FISHINGBOOKER COMMISSION, EXPLAINED
How much does FishingBooker take? Up to 30%.
On FishingBooker, the captain sets the commission — anywhere from 10% to 30% of the trip — and it doubles as the customer's deposit. It comes out of every booking routed through the platform; Direct re-books of past customers trade the commission for a processing fee, inside their system.
Here's how it works, from FishingBooker's own help docs: when you list, you choose a commission rate between 10% and 30%. That percentage is what FishingBooker keeps on each booking, and it's collected as the deposit the customer pays up front. There's no separate booking fee added on top of your listed price — the commission is the model.
The rate is your dial, but even the low end is a recurring cost. A captain at 15% doing $80,000 of trips a year hands over $12,000. At 20% it's $16,000. That's on bookings routed through the platform — for past customers, FishingBooker Direct swaps the commission for a processing fee, though the booking still lives in their system.
The reason you can't just move those regulars off-platform is FishingBooker's Platform Bypass Policy: it prohibits asking a customer to book directly, sharing your contact info to dodge the commission, or redirecting them to your own site or socials — and it says it monitors messages and can remove you for it. FishingBooker Direct offers a no-commission option for a 2.65% + $0.03 processing fee, but it's still their platform, not a site and client list you own.
So the real question on your repeat business isn't just the rate — it's whose platform the client lives on. Give the people who already know you somewhere of your own to book: your own site, your own client list, your own account. That's what Timber & Tackle is — a flat monthly fee, $0 commission, and the client is yours.
The cost, side by side
Commission per booking
- FishingBooker
- 10–30% (captain-set), up to 30%
- Timber & Tackle
- $0 — flat fee only
On repeat customers too
- FishingBooker
- Through the platform, yes — Direct re-books trade it for a 2.65% + $0.03 fee, in their system
- Timber & Tackle
- Free — on your site, your client
Take a client direct
- FishingBooker
- Against their bypass policy
- Timber & Tackle
- yes — your own site
Own your client list
- FishingBooker
- Timber & Tackle
What you actually own
- FishingBooker
- A listing
- Timber & Tackle
- Your site, domain & data
| FishingBooker | Timber & Tackle | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission per booking | 10–30% (captain-set), up to 30% | $0 — flat fee only |
| On repeat customers too | Through the platform, yes — Direct re-books trade it for a 2.65% + $0.03 fee, in their system | Free — on your site, your client |
| Take a client direct | Against their bypass policy | yes — your own site |
| Own your client list | ||
| What you actually own | A listing | Your site, domain & data |
It's every platform booking
Commission isn't a one-time finder's fee — it recurs on every trip routed through the platform, at the rate you set.
Repeats should be fully yours
FishingBooker Direct re-books a past customer for 2.65% + $0.03 instead of the commission — but the booking, the record, and the relationship stay in their system. On your own site the re-book costs nothing and the client is yours.
Keep both if you want
List on FishingBooker for new discovery; give your regulars your own site, so their next ten trips are booked on a page you own.
Do the math on your own trips.
Put in the trips you book yourself — regulars, referrals, people who call you — your average price, and the commission you're set to. That's what the cut costs on business you already earned.
What are you on now?
Keep it for the strangers it finds you. This is about the trips you book yourself.
50 trips= $28,650 a year
FishingBooker at 15%
$4,298
Timber & Tackle flat
$290
$4,008 of that stays with you a year.
Same trips, same clients — booked on your own site instead of through a cut. Keep your listing for the strangers it brings.
Only guide part of the year? Pause the rest.
Run your seasons, then pause your bill in the off-months — $0 while you're off the water, and your site stays live, still booking next season. You only pay the months you're actually fishing.
FishingBooker commission is captain-set between 10–30% per their help center, charged on every trip. We assume your same trips book elsewhere.
Straight answers.
Is the FishingBooker commission negotiable?
You set it yourself between 10% and 30% when you list. A lower rate can mean lower placement, and either way it's a recurring cut on every booking the platform sends. FishingBooker Direct does let you re-book a past customer commission-free for a 2.65% + $0.03 processing fee — inside their system, on their platform, under their account.
Does FishingBooker add a fee on top of my price?
Per their docs there's no separate booking fee added to your listed price — the commission you set is how they make money, collected as the deposit.
Can I just book my FishingBooker customers directly next time?
Not in response to a platform inquiry — the Bypass Policy prohibits asking to book direct, sharing contact info to avoid the commission, or redirecting to your own site, and says messages are monitored. FishingBooker Direct does let you proactively send a past customer a commission-free link — on their platform, in their system. The clean move is a site of your own that every off-platform client books from the start.
How does Timber & Tackle make money if it takes no commission?
A flat monthly subscription — that's it. Trip money goes from the customer straight to your own Stripe account. We never take a percentage.
Re-book your own clients on a page you own.
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.