Placement fee or staffing markup: what each costs.
A placement fee is paid once, when your hire starts. A staffing markup is paid every month they work. At a 20% fee and a 11% to 30% markup, staffing costs more from month 8 to month 22, whatever the salary.
Run your numbers.
Put in the base salary you plan to pay and the markup you were quoted. Filled in below: a $36,000 base against an 11% and a 30% markup.
What each fee buys.
| Question | Placement fee | Staffing markup |
|---|---|---|
| When you pay | Once, when the hire starts | Every month the person works |
| Who employs the person | You, as a contractor or through an employer of record | The staffing firm |
| Payroll and compliance | Yours, or your employer of record’s | Usually included in the markup |
| If it does not work out | A replacement window (Vela: 90 days) | Replacement for as long as you pay, at most firms |
| Ending it | Nothing more to pay the recruiter | Notice terms, and some firms charge to convert the person to your own payroll |
| What the hire sees | Their full salary, from you | Their pay, after the firm’s share |
When each is the better buy.
Staffing fits when
- The work ends before the break-even month: a project, a season, cover for leave.
- You want the person employed by someone else, with payroll, benefits and compliance in the price.
- You need to end it on short notice, or you are still deciding whether the seat should exist.
- You are filling several support roles at once from a bench the firm already has.
A placement fee fits when
- The seat is permanent and you expect to keep the person past month 22.
- You want them on your own team, paid by you, with nobody taking a share of their pay.
- The seat is senior enough that the right person already has a job and has to be headhunted.
- You would rather pay the hire more than pay a vendor every month.
Sources.
- Virtustant: virtustant.com/pricing
- Near’s staffing fee, as reported by a competitor: vintti.com/blog/nearshore-staffing-costs-latam-2026
- Contractor payments and employer of record: deel.com/pricing
- Every vendor’s published model: What Latin American recruiting agencies charge in 2026
Every source checked November 2, 2026. Vendors change their pricing; the link is the authority.
Search terms
- Day 7First vetted profile
- 21 daysThree vetted candidates
- 20%Of year-one base, when your hire starts. A $1,000 deposit credits to it.
- 90 daysReplacement at no charge
Questions.
Short answers. The long ones happen on the call.
Does a placement fee cost less than a staffing markup?
Over a long hire, usually. A 20% placement fee is paid once; a markup is paid every month the person works. On a $36,000 base, Vela’s fee is $7,200. A 30% markup is $900 a month and passes that fee in month 8; an 11% markup is $330 a month and passes it in month 22. Over three years the markups come to $32,400 and $11,880.
Does the break-even month depend on the salary?
No. A 20% fee is 2.4 months of salary, and a markup is the same share of salary every month, so the break-even month is 2.4 divided by the monthly share. At 30% that is month 8 on any salary. Your own payroll cost moves it later, which is why the calculator asks for it.
When is a staffing model the better buy?
When the engagement is shorter than the break-even month, when you want the person employed by someone else with payroll, benefits and compliance included, when you need to end the arrangement on short notice, or when you are testing whether the seat should exist at all.
What does Vela charge?
20% of the hire’s year-one base salary, charged when they start. A $1,000 deposit starts the search and is credited to the fee. Three vetted candidates in 21 days, and a 90-day replacement at no charge. There is no monthly fee and no markup.
Who employs the person after a placement?
You do, as a contractor or through an employer of record you choose. That is the trade: you own the relationship and the payroll, and you stop paying Vela after the one fee.
Related guides.
- What Latin American Recruiting Agencies Charge in 2026Seven vendors, their published prices and models, each with its source and the date we checked it.
- South AlternativesWhere South wins, and six other ways to hire in Latin America, priced where the vendor publishes a price.
- Athyna AlternativesWhere Athyna wins, and six other ways to hire in Latin America, priced where the vendor publishes a price.
- All hiring guidesEvery comparison and every seat we search for.
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