You have a beautiful property that friends and family love, start sharing your homestead with the world and learn just how quick and easy it is to start making money as a Hipcamp host. In this post, I share with you my experience as a new host with Hipcamp to give you a glance into the possibilities of using Hipcamp as a way to make money sharing the land you have by hosting short term camping experiences.
I registered to be a Hipcamp host in the fall of 2019 with one goal in mind. To start expanding our homestead income by sharing our land with others. So many people love to experience our garden, the animals and especially our Highland Cattle fold and the view of the mountains so I knew others would love to visit too.
I spoke with Alyssa, the founder of Hipcamp when I registered online and was shocked that she phoned me personally to help me get started. I was totally impressed that she’s the CEO of this amazing company that helps connect campers with access to land and that she’s my age.
One of my biggest peeves is that our local area on Vancouver Island is becoming bombarded with campers with nowhere to go. Once crown land is now privatized and camping is prohibited. Beautiful crystal clear lakes where my husband and I started tenting and fishing together are now unaccessible to wake up to with a hot cup of coffee and peace in the air.
Camping is a beautiful experience. It’s a quick escape from reality and a fun way to connect to our rustic roots and rough it.
As a homesteader, and owner of a beautiful piece of land I know that others crave what you have and you appreciate the wide open spaces that your farm, ranch or homestead offers.
That’s why I think becoming a Hipcamp host is a great way to share your land with others, to help campers explore, appreciate and admire the homestead life. Because wouldn’t it be fantastic if more people knew where their food came from and respected the hands that created it.
HOW TO MAKE MONEY AS A HIPCAMP HOST
Hipcamp is a great way to make money as a landowner with little to no extra work required to offer a unique experience for hip campers on your land.
So you’ve got two or more acres of beautiful more secluded property to offer campsites, farm lands, RV’s yurts, or cabins than you are just what Hipcamp is looking for to host happy campers.
- Sharing your spot with our community of Hipcampers is a great way to connect people with nature while earning some extra revenue. Within the first 8 months of partnering with us, several Hipcamp Hosts have earned as much as $9,000, $11,000, $18,000 and even $21,000.
- We advise you set pricing that’s comparable to similar campsites in your local state park. This can range from $35 for a basic campsite with little to no amenities to $300 group camps with private lake access.
Hipcamp hosts set the price for overnight camping in their area. I think the best way to determine how much you’ll charge is by offering a competitive price for other camping in your area and similar listings on hipcamp. If you’re not sure of how much to charge than a hipcamp associate is happy to help you.
To give you an idea you, I charge $30 a night for dry camping and a tent site.
The secret sauce to making extra money is really in offering extras to your hip campers.
EXTRA WAYS TO EARN MONEY AS A HIPCAMP HOST
There are a lot of fun ways to earn extra income as a Hipcamp Host. Other than offering more sites and getting busier, why not get creative with offering options for a better more inclusive experience.
Offer extras to campers to earn more money from camp listings such as rentals of tents or bikes. Goods such as propane or breakfast are a great idea. Adding a firewood bundle and farm fresh eggs is another great option.
Some campers love experiences, why not offer a tour, workshop or event.
HIP CAMP TAKES 10% COMMISSION
While its completely free and quick to sign up and list your property on Hipcamp once you start hosting hip campers, hipcamp takes 10% commission. This simply covers a processing fee, social media marketing, insurance coverage, customer support and a hands-on host specialist to help you optimize your experience and reach your goals.
I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Hipcamp helps their hosts have great reviews, photos and the perfect vibe to get started by offering freelance photographers to stay at your site to give future campers an honest view of your property.
HOW HIPCAMP KEEPS YOU SAFE
You’re probably wondering and feeling a little sceptical about bringing strangers onto your land. I mean we’ve all seen the scary movies, have pandemic limitations or concerns, and want to know we can sleep safely.
Hipcamp gets that. Thats why they cover hosts with $1 million insurance policy and a $10,000 property protection plan.
They also have a firm range of host standards to set expectations and serve as a guidance for the host community.
Hipcamp makes every effort to protect both the host and hip campers from having bad experiences before they happen with hip campers agreeing to company rules and host rules during checkout.
Disclaimer; It's important to set the tone from the very start when you build your profile. Set clear expectations of what you expect from your campers and what they should expect from your campsite.
I feel safer knowing that my bookings have to be requested and booked within an advanced period of time. This allows me to still live my life and set boundaries and expectations. Some hosts choose to have immediate bookings to allow for more campers and flexibility. You really do have to figure out what will work best for you and what your comfortable with.
One of the things that stood out to me in the group was that campers were surprised or complained about being woken by a rooster or pets harming farm animals. But all of these things can be avoided by setting rules, expectations and making sure the insurance offered covers everything you have to offer.
HOW MUCH LAND DO YOU HAVE TO HAVE
You’ll need to have 2 or more acres to offer an outdoor camping experience. Listings in a suburban or urban area isn’t a good fit for Hipcamp. Keep in mind their mission is to connect campers with nature above all.
Toliet options are required on smaller properties. If you have more than 20 acres or are only offering dry camping or self-contained RVs than a toilet isn’t required. In all other circumstances you must offer a toilet to list on Hipcamp.
HIPCAMP SUPPORT
I have to say the biggest perk of becoming a Hipcamp host would have to be the support you receive as a host from the company. I personally love the Facebook group for hosts, its a great way to connect with other hosts and get feedback on ideas for extras, signage, pricing, promotions. They also offer monthly video calls as well!
BECOME A HIPCAMP HOST AND EARN EXTRA MONEY
It’s easy to get started by completing your profile and preparing your property for hip campers. Some people wonder if it’s the effort, I think that if you take everything into consideration to make the most of your experience for your campers than it totally is.
I was surprised how quickly I started to receive interest for bookings on my listing from the start, and we’re in Canada were there are very limited sites so far.
HIPCAMP DISCOUNT CODE
Not sure yet? Checkout Hipcamp for yourself and go camping! Here’s $10 Hip camp credit.
Pin this Post for Later, sharing is caring of course and who knows someone might just be your very first hipcamper, earning you a $100 to start your homestead side hustle.
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