What are service fees, and how does this help me?
PetPocketbook automatically adds a 5% service fee (a $1 minimum) to each payment when your clients check out with us online. This fee covers not only your processing costs but also things like fraud protection, refund and dispute handling, and ongoing platform support – all while helping us keep your subscription costs low and predictable.
What our 5% service fee supports:
- More than just payment processing. Most of the service fee goes toward the full scope of Stripe fees, which includes not only the standard per-transaction processing fees that you may be familiar with but also platform-level charges like per-deposit fees, fraud protection, and costs related to refunds and chargebacks.
- Significant cost savings for you. You get paid the full amount that you invoice, while the service fee is charged separately to the pet parent at checkout. You keep 100% of what you earn, without losing money to traditional processing fees (typically 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction).
- A fair, flat-rate subscription. This model helps us avoid pricing tiers and keeps access to PetPocketbook affordable, no matter the size of your team.
- Behind-the-scenes operations. From ongoing platform updates to keeping our support team available when you need us, the service fee helps keep the whole system running.
- A smooth, secure client experience. Pet parents get an easy, secure way to manage and pay for services online — helping ensure timely payments while supporting you, their favorite pet care provider.
How it works:
If you bill a client $100, you’ll actually get $100 when they pay through PetPocketbook, even if they paid with AMEX!
While by default, pet parents pay the full service fee, your business can choose to limit how much your clients pay by setting a cap on the fee. If the service fee on a payment exceeds that cap, your business covers the difference. Learn more about service fee caps and how to communicate our service fee to pet parents.
How does this impact my financial reporting?
Because service fees go directly to PetPocketbook, they do not ever hit your books, which is why they are not itemized in your invoices tab or reporting, unless you choose to take on a portion of those fees for your clients by setting a fee cap.
If you've set a fee cap, you'll be able to see the service fees that your business absorbed on the Plan & Billing page of your company settings under the Service Fee Usage tab in the history section.
If your clients want to see a record of the service fee for an individual payment, they can do so by viewing their payment history in the invoices tab in their pet parent portal. For each payment, they will see a summary of tips and fees just below the amount paid for services. They can tap on the information icon next to tips and fees to see the breakdown. (You can see this too on your client’s billing history page in your invoices tab.)
