House sitters and pet sitters

Magpie quotes your house sits and pet visits, and bills owners by card. It keeps each home's alarm code encrypted, and sends owners photos during the stay.

A sitter working alone uses Magpie in their own account, with no team to set up.

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  1. Sit requestsFormulaires
  2. Alarm codesCoffre à mots de passe
  3. Feeding notesContacts
  4. Visit timesTâches
  5. Photos homePortail client
Ruth Adeyemi’s proposal page from Hollyhock House & Pet Sitting for a Christmas sit: the cover with the dates, the contents, the overnight house sit package and the total at the foot of the screen.

This combination of eight Magpie areas fits a house sitter or pet sitter.

Forms
Forms takes each sit request, with the dates, the pets and the jobs in the house.
Meetings
Meetings gives owners a page to book the meet-and-greet and the key handover.
Proposals
Proposals quotes a holiday sit by the night or the visit, and takes the deposit.
Password Vault
Password Vault keeps each home's alarm code and key safe code encrypted.
Contacts
Contacts keeps each household, with every pet's feeding and medicine pinned.
To-dos
To-dos gives each visit its time, a reminder and a checklist.
Client Portal
Client Portal gives each owner a page with the day's photos and the invoice.
Invoicing
Invoicing bills the balance and the short sits, and owners pay by card.

Owners ask for a sit online, with their dates, their pets and the house's jobs.

Forms builds your sit request. Date questions take the day the owners leave and the day they are home. They choose drop-in visits or an overnight sit.

A longer answer holds each pet's feeding, medicine and vet. A File question takes a photo of the medicine label. Each request is emailed to you.

Hollyhock’s sit request in the form builder: the owner’s name and email, the day they leave and the day they are home, drop-in visits or an overnight sit, and each pet’s feeding, medicine and vet.

Owners book the meet-and-greet and the key handover at times you are free.

Meetings gives you a meeting page with your Meeting Types. A 45-minute meet-and-greet and a 15-minute key handover can be two of them. Owners pick a time and book without signing up first.

Times that clash with your meetings or your Calendar are not offered. Each Meeting Type's description can say that you come to the house. Owners get a confirmation email with a calendar file.

You quote a holiday sit by the night, and owners pay a deposit as they sign.

Proposals sets out a sit as packages, such as overnight stays or two visits a day. Christmas Day can be a line of its own at your holiday rate. The owner chooses, signs on the page and pays the deposit by card.

The balance is invoiced when you bill it, such as on the sit's first day. You see when the proposal is opened, and the owner can ask a question on it.

Your vault keeps each home's alarm code and key safe code encrypted.

Password Vault is your own vault, with a password of its own. A custom item holds a home's alarm code, key safe code and wifi. Each code stays hidden until you choose Reveal.

Your browser encrypts each item before it reaches Magpie, so Magpie cannot read the codes. A tag for each family groups its items.

Tessa’s Password Vault: each household’s alarm code and key safe code, a building’s door code and two homes’ wifi, tagged by family name, with every code hidden.

Each household's page keeps every pet's feeding and medicine pinned at the top.

Contacts keeps each owner with their address and phone numbers. A pinned note holds each pet's food, medicine times and vet. Their page lists every meeting, proposal and invoice.

A follow-up reminds you on a date, such as asking a regular client about next summer. Follow-ups lists every open one as Overdue, Today or Upcoming.

Hollyhock’s follow-ups: asking regular clients about Easter and summer dates, a meet-and-greet to book and eye drops to check before a sit, grouped as Overdue, Today and Upcoming with the day each is due.

Every visit has its time, a reminder and a checklist of what to do.

To-dos gives each visit a time, such as 7:30 for the morning walk. A reminder is emailed 15 minutes or an hour before. A checklist on the visit lists the feed, the tablet and the plants.

A visit can repeat every day of the sit. You stop the repeat when the owners are home. Each visit shows on your calendar on its day.

Owners follow the sit on a private page, with a photo from each day.

Client Portal gives each household a portal. It lists what waits for the owners, such as the balance and a form to sign. Their next video call with the pets is under it.

You share the day's photos in it, and Magpie emails the owners a list. A plan holds their steps, such as leaving the tablets out. Only the owners you invite can open it.

The Vargas’ portal from Hollyhock House & Pet Sitting during their Christmas sit: under For you to do, the landing time to text, the balance to pay and the photo permission to sign, then a video call with Rosie and Miso.

A weekend of drop-ins is billed by the visit, with the cat litter on it.

Invoicing bills a short sit without a proposal, with a line for each visit and night. Litter or food you bought for the pets goes on as a line from your receipts. Owners pay by card from the email.

Card payments go to your own Stripe account, with no Magpie fee. Reminders go out until the invoice is paid. Cash or a bank transfer is recorded by hand.

Hollyhock’s draft invoice to Erik Solberg for a weekend sit: six drop-in visits, one overnight stay and the cat litter bought for Luna, each with its tax rate.

Six more areas cover voice notes, your calendar, the keys, receipts, signatures and your news.

Walkie Talkie
Walkie Talkie sends an owner a voice message from the visit. They see only their conversation with you.
Calendar
Calendar shows each visit and meeting on its day. An event you add for a sit keeps that time off your meeting page.
Asset Tracker
Asset Tracker keeps each house key under a tag number. A key checked out to you is due back the day the owners return.
Expenses
Expenses keeps each receipt, such as the litter and food you bought for a client's cat.
E-Signatures
E-Signatures sends a PDF for the owner to sign, such as the vet's permission form. They can sign it in their portal.
Newsletter
Newsletter emails the owners who subscribed when your summer and Christmas dates open.

A Christmas sit goes from the request to the keys going back.

The owners' contact page lists the meetings, the proposal and the invoices as you go.

  1. The request

    The owners send their dates and the pets' notes on your Form.

  2. The meet-and-greet

    They book it on your meeting page, and you meet the pets at home.

  3. The quote

    They choose overnight stays, sign the proposal and pay the deposit by card.

  4. The portal

    Once they accept, the proposal goes to their portal, and they book the key handover.

  5. The codes

    The alarm code goes into your vault, and the key gets its tag.

  6. The visits

    Each visit is ticked off, and the day's photos go to the portal.

  7. The balance

    The balance is invoiced, and the owners pay it by card.

Setting up takes five steps.

  1. Publish your sit request

    You choose the questions about the dates, the pets and the house. Help: Build, publish, and share a form.

  2. Open your meeting page

    You add your hours and a meet-and-greet as a Meeting Type. Help: Availability and Meeting Types.

  3. Set up your vault

    You choose a vault password and save the recovery key. Help: Password Vault: passwords and private information.

  4. Connect Stripe

    You connect your Stripe account, so owners can pay deposits and invoices by card. Help: Connect Stripe to receive money.

  5. Make a portal for a household

    You create the household's portal and invite the owners. Help: Create a Client Portal.

Plans

A sitter working alone fits Pro, the paid plan for your own work. Pro has no limit on invoices, proposals, contacts or Meeting Types.

On the free plan, you can create 5 invoices and send 5 proposals a month. It has room for 100 contacts and 2 Meeting Types. Photos you share in a portal use your plan's file storage.

Magpie adds no fee to deposits or invoices. Stripe's processing fee is taken from each card payment.

Other people who look after pets and homes have pages of their own.

Cleaning companies

A cleaning company schedules cleaners at clients' homes, with a checklist for every visit.

Questions house sitters and pet sitters ask

Can owners ask for a sit online, with their dates?

Yes. Your sit request asks for the day they leave and the day they are home. It asks your own questions about the pets and the house. Each request is emailed to you, and you mark it Reviewed once you reply.

Can owners tell me each pet's feeding and medicine before we meet?

Yes. A longer answer on your Form holds each pet's food, medicine times and vet. A question can show only when an earlier answer calls for it, such as medicine. A File question takes a photo of the label, up to 10 MB.

Can owners book the meet-and-greet themselves?

Yes. Your meeting page lists your Meeting Types, such as a 45-minute meet-and-greet. An owner picks a free time and enters a name and an email address. They book without signing up first. Magpie emails them a confirmation with a calendar file.

Will a sit I have already taken keep my meeting page clear?

Yes. A time is not offered when it overlaps your meetings or a Calendar event you made. An event for a day of the sit takes that time off the page. Busy times in a connected Google Calendar are left off too.

Can I quote a long holiday sit with a deposit?

Yes. You send a proposal with the nights or visits and your rate. Its payment schedule starts with a deposit, invoiced when the owner accepts. They pay it by card on the proposal's page. The balance is invoiced when you bill it.

Can owners choose between overnight stays and drop-in visits?

Yes. A proposal can offer two packages, such as overnight stays or two visits a day. Each has its own price. The owner chooses one before they sign. The totals change with their choice.

Can I charge more for Christmas Day and New Year's Day?

Yes. A holiday rate can be a line of its own, with the number of days. Extras, such as plants and post, can be optional lines the owner adds or removes. The total follows their choices.

What happens when the owner accepts?

Magpie emails both of you the signed PDF, and the deposit invoice goes to the owner. You can have the proposal shared in their portal, made for them if they have none. Their acceptance email can offer your key handover on your meeting page.

Where do I keep alarm codes and key safe codes?

In Password Vault, your own vault with a password of its own. A custom item holds the alarm code, the key safe code and the wifi. Each code stays hidden until you choose Reveal. A tag for each family groups its items.

Are the codes encrypted?

Yes. Your browser encrypts each item before it reaches Magpie. Magpie stores the encrypted result and cannot read an item's title or any value in it. Search runs in your browser too.

Can I keep track of which keys I am holding?

Yes. Asset Tracker keeps each house key under a tag number. Its page says whose key it is. You check a key out to yourself with the day it is due back. After that day it shows as Overdue.

Can I keep each pet's feeding and medicine with the owner's details?

Yes. A note on the owner's contact can be pinned near the top of their page. It can hold each pet's food, medicine times and vet. The page also lists their meetings, proposals and invoices.

Can I get a reminder before each visit?

Yes. Each visit is a To-do with its time. A reminder is emailed at that time, 15 minutes before or an hour before. A checklist on the visit lists its jobs, such as the tablet with breakfast.

Can a visit repeat every day of the sit?

Yes. A To-do can repeat every day, and each day's visit keeps its own history. Choosing Never stops the repeat when the owners are home. The visits already done are kept.

Can I send owners photos during the sit?

Yes. You share the day's photos in the household's portal, up to 20 at once. Magpie emails the owners a list of them, with a button that opens the portal. Only the owners you invite can download them.

How do owners open their portal?

Inviting an owner makes them a free Magpie account at their email address. The invitation signs them in the first time. After that, they sign in with a link or a six-digit code Magpie emails them. The account cannot see anything else of yours.

Can I send an owner a voice message from a visit?

Yes. Walkie Talkie sends voice messages, recorded as you hold to talk, and text messages too. You invite the owner from outside your team, and they see only their conversation with you.

Can owners have a video call to see their dog while they are away?

Yes. A short Meeting Type, such as a 15-minute video call, goes on your meeting page. With Google Calendar connected, each meeting gets a Google Meet link. A meeting shared in their portal has Join meeting beside it.

Can owners sign a permission form for the vet before they go?

Yes. E-Signatures sends a PDF to be signed, with the owner's fields placed on its pages. Shared in their portal, it is listed under For you to do, with Review and sign. When they have signed, Magpie emails each of you.

How do owners pay me?

By card, from the Pay online button in each invoice email, or in their portal. A deposit is paid on the proposal's page as they accept. The money goes to your own Stripe account. You can also record cash or a bank transfer by hand.

Can I bill a weekend of drop-ins without a proposal?

Yes. You send an invoice with a line for the visits and one for each night. Reminders go out until it is paid. The invoice's payment link can be sent another way, such as a text.

Can I add the cat food I bought to the owner's bill?

Yes. You record the receipt as an expense, mark it reimbursable and choose the owner. Add unbilled expenses then puts it on their invoice as a line, at the amount recorded.

Can I remind myself to ask regular clients about their next holiday?

Yes. A follow-up on the owner's contact has a date and a reason, such as Easter. It is a To-do with the usual reminders. Follow-ups lists every open one as Overdue, Today or Upcoming.

Can I tell my regular clients when my Christmas dates open?

Yes. Newsletter gives you a sign-up page with double opt-in. You write each email, send yourself a test and schedule it. A sent issue has a web copy you can share.

Can I add HST or VAT to my invoices?

Yes. Invoicing has named tax rates, such as HST or VAT, each with a percentage. Each line uses one of them or no tax. A proposal's lines use the same rates.

What does Magpie take from payments?

Magpie adds no fee to deposits or invoices. Stripe's processing fee is taken from each card payment. The rest goes to your own Stripe account, and Stripe pays it out to your bank.

Can I see all my sits and visits on one calendar?

Yes. Calendar shows your meetings, your events and each visit on its day. It has Day and Month views. Selecting a visit opens it.

Take your next sit request online.

Create a Magpie account and publish your sit request.

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