Pet sitting rates: how much does a sitter cost?

Jessica 02/05/2018 - updated: 04/07/2019

The pet sitters of Pawshake are true pet lovers, who offer their services mainly because they enjoy it and have a big heart for animals. Using Pawshake is completely free for both sitters and pet owners, but booking a sitter of course will require a payment for their time and care. Each pet sitter determines his or her prices for each service, such as dog walking or home pet boarding. This is a completely transparent process: as a pet owner you only pay the price on the sitter's profile, there are no hidden costs. But what are reasonable pet sitting rates? How do you navigate earning a fair amount as a sitter, and what is a fair price to pay for personal and affordable pet care? This is what both sitters and pet owners should know:

Experience and popularity

A tip if you are just starting to work as a pet sitter: consider not setting your prices too high. If you haven't got any reviews yet, it's smart to set an approachable amount. Have a good look at the prices of other pet sitters in your area to understand your 'competition', and start your prices a bit lower than more experienced sitters. As soon as you get more bookings and you gain experience that deserves some extra compensation, you can slowly raise your prices.

Please note that at Pawshake we use minimum prices: we do this because we have high expectation of our sitters and we want them to get fairly compensated. We really want to prevent a 'race to the bottom' happening as we believe you get what you pay for, and your time is worth it!

Popular sitters who receive a lot of booking requests might set higher sitting rates because their time and space is limited. Pawshake sitters who provide boarding or doggy daycare offer small-scale personal care, as we stipulate that they should only take in a maximum of 2 or 3 pets only. They can not, like a big kennel or dog hotel, accommodate 10 or 20 dogs at the same time. That is why the price of this personal home dog boarding is not necessarily cheaper than in a kennel.

Read more about how you recognize a great pet sitter profile here

Knowledge and special skills

Petsitters at Pawshake are always pet lovers, but some of our community members have very special skills and experience. You can find veterinarians, veterinary assistants, dog behavior therapists, volunteers at animal shelters, groomers, professional breeders, feline therapists and so on. Of course, this is great for when you're looking for a special type of pet sitter that can offer just that little bit of extra care for your pet - for example, if you have an energetic dog that could do with some training, or an insecure cat that needs a gentle approach. Special skills that demonstrate experience and knowledge may cost a little extra, but the reassurance is worth it!

Travel expenses and fees

The prices on a pet sitter's profile are all-inclusive: there are no hidden costs. As a pet sitter consider things such as travel expenses, parking etc and be sure to factor these into your prices. With the one pet sitting job, you may have to spend more time, effort or money than the other. Select an average amount for what you think is reasonable and make sure that the prices on your profile do not change too much: transparency and trust are very important to pet owners and they're looking for qualitative but also affordable pet care.

Payment and payment methods

Pet owners - if you have found a great pet sitter, you can book and pay via the website or free Android or iOs Pawshake app. When you do this, both the pet owner and the pet sitter can use our friendly Customer Support, your pet is covered by the Pawshake Guarantee and the pet owner can leave you a review afterward. You can easily pay for the service online via Paypal or credit card. Once you made the payment, we keep the money safely, and pay out the pet sitter automatically after the pet sitting services are completed. So you do not have to worry about when and how you pay your sitter: we will arrange it for you, right after your pet has been well looked after!

Pet sitters - it is important to take into account the Pawshake contribution of 19% when you set your prices. For example, if you want to earn $20 for a dog walk, then put your price at $22 or $23, so you'll receive a net amount of around $20. We use the 19% contribution to acquire new community members, for the development of the website and app, for the customer service and for the Pawshake Guarantee. Using Pawshake is otherwise completely free, you don't pay any subscription costs and you are free to cancel your account at any time.

Tip: Do you already have a pet sitter profile at Pawshake? Then have a glance over your profile and check whether your rates still correspond with what you offer. Are you sitting a bit too high or too low? You can adjust your prices at any time.