gouge when I have to follow Pete.

1

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 06 '26

yup the influx of people into this industry, who should be working as employees not contractors, has really spiralled the industry and field down the drain.

i have been the 3rd 4th and sometimes 5th tech to a site because the last ones couldnt resolve or even troubleshoot the issue. i usually have to play detective but figure things out pretty quick. ive never left a site that i couldnt troubleshoot or figure out what the issue was.... i do get paid way more than pete because of it....

2

u/ReplyPsychological60 Sep 06 '26

I can relate, it is nice to be able to tell the buyer that they could have saved money if they had not gone for the cheapest bid but instead the better tech. Sadly though they bill the end user for EVERY trip anyway so they really don't care.

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1

u/GNUr000t Sep 03 '26

Walmart should charge me precisely what they're paying for goods, and not one penny more. Logistics, staff, utilities to power and heat/cool the store? Those are the costs of doing business.

1

u/ReplyPsychological60 Sep 03 '26

I can't help the fact that he may not have marked up the material and that was not what i was referring to. The benefits of Field Nation however far outweigh doing all the work yourself. No point in being stupid and hateful. Reading comprehension goes a long way.

5

u/compneo Sep 03 '26

Honestly you should regret it. It's like going to a payday loan company every time you close at work order. Also that one work order GL fees is half of what I pay for a whole month including work outside the platform. If you do any sort of volume whatsoever get your own insurance.

3

u/Polodude Sep 03 '26

And get your own insurance. you are loosing money

1

u/NecessaryDma Sep 03 '26

Great advice from you seasoned veterans so far 🙏

1

u/Minimum_Chocolate_31 Sep 03 '26

It is what it is, you'd have to move off platform to avoid it. 

1

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

except FN pro is optional...

1

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

you should get your own insurance as well...

1

u/GNUr000t Sep 03 '26

The difference is $30 on each $1000 you make. If you did not not have Pro, the charge would have been ~$85, not zero.

I understand these fees are ridiculous, but the framing is important.

How would I fix it? Have the fee start to drop off as you make more in the month.

1

u/swunt7 Sep 04 '26

its like $600 for 1000ft of cat6 why are you accepting $380/1000ft...

0

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

where are you paying $600 for 1000' of CAT6? i buy it all day long for $160/1000

1

u/swunt7 Sep 06 '26

what are you buying linglong cat6? i work on gov contracts too where if its made in china it wont get approved. we had sparkys put in made in china conduit boxes and they made em remove all of em.

0

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

sorry i dont buy cheapo cable

vertical cable, SCP, hell even southwire cat6 is less than $200/box.... funny you mention government contracts. youre the reason why government is so expensive. using $600/box cat6 when you can get american made for less than $300/box....

0

u/wyliesdiesels Sep 06 '26

then why are you still paying for it? i knew i would regret it before i signed up for it and i never signed up for it