Airbnb owners have learned how to work around this and that's what Rover is asking for. I'll negotiate with my sitter to pay her cash directly and yes, Rover, I'm aware that I won't get your protection blah blah which is essentially useless if anything happens to my dog/sitter.

And oh, by the way it's 7%, not 5% that the client pays on top of the booking fee. It was introduced as 5-7% but it's actually charged at 7%. Can you say ripoff????? Of both the clients and the sitters.

That's close to 30% of the booking charge. Airbnb is less than 10% and that's a relatively passive activity - giving access to a home, not an active activity where a worker is caring for someone's dearly loved lived animal. Rover, please reconsider. Let's see some evidence of your costs.

Yes, this fee is beyond ridiculous. In their initial introduction Rover explains that Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, everyone charges a service fee which is true. However NONE of these companies charge anywhere near what Rover does. On a $250 booking, they charge $17.50 plus keep $50 from the sitter.

Let's see some hard numbers on your costs.

This fee is ridiculous. Combine the fee and the amount withheld from the sitters (15-20%) and on a $250 booking, Rover is taking 27%. Rover gets $68; the sitter gets $200. No company, not Uber, not Lyft, no one takes close to 30%. Ridiculous; your service is just not worth that.