Your expertise is the product. We just help you sell it.
Set your own prices and availability. We bring the travelers, handle payments in USD, and put your field skills, not our brand, front and center.
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 80-82%: Our only earnings are a cut of trips we actually bring you, paid in USD. There is no exclusivity, so keep taking direct bookings, 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. YN earns a commission only when a trip actually runs: 20% on day trips and packages, 18% on multi-day tours. Card payment processing is included in that share, never billed on top.
- When and how do I get paid?: Your payout becomes available after your trip runs; timing subject to payment processing and funds settlement. You pick the rail from your earnings dashboard: Stripe, PayPal, or bank wire. US payouts carry no transfer fee. International payouts are sent net of the transfer cost of your chosen method (PayPal: 2%, max $20; bank wire: flat $45), shown in your dashboard before you pick, and to keep fees low we may combine your earnings into one monthly transfer.
- Who sets prices and availability?: You do. You enter the payout you want, manage your own calendar and group limits, and choose instant booking or request-to-book. Promotions (company-wide discounts and last-minute deals) are yours to run, never applied 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?: You choose each listing’s policy (flexible, with a free-cancellation cutoff you set, or nonrefundable), and travelers see it before they book. If you ever have to cancel on a traveler, they’re always 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 is the booking platform; we do not supervise trips or provide first aid, rescue, or emergency services. Report any serious incident on a booked trip to us through the Help page within 24 hours so we can support the traveler on refunds, insurance questions, and follow-up.