What we are building
A page a family can read once and understand what your agency costs, what triggers the charge, what is included, and what happens if the placement ends early. Built as editable records so a fee change is a five minute edit, not a developer ticket.
Families compare agencies on fees. If yours are not on the site, you are compared on the assumption that they are high. The agency that states them is shortlisted; the one that says "contact us for our fee schedule" is the one that gets contacted last.
1. Decide the structure before the wording
Nanny agency fees usually take one of three shapes: a percentage of the placement's first-year gross salary, a flat fee per placement, or a registration fee plus a placement fee. Temporary and short-notice work is often charged differently again, as a daily or hourly margin on top of the nanny's rate.
Write down which of those you use for each service you offer: permanent nanny, temporary or emergency cover, nanny share, maternity nurse, au pair, housekeeper-nanny. Different services, different lines.
2. One row per service
The table is a set of records. Each row: service name, who it suits, the fee basis, the registration fee if any, the guarantee period, and a short note. Rendered as a grid on a laptop and stacked cards on a phone.
Do not put the numbers inside an image. It cannot be read by a screen reader, cannot be found by search, and cannot be edited without a designer.
3. Say what triggers the fee and when it is payable
The line families most want and least often find. State that nothing is payable for registering, searching or interviewing, that the fee falls due when they offer and the candidate accepts, and how long they have to pay. If a deposit or retainer applies to a search, say the amount and say whether it comes off the placement fee.
If you charge for a search that does not result in a hire, say so in plain words. Finding that out at invoice stage costs you the referral.
4. Include tax and the salary basis
Two ambiguities cause most fee disputes. First, whether the percentage is calculated on gross or net salary; write it out, because nanny pay is still quoted net in many markets and the difference is large. Second, whether your fee includes sales tax or VAT; UK and EU consumer prices are normally shown inclusive.
Add one sentence noting that the family, as the employer in most nanny placements, also carries payroll, employer contributions and insurance, and point them at a payroll provider rather than pretending those costs do not exist. That honesty converts.
5. State the guarantee or replacement period
The part that justifies a percentage. How long the guarantee runs, what counts as a qualifying departure, whether you replace free of charge or refund on a sliding scale, and what the family has to have done for it to apply, such as having a written contract in place.
A sliding scale is best shown as records too: period, what you do. Vagueness here reads as a get-out.
6. Say plainly what candidates pay
For most nanny agencies the answer is nothing. In the UK, the conduct regulations governing employment agencies restrict charging work-seekers a fee for finding them work, and many other jurisdictions take a similar line. Whatever the rule where you operate, say clearly on the candidate route what registering costs, which is usually zero, and mention any genuinely optional service you charge for separately.
Candidates are wary of upfront-fee operators. One sentence removes the doubt and improves your applicant flow. Confirm the position for your own country with a local adviser rather than copying wording from another market.
7. Cover the au pair case separately
Au pair placements are priced differently from nanny placements and sit inside a different arrangement: pocket money or a stipend rather than a salary, board and lodging, a language or study element, and hours limits set by the host country's scheme. Give them their own row and their own short explanation, and say which countries you place into and out of.
Do not merge au pair and nanny fees into one number. Families arrive knowing which they want.
8. Say what the fee buys
Under the table, six or seven lines listing the work: shortlisting, vetting and checks, reference taking, interview coordination, contract and job description templates, salary guidance, and support through the first weeks. Each line should be something a family could not easily do alone.
Link the vetting page from here. Fee objections are almost always vetting questions in disguise.
9. Put the enquiry route next to the price
A family that has just accepted your fee is at the point of acting. Under the table, the family enquiry form or a consultation booking through Calendly or Acuity. Not a phone number alone, and not a link back to the menu.
10. Test and set a review date
Check the site, your terms of business and your invoice template say the same thing about the fee basis, the trigger and the guarantee. They frequently do not. Then diary a review twice a year, and edit the page the day you change what you charge.
Where this sits
A fee table as editable records, a stated trigger, a real guarantee period and a clear line on what candidates pay are part of every nanny agency website we build, and the same pricing pattern runs through our childcare websites. Our own packages are on pricing. State the fee and you get compared on the work instead.