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Is it acceptable to require a minimum charge?

I am not yet a sitter, but intend to become one--and my question is this: Is it acceptable or customary to charge a client for a minimum amount of work or time spent? For example: as a beginner, I may only charge $10.00 per hour or less, just to get myself started. If a client is requesting a fifteen minute visit, I don't want to spend my time and gasoline driving to their home, and only get paid $2.50. Is it reasonable to tell a client (unless he or she lives within a block or two of your home) that you have a one-hour minimum charge? I was looking at a different pet-sitter web site today, and a potential client was describing what she needed done. She then finished her post by writing, "the whole visit should not take more than twenty minutes." I think it's fine to get paid in fifteen or twenty-minute increments beyond the first hour, but I don't think it's reasonable to expect a Rover-Sitter to drive five or six miles to earn $3.00 or $4.00. How do people handle these situations?

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Jean D. & Ray P.

This may not work for you, but I had a thought. Instead of charging extra for mileage and travel time, maybe do the reverse. Try raising your regular rate and offer a discount if the dog is dropped off at your home or lives within a certain radius. That way people either get neutral news (aka "you are being charged the regular rate, just like most people") or good news ("you get a discount"). This would also allow you to raise your regular rate, even slightly. To promote this, you could ask customers if they're interested in dropping off their pooch on their work lunch break or immediately after work (maybe while they go home and make dinner, etc) so that they can get the discount.
In general, I would also try to group people as much as possible so that if you do have to travel out of your way, it's for a couple customers instead of just one, though I'm not sure how possible that is in your area and with your current customer base. Just my two cents.

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Cari C.

I agree with Laura. I offer a dog walking service in addition to my boarding and traveling sitter services. I charge $15 for a 20 minute walk, not counting travel time, and that's all I do. I walk the dog, maybe give them a treat, but nothing else. And I've learned the hard way to limit my area for this service, otherwise my fee is eaten up in time and gas. Check out other sitters in your area to see what they charge. Your profile has a box for dog walking services, and you can put a fee for the walk. I wouldn't call it an hourly fee, maybe a visit fee.

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Thanks, Cari. That makes perfect sense. I hope you all will forgive my ignorance; my daughter told me about Rover a while back already, but today is the first day that I have actually sat down and looked at it. It's probably the case that all of my questions are answered by the information herein; I just haven't had a chance to read everything yet. And since I'm almost entirely computer illiterate, it will take me a while to learn how to use this site. Please have patience...

Terry and Michael P.

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Laura R.

That's absolutely reasonable. I mostly provide boarding in my home, but I do offer dog walking, drop off and pick up. For dog walking, I charge $20, which includes a walk that is around 45 mins, depending on my travel time. If they want me to do anything else while I'm there, that will cut into the walk time, because essentially they have bought an hour of my time, which includes travel to and from their location.

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Thank you, Laura. It's very interesting that you mentioned 'travel time", because I was wondering about that, too. I was wondering if it is customary to include the time you spend getting to-and-from your client's location in your hourly bill (if you charge by the hour). After thinking about it, I had concluded that it must be that I am not supposed to charge for that. After all, if you were employed at a day care and babysat for toddlers all day, you would not receive time and mileage to get there. Or if you were a nurse working in the pediatric ward, you would not receive time or mileage to drive to the hospital. I do understand, however, if you are running an errand for your client, outside of your normal work hours--picking the dog up from the groomer, for example. You should receive time and mileage... (more)

Terry and Michael P.

I understand that logic, but when your business is based on travelling to the owner's location (a convenience for them), and upon making multiple trips per day, which seriously limits the amount of time you have actually available with the animals you watch, it makes sense to figure that time into your fee. Essentially, part of your job IS the travel, like a delivery driver. So if I were a travel sitter doing overnight care, I would not charge for my travel time because it is not a significant part of the job, but for making multiple daily visits, I would include that time my your rates.

Laura R.

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Is it acceptable to require a minimum charge?

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