I not only wanted to spend this year as a consumer exploring services from individuals that were previously only offered by businesses, but to sell my services too. Heck, I’ve watched friends’ dogs for free for years, why not make some extra money at it as a dog sitter?

The extra cash isn’t worth the time, for the most part.

While I don’t consider myself an expert as a service provider in the sharing economy, peer-to-peer, collaborative or whatever else this area is called, I have used it plenty and have an idea of what to expect as someone on the selling end. I’ve used Lyft, Webvan, DogVacay and have sold or given away a few things on Craigslist.

I’ve worked for DogVacay.com and Rover.com as a dog sitter for a year, and I’ve come to realize that it’s not the money-making story I thought it would be. I’m not saying that the sharing economy leads to income inequality, or that it is the best way for anyone to make some extra money. But for me, it comes down to the payout versus my time.

Sharing economy numbers

Here are some numbers from my workload in the sharing economy: I charge $45 a night for boarding a dog for a night. Of that, I get $38.25 per night and DogVacay gets $6.75.

I don’t begrudge DogVacay its cut. That’s fine and acceptable. Their online booking process is fantastic and leads to some gigs every few months.

The $38.25 a night that I collect, however, isn’t always worth it in the long run. I haven’t dropped out of DogVacay yet, but getting up in the middle of the night to deal with a barking dog that misses its owner is a hassle I’d rather not deal with. It makes for a long, tiresome day the next day, when I’m supposed to be writing for someone and not taking a nap.

And I don’t expect to charge more than $45 per night, based on what other dog sitters charge in my area. As a dog owner myself, I see how crazy it is to even charge that much. I might as well rent a motel room for my dog.

Could I earn $4,800 a month?

I like to think that my dog sitting service is worth the price. I only watch one guest dog at a time, only accept small dogs, I’m home all day to be with the guest dog, and it has my dog and daughter to play with all day. I’ll walk the dog and give it plenty of exercise, and we generally have a fun time.

Except when it barks nonstop at any noise outside, pees in the house, won’t sleep in its kennel, or howls in the middle of the night. Then, that $38 and change seems like a steal for the dog owner.

I have adapted by vetting dogs better with a meet-and-greet where I try to learn the dog’s habits and loneliness factor, and I require a crate for it to sleep in at night so it isn’t wandering my house looking for a spot to relieve itself.

One thing that got me interested in being a DogVacay host in the sharing economy, besides it fitting in my schedule as a freelance journalist at home, was when I had my dog boarded at a DogVacay sitter’s home. He had a big back yard and had about six dogs roaming the yard and through an open screen door into his living room.

At about $40 per head, he was making at least $240 a day. My dog was there for five nights, as I suspect many of the others were, earning him about $1,200 a week. That’s $4,800 a month. Do that year-round and you’re making $57,600 per year.

Repeat business

I didn’t want six dogs at my house per night, but one dog for a week per month, for example, and I’d be making about $280 per month. That could be some fun money my family could use, or we could put it aside for something else.

I’m still on the fence on my part in the sharing economy, but I’m leaning toward saying goodbye to my attempt as a dog sitter. I don’t expect to drop out of the sharing economy entirely as a seller of services, but if I do leave DogVacay it will be a big step toward it.

A dog that has stayed at our house before is coming over in early April for nine nights, which I expect will go fine because he was well behaved on a previous visit. As any hotel or AirBnB host will tell you, repeat customers are the best.

Have you sold anything in the sharing economy? Were the hassles worth the income? Respond below in the Comments section.

Why I May Drop Out of the Sharing Economy is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.