Why do you guys take such high fees?

Well I understand that they take a huge fee but I'm not going to run into any of those situations like for instance I'm watching a cat and I'm home full time nothing's going to happen to the cat I don't need the insurance

I agree, too, as Rover can be seen as a fancy community bulletin board. But the basic pet and home insurance that Rover provide is essential. I know of someone on Rover who was walking a dog. The dog darted, his collar clip snapped, he ran into oncoming traffic and suffered a broken hip! The total vet bill was over $6,000. And Rover paid for all of it. Unfortunately, some sitters are less careful than others, and some petowners assume their collars and harnesses are sufficient to keep their pets from harm. Many people don't fully understand the extreme precaution they must take when purchasing pet care products. Also, some petsitters are less "aware" than others. I know of a young woman in the neighborhood who dropped-in on pets to give them water, food, and let them out in the yard. Well, one day, she was running the kitchen sink, got distracted, and left with the water running. Something told her to go back. She did so and the sink was full of water, ready to flow over. Had she not followed her instinct, their floors, walls, furnishings, electronics could have resulted in upwards of $10,000 or more! Rover knows all of this and charges accordingly.

My point of view has changed after Rover made substantial changes in California in March 2023. (I wonder if these changes will be rolled out to all the other places where Rover operates.)

It used to be that rover kept 15% of booked amount from sitters who set up accounts in 2014 or earlier. 20% for sitters who started later. I had no problem with them retaining 15% for connecting me with people who I otherwise would not have met and processing their payments. The ‘rover guarantee’ which likely has slimmed down over the years does not cover much. If you board, it doesn’t cover damages to your home. If a client’s pet makes your pet sick, it doesn’t cover that. All taken into consideration, I thought that their connecting parties & processing payment was enough to merit their cut, although their customer service was also more helpful than what it is today.

Then, rover implemented an owner service fee. Initially, they did not charge this new fee to long-standing clients who established accounts prior to 2015, which was a Smart business decision -shows appreciation for long relationships. That changed in 2023, when rover decided All clients, including those who have been their platform customers for 8+ years now will be charged 25% more!!!
That decision has lead and will lead to people choosing to No longer stay rover customers and go elsewhere for care as a result. This likely coincides with the $18 million class action legal settlement reached earlier the same month (Feb. 2023) to settle case outside of courts.https://www.sportsmansettlement.… [Settlement Agreement specifically stated “...prospective changes to Rover platform precipitated by this Action...”] That’s a pretty huge hike, considering rover’s cost of providing care should not have increased in the client’s (or for that matter sitter’s) perspective. Rover is not doing the labor of the walks, feeding, cleaning and repairing of the home after accidents, etc.

As if that’s not enough, rover announced additional 11% service fee will be charged on bookings starting 4/18/23. Greedy rover!

I definitely would not recommend converting customers who are connected to a sitter by personal referral / word of mouth or other sources external to rover.

I had house sitting of $630 and they took $127 out for fees. Why is it more expensive out of my pocket and work to do more and they take more?? But yet for a $17 walk I still got $14? I get the percentage but I think it should be the same rate across the board. Rover do better!

The set percentage thing is pure greed and they are literally encoring people to go off their platform the first chance they get.

Some percentage discounts needs to be in place for volume and repeat clientele. Every single business prior to this brave new world of Rover, AirBnB and what have you have always operated by this simple winning practice.

Sorry hip app people, your shit does stink and you can't hide your greed behind clever marketing. All business since the break of dawn have always been up for negotiation when the perceived/promised value declines, Rover you are no exception. You pinch that channel and force people to continue to take your terms like a hegemony, well... Folks are going to rebel.

You treat me with fairness and willingness to be relevant in your practices and I will return the same.

You were aware of the fee structure when you signed up to be a Rover sitter and you agreed to them. If you aren't happy you can close your profile and stop providing pet care. or you can go to WAG where they take a 40% fee

The 20% is pretty low compared to 40% on Wag! I just add 20% To my rate, so the client basically pays my rate plus the 20% I give Rover. I am VERY HAPPY about it.