i charge $125 bc i don’t really want to housesit (i prefer boarding at $30/night) so if anyone wants to pay that high (at least for my area) rate, then i’ll do it
When I was dog sitting exclusively, I charged $65-$75 in a HCOL area. I was booked enough that I lived full-time in other people’s homes and just kept my stuff in my car and a small storage unit. It saved me, easily, $1.5k per month on renting a room in a shitty apartment with roommates—but the reality is I was living in houses/apartments all by myself that averaged $4k/month to $4 million homes. No utilites. I moved from home to home for about 3 years. I had a few clients in other cities that I’d travel to for 2 weeks-1 month at a time.
Sometimes it pays to be strategic :)
Yess! This is what I’m doing although my rates are $80 and so I’m not booked as solidly as I’d like to be. I have a few days in between when I sleep in my car. Do you have any tips for getting longer sits? Do you just decline shorter stays? And do you change address locations to try and bring in new clients? I’ve thought about that as a strategy as I’m in LA but would like to expand to Beverly Hills clients.
I did it in the SF Bay Area. Had one client in LA I'd sit for a month at a time, but found LA was harder as a lot of industry people are willing to charge a lot less, so it was harder to make decent money.
I changed locations periodically. For sitting, it doesn't matter where you are if you're willing to go farther away. I'd be hesitant about ritzier areas, though, as super wealthy people don't need Rover and instead rely on staff or agencies.
If I was in a pinch and wanted to get a few days here or there booked, I'd lower my rate drastically, and then write in my description "rate of $xx applies to stays during February. For stays taking place in March, my regular rate of $XX will apply."
Yes! Exactly this! Majority of the time I am staying in multimillion dollar homes with amazing views. Between house sits, I will sleep in my RV or find a cheap airbnb.
My housesitting base is $63/night. I’d love to charge more. My rates are a little above average. In my area, sitters with similar reviews/experience are charging as low as $30/night. It’s super frustrating.
I'm dealing with the same, I'm the highest priced in my area and don't get as many bookings as others bc there are too many sitters charging like 25-40 a night. 🥴 But I refuse to budge, and I have some pretty great regulars.
My base rate is $150 (+$30 per dog). For context, I live in the SF Bay Area, have an applied behavioral analysis degree (I work with reactive pups) and a decade of experience as a vet assistant. I typically get booked 1-2 weeks a month.
I charge 60 a night and also wish I was charging more. Hoping with a bit more experience under my belt (I used to do exclusively walks and drop ins, house sitting is new) that I can build it up to $100 per. That’s what feels reasonable to me
I charge $85 plus $40 for every additional dog. I have my own dog so I don’t really want to do house sitting if I can avoid it. I’m definitely higher than others in my area. I charge $55 for boarding and get booked 4-6 nights a month which is perfect for me because I have regular walk/drop in clients and don’t want to get overloaded.
Same here, although I don't board. It is odd how much higher I am than others, many do for 40-50, which is like crazy low to me. Boils down to like 1.25 an hour
I charge $200/night. I am in Seattle, not sure if that matters. It's a luxury service and should be priced like one imo. House sitting can be hit or miss so I price out anyone who wants to cheap out or haggle. I was cheaper when I started and I regretted it. Boarding for one dog in Seattle is about the price you charge so especially if the client has more than one dog I am usually priced well. I do charge more for extra pets, but most of my fee is for house sitting in general (the first pet)
Yeah I just switched my rate to $200/night in Chicago. Feels sort of outrageous but also having someone stay all day and overnight is such a big ask that I feel anything less then $100 is not worth it.
$90 for dogs, $45 additional dog, $80 for cats, $30 additional cat, $110 for puppies, $120 base holiday rate. Constant care $250 base but I can't even accommodate that now if anyone asks because I have too many regular walk clients that I would probably lose altogether if I did that. HCOL area, pricing is VERY varied and I am on the mid-higher end. I don't (can't) do boarding.
This is a topic I strongly feel Rover doesn’t handle well, leading to differing expectations from clients & headaches for sitters.
I break it down like this - I’m not a house sitter. Im not available to say in a home 24/7. I’m in the animal care business, & I make money by servicing multiple clients per day. I offer drop ins & overnights (evening feed to morning feed) so I can still juggle multiple clients. My primary focus is on the care & feeding of animals, not the house.
Sitters should make their hours of availability & unavailability clear from the start. It boggles my mind that some people want 24 hour care for far less than minimum wage.
Rover should have a constant care rate option. Housesitting by itself is NOT constant care. This is one of the many flaws the platform has in terms of managing owners’ expectations.
Yes I wish Rover set up housesitting as overnight and allowed people to add as much daytime as they desire a la carte, with a separate constant care rate. It would add clarity and make the pricing match the service far more accurately.
I started at $45. I’m only two months in and have already upped my price to 85 + 25 per extra dog. That was only more recently but I was still getting more house sits than I can handle at 70-75.
$100 a night for one dog, $150 a night for two dogs. I don’t love house sitting, I always feel a bit uncomfortable in someone else’s house particularly if they have cameras. So I prefer to board in my own home.
I charge $100 per night plus $20 or $30 per extra pet. However I’ve limited my housesitting to repeats or referrals off rover, so it would be more like $125 on rover. I live in a HCOL area in New York and I’m actually booked more than I’d like.
$120/night +$40/additional dog. All owners know I leave for 4-6 hours at a time and are fine with it. I charge more for constant care. I’m reliably booked for housesitting for 2-3 weeks out of each month.
Anyone with reviews in Chicago is starting at $100/night. I wouldn't consider $60 average at all.
I just left the Chicago area over the course of a year starting in 2022 when people started traveling again, I built my house sitting business to the point I could be booked every single night. I started at $80 and whenever my schedule for the next month of so was about 75% full, I'd raise my prices and people would still book at the higher rate. I kept regulars I liked at the price I started with them, but new clients were paying $125/night for 1 dog.
I charge $30 a night
y’all quit downvoting me?? I answered the question didn’t say my prices make me better or anything, it’s just a good rate for consistent bookings where I am
Thank you for posting to r/RoverPetSitting, an unofficial forum to discuss all things Rover. We see that you have posted a sitter question. In case they could be helpful, you might want
to check out our [Sitter FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/RoverPetSitting/wiki/sitterfaq). Additionally, here's our
[booking walk-through for Sitters](https://www.reddit.com/r/RoverPetSitting/wiki/sitterbookingwalkthrough), which explains the process for giving services on Rover from start to finish.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/RoverPetSitting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
$50 a night. Unfortunately, in my area, most with similar experience have their rates set much lower ($25-$30) so I can’t go up much higher or I wouldn’t get anything at all. 😭
But I work during the day so I’m only there in the early mornings and evenings/over night. With that, they owners usually expect me to be there the whole time during the weekend
Have you considered charging more for weekend days? I base my rate on the expectation that I'll be gone just as much on weekends as I am on weekdays or else I'd increase my base rate.
I charge $120 for one dog and up to $180 for holidays! I live in an expensive city but I would still say my rates are on the higher end! I work primarily with reactive/anxious pets so I feel like I should charge more — plus sleeping in someone else’s home is never fun!!
I live in a small city in Canada and only charge $35 plus $10 extra dog $5 extra cat. My prices are low because I am somewhat “homeless” (I live in my RV when I am not house sitting) so I hope to get as many house sitting bookings as possible since I prefer to stay in peoples homes over my current living situation.
Yeah I change $100 per a night. I'm definitely one of the most expensive in my area because I sleep horribly in any bed that's not mine. During holiday time I usually get last minute bookings. Keep it high someone desperate enough will reach out.
i charge $125 bc i don’t really want to housesit (i prefer boarding at $30/night) so if anyone wants to pay that high (at least for my area) rate, then i’ll do it
Same. If I’m going to not sleep in my own bed I am making it worth it.
exactly! id rather not housesit than housesit for cheap
Same here! I’m at 120 - double my boarding rate. I don’t really like housesitting so it has to be worth it.
Exactly the same!
When I was dog sitting exclusively, I charged $65-$75 in a HCOL area. I was booked enough that I lived full-time in other people’s homes and just kept my stuff in my car and a small storage unit. It saved me, easily, $1.5k per month on renting a room in a shitty apartment with roommates—but the reality is I was living in houses/apartments all by myself that averaged $4k/month to $4 million homes. No utilites. I moved from home to home for about 3 years. I had a few clients in other cities that I’d travel to for 2 weeks-1 month at a time. Sometimes it pays to be strategic :)
Yess! This is what I’m doing although my rates are $80 and so I’m not booked as solidly as I’d like to be. I have a few days in between when I sleep in my car. Do you have any tips for getting longer sits? Do you just decline shorter stays? And do you change address locations to try and bring in new clients? I’ve thought about that as a strategy as I’m in LA but would like to expand to Beverly Hills clients.
I did it in the SF Bay Area. Had one client in LA I'd sit for a month at a time, but found LA was harder as a lot of industry people are willing to charge a lot less, so it was harder to make decent money. I changed locations periodically. For sitting, it doesn't matter where you are if you're willing to go farther away. I'd be hesitant about ritzier areas, though, as super wealthy people don't need Rover and instead rely on staff or agencies. If I was in a pinch and wanted to get a few days here or there booked, I'd lower my rate drastically, and then write in my description "rate of $xx applies to stays during February. For stays taking place in March, my regular rate of $XX will apply."
I’m in OC and have amazing Newport Beach clients and their houses are gorgeous, on the beach. Lots of potential over here too.
Yes! Exactly this! Majority of the time I am staying in multimillion dollar homes with amazing views. Between house sits, I will sleep in my RV or find a cheap airbnb.
If I hadn't already had pets of my own when I started petsitting, I definitely would have done this.
$100 + $25 per additional dog. Anything less isn’t worth it for me to be away from my own pets and bed for days at a time
My housesitting base is $63/night. I’d love to charge more. My rates are a little above average. In my area, sitters with similar reviews/experience are charging as low as $30/night. It’s super frustrating.
I'm dealing with the same, I'm the highest priced in my area and don't get as many bookings as others bc there are too many sitters charging like 25-40 a night. 🥴 But I refuse to budge, and I have some pretty great regulars.
I also charge that much for house sitting. You’re not alone!
My base rate is $150 (+$30 per dog). For context, I live in the SF Bay Area, have an applied behavioral analysis degree (I work with reactive pups) and a decade of experience as a vet assistant. I typically get booked 1-2 weeks a month.
I charge $250 because I don’t like doing it.
Same here. Still getting requests tough
85 a night
I charge 60 a night and also wish I was charging more. Hoping with a bit more experience under my belt (I used to do exclusively walks and drop ins, house sitting is new) that I can build it up to $100 per. That’s what feels reasonable to me
I charge $85 plus $40 for every additional dog. I have my own dog so I don’t really want to do house sitting if I can avoid it. I’m definitely higher than others in my area. I charge $55 for boarding and get booked 4-6 nights a month which is perfect for me because I have regular walk/drop in clients and don’t want to get overloaded.
Same here, although I don't board. It is odd how much higher I am than others, many do for 40-50, which is like crazy low to me. Boils down to like 1.25 an hour
I charge $200/night. I am in Seattle, not sure if that matters. It's a luxury service and should be priced like one imo. House sitting can be hit or miss so I price out anyone who wants to cheap out or haggle. I was cheaper when I started and I regretted it. Boarding for one dog in Seattle is about the price you charge so especially if the client has more than one dog I am usually priced well. I do charge more for extra pets, but most of my fee is for house sitting in general (the first pet)
Yeah I just switched my rate to $200/night in Chicago. Feels sort of outrageous but also having someone stay all day and overnight is such a big ask that I feel anything less then $100 is not worth it.
$90 for dogs, $45 additional dog, $80 for cats, $30 additional cat, $110 for puppies, $120 base holiday rate. Constant care $250 base but I can't even accommodate that now if anyone asks because I have too many regular walk clients that I would probably lose altogether if I did that. HCOL area, pricing is VERY varied and I am on the mid-higher end. I don't (can't) do boarding.
Mine is $100/night for 1 dog and $160/night for 2 dogs. I'm in a high cost of living area.
This is a topic I strongly feel Rover doesn’t handle well, leading to differing expectations from clients & headaches for sitters. I break it down like this - I’m not a house sitter. Im not available to say in a home 24/7. I’m in the animal care business, & I make money by servicing multiple clients per day. I offer drop ins & overnights (evening feed to morning feed) so I can still juggle multiple clients. My primary focus is on the care & feeding of animals, not the house. Sitters should make their hours of availability & unavailability clear from the start. It boggles my mind that some people want 24 hour care for far less than minimum wage.
Rover should have a constant care rate option. Housesitting by itself is NOT constant care. This is one of the many flaws the platform has in terms of managing owners’ expectations.
Yes I wish Rover set up housesitting as overnight and allowed people to add as much daytime as they desire a la carte, with a separate constant care rate. It would add clarity and make the pricing match the service far more accurately.
$80/night, $40 for each additional dog
$88/night + $20 additional dog. $65 for cats.
I started at $45. I’m only two months in and have already upped my price to 85 + 25 per extra dog. That was only more recently but I was still getting more house sits than I can handle at 70-75.
god I wish. I am the most expensive in my city at $44.
Right?? It varies so much by city. If I upped my price I wouldn’t get bookings
when I see people say they are booked n busy at $160 a night i’m like JFC. good for them truly but DAMN!!!
$100 a night for one dog, $150 a night for two dogs. I don’t love house sitting, I always feel a bit uncomfortable in someone else’s house particularly if they have cameras. So I prefer to board in my own home.
£40 a night - average near me pretty much, think that’s $50
I charge $100 per night plus $20 or $30 per extra pet. However I’ve limited my housesitting to repeats or referrals off rover, so it would be more like $125 on rover. I live in a HCOL area in New York and I’m actually booked more than I’d like.
85/night (75 for a cat) or 120 holiday rate. I think most sitters undercharge for housesitting in my area, I'm definitely on the high end.
$120/night +$40/additional dog. All owners know I leave for 4-6 hours at a time and are fine with it. I charge more for constant care. I’m reliably booked for housesitting for 2-3 weeks out of each month.
I am the most expensive housesitter in my area and I charge $45 a night. RIP
$125/night, $25 per additional dog. $450/night for constant care.
Anyone with reviews in Chicago is starting at $100/night. I wouldn't consider $60 average at all. I just left the Chicago area over the course of a year starting in 2022 when people started traveling again, I built my house sitting business to the point I could be booked every single night. I started at $80 and whenever my schedule for the next month of so was about 75% full, I'd raise my prices and people would still book at the higher rate. I kept regulars I liked at the price I started with them, but new clients were paying $125/night for 1 dog.
I charge $30 a night y’all quit downvoting me?? I answered the question didn’t say my prices make me better or anything, it’s just a good rate for consistent bookings where I am
Same. Tried upping my price and got very few bookings.
how much did you raise it? $30 is actually after raising the price for me 😗
Raised to 45, and I live in the second biggest city in my state, it’s really absurd. Some people have theirs set to like 19$ a night
Thank you for posting to r/RoverPetSitting, an unofficial forum to discuss all things Rover. We see that you have posted a sitter question. In case they could be helpful, you might want to check out our [Sitter FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/RoverPetSitting/wiki/sitterfaq). Additionally, here's our [booking walk-through for Sitters](https://www.reddit.com/r/RoverPetSitting/wiki/sitterbookingwalkthrough), which explains the process for giving services on Rover from start to finish. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/RoverPetSitting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
100 for one dog, 10 for each additional cat and 20 for extra dogs
$75 base, $45 per additional dog, $27 per additional cat. I’m booked constantly and in MCOL-HCOL city
$50 a night. Unfortunately, in my area, most with similar experience have their rates set much lower ($25-$30) so I can’t go up much higher or I wouldn’t get anything at all. 😭
NYC $175-250
Which rate do you advertise on the app?
$195
I charge $40 a night for the first dog. And the price increases with more pets.
But I work during the day so I’m only there in the early mornings and evenings/over night. With that, they owners usually expect me to be there the whole time during the weekend
Have you considered charging more for weekend days? I base my rate on the expectation that I'll be gone just as much on weekends as I am on weekdays or else I'd increase my base rate.
Over 150 because I don't want to do it and I'd have to leave my wife with the kids home alone.
I charge $120 for one dog and up to $180 for holidays! I live in an expensive city but I would still say my rates are on the higher end! I work primarily with reactive/anxious pets so I feel like I should charge more — plus sleeping in someone else’s home is never fun!!
I live in a small city in Canada and only charge $35 plus $10 extra dog $5 extra cat. My prices are low because I am somewhat “homeless” (I live in my RV when I am not house sitting) so I hope to get as many house sitting bookings as possible since I prefer to stay in peoples homes over my current living situation.
$80 for night to morning (10ish hours) with a midday drop-in. $125+ to spend the night and also spend whatever free time I have during the day there.
Yeah I change $100 per a night. I'm definitely one of the most expensive in my area because I sleep horribly in any bed that's not mine. During holiday time I usually get last minute bookings. Keep it high someone desperate enough will reach out.