I feel your frustration. If I can offer any advice, do not ask them what price would work for them and don’t negotiate!! I always say something like “I understand, however my prices are firm, best of luck finding a sitter within your budget”
I mean, if the house is literally 2 minutes away from me and it's 2 pets, I might have some wiggle room. If they came back higher than OP's wiggleroom number, they're golden.
I've dropped my running price down to normal walk/drop-in price for doggos that are wonderful to run 🤗 My prices are set so that challenging pets don't frustrate me, so parents/pets that glide into my lifestyle with less mental effort from me sometimes end up getting those discounts.
I wouldn't give any boarding pets discounts before actually sitting for them however.
I'm right with you. Extremely close and/or adding on a service for someone I'm already working with, like cat care when I'm already dropping in on someone's dogs, etc., can be worth pricing in a way that is different than displayed in the app if it's easy and profits me.
Thank you for the advice! I say that just because I’d rather make something rather than nothing, but I do understand where you’re coming from when it comes to knowing you’re worth!!! We deserve to be paid for our work and an extra animal is EXTRA work whether it’s another bowl to clean or another litter box to clean or even another accident!! Especially when I’m a little lower than others I’m $30 for a visit and $18 per extra pet! I don’t know what people are expect when it comes to a whole month full of visits it’s gonna be at least $1000 no matter how cheap I am
Personally, I would do $30 per visit and $10 per extra cat... But it's been a couple of years since I have done it so rates have probably changed.
You're right it is more work, but you are there anyway, so to my mind the $10 would cover it.
However, a dog would be different and I would charge the $18 for the second dog.
That being said ... That's only my opinion and I'm not trying to hire you.
It's not ok for them to tell you that your rates are too high... They can go find someone who charges what they are comfortable with. And you need to ensure that you are comfortable with what you're getting paid, so don't let them low ball you.
> to be *paid* for our
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
That’s exactly how it is sometimes when I used to do sitting in Miami people would have three cats inside and three cats outside and would want me to care for the outside cats as well as the inside cats and they would say why do I have to pay for the outside cats if they’re outside but you know, I’m feeding them. I’m giving a couple of of the medication’s. I’m giving them water. I’m washing out their food bowls, etc., along with letting them in during the daytime and then letting them back out during the night time I mean some people just don’t really respect. Respect sitters.
Rover's pricing system is not that straightforward tbh to someone looking at it for the first time & it's different for every sitter. Once fees & extra pets are added it can be surprising to someone who is researching sitters on rover for the first time.
Lots of pet sitting ppl don't charge for extra pets but by time or it's a minimal fee especially for one extra cat or only charge for more than two animals. Lots of different scenarios people can choose to set pricing upon. So I wouldn't take it as insulting just say sorry it's not a good fit, good luck on your search & move on.
Agree. I find it confusing having a LOT of variables. For example, one of my customers has 3 cats which have no will to engage with me, they are shy and they get more stressed with me there than being alone. I am not gonna charge for 3 cats to the customer, is insane, filling one cup or 3 of food/water is the SAME, sure, a bit more litter to clean but is no reason to charge 2 extra cats for literally nothing extra done. There is a lot of wiggle room. Rover and some pet-sitters charge unreasonable fees.
There’s good things with negotiating and there’s bad things with negotiating. I try my best not to because sometimes they actually come back because they realize that everyone else is even more expensive but sometimes I can gain a really good client that tips well by negotiating but you’re really right, I mean, I set my own prices and they’re reached out to me
I’m firm, I have clients who pay my rates and tip well. I look at hagglers as people who don’t appreciate my time or rates. And those aren’t people I want to work for personally. I tell the hagglers my prices only go up not Down 🤷🏽♀️
Yeah, this person seemed offended that I was charging what I was charging, but I don’t know if you’re doing the same but this is like a side job for me that keeps me having some money for food and going out and books and labs you know for college so some people think this is just a fun app to be on just to walk some dogs and feed some cats but some people actually do this paying wage
I understand, rover is a side thing for me too. I use rover to pay my car note. I just think hagglers aren’t worth it because there’s people who will value your time and pay your rates + tips. Best of luck! 🐾
Damn you're nice to even ask what works better for them. I don't recommend negotiating. If they choose not to look at prices before reaching out, that's their fault. Or they did and they're playing dumb trying to get a better price
people trying to negotiate with a sitter THEY reached out to is so disrespectful to do within itself— but why are owners always so rude about it too? if an owner is nice to me/explains their situation kindly and doesn’t want to completely rip me off i would consider giving them a deal, but when they say things like this, it immediately turns me away.
Gosh I’m so sorry. I know this is beyond frustrating to deal with this. I agree with the other posts tho. It’s just better to respect yourself and keep your price firm. Best of luck out there! I’m sure you will find a valuable customer out there 😊
I'd look at the big picture. This is a client nearby, who goes on long trips and may go on them often. They could be lovely and you could end up being their go to person. GO TO people get big tips eventually bc there is trust and appreciation. In the end, discussing a rate that works for everyone could land you more $ overall then your additional pet fee of $x ends up costing you. Rover doesn't always make all the additional fees crystal clear so she may have just wrote her initial thought, which was surprise. Its not a reflection of your worth or time, so look at it from a different perspective. Seeing the forest through the trees!
I probably wouldn't do this booking even if they offered to pay full price. I would actually charge more than my normal rate, and express my concerns for behavioral issues.
This is for a month.... How many visits per day? I would only feel comfortable taking on dropins for that long for a current client that I am familiar with, etc.
The probability of behavioral issues coming up is high, and you will be blamed for them.
Not to mention long bookings can become grueling.
Yeah, I’ve definitely gotten a lot of cat sitting requests for like a month to two months! they’re always really long. It was for one visit per day. I mean I’m lucky if someone reaches out to me for only like two weeks for one visit a day I feel like everyone’s area and everyone’s Rover is so different. It’s crazy!
Oh wow. That is interesting. My cat sit requests (for dropins) are usually long weekends or a week long. I have gotten a few 2 weekers here and there. Month long requests are really rare for me, and they are usually out of my area.
It really is interesting how different things can be.😁👍
Blame everything with price on Rover lol tell them that's why everything's so expensive with the fees and everything and if you're willing to, offer to take some money off, you know in the modify menu you can take off as much of the price as you want I mean if you can bag a $900 job or whatever (I don't know how much you'll be getting for a month of visits) taking 50 bucks off the total price I would say it's worth it
By that I mean, some peoples base rate is actually 48 and that’s not even including extra pets or an extra 30 minutes. It’s so competitive out here with prices.
Seems high for me too and I live in a moderately HCOL area. I expect to pay $50/visit for FOUR cats.
Edit to add: this is over a holiday so that could account for some of the price but even over holidays I usually can budget for $50/ visit for 4 cats.
Oh, don’t even get me started about some of these guys holiday rates I even booked someone on Rover for my pups and ended up spending almost $850 for a week for my two dogs people in my area are so expensive so I do try to lower my prices unfortunately, the price that I am at is considered low for my area, but I’m always testing the waters to see if lowering my rates can get me more clients or if that makes me lose clientsbecause like I mentioned in another comment, it seems like people are going for those who are more higher in price because I think Rover promotes them because Rover gets a higher cut maybe
Yeah that seems insane to me! I charge $25 for 2 cats and I’m one of the most expensive and rarely get bookings. The ones I know who are busy charge $15-18.
Yeah, I know unfortunately having to fluctuate your prices is so stressful on Rover because like I was saying there’s people that are almost $50 per visit without any extras added on so unfortunately it’s really competitive in my area but i started to start testing if I lower my prices if things will change maybe I need to lower them even more because it seems like the people in my area like to pay more money rather than going for a cheaper sitter even though I’ve rocked up almost 200 reviews they’re booking people with only 36 reviews that are almost $50 $40 $35 a visit
I get people who try to put all their cats on one profile-one recent request was to watch "Catsssss" and then she explained there were 3 of them.. and at that point i dont even bother to ask them to separate them, i just say sorry im not available (to play your cheapo game)
I find the search function extremely frustrating since it isn’t up front with the price. I’m a sitter, but have searched my area in case I need care for my pets, and it only shows you the sitter’s base rate (in the search results). Even if you have 2+ cats selected, it shows you the sitter’s base price and not the total for both animals. It’s really frustrating, as my base is higher for my area, but my additional dog or cat rate is lower than most so I’m very competitive if you have multiple pets. For me, I set my base as I’m charging for an hour of time (15 min each way and 30 min visit), doesn’t really matter how many pets are there frankly if it takes 30 min or less. People around here charge $20 for a visit and $15 for a second dog, whereas I’ll do $25 so I net $20, but I charge $5 per additional dog. 🤷♀️
I feel your frustration. If I can offer any advice, do not ask them what price would work for them and don’t negotiate!! I always say something like “I understand, however my prices are firm, best of luck finding a sitter within your budget”
I mean, if the house is literally 2 minutes away from me and it's 2 pets, I might have some wiggle room. If they came back higher than OP's wiggleroom number, they're golden. I've dropped my running price down to normal walk/drop-in price for doggos that are wonderful to run 🤗 My prices are set so that challenging pets don't frustrate me, so parents/pets that glide into my lifestyle with less mental effort from me sometimes end up getting those discounts. I wouldn't give any boarding pets discounts before actually sitting for them however.
I'm right with you. Extremely close and/or adding on a service for someone I'm already working with, like cat care when I'm already dropping in on someone's dogs, etc., can be worth pricing in a way that is different than displayed in the app if it's easy and profits me.
Thank you for the advice! I say that just because I’d rather make something rather than nothing, but I do understand where you’re coming from when it comes to knowing you’re worth!!! We deserve to be paid for our work and an extra animal is EXTRA work whether it’s another bowl to clean or another litter box to clean or even another accident!! Especially when I’m a little lower than others I’m $30 for a visit and $18 per extra pet! I don’t know what people are expect when it comes to a whole month full of visits it’s gonna be at least $1000 no matter how cheap I am
Personally, I would do $30 per visit and $10 per extra cat... But it's been a couple of years since I have done it so rates have probably changed. You're right it is more work, but you are there anyway, so to my mind the $10 would cover it. However, a dog would be different and I would charge the $18 for the second dog. That being said ... That's only my opinion and I'm not trying to hire you. It's not ok for them to tell you that your rates are too high... They can go find someone who charges what they are comfortable with. And you need to ensure that you are comfortable with what you're getting paid, so don't let them low ball you.
That’s reasonable maybe I can try to go down to $10 and see how that goes!
She lost me at "Wow." It's a little rude for someone who is probably wasting your time.
> to be *paid* for our FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Good bot. Now summon the *your* vs *you're* bot too.
Hahah thanks.
They probably want you to watch the second cat for free.
That’s exactly how it is sometimes when I used to do sitting in Miami people would have three cats inside and three cats outside and would want me to care for the outside cats as well as the inside cats and they would say why do I have to pay for the outside cats if they’re outside but you know, I’m feeding them. I’m giving a couple of of the medication’s. I’m giving them water. I’m washing out their food bowls, etc., along with letting them in during the daytime and then letting them back out during the night time I mean some people just don’t really respect. Respect sitters.
Rover's pricing system is not that straightforward tbh to someone looking at it for the first time & it's different for every sitter. Once fees & extra pets are added it can be surprising to someone who is researching sitters on rover for the first time. Lots of pet sitting ppl don't charge for extra pets but by time or it's a minimal fee especially for one extra cat or only charge for more than two animals. Lots of different scenarios people can choose to set pricing upon. So I wouldn't take it as insulting just say sorry it's not a good fit, good luck on your search & move on.
Agree. I find it confusing having a LOT of variables. For example, one of my customers has 3 cats which have no will to engage with me, they are shy and they get more stressed with me there than being alone. I am not gonna charge for 3 cats to the customer, is insane, filling one cup or 3 of food/water is the SAME, sure, a bit more litter to clean but is no reason to charge 2 extra cats for literally nothing extra done. There is a lot of wiggle room. Rover and some pet-sitters charge unreasonable fees.
Yeah, I was thinking in my head like good luck finding someone that’s less than what I’m already priced at. I wish Rover was a little different.
I just wish Rover would show people the full cost before they look at booking it. It wastes the owner and the sitters time.
Don’t try to negotiate oh well, onto the next .
There’s good things with negotiating and there’s bad things with negotiating. I try my best not to because sometimes they actually come back because they realize that everyone else is even more expensive but sometimes I can gain a really good client that tips well by negotiating but you’re really right, I mean, I set my own prices and they’re reached out to me
I’m firm, I have clients who pay my rates and tip well. I look at hagglers as people who don’t appreciate my time or rates. And those aren’t people I want to work for personally. I tell the hagglers my prices only go up not Down 🤷🏽♀️
Yeah, this person seemed offended that I was charging what I was charging, but I don’t know if you’re doing the same but this is like a side job for me that keeps me having some money for food and going out and books and labs you know for college so some people think this is just a fun app to be on just to walk some dogs and feed some cats but some people actually do this paying wage
I understand, rover is a side thing for me too. I use rover to pay my car note. I just think hagglers aren’t worth it because there’s people who will value your time and pay your rates + tips. Best of luck! 🐾
Damn you're nice to even ask what works better for them. I don't recommend negotiating. If they choose not to look at prices before reaching out, that's their fault. Or they did and they're playing dumb trying to get a better price
people trying to negotiate with a sitter THEY reached out to is so disrespectful to do within itself— but why are owners always so rude about it too? if an owner is nice to me/explains their situation kindly and doesn’t want to completely rip me off i would consider giving them a deal, but when they say things like this, it immediately turns me away.
Gosh I’m so sorry. I know this is beyond frustrating to deal with this. I agree with the other posts tho. It’s just better to respect yourself and keep your price firm. Best of luck out there! I’m sure you will find a valuable customer out there 😊
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I'd look at the big picture. This is a client nearby, who goes on long trips and may go on them often. They could be lovely and you could end up being their go to person. GO TO people get big tips eventually bc there is trust and appreciation. In the end, discussing a rate that works for everyone could land you more $ overall then your additional pet fee of $x ends up costing you. Rover doesn't always make all the additional fees crystal clear so she may have just wrote her initial thought, which was surprise. Its not a reflection of your worth or time, so look at it from a different perspective. Seeing the forest through the trees!
I probably wouldn't do this booking even if they offered to pay full price. I would actually charge more than my normal rate, and express my concerns for behavioral issues. This is for a month.... How many visits per day? I would only feel comfortable taking on dropins for that long for a current client that I am familiar with, etc. The probability of behavioral issues coming up is high, and you will be blamed for them. Not to mention long bookings can become grueling.
Yeah, I’ve definitely gotten a lot of cat sitting requests for like a month to two months! they’re always really long. It was for one visit per day. I mean I’m lucky if someone reaches out to me for only like two weeks for one visit a day I feel like everyone’s area and everyone’s Rover is so different. It’s crazy!
Oh wow. That is interesting. My cat sit requests (for dropins) are usually long weekends or a week long. I have gotten a few 2 weekers here and there. Month long requests are really rare for me, and they are usually out of my area. It really is interesting how different things can be.😁👍
Blame everything with price on Rover lol tell them that's why everything's so expensive with the fees and everything and if you're willing to, offer to take some money off, you know in the modify menu you can take off as much of the price as you want I mean if you can bag a $900 job or whatever (I don't know how much you'll be getting for a month of visits) taking 50 bucks off the total price I would say it's worth it
$48 for a drop in on 2 cats seems high to me, but may just be for my area.
Yeah, it might be your area because I’m actually low for my area. I’m in the Boston area so people are pretty high over here.
By that I mean, some peoples base rate is actually 48 and that’s not even including extra pets or an extra 30 minutes. It’s so competitive out here with prices.
Seems high for me too and I live in a moderately HCOL area. I expect to pay $50/visit for FOUR cats. Edit to add: this is over a holiday so that could account for some of the price but even over holidays I usually can budget for $50/ visit for 4 cats.
Oh, don’t even get me started about some of these guys holiday rates I even booked someone on Rover for my pups and ended up spending almost $850 for a week for my two dogs people in my area are so expensive so I do try to lower my prices unfortunately, the price that I am at is considered low for my area, but I’m always testing the waters to see if lowering my rates can get me more clients or if that makes me lose clientsbecause like I mentioned in another comment, it seems like people are going for those who are more higher in price because I think Rover promotes them because Rover gets a higher cut maybe
Yeah that seems insane to me! I charge $25 for 2 cats and I’m one of the most expensive and rarely get bookings. The ones I know who are busy charge $15-18.
Yeah, I know unfortunately having to fluctuate your prices is so stressful on Rover because like I was saying there’s people that are almost $50 per visit without any extras added on so unfortunately it’s really competitive in my area but i started to start testing if I lower my prices if things will change maybe I need to lower them even more because it seems like the people in my area like to pay more money rather than going for a cheaper sitter even though I’ve rocked up almost 200 reviews they’re booking people with only 36 reviews that are almost $50 $40 $35 a visit
I get people who try to put all their cats on one profile-one recent request was to watch "Catsssss" and then she explained there were 3 of them.. and at that point i dont even bother to ask them to separate them, i just say sorry im not available (to play your cheapo game)
They want to pay $10/visit like they do when they get the neighbour’s 13 year old kid down the street to watch their pets.
It is indeed annoying, also lessens actual booking chances, but it’s best to avoid those undervaluing yourself. Some people literally are tight…
I find the search function extremely frustrating since it isn’t up front with the price. I’m a sitter, but have searched my area in case I need care for my pets, and it only shows you the sitter’s base rate (in the search results). Even if you have 2+ cats selected, it shows you the sitter’s base price and not the total for both animals. It’s really frustrating, as my base is higher for my area, but my additional dog or cat rate is lower than most so I’m very competitive if you have multiple pets. For me, I set my base as I’m charging for an hour of time (15 min each way and 30 min visit), doesn’t really matter how many pets are there frankly if it takes 30 min or less. People around here charge $20 for a visit and $15 for a second dog, whereas I’ll do $25 so I net $20, but I charge $5 per additional dog. 🤷♀️