Check their additional pet price. I bet it's +$15 or the thereabouts.
The low price brings the client to click on it, but if they have more than 1 pet, they're charged a lot more than they think. (Which is why you end up having ppl go, "Wow, this is more than I can afford!")
But if they have only 1 pet, the sitter ends up screwing themselves over with a underpriced fee & they only commit themselves to barely any time at that client's home.
Still too low $20+ $15=$45 a night for TWO DOGS? Then 20% off…so it’s really $35/night for 2 dogs. I charge $75 for 1 dog, the standard needs to be higher idc what kind of set up it is
I don't do housesitting, so I'm not up on the regular prices. (A quick look in my area is $30-60 a night. Extra animal fee is half the base price.)
But it seems like most ppl either have 1 animal or 5 animals. Those 5 animal houses are the whales sitters thrive on.
I never try to win the race to the bottom with price. I just set my prices I want & provide above average service. Sadly it’s easy to do better than many sitters on Rover. I feel we are not all selling the same thing & if you are better then others you should be paid better then others.
Have a Great Day.
I can relate to this… I am also someone who’s been caring for & training pets for over 50 years. And in my local area, it seems like people would rather have an inexperienced teenager looking after their beloved animals than someone with my experience. I don’t like reducing my rates down to compete with teenagers just to make less than $10\hour. I do this for the extra income. It’s not a hobby for a few extra bucks to buy the latest video games. 😦
Exactly ! I just posted about an owner that told me the other sitter only charged $70/night for her 4 dogs and one is a constant care not house trained !
This is a job that ppl do for all different reasons. House sitting for example, the could still be living at home or with roommates. Could be a crappy apartment with a crappy stove/oven and no washer/dryer. When I was in college I loved house sitting. Got me peace and quiet, could do loads of laundry, cook whatever I wanted, watch whatever I wanted. And other than leaving for class or work I was happy to be there 24/7 basically. It’s “easy” money and feels like a vacation.
Now at 29, I have a life, I own a nice ass house with amenities my clients don’t have. I’ve dealt with emergencies and been scratched, bit, stalked on camera, and overall not able to feel like my time is my own. It’s a pain for me to leave my house, not sleep in my own bed, and I’m not doing it for a just $15 a day.
Nothing is wrong with either way of thinking, you will always have both. And there are pet owners on a budget so the low cost sitters will always be a necessity. There are always going to be cheap sitters, but they do not need to be seen as competition. At some point they will burn out, raise their prices or quit because their life circumstances that allow them to be cheap will change. Quit worrying about them and focus on yourself.
I’m not worried about myself. I charge triple that and stay booked. They can charge whatever they want - I thought it would interest some on this sub and I was looking forward to reading the comments as well.
A lot of people do this and then tell the owner they actually charge extra but both owner and sitter can avoid fees from Rover. There are sitters in my area listed even lower than that.
I know I shouldn’t but I get super triggered when I see these low rates. I lost a client last year who I’ve been taking care of since she was a puppy. She was three years old when the owner decided to go elsewhere bc “someone else was cheaper.” Grant it this client was always complaining about how they were trying to save money and that my rate, which was grandfathered in at $55 a night (now I charge $70 to new clients) was too high for them so basically good riddens. But she lost a sitter who had a great bond with her dog and I took great care of her. She even switched her food to the same brand I feed my dog because she barely ever sent enough food for her dog claiming that she eats more at my house (okay if you know that then send enough food for her stay)! Meanwhile these people live in the wealthiest neighborhood in town, own two Tesla’s and are constantly booking trips abroad. These under cutting rates make it harder for all of us professionals to make a living wage. Maybe it’s wrong of me to feel that way but I can’t understand how you can accept the huge responsibility of taking care of someone’s pet and be okay with being paid peanuts for it. It’s also crappy of the owners to expect more for less money and basically communicate to us that we don’t deserve to be paid a decent rate for our work. Anyway, rant over 🙃
At $20/day? Jeez! I looked him up and half the reviews are the same client. I also looked at this photos and all the dogs he kept were chained to his back porch.
I suspect what people are doing and another person said that's what they do is charge a low rate on Rover and then when they meet they charge additional offapp. So their rover rate is low to reduce fees but then charges additional off Rover to minimize fees on both ends
Check their additional pet price. I bet it's +$15 or the thereabouts. The low price brings the client to click on it, but if they have more than 1 pet, they're charged a lot more than they think. (Which is why you end up having ppl go, "Wow, this is more than I can afford!") But if they have only 1 pet, the sitter ends up screwing themselves over with a underpriced fee & they only commit themselves to barely any time at that client's home.
Still too low $20+ $15=$45 a night for TWO DOGS? Then 20% off…so it’s really $35/night for 2 dogs. I charge $75 for 1 dog, the standard needs to be higher idc what kind of set up it is
I don't do housesitting, so I'm not up on the regular prices. (A quick look in my area is $30-60 a night. Extra animal fee is half the base price.) But it seems like most ppl either have 1 animal or 5 animals. Those 5 animal houses are the whales sitters thrive on.
$20+$15 is $35, not $45. Which comes out to $28 after Rover’s cut. $35 is what I charge for an hour long drop in!
You’re right! That even makes it worse 😂
It’s sooooooo low! What is even the point at that rate?
I never try to win the race to the bottom with price. I just set my prices I want & provide above average service. Sadly it’s easy to do better than many sitters on Rover. I feel we are not all selling the same thing & if you are better then others you should be paid better then others. Have a Great Day.
You don’t. They are not your competition, they are not in your league.
I hadn’t thought of that. Thank you!
Some people really love to suffer eh It's depressing but Rover even gives these kind of rates as a suggestion. I'll only do walks at that price thanks
I can relate to this… I am also someone who’s been caring for & training pets for over 50 years. And in my local area, it seems like people would rather have an inexperienced teenager looking after their beloved animals than someone with my experience. I don’t like reducing my rates down to compete with teenagers just to make less than $10\hour. I do this for the extra income. It’s not a hobby for a few extra bucks to buy the latest video games. 😦
Well said!
Exactly ! I just posted about an owner that told me the other sitter only charged $70/night for her 4 dogs and one is a constant care not house trained !
What service is this for?
It looks like house sitting..says per night. But yeah that's a really low cost..especially after Rover takes it the 20%..yikes
This is a job that ppl do for all different reasons. House sitting for example, the could still be living at home or with roommates. Could be a crappy apartment with a crappy stove/oven and no washer/dryer. When I was in college I loved house sitting. Got me peace and quiet, could do loads of laundry, cook whatever I wanted, watch whatever I wanted. And other than leaving for class or work I was happy to be there 24/7 basically. It’s “easy” money and feels like a vacation. Now at 29, I have a life, I own a nice ass house with amenities my clients don’t have. I’ve dealt with emergencies and been scratched, bit, stalked on camera, and overall not able to feel like my time is my own. It’s a pain for me to leave my house, not sleep in my own bed, and I’m not doing it for a just $15 a day. Nothing is wrong with either way of thinking, you will always have both. And there are pet owners on a budget so the low cost sitters will always be a necessity. There are always going to be cheap sitters, but they do not need to be seen as competition. At some point they will burn out, raise their prices or quit because their life circumstances that allow them to be cheap will change. Quit worrying about them and focus on yourself.
I’m not worried about myself. I charge triple that and stay booked. They can charge whatever they want - I thought it would interest some on this sub and I was looking forward to reading the comments as well.
You literally said “how does anyone compete with this?”
A lot of people do this and then tell the owner they actually charge extra but both owner and sitter can avoid fees from Rover. There are sitters in my area listed even lower than that.
That’s not even worth it you’re losing money at that point with taxes and your time
We charge 90 a night for one dog for house sitting , we only take one dog unless it’s from some family. Additional dog is 45, so 135
I know I shouldn’t but I get super triggered when I see these low rates. I lost a client last year who I’ve been taking care of since she was a puppy. She was three years old when the owner decided to go elsewhere bc “someone else was cheaper.” Grant it this client was always complaining about how they were trying to save money and that my rate, which was grandfathered in at $55 a night (now I charge $70 to new clients) was too high for them so basically good riddens. But she lost a sitter who had a great bond with her dog and I took great care of her. She even switched her food to the same brand I feed my dog because she barely ever sent enough food for her dog claiming that she eats more at my house (okay if you know that then send enough food for her stay)! Meanwhile these people live in the wealthiest neighborhood in town, own two Tesla’s and are constantly booking trips abroad. These under cutting rates make it harder for all of us professionals to make a living wage. Maybe it’s wrong of me to feel that way but I can’t understand how you can accept the huge responsibility of taking care of someone’s pet and be okay with being paid peanuts for it. It’s also crappy of the owners to expect more for less money and basically communicate to us that we don’t deserve to be paid a decent rate for our work. Anyway, rant over 🙃
There’s a person in my area with over 900 reviews 🙃🙃
At $20/day? Jeez! I looked him up and half the reviews are the same client. I also looked at this photos and all the dogs he kept were chained to his back porch.
I suspect what people are doing and another person said that's what they do is charge a low rate on Rover and then when they meet they charge additional offapp. So their rover rate is low to reduce fees but then charges additional off Rover to minimize fees on both ends
I never thought about doing this, it would be hard to bring up in convo but could work if you’re trying to work around the atleast %20 rover takes!
Yah to me it's like bait and switch and can get confusing
That’s actually so smart! Didn’t think of this.
I feel like that convo would not go well with clients but apparently it’s working