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If you love pets, you may consider turning to Rover to make money online. Is this a good option? Here’s what you need to remember.
As the cost of living continues to go up, there are many people looking for ways to make money online. If you love pets, you may consider dog walking or pet sitting, and Rover could be a great place to start that.
Sure, you could start up your own pet sitting business*. This is great if you want to hone your skills there, and if you want to do it full time. What if you just want to pet sit or dog walk every now and then to make a bit of extra cash?
Rover costs little to set up, and you can start making money immediately. Here’s what you need to know, though.
There is a start-up cost for a Rover account
While the actual Rover account is free, there is a cost to set up an account so that you become a pet sitter. I paid $25 to have the background check done. If you fail the background check, you lose out on that money and you can’t pet sit.
The good news is you’ll know if you have a problem that’s going to stop you from passing the background check or not. Once you are approved, you can finish setting your profile up.
Don’t worry if you don’t have the money for the background check just yet. I do recommend setting up your pet sitter profile and getting some friends to share reviews. Then when you have the money, you can quickly get the rest of it set up.
Rover also takes a fee for each of your services. It’s a 20% fee, so for a $33 service, I saw $6.60 taken off. Fortunately, I was given a tip that matched that taken off and sitters get to keep 100% of the tips offered. I don’t mind the service fee since Rover has its calendar, a pet profile, and handles the payments for me.
MORE: Should you get a pet now that you work from home?
It takes time to build up a reputation to make money online
Some people will already have a few potential clients in mind. In this case, you can send them to your Rover profile and start collecting the money through that.
If you don’t have a client base already in mind, you will need to spend some time building it. Otherwise, you’re only going to get people as they search for needs and come across your profile. Some people will already use Rover and have specific pet parents that they want to hire.
My first client happened to be someone who was in a bind and needed emergency overnight care. I would love for her to turn into a regular client, but it’s not guaranteed.
It takes time to build up a reputation. Some of it comes from word of mouth and some of it will come from reviews on the site. Once you have a reputation and some solid clients, it’s possible to make a good side income.
You set your rates and you can change them on Rover
You choose what you’re willing to offer. If you don’t want to board dogs in your own home, that’s okay. There’s the option to only offer to sit pets in their own homes. Alternatively, you can only offer boarding in your own home.
You can also choose to dog walk or for regular check-in visits, which are great options for those who work and need someone just for a few hours.
It’s up to you how much you charge, which can help you get to the financial goals you’d like. You can always up the prices if you find they’re not high enough, or you can lower them. And yes, you can set different rates for puppies compared to dogs, for example. Younger pets will always take up more energy and time. I only charge an extra $3, but that is partly because I forgot how much energy a puppy has!
Keep in mind that you need to pay taxes. This is a service you’re offering, so you’ll need to keep some money on the side when it comes to tax time.
Not everyone will book to help you make money online
Just keep in mind that just because someone messages you about your services doesn’t mean that they will book. I make sure I have Rover notifications turned on so that I see the alerts come through to my phone. However, there was one person I immediately replied back to and then I never heard anything else. She chose someone else without even acknowledging that I’d replied to her.
Don’t count on anything until the booking is in place*. There are ways to cancel after, but there are often fees in place. You can set your terms on how close to a booking someone can cancel. I tend to have a 48-hour cancellation policy to deter issues too close to the time.
This is something that will help you make a bit of extra cash. It’s a good option to make money online as long as you love pets and want to look after them. If you’re not willing to put in that work, then you’ll want to look at other ways to make money online.
MORE: If you don’t have pet insurance, this is what you need to do instead
Do you use Rover as a pet sitter? Are you looking for another part-time hustle? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
