Price negotiation

Do what feels right to you. I'm not really willing to negotiate my prices either. At the end of the day, as much as I love dogs, I'm on Rover because it's a source of income. Even if it's a job you love, you're still working for it.

Some clients may be under the impression that the only reason we do what we do is because we love dogs, so we shouldn't care about the money, and those people hunt around until they find someone who will take the pay cut, but the customers you really want to have are the ones who value what you do and are willing to compensate you fairly.

I've never been asked to negotiate. I'd recommend looking at a book called Worth Every Penny. It talks about a lot of things, including creating a boutique business that will attract customers willing to pay boutique prices (think Mom and Pop versus Wal-Mart). You want to attract customers who absolutely love you and are willing to pay your fee-- even though it might be "high". When they gush about you to their friends, you get great publicity too!

You also want to think a bit about your reputation: do you want to be known as the cheap, negotiable sitter? Like others said, cheap isn't always good. I'm a naturally thrifty person, so setting realistic rates is hard for me. I also like being able to offer lower-income folks the kind of care I feel all dogs should get.

Stick to your guns in the beginning, though! When you get to a point of more bookings than you can handle, you can actually start to choose which customers to serve. If a prospective client quibbles over your rates or policies, it's easier to decline because you know you've got a bunch of other people willing to take their spot. Build your business and then look into "pro bono" cases.

$25/night? That's downright cheap in NYC. You can barely buy a sandwich and beverage for that amount. Don't feel guilty or think twice about saying no. Some people seem to think they should always try for a better price, but when you take into account that Rover takes 15%, you are not making very much per hour. I'm sure that owner pays more to park her car per hour and this is her precious, well-behaved fur baby.

I've had one prospective Pet Owner ask me for a price reduction. The reason given was that she was a Student....Well, and I'm on a fixed income ;-) I declined - my rate of $28 is average for this area.

When I first started I had a client ask me for an extended stay rate. I only charged $18/night at that time ($20 is average for my area) and told the client that yes, my extended stay rate is $15/night. She was needing a sitter for 2 months and went on and on about how "$15/night still adds up to a lot for me!" I said, well I'll see what I can do but I don't think I can lower the price any more. Of course I couldn't lower it, but didn't know how else to respond. Although this client wouldn't have been able to find a cheaper sitter in my area, I think the client was put-off by my eventual refusal to give her an additional discount and I didn't end up getting the stay. As disappointing as it was, I realized that that's not the type of client that I want to deal with anyway so I count it as a learning experience. I probably should have been more firm and professional in the beginning because if you give some clients the impression that you're willing to haggle then they'll never be satisfied.

If you find it tough to say no, like me, I'd just make sure you're professional and firm in your pricing from the start. That way you're being fair to all of your clients and there is never a question as to whether they can try to negotiate lower pricing.

I too just recently had my first "haggler" he was looking for someone to care for his dog for a month and asked me if I could offer him a monthly rate. I charge $20 per night, which I think is pretty reasonable. The closest boarding kennel charges $32/night for their smallest room of 3ftx2ft. I politely but firmly explained that I do not offer a monthly rate, just my flat rate of $20. Simply because I too prefer to keep one pet or family at a time, if I'd discounted that stay I'd not only be losing out on my full rate, but also money from having to decline other requests. This guy went crazy, saying he couldn't afford that and how he would rather pay some homeless people to stay in his home and watch the dog...good luck with that buddy. I archived his request and didn't let it get to me. You are going to experience people like that, no doubt, but it all comes down to knowing your worth and not letting people railroad/guilt or bully you into giving a cheaper price.

Find out what daycare charges in your area and have price negotiator check that out. your fee per hour will surely be less.