It is truly a shame... too many abstractors do not take into consideration the ancillary costs of preparing an abstract.  They look at the time it takes to complete it and think they are making $40/hour.  When you factor in the price of gas, taxes, the time spent on faxing, invoicing, paying bills, and especially the liability that could come back to bite you later - it just doesn't add up.

Unfortunately, those who don't think about those issues, set the prices for the rest of us. 

Of all of these, the liability is the most serious issue.  Where else can you charge $40 and be expected to incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential liability?  There are two articles you should read if you have not yet seen them.

PA Court Upholds Liability Limitation in Title Abstract, and...

Searcher Owes Insurer for Missed Judgment

They both deal with searchers being sued for missed items on a search.  The search fee was $40 on the first, and $25 on the second.  Both suits were for well over $100,000!  On one the language limiting the liability of the search was upheld, on the other is was not.

Best,
Robert A. Franco
SOURCE OF TITLE