THE CAPTAIN EXPERIENCES ALTERNATIVE
Let the marketplace find them. You keep them.
This isn't really either/or. Captain Experiences is a marketplace — its job is to send you new customers, and it's good at that. Timber & Tackle is the other half you don't have yet: your own booking site, so the customer they introduce once becomes a client you own and re-book forever, commission-free. Run both.
First, what Captain Experiences actually is: a marketplace. Someone browses guides, books a trip, and Captain Experiences keeps a commission for the introduction. That's genuine value — discovery, new faces you'd never have reached on your own. Keep it for exactly that.
What it isn't is a channel you own. Per its own terms, it retains a commission on every completed booking, processes the payment as your "limited payment collection agent" (so it holds the money and pays you out over up to two-plus business days), can remove branded content it believes might lead a customer to book with you directly, and doesn't hand you the customer relationship — the platform sits in the middle. So the client you guided all day isn't recorded anywhere as yours.
That's the exact gap Timber & Tackle fills — it's not a competing marketplace, it's the piece the marketplace can't be. Your own site on your own domain, your branding, the deposit going straight into your Stripe account, and the customer saved as your client to re-book direct. One flat fee, no commission. So the move isn't "quit the marketplace" — it's: let it introduce you, then own the relationship so every trip after the first is yours, not re-rented.
A marketplace vs. a channel you own
Facts below are from Captain Experiences' own Terms & Conditions and FAQ.
Commission per completed trip
- Captain Experiences
- Yes — a retained commission
- Timber & Tackle
- $0 — flat fee only
Steer a customer to book direct
- Captain Experiences
- Barred by their terms
- Timber & Tackle
- yes — it's your site
Your branding on the booking
- Captain Experiences
- They can remove branded content
- Timber & Tackle
- 100% yours
Who holds the money
- Captain Experiences
- They do, as collection agent
- Timber & Tackle
- Your Stripe account, direct
Payout timing
- Captain Experiences
- Up to two-plus business days
- Timber & Tackle
- As Stripe settles, to you
Own the customer relationship
- Captain Experiences
- Their terms don't grant it
- Timber & Tackle
- yes — the client is yours
| Captain Experiences | Timber & Tackle | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission per completed trip | Yes — a retained commission | $0 — flat fee only |
| Steer a customer to book direct | Barred by their terms | yes — it's your site |
| Your branding on the booking | They can remove branded content | 100% yours |
| Who holds the money | They do, as collection agent | Your Stripe account, direct |
| Payout timing | Up to two-plus business days | As Stripe settles, to you |
| Own the customer relationship | Their terms don't grant it | yes — the client is yours |
Discovery + ownership
Use the marketplace for new customers; use your own site to keep them. You get both — without paying commission on the people who already know you.
Every repeat is yours
The customer the marketplace introduced re-books on your site next time: no commission, no payout delay, your brand — money straight to your account.
Your client, your brand
Their details saved as your client to email and re-book, your logo front and center — nobody in the middle keeping the relationship or stripping your branding.
Straight answers.
Aren't Captain Experiences and Timber & Tackle the same thing?
No — they do opposite jobs. Captain Experiences is a marketplace that finds you new customers for a commission. Timber & Tackle is your own booking site that lets you keep those customers, own the relationship, and re-book them without a cut. Most guides are best off using both.
Do I have to quit Captain Experiences to use Timber & Tackle?
Not at all. Keep it for discovery — it's good at putting new faces in front of you. Just send your repeat and direct customers to your own site, where there's no commission, no payout delay, and the client is yours.
How much does Captain Experiences take?
Their terms confirm they retain a commission on completed bookings but don't publish the percentage. Whatever it is, it's a recurring cut of every trip they send — Timber & Tackle takes $0 commission on a flat monthly fee.
Why does it matter who holds the money?
On a marketplace the platform collects the payment and pays you out on its schedule (up to a few business days). On your own Timber & Tackle site, the customer pays into your own Stripe account directly — it's your money from the moment they book.
What does getting set up involve?
Nothing technical. Send us your trips or your website and we build your booking site for free, then send you a link to approve. It's a phone call and a tap — and you can keep running the marketplace the whole time.
Let them find you. Then keep what's yours.
We build your whole site free and send you a link. Look it over. If the math doesn't move you, you've lost nothing.
Get your site built — freeFree until you accept your first booking, then $29/mo · keep every listing you have · built before you decide
We will never take a cut of a client you brought us.