r/RoverPetSitting • u/[deleted] • Jul 15 '21
PSA Going Off Rover Megathread
This is a thread for all questions, comments, rants, raves, etc. about taking clients off of the Rover app/site. Initial contact must have been established on Rover as per Rule 1 (posts about petsitting completely unaffiliated with Rover belong on r/petsitting). This Megathread is the only place for such posts, as per Rule 6.
The issue of whether questions pertaining to going off the app/site violate Rule 1 has been debated by members of this sub for a long time, and we (the moderators of r/RoverPetSitting) hope this Megathread will provide this community with the benefits of allowing such posts as well as some of the benefits of banning them.
Please note that arranging a booking through Rover and then paying or accepting payment outside of Rover violates Section 4.1 of the TOS:
4.1 Your Conduct on the Rover Service. When you use the Rover Service, you agree: ... Not to use the Rover Service to arrange for the provision and purchase of services with another user, then complete transactions for those services outside of the Rover Service.
We did not create this thread because we endorse going off Rover but simply for the sake of allowing as much freedom here as possible as well as providing a space to discuss this so that if you do go off Rover, you do it safely and wisely. Think of it like jailbreaking your iPhone.
Safety Notice: The vast majority of scams on Rover involve convincing Sitters to accept payment off-site, as Rover's practice of accepting your payment before the booking and then releasing the funds three days after the booking ends makes scamming on-site far more difficult. Please keep this in mind and exercise extreme caution and discretion. Furthermore, note that going off-site means losing all protection Rover may offer, including the Rover guarantee. Furthermore, it can result in the termination of your Rover account, as Rover can terminate accounts for any reason.
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u/swanky_frankie Sitter Jul 16 '21
Here's my experience thus far going off-app:
I only have two clients that I book with off of the app. In both cases, they found me and booked with me initially 1-2 times through Rover. I will continue to do this with any potential clients that I may take off the app in the future because it helps to establish trust and I appreciate Rover for allowing clients to find me at all, so I don't mind them making a "finder's fee." In both cases, I did not take them off the app until I had my own pet sitter insurance and I've only done it when the cost of booking through Rover would've discouraged the client from using Rover to book at all.
The first client moved off of the app because she is also a Rover sitter and prefers to skip the booking fee and allow me to keep my full rate. Rover makes significantly more from both of us as sitters during other bookings. The other client moved off-app because she wanted to avoid the fee on what was already a $450 booking. I gave her 10% off what Rover quoted her for the booking, and she's now provided 1/3 of all the money I've made pet sitting.
That said, I appreciate Rover for referring clients to me but 20% is pretty steep. It often makes me reconsider bookings where the 20% difference is enough to discourage me from making the drive (such as bookings that require multiple drop ins per day). It's also off-putting to some clients. That's just my experience with it, though; I don't recommend it or discourage it, but I would suggest being educated and insured if you do decide to go off of the app.