Hello, I am new to this site and offering a pay per visit while clients are out of town. How do you charge if you have to go to their house multiple times a day for like 10 days. Do you really charge $20 per visit like 3 times a day for 10 days? So it would be $600? Thank you so much for any advice.
Always discuss details with the client at the M&G. Keep in mind that for drop in visits you will have round trip travel time as well as the 30 minute visit. My time is valuable to me so I only do 2 drop in visits a day and only in a 5 mile radius of my home.
You could offer the client a discount if it is a longer reservation period, or offer them your house sitting rate if it is cheaper than your total rate for the requested drop in visits. For example, I have a client in my neighborhood who is booking me over Halloween weekend. She wanted 3 visits a day, which would be $45 a day. I offered her my house sitting rate which is only $40 a day, and we agreed that the evening visit would be for 2 hours as opposed to 30 minutes. She said I would not have to spend the night. I will also be watering the plants, turning lights on and off, and bringing in the mail.
Thank u so much, that helps out a lot.
Yes, that is exactly how drop-in visits work and are billed.
But for overnight stays, that price includes the daytime?
If a client books you for house sitting, that means you spend the majority of your time in the client's home, including sleeping there. It should be considered a premium service, costing more than even boarding because you are watching their home as well as their pets and may be asked to do other...
minor things, like watering plants, taking in the mail, etc. It should cost more because you are uprooting yourself and limiting the amount of other jobs you can do during this period. However, discuss with the client whether you need to leave during the stay and for how long.
Thank u very much Karen. I was just so confused how drop in visits were almost the same price for some people as overnights. I suppose though if it's for extended period that would get pretty pricey. Thanks again for all your help!
it really depends on the sitter. Just from the questions posted on this board, there is a great deal of confusion about house sitting vs drop-in visits. I suspect that many have interpreted what the service entails and aren't pricing properly.
As for the cost owners pay for extended stays, well, that is just a fact of life. If you have a pet, you have costs. I don't expect others to shoulder the cost burden of my decision to have a pet and neither should you.
Yes I agree. There is no way that people can be offering the same care as I consider my house sitting services while only charging so little. Thank you.
If you feel uncomfortable with the price being that high, you can discuss this with the client and possibly alter their rate. Just remember that each visit is 30 minutes and consider travel time. There's a reason why you set your price to be whatever in the beginning!