Overview
Pet sitting is sold by the visit, and the trust to enter the customer's home is what the rate actually covers
Pet sitters care for pets in the owner's home while the owner is away. Different to boarding (where the pet goes to a kennel) and to dog walking (which is a single visit), pet sitting covers feeding, fresh water, litter trays, walks for dogs, medication administration, plant watering, mail collection, and the basic peace-of-mind security check on the property. The customer is paying for the pet to stay in its own routine plus the trust that the pet sitter has the house key, knows the alarm code, and follows the medication schedule exactly. A flat 'pet sitting, $40/visit' quote without naming the visit count per day, the medication handling, and the property-care extras misses the relationship the customer is buying.
QuoteGenio gives pet sitters a quoting shape built for the in-home service. Initial meet-and-greet at the customer's home as the first line, daily visit count and duration with the medication schedule, holiday surcharge for Christmas, New Year, Easter, and bank holidays, overnight stay at the customer's home as a separate record where the pet needs round-the-clock care, key handling and alarm setup, daily photo update via WhatsApp, and a property-care add-on (plant watering, mail collection, bin day). Send via WhatsApp to the owner, take a deposit at booking, and the same record holds the feeding instructions, the vet's contact, and the emergency procedure.
Who it is for
Who uses QuoteGenio
Built for every type of drop-in, overnight, and holiday-cover pet sitting business.
The problem
The quoting headaches every pet sitter knows
Drop-in visits, overnight stays, and 14 day holiday blocks each need different pricing. The quoting should not be what keeps you from the next feeding round.
Holiday bookings pile up
December, Easter, and summer see ten owners a week asking for 2 week cover. A vague chat-based quote loses the booking and a precise PDF inside the hour wins it, every time.
Medication schedules get forgotten
A diabetic cat needing twice-daily insulin and a senior dog on three meds are serious responsibilities. Without priced medication-administration lines, the owner does not see the real care and neither do you.
Owners buy reassurance, not the cheapest price
Leaving a pet for a holiday is stressful. Owners pay for professionalism visible on the quote: insurance, key handling, daily update schedule, and an emergency plan. Vague quotes lose the booking.
The fix
QuoteGenio makes it simple
A fast quoting workflow that handles drop-in visits, overnight stays, medication administration, and multi-week holiday cover without a clipboard on the kitchen counter.
The payoff
What you get with QuoteGenio
The everyday wins that add up across a year of quoting and invoicing.
Built for in-home sitting
Line items for drop-in visits, overnight stays, feeding rounds, medication administration, waste and litter, and key-handover visits. Structured the way sitters actually price a block.
Insurance and key trust visible
Branded quotes show your sitter public liability, care-custody-control insurance, and police-check status on every PDF. Owners trust a sitter who puts the paperwork up front, not after a problem.
Quote from the client kitchen
No laptop on the key-handover visit. Build the quote on your phone during the home walkthrough and WhatsApp the PDF before you drive away, locking in the holiday block before the owner compares elsewhere.
Track holiday prepayments
Know which holiday blocks are prepaid, which have overlapping dates, and which owners are on a standing monthly drop-in schedule. No calendar on the fridge required.
Built for your trade
Quoting calibrated to how pet sitters actually work
Pick your trade in Settings and the entire quote flow switches to fit. Line item presets, compliance fields, on-the-quote calculators, and per-m² / after-hours pricing all change to match your industry.
Trade-specific line items
Quick add picker pre-fills the common items your trade quotes. Skip the blank rows.
Brand-specific catalogues
Pylontech, Hikvision, Canadian Solar, Sunsynk and others pre-named. Pick the brand, the description writes itself.
Compliance fields built in
IOPSA, ECASA, PIRB, PSIRA, NHBRC, SAQCC. Set once. Every quote prints them under FROM.
Registration expiry alerts
Dashboard notification 60 days before your PSIRA, CoC or any dated registration lapses.
Per-m² / hour / day billing
Unit selector on every line item: m², hr, linear m, days. Stop doing the maths externally.
After-hours and emergency
1.5× and 2× multipliers as a one-tap toggle. Customer sees the breakdown on the quote.
Quote-flow calculators
Solar size, battery backup, cable run cost. Compute on the spot, drop straight onto the quote.
Staged payments
Deposit on acceptance + balance on completion as two separate amounts on the quote PDF.
Scope-of-work checklist
Structured Included / Not included lists. Client acceptance = signing the scope.
Site-survey mode
Log a location per line item: camera positions, fixtures by room, sensors by zone.
Regional rate hints
Pricing ranges per item per currency shown as you quote.
Free on every plan
All of the above included on the free plan. Premium is for capacity, not the trade tooling.
Why QuoteGenio
Why Pet Sitters choose QuoteGenio
The tools that matter most when you are quoting on-site, under pressure, and between jobs.
Quote from your phone
Most Pet Sitters build and send quotes directly from the job site. No laptop, no office, no delays.
Win more jobs, faster
The first professional quote a client receives usually wins. Respond in minutes, not hours.
Quote to invoice in one click
When the job is accepted, convert to an invoice instantly. No retyping, no double entry.
Pricing guide
Typical Pet Sitters job pricing
A rough guide to what pet sitters charge for drop-in, overnight, and live-in cover. Pricing varies with visit duration, number of pets, medication complexity, and whether the booking falls in a peak holiday block. Use these as a reference when you set your own rate card.
| Job | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Drop-in home visit (30 minutes, feed, water, toilet) | $ 18 - $ 32 |
| Drop-in home visit (45 minutes, extended play) | $ 25 - $ 45 |
| Overnight stay in client home (10pm to 7am) | $ 65 - $ 140 |
| 24 hour live-in house and pet sit | $ 120 - $ 260 |
| Medication administration (oral or subcutaneous) | $ 6 - $ 15 |
| Multi-pet surcharge (additional pet at same home) | $ 5 - $ 12 |
| Holiday peak surcharge (Easter, summer, December) | 15% - 30% |
Pricing shown in USD as a rough benchmark. Rates vary significantly by country, region, currency, and market.
Call-out fees
A key-handover meet-and-greet visit before the first booking should be a named line, not a freebie. Most sitters charge $ 20 to $ 45 for a 30 minute home visit where you take the key, check the routines, and test the lead and feeding setup, refundable against the first booking block.
Hourly vs fixed pricing
Use hourly pricing ($ 25 to $ 48 per hour) for extended sits where the owner needs unusual cover (multiple lunchtime visits on the same day, or an event-day cover block). Use fixed pricing for standard drop-in visits, overnight stays, and 24 hour live-in cover where the routine is defined. Combine both with a holiday peak surcharge for December and summer blocks.
See it in action
Example quote breakdown
Here is what a clean, itemised holiday cover quote looks like. Twice-daily drop-ins, multi-pet surcharge, insulin injection line, litter handling, key-handover visit, and peak surcharge are all priced separately. Transparent quotes win anxious holiday-leaving owners because every care step is visible and accounted for.
Try it yourself
Job size
Region
Sample quote
Holiday cover, two cats including diabetic insulin, 14 days
Drop-in visit (30 minutes, twice daily for 14 days)
Multi-pet surcharge (second cat, per visit)
Insulin injection and glucose monitoring (per visit)
Litter tray clean and waste removal (per visit)
Daily photo and WhatsApp update to owner (per day)
Key-handover meet-and-greet visit (30 minutes)
Holiday peak surcharge (summer block, 15% on base)
| Description | Qty | Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drop-in visit (30 minutes, twice daily for 14 days) | 28 | $ 24.00 | $ 672 |
| Multi-pet surcharge (second cat, per visit) | 28 | $ 8.00 | $ 224 |
| Insulin injection and glucose monitoring (per visit) | 28 | $ 12.00 | $ 336 |
| Litter tray clean and waste removal (per visit) | 28 | $ 4.00 | $ 112 |
| Daily photo and WhatsApp update to owner (per day) | 14 | $ 0.00 | $ 0.00 |
| Key-handover meet-and-greet visit (30 minutes) | 1 | $ 35.00 | $ 35.00 |
| Holiday peak surcharge (summer block, 15% on base) | 1 | $ 156 | $ 156 |
| Subtotal | $ 1,535 | ||
| Tax (10%) | $ 154 | ||
| Total incl. tax | $ 1,689 | ||
Totals recalculate as you change the controls above. Tax rate inferred from the sample quote.
Items often forgotten
The multi-pet surcharge when there are two or more cats, the medication administration for a diabetic pet, the litter tray clean and waste removal, the daily WhatsApp update with photo evidence, and the holiday peak surcharge on Easter, summer, and December blocks. Add these to your standard holiday cover template so they do not disappear into a flat per-visit rate.
Peer snapshot
How Pet Sitters actually use QuoteGenio
Indicative activity for Pet Sitters on the platform. Use it as a benchmark for how often to quote and how fast to respond.
26
Quotes sent per month
52%
Average quote acceptance
4 min
Median time to send quote
$ 1,689
Typical quote value
Figures are indicative platform averages for this trade segment.
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Avoid these
Common quoting mistakes
We talk to a lot of pet sitters. The same scoping gaps come up every holiday season from Easter through to new year. Fixing these protects your income during peak months, keeps anxious holiday-leaving owners rebooking year after year, and stops a complicated diabetic cat sit from silently eating your Christmas week margin.
Mistake: Flat per-visit rate ignoring pet count
Better: State a multi-pet surcharge (typically $ 5 to $ 12 per additional pet per visit) on every quote. A three-cat household is a different feeding and cleaning round from a one-cat home, and the time difference is real.
Mistake: Free medication administration
Better: Price medication administration per dose per visit (typically $ 6 to $ 15), especially for insulin, subcutaneous fluids, or multi-drug schedules. Missing an insulin dose has serious welfare consequences and the responsibility deserves payment.
Mistake: No holiday peak surcharge
Better: Build a peak surcharge of 15 to 30 percent into Easter, summer, and December holiday blocks on every quote. Sitters work while the rest of the world is on holiday and the premium is standard industry practice that owners expect.
Mistake: Vague daily update promises
Better: State on the quote exactly what the daily update looks like: typically one WhatsApp message per visit with a photo, plus a longer morning update on overnight stays. Owners pay for peace of mind and the update is the product as much as the feed is.
Mistake: No insurance statement on the quote
Better: State sitter public liability, care-custody-control insurance, and police-check status on every quote PDF. Professional sitters win premium bookings against hobbyist friends-of-friends by putting the paperwork up front, not after a break-in.
Mistake: No emergency vet protocol on the quote
Better: Include a line stating your agreed emergency vet protocol, the authorised spend cap (typically $ 300 to $ 800 before calling the owner), and which 24 hour vet is on the schedule. Owners leave with confidence when the worst-case plan is written down.
Mistake: No cancellation tiers on holiday blocks
Better: State cancellation tiers on every holiday block quote: deposit non-refundable (typically 30 percent), 30 days 50 percent, 7 days 100 percent. Sitters turn away other holiday bookings to hold a date, and a late cancel without tiers is a lost fortnight.
Mistake: No follow-up after sending the quote
Better: Most quotes that don't close, don't close because nobody followed up. Send a polite check-in 48 hours after the quote lands, and a second nudge at day 7. Two of every three accepted quotes get there because someone followed up.
Step by step
How to quote pet sitting jobs
Before quoting a holiday block, schedule a paid key-handover meet-and-greet at the client home. Walk through the feeding routine, medication schedule, exercise needs, and household quirks because a diabetic cat on twice-daily insulin is a very different booking from a self-regulating cat with a feeder bowl. Confirm the number of pets, species (some sitters do not cover reptiles or exotics), vaccination status, and any known temperament or health issues. Record the access arrangement (physical key, lock-box code, or smart lock), alarm code, agreed emergency vet details with an authorised spend cap, and any neighbours or family contacts. Check for waste handling arrangements, plant watering, bin days, and post collection so the house-sit element is as clear as the pet side.
Itemise drop-in visits, overnight stays, live-in days, medication, multi-pet surcharge, and extras as separate lines. Price drop-in visits by duration (30 minutes at $ 18 to $ 32, 45 minutes at $ 25 to $ 45), overnight stays at $ 65 to $ 140 per night including morning feed, and 24 hour live-in cover at $ 120 to $ 260 per day. Multi-pet surcharge runs $ 5 to $ 12 per additional pet per visit. Medication administration is $ 6 to $ 15 per dose per visit, with a higher rate for injections or subcutaneous fluids. Key-handover meet-and-greet ($ 20 to $ 45) is refundable against the first block. Daily WhatsApp updates with photo evidence should be stated on the quote because the update is part of what owners are paying for. Holiday peak surcharge of 15 to 30 percent applies to Easter, summer, and December blocks.
Set a 30 day validity on holiday block quotes and ask for a 30 percent non-refundable deposit on booking, with balance due 7 days before the block starts. State cancellation tiers clearly (deposit non-refundable, 30 days 50 percent, 7 days 100 percent) because sitters turn away other holiday bookings to hold a fortnight. Display your sitter public liability and care-custody-control insurance on every PDF along with police-check status. State the agreed emergency vet protocol with the authorised spend cap and the 24 hour vet on the schedule. Confirm vaccination requirements, any medication handling insurance restrictions, and the exact photo and WhatsApp update schedule. For overnight and live-in blocks state the arrival and departure times and whether bedding is provided by the owner.
Reply fast. Holiday-leaving owners DM several sitters and typically pick the first professional PDF that arrives. Build the quote on your phone in the client kitchen during the key-handover visit and send the branded PDF as a WhatsApp link before you leave the driveway. Put standing clients on a recurring monthly drop-in schedule so regular cover is a one-tap re-issue, and use QuoteGenio to track holiday block expiry so the next year's block quote goes out in January or February for summer. Convert accepted holiday cover into a deposit invoice on booking and a balance invoice at the 7 day mark so cashflow tracks the committed fortnight. Send a welcome-back message the day after the owner returns with the final invoice attached.
FAQ
Common questions from pet sitters
Everything you need to know before getting started.
Yes. Build templates for 30 minute drop-ins, 45 minute extended drop-ins, overnight stays, 24 hour live-in cover, and multi-week holiday blocks. Send the template that fits the booking and keep the pricing structure consistent across the client book.
Yes. Every quote is a branded PDF with your sitter details, insurance statement, police-check status, and daily update schedule. Share the link via WhatsApp and the owner gets the full document instantly, which reassures anxious holiday-leaving clients and closes the booking before they look elsewhere.
Price medication as a per-dose per-visit line ($ 6 to $ 15), with a higher rate for insulin, subcutaneous fluids, or multi-drug schedules. State the protocol on the quote and confirm the prescription instructions with the owner at the key-handover. Medication responsibility is serious and deserves its own line.
Yes. Every quote has a unique public link with an accept button. When the owner accepts, convert to a deposit invoice with one click. Holiday blocks are confirmed without a paper contract and the owner can pay the balance a week before the block starts.
Yes. For clients on monthly drop-in schedules, set up a recurring invoice cycle so payment comes in ahead of the visits. For holiday blocks, issue a deposit invoice on booking and a balance invoice 7 days before the block starts.
Yes. The free plan gives you 5 quotes and 2 invoices per month with no credit card required. Upgrade to Premium for unlimited quotes, invoices, statements, and reports, which active sitters exceed easily during holiday peak seasons.
Build a peak surcharge of 15 to 30 percent into Easter, summer, and December holiday blocks on every quote. State the peak dates clearly and give standing clients first refusal on peak weeks. Sitters who work through Christmas deserve the premium and owners expect it as standard industry practice.
State sitter public liability insurance (to cover third-party injury or property damage), care-custody-control insurance (to cover the pets in your care), and police-check or background-check status on every quote. Professional sitters win premium work against hobbyist friends-of-friends by putting the paperwork up front, not after a claim.
Agree the owner's preferred vet, an authorised spend cap (typically $ 300 to $ 800 before calling the owner), and the 24 hour emergency vet on the schedule at the key-handover visit. State the protocol on the quote so the plan is written down and the owner leaves with confidence that the worst case is covered.
Yes, and state it on every quote. One update per visit with a photo, plus a longer morning message on overnight stays, is the industry standard and a big part of what owners are paying for. It also protects you with a time-stamped record that the visit happened and the pet was well.
Still have questions? We would rather answer them now than after you have signed up.
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Guides
Guides for Pet Sitters
Practical advice to help you quote better, get paid faster, and grow your business.
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