OnlyPaw's fair pricing model, explained

By OnlyPaw Editorial · Published 2026-04-05 · 5 min read · Filed in Business

How OnlyPaw's flat 5 percent platform fee compares with alternative pricing models, and what providers actually pay after all costs.

Fees on a pet-service platform are the second most-asked provider question, after payout timing. OnlyPaw uses a flat 5 percent platform fee across all services and all markets. Here is how that compares to alternatives and what it actually covers.

The 5 percent flat fee

• 5 percent of the booking value is deducted from the provider's payout.
• No tiered fees, no premium tiers, no service-specific rates.
• Applies uniformly to walking, sitting, boarding, grooming, training, and pet taxi.

Example: a $60 booking becomes $57 in the provider's payout.

What the fee covers

The 5 percent covers:

• Payment processing (typically 2-4 percent silent cost elsewhere).
• Customer discovery and marketing at platform level.
• Verification infrastructure (24-48 hour ID checks).
• Booking software (calendar, messaging, GPS trails).
• 24/7 customer support.
• Dispute handling.
• Insurance-adjacent infrastructure.

Compared to a cash-first business paying these costs separately, 5 percent is often the cheapest single line item.

How that compares

Common alternative structures in pet services:

• Some marketplaces charge providers 15-25 percent commission. Provider payout on a $60 booking drops to $45-$51.
• Some subscription-model platforms charge fixed monthly fees regardless of booking volume. Providers with low volume pay for empty inventory.
• Cash-first freelance work has hidden costs: unpaid bookings (3-6 percent), payment processing (2-4 percent), admin time (2-5 hours/week).

OnlyPaw's 5 percent is meaningfully below the median commission rate in the industry.

The customer side

Customers see their booking price and choose to book. The 5 percent is deducted from the provider payout, not added on top of what the customer pays.

• Booking price: $60.
• Customer pays: $60.
• Provider receives: $57 (after 5 percent fee).

Some platforms add customer-side service fees on top of the provider's rate. OnlyPaw does not.

Why not lower

Running the platform costs money. The 5 percent is set to cover:

• Full-time customer support (including 24/7 coverage).
• Ongoing platform development.
• Verification for every provider.
• Payment processing.
• Insurance-friendly infrastructure.

A lower fee would compromise support quality or verification thoroughness. Both matter more than a percentage point.

Why not higher

Higher fees push providers off-platform. Cash-first arrangements benefit nobody in the long run. The 5 percent is designed to be cheap enough that providers keep bookings on-platform, which is where the safety, verification, and insurance-friendly infrastructure lives.

Providers who compare with cash-first

Providers considering off-platform cash arrangements should model the full cost.

Cash-first cost stack:

• 3-4 percent card processing fees.
• 3-6 percent unpaid bookings (customers who cancel or refuse to pay).
• 2-5 hours per week in admin (invoicing, chasing, dispute).
• No professional insurance paper trail.
• No GPS or timestamps for dispute resolution.

Total real cost of cash-first: often 8-12 percent of gross plus significant time.

Platform fee at 5 percent replaces almost all of these.

Payouts and fees together

• Weekly Monday payouts.
• $50 minimum payout.
• 5 percent fee applied per booking, visible on every payout statement.
• Bank transfer or PayPal.

The itemised payout statement makes the fee visible and predictable.

Fee changes

OnlyPaw commits to:

• Notice of any fee changes at least 60 days in advance.
• No retroactive fee changes on existing bookings.
• Transparency about what the fee covers.

VAT and taxes on the fee

The 5 percent is the platform fee. Local taxes on the fee vary by jurisdiction.

• In some markets, VAT applies on the platform fee. Providers see this in their payout statement.
• Providers are responsible for their own income and business tax on gross earnings.

Consult a local accountant for specifics.

Multi-service providers

Providers offering more than one service pay the same 5 percent across all services. No tiered pricing.

• Walking booking: 5 percent.
• Boarding booking: 5 percent.
• Grooming booking: 5 percent.

The fee versus the value

Providers should ask what they get for the 5 percent.

• Customer discovery through the marketplace.
• Verified customer profiles.
• Payment processing.
• Live GPS on active bookings.
• In-app messaging archive.
• Panic button and 24/7 support.
• Booking software.
• Insurance-friendly paper trail.

Sum of the parts is typically 10-15 percent worth of infrastructure for a solo provider.

The one number to remember

$60 booking. $3 platform fee. $57 payout.

Clean and predictable.

The platform in one sentence

OnlyPaw is a pet-services marketplace covering walking, sitting, boarding, grooming, training, and pet taxi. Providers upload ID during 24-48 hour verification. Payouts land Monday to bank transfer or PayPal, $50 minimum, 5 percent platform fee.

The fee versus discount debate

Some providers wonder whether they should raise their booking prices to compensate for the platform fee.

• Small increase: fine, and consistent with market pricing.
• Large increase: may price you above competitors.

Better approach: price at the market rate, absorb the 5 percent as an operating cost, and treat it as a cheap replacement for the alternative costs (card processing, unpaid bookings, admin).

The fee on tips

Tips added by customers pass through directly to providers.

• No platform fee on customer-added tips.
• Tips appear separately on the payout statement.
• Providers keep 100 percent of tips.

For US providers particularly, tips can add $2,000-$8,000 to annual gross for a full-time walker or sitter.

The refund handling

If a customer disputes a booking and receives a refund, the platform fee is also refunded proportionally. Providers do not lose fee dollars on refunded bookings.

Ready to earn on your own terms?

Pricing that lets you keep more of the booking is one of the few things that matters more than any marketing feature. Set up your OnlyPaw provider profile at onlypaw.net/pages/signup-provider.html and get verified in 24 to 48 hours.

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