Your expertise is the product. We just help you sell it.
We list you, verify you, and put you in front of wildlife travelers and an affiliated travel advisor. The traveler books and pays you directly, on your terms, and you run the trip exactly as you do now.
Why list here
- Travelers arrive looking for you: People search by specialty, species, and destination, so whoever lands on your profile already wants what you offer. No convincing needed.
- Your reputation compounds: Every completed trip can earn a verified review, and every review makes the next booking easier. Your profile keeps selling while you’re out in the field.
- Free to list, and you keep 90%: On the referral model we take no payment and no share: the 10% commission is paid to an affiliated travel advisor’s host agency. There is no exclusivity, and you set every price, date and cancellation policy.
What you keep, in plain numbers
- Day trips & packages: You price it; you keep 80%. Paid out after your trip runs; timing subject to payment processing, funds settlement, and ACH transfer times.
- Multi-day tours & departures: You keep 82%. Deposits can be released early to secure lodging and logistics; the rest pays out after departure.
- Listing, always: No subscription, no placement fees, no charge to keep your listings live. The commission is simply withheld from your payout after each trip runs.
Where our side goes
- Finding your travelers: advertising, search visibility, and the marketplace itself: gathering the people who want your expertise and leading them to your listings.
- Payments & payouts: card payment processing in USD, never billed on top, plus payouts by Stripe, PayPal, or bank wire. US payouts are free; international payouts carry only the third-party transfer cost, shown before you choose how to get paid.
- Travel-advisor commissions: advisors who sell your trips are paid out of YN’s share, not yours (raising their rate above the base is always your call).
- Booking support & disputes: traveler support, cancellations, and dispute handling, so you can stay in the field.
- Staff & overhead: the working naturalists who review applications, plus the engineering and hosting that keep the platform running.
One onboarding, five steps
- 1 · Create account & verify email
- 2 · Details & documents
- 3 · Review & approval
- 4 · Identity check
- 5 · First listing
Questions & answers
- What does it cost to list?: Nothing. There’s no subscription or listing fee. Today every listing is on the referral model: you pay a 10% commission only on completed bookings we send you, typically settled 60-90 days after the traveler’s final payment. When the marketplace opens, it will keep 20% on day trips and packages and 18% on multi-day tours instead, with card payment processing included in that share.
- When and how do I get paid?: Today the traveler books with you and pays you directly, on your own payment rails and schedule; nothing passes through us. The 10% commission on bookings we send you is settled afterwards, on the terms you sign at the start. Once the marketplace opens, travelers will pay on the platform instead, and your share is released after the trip runs by Stripe, PayPal or bank wire. US payouts carry no transfer fee; international payouts are sent net of the method’s transfer cost (PayPal: 2%, max $20; bank wire: flat $45), shown in your dashboard before you pick.
- Who sets prices and availability?: You do. Under the referral model your prices, dates, group limits and booking method stay your own, and travelers book with you directly. When the marketplace opens you will also set the payout you want, manage your calendar on the platform, choose instant booking or request-to-book, and run your own promotions; nothing is discounted without you.
- Am I exclusive to YN?: No. Listing here is non-exclusive: keep taking direct bookings and keep working with any other channel you like.
- What about cancellations?: Your own policy applies. Under the referral model travelers book on your cancellation terms, and no commission is owed on a booking that does not complete. On the marketplace you will choose each listing’s policy (flexible, with a free-cancellation cutoff you set, or nonrefundable), travelers see it before they book, and if you ever cancel on a traveler they are refunded in full.
- What documents will I need?: A country-specific checklist is shown before you apply: guiding licences and certifications for guides, business registration and property details for companies. Your ID is verified electronically after approval, and tax and payout details are only collected before your first payout, not up front.
- Can my company and my personal guide profile coexist?: Yes, one account can hold both roles. A lodge owner who also guides picks which hat operates each trip, and your guide profile stays yours: it can stand alone and appear on an operator’s roster.
- What happens if something goes wrong on a trip?: You run the trip, so you handle the response: as the operator you are responsible for participant briefings, field decisions, and emergency response on your trips, backed by the liability insurance you certify at onboarding. Your Naturalist lists and refers; we do not supervise trips or provide first aid, rescue, or emergency services. Report any serious incident on a trip we referred through the Help page as soon as you can, so we can follow up with you and the traveler.