Owner wants to talk about cost at meet & greet (Holiday Rates)?

Of course the client sees the total amount, unless they haven't created profiles for all their animals.

If the client is trying to get a discount, don't do it. This client paid top dollar for her cruise during Christmas. No one gave her a break for that. Rover charges the holiday rate for every day during a booking that includes a holiday. Christmas Day is the holiday trigger, not Christmas Eve. She would be charged for 7 holiday "nights." Some sitters might modify a booking so that only the holiday day itself received the higher rate. IMO that's wrong, especially for the Thanksgiving through New Year's period when demand is highest and hotels and airlines, etc., all raise their rates for the entire period. You live in Florida. You should know about seasonal rate increases and so should your potential client.

Tell the woman what the charge would be and then tell her that you would be happy to have a M&G if she is OK with the price you've quoted her. No need to waste your time if she then proceeds to haggle on price. Those are often the worst and most problematic clients.

P.S. Make sure to tell her that the cost you quote is contingent on what you find at her home. Be sure to also go over her expectations for what else she might want you to do (water plants, take in mail, etc.).

P.P.S. I calculated $574 for the seven-day period, using your $50 holiday rate for the first dog on all the days, plus $20 per day extra for the other two dogs and $12 per day for the cat.

Check around for the rates at local boarding facilities. They will charge the holiday rate (much higher than yours) for the entire period.

December 20th 2018 - January 2nd 2019 = HOLIDAY RATE $574 for house sitting 3 dogs and 1 cat is cheap. I myself would not commit to house sitting 4 pets during Christmas for this amount. But these are your rates and she should not ask you to discount it. Good luck!

They actually don't see a total cost until after they send the booking request, so she probably wrote that when she sent the request. Your prices are laid out on your profile, of course, but it's like going to the grocery store. She picked multiple days and multiple pets, and hasn't walked up to the cashier yet and is trying to get an idea how much her cart will be.

Anyway, I looked at your profile and over $700 seems extremely high for the prices you've listed. When I calc'd it out I got a total of $474 for the 7 days (2 of which are holiday).

$30 (first pet) +20 (2&3rd pet) +12 (cat) =$62 x 5 =$310

$50 (holiday-first pet) +20 (2&3rd pet) +12 (cat) =$82 x 2 =$164

$310+164=$474 grand total.

Hope that helps!