"Why is my agency retainer $6,000 a month?" Because you're not paying for a pers
By George Barnett Reid 👀 · October 29, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
"Why is my agency retainer $6,000 a month?"
Because you're not paying for a person.
You're paying for a slice of one.
I ran an Amazon ads agency, so here's the bit that never made it into our deck:
More hours on your account improves your performance.
More hours on your account kills our margin.
Every agency lives in that gap. Not because they're crooks. Because that's the model.
We chose the margin. Everyone does.
In 2025 a $50M brand asked me straight out which they should buy.
I told them to take the same person, full time, for $3.2k.
Cost me a $6k retainer on that call.
They've still got that person 18 months later.
Best bad business decision I've made.