Memberships (for hosts)
Sniffspot is now enabling hosts to offer memberships. Think of it like offering a gym membership, but for dogs! If you had to pay every time you went to the gym, you might not go that much. But with a monthly membership you want to go more frequently. This is the same concept that is the basis for the Sniffspot membership.
Memberships are a monthly subscription for guests that gives them a set amount of hours for a fixed price, as well as other benefits.
Benefits of memberships to you include:
- Higher earnings
- More consistent guests and earnings
- Focus on regular guests
- Lower payment processing fees
With memberships, guests are issued credit in dollars equivalent to the number of hours for each month at the current list price. Members are charged whatever the membership tier rate is. As an example, if a member buys 8 hours per month for $60.00 per month and the list price of the spot is $10 per hour, that $60.00 buys them $80.00 of credit ($10 list rate x 8). So when booking it will show on the breakdown as a $10.00 charge, and $10.00 is deducted from the member credit balance. So this member would pay $60 and get $80 worth of bookings.
What you need to do:
- You can sign up through your account
- We will handle all administration of the memberships with guests
Of course, we will want to get a lot of your feedback from this test to inform our future iterations. It would be fun to have you be a part of it!
Please email [email protected] if you have any questions or feedback. Thank you!
FAQ
Q: What do guests get included in their membership?
A: When guests become a member at your spot, they can get these benefits:
- We will enable you to provide member-only hours for your spot - periods when only members can book a visit. You can choose which hours (if any) to provide for your members.
- Guests will have a fixed monthly price for your spot. See below for pricing.
- We enable you to define whatever other benefits you would like to include for your members
Q: How does pricing work for memberships?
A: Guests will have 3 options for memberships and you set the base price for each. IMPORTANT: you can set a price that is higher than your current price per visit, the same or lower - you have complete control. Guests will select how many dogs they want in their membership hours and we will increase the price proportional to our multi-dog pricing today (50% off all dogs after the first dog).
- 2 hours per month
- 4 hours per month
- 8 hours per month
You can change your membership price at any time. This will not affect the price for existing members, unless they upgrade or downgrade.
Note: all of our prices are in USD and we do not support additional currencies at this time. So if you are an international host, makes sure to keep in mind when you set prices that you are setting them in USD, the prices on your spot will show in USD and your guests will pay in USD. We hope to be able to support additional currencies in the future.
Q: How do member-only hours work?
A: You will be able to optionally set member-only hours from your calendar (calendar blocks will have an option to allow members to book during that time). At checkout, members will be able to book these times and non-members will not be able to. You don't need to set any specific hours for members and you have complete control over this. You can also set different advanced notice for members than regular guests.
Q: What other member benefits can I provide?
A: We give you a text field to provide whatever other benefits you would like to provide. It could be Extras included in the price, or special access to areas of the property, or extra good customer service. You can experiment to find something that works! The same rules of insurance coverage apply here - if you provide a benefit that is a good or service or something that is not generally found in a spot, then it may not be covered by insurance.
Q: How will guests sign up for memberships?
A: There are a few places that guests have the opportunity to become members: 1) a guest can book member only hours on the calendar by signing up for a membership, 2) guests that have booked before are prompted to sign up for membership on checkout, 3) guests that have booked before have the opportunity to sign up from their home page, 4) we have badges on your spot on the search page and spot detail page (this is currently mobile app only). We also recommend that you reach out to your regular guests and invite them to join as a member. There is a link you can find in the membership settings section of your account that you can share with guests for them to join as a member.
Q: What is the membership cancellation policy for guests?
A: Members can cancel renewal of their membership at any time, the membership will end at the end of the month in which they cancel. Whenever a member signs up or cancels we will email you to let you know. There is a grace period for member refunds. If a member signed up within the last 7 days, they can cancel and can get a refund for the unused hours on the membership.
Q: How will I keep track of my members?
A: Members will also be marked on reservations. You can also see your list of active members in your host account on the website and mobile app.
Q: What are fees on memberships?
A: Our standard fees apply to the membership and the full amount of the membership due to you will be deposited to your account each month (regardless of how much the guest uses)
Q: How will we keep track of how many hours a guest has or uses?
A: Hosts don't need to do this. Our system will track how many hours a guest has on their membership and how many they have used; member hours will accrue month to month up to a maximum of 10 accrued hours, but they lose accrued hours if they cancel their membership. When a member makes a booking, member hours are deducted from their account. If they cancel that booking, then the hours are added back to their account.
Q: What happens if I need to shut down my spot temporarily or permanently?
A: Since there is a limited accrual of hours month to month, this takes the pressure off you as a host. You can shut down your spot temporarily and guests will not lose their hours. If you need to shut down your spot permanently, we will refund your members for their most recently monthly payment and remove it from your earnings.
Q: How do I enable memberships on my spot?
A: You can turn it on through your account on the mobile app or web app.
Q: How can I make changes to my member settings, cancel a member or stop offering memberships?
A: You can change your member settings or stop offering memberships at any time through your host account on the website or mobile app. Note: changing your membership settings will not change anything for existing members. If you want to make changes for existing members, including cancelling memberships, please email [email protected] and we can help.
Q: Can I set the maximum number of guests allowed?
A: Yes, there is a setting where you can control how many members are allowed at your spot.