It's not the client's responsibility to know the sitter's abilities. It's the sitter's responsibility to know what they can and cannot handle and maturely and professionally communicate these to the client in advance of any stay being agreed upon.

Interesting. What makes you say that?

So how do you find clients who value you? One thing I know is I could get much better at marketing my services via flyers and such. Maybe then I'd get more people than via the site since they would go directly to my profile without seeing everyone else's. :-/

Thanks for your thoughts! I'd definitely rather get paid my value for sure (or at least closer to it). But how do you compete with cheap sitters who also have good reviews? Even when I've had lots of availability, I have this problem. :(

Just updated my availability. (I limited it because I will be working full-time soon). Even over the summer when I had availability for months in advance, I wasn't getting lots of new requests. Do you have any idea how to compete with cheaper sitters?

The rates in my area are generally incredibly low. I don't believe I'm the most expensive, but probably 60th+ percentile. I have a lot of fantastic reviews, but so do other (cheaper) sitters in my area. I've lowered my prices as much as I feel comfortable and have always gotten clients here and there, but I think most customers are just looking for the cheapest, half-decent sitter. Is there any way for me to compete? My customers tend to return when they need pet care, but I don't get new customers as frequently as I'd like.

I already offer overnight house sitting though, so I'm trying to find a way to distinguish daytime house sitting from overnight and make it easier for customers to find. :-/

So you think it's okay to offer "daycare" and just explain to people (via message and in my profile) that I do it a little differently?

I can't do daycare in my home, but would love to offer daytime house sitting for customers who want someone with their dog while they're at work. How should I let customers know that I provide this service? Here are the options I'm thinking of:

1. Turn on daycare services and explain to each request that I provide daycare in THEIR home (contrary to how Rover describes daycare).
2. Offer daytime housesitting to anyone who requests multiple drop-ins or overnight house sitting.
3. List daytime housesitting in my profile and don't otherwise mention it.

Many sitters provide daycare in the sitter's home where you drop off the dog in the morning and pick them up in the evening; this is a service you can search for on Rover. Some sitters, like myself, also offer daycare in the owner's home, but it is not a designated service on Rover, so you have to look at each sitter's profile or ask each sitter you're interested in if they provide this service.

What's your process for handling time away from house sitting. I'm curious if people charge extra if they have to be there 24/7 (and can't do other services like drop-ins), if you talk with each house sitting client about their preferences for how many breaks you can take away from the home and for how long, or if you set your own system and inform your clients that's how it is (e.g. "House sitting includes overnight care and regular potty/play breaks, but I will be out for a few hours here and there during the daytime")