I love THS and it has provided a nice benefit for me when I want to return to my hometown where it is not uncommon for hotels to cost upwards of $700 a night. I now live in an area that seems to be very competitive for sitters. I own a home in the area so have no need for a place to stay unless I am undergoing some renovations on my house and was thinking I wouldn’t mind petsitting but certainly not for free as I would receive no real benefit. Has anyone transitioned to paid gigs? If so, what service did you use? How much do you charge? How do you screen pets/owners? Any other details I should know or issues to look out for?
@Petstuff We do some paid gigs, mainly for people who don’t seem to trust ‘free’ sitters. We are UK-based and bought our own insurance (£85 per year). We get all our paid gigs from Facebook pages and word of mouth. What you charge depends on your area and the number and types of pets. As a very rough rule of thumb, for 1-2 small/medium dogs, the going rate appears to be £350 for a week/ £500 for two weeks. It is possible to get extra discounts for longer sits, but so far, two weeks is the longest paid sit we have done.
If you are staying local, there is more money to be made in dog walking, where the going rate in the UK for one dog seems to be £12-£15 per hour. ( sometimes less if they walk more than one dog at the same time.)
(Post edited by the Forum Team to comply with the Community Rules).
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What type of insurance is it? Does it only cover sits in the UK?
@Petstuff, we do not seek paid housesitting opportunities.
Unexpectedly, at end of housesits then two pet parents have voluntarily given us payment equivalent to avoided kennel fees. This may reflect relatively low cost of kennels for some pet parents (some took extended time, high-cost trips); appreciation for good pet/property care (we do enjoy this!); and/or property specific nuances (high value, privacy, security). We are fortunate to housesit by choice. Regardless, we appreciate the gesture and its contribution to our travel costs.
By chance we were recently approached by a non-THS affluent homeowner in regards an extended duration housesit next year. Perhaps like @colin noted, they “don’t seem to trust free sitters” so have requested to compensate us. Huh. Guess that some people are simply accustomed to paying for service providers. Conversation exploratory. For us, our typical housesitter criteria apply. Should we progress then we will probably propose rates based on paid platforms or kennel fees.
Your personal situation seems to include flexibility and openness, and geography seems high demand for housesitters.
Decision priorities between compensation, pet responsibilities, property geography/condition and other factors probably varies a whole lot across the housesitter community. Good luck!
Prices are dependent on location. If you were in a major city in North America, the prices would be much higher. 60-75 per day per dog. 25/30 for a walk.
There are a few that are specific to pet sitting - yes the ones in the Uk are only for sitting when in the UK, I presume all countries have simila
I fell into dog walking and house sitting about a year ago when I moved into a very large retirement community in the US. For the last 6 months I walk a dog 5 mornings a week. The owner is 12 years younger than me but has medical issues. I consider it a gig and not a business as I am retired. She knows I travel so anytime I want to not walk the dog because I am traveling with THS or in another way or have events I want to attend is fine with her. So many people do this as it is easy to find someone to cover the days I am gone. She finds them not me. The going rate here is $20.00 per half hour so $40.00 per hour. She wants me to walk the dog as long as the dog wants. My goal is an hour but unfortunately the dog is only good for 45 minutes and sometimes pulls to go back after a half hour. I try to bribe him with treats to walk longer but he won’t eat treats on a walk for some reason. I think that fee is worth every penny as there are no sidewalks where she lives and this dog tries to attack every golf cart that drives by on a narrow street. It also is dog reactive. Sweet in the house though. A small dog that is getting better with this. You need to find out what the going rate is in your neighborhood and just charge competitively.
I also do house and pet sitting here for those going on cruises or visiting their kids. When someone asked me to do this for the first time that I met at an event here, I did research on the going rate. That was all over the board. I saw people charged from $45.00 to $150 per night. Usually young college kids charged the lesser fee and the seniors that lived here charged more. I charge by how many pets and the responsibility of each one so I have no set one price.
Good Luck!
i do paid pet-sitting as a part-time retirement job in my US city. I created a website, listed some of my THS reviews, and posted on Facebook and Nextdoor. Now most of my business is word-of-mouth and repeat sits.
My rates might not be relevant to where you are located, because rates vary so much around the world. My rate of US$25 for a 20-minute visit is normal here but might seem outrageous in another city or country. I suggest looking at the websites for local sitters to see what they charge, to figure out what you could charge.
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Hi, do you still live in if get paid?
@Travelerthiswld - Yes, Its exactly the same as when you do a THS sit. The home host wantd their pets and home cared for when they are on holiday.
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