Frequently asked questions

Registering, posting a delivery and bidding are free. When an owner accepts a bid, the owner pays two platform lines on top of what goes to the skipper: a Skippr.it commission of 8% of the skipper fee, and payment processing of 3% of the skipper fee plus the expenses advance. Both are shown before you pay and again on the delivery page.

The skipper fee, the expenses advance the skipper estimated (fuel, marina, provisions, travel, settled against receipts), the Skippr.it commission and payment processing. It is one card payment on a Stripe-hosted page, held in escrow until the delivery is done.

The full skipper fee plus the expenses advance; Skippr.it takes nothing out of the skipper's side. The advance and the expenses are paid out when the owner countersigns the pre-departure condition report. The rest of the fee is paid out when the owner countersigns the arrival report, or automatically 72 hours after the arrival report if the owner has not responded and no dispute is open.

Founding skippers pay no commission on their first funded jobs, and charter fleets with a partner code can have a different rate on their own deliveries. Payment processing always applies, because it is a cost that passes straight through to the card networks.

An accepted bid waits 72 hours for the escrow payment. If it is not funded by then, the award is released, the delivery reopens for bids and the skipper is free again.

The estimator gives a planning range for skipper and crew fees, fuel, berthing, provisions, crew travel and, where the passage goes through Panama or Suez, canal transit. Real bids are itemised by the skipper (fee, advance, expenses) and are usually inside that range, but the bids decide.

Either party can raise a dispute from the delivery page while the delivery is under way or just completed. The escrow is frozen immediately: no more money is paid out or refunded until the dispute is closed. Skippr.it staff read both condition reports, the photos, the position reports and the messages between you.

Staff split what is still held in the escrow between the owner (as a refund) and the skipper (as a payout) and write a short resolution both parties receive. A skipper who correctly refused to sail an unseaworthy boat can be compensated from the escrow; an owner whose boat was damaged can be refunded towards the repair. The delivery is then closed.

Nothing, as long as you settle it between yourselves. If Skippr.it staff have to decide the split, an arbitration charge of 5% of the skipper fee, and at least €150.00, is taken from the held funds before the rest is divided. There are no deposits: the charge only exists when we step in. You are told this where you raise the dispute.

Yes. Use the messages on the bid to agree them, keep the receipts, and settle anything beyond the expenses advance between you after the delivery. A dispute is for disagreements, not for bookkeeping.

A document Skippr.it generates from the accepted bid and the owner's vessel papers, with a verification code, so port authorities can see the skipper is sailing the boat with the owner's authority. It is in the ship's papers vault on the delivery page and works offline.

The owner's hull policy. Owners upload the rider or confirmation that covers a third-party professional delivery; Skippr.it staff verify it, and the pre-departure report cannot be filed without it. That cover pays for damage to the boat.

It is optional. Many freelance delivery skippers carry a skipper liability policy that covers negligence claims from the owner's insurer and from third parties. A skipper who uploads one and has it verified gets an "Own liability cover" badge on bids and on their public page, so owners can prefer them.

A passport for every level. Certified freelancers and master mariners also upload their certificate of competence and commercial endorsement, and master mariners a seafarer medical. Skippr.it staff verify them before the profile is approved for bidding.

Only Skippr.it staff open the files, to verify them. Owners never see a skipper's passport or certificates; they see the handle, the level and which document types have been verified. Vessel papers are shared with the skipper only once the escrow is funded, through the ship's papers vault.

Bids and chat run under handles. Real names, phone numbers and the vessel name are shared between the owner and their chosen skipper only once a bid is accepted and the escrow is funded.

After the delivery both sides review each other. Reviews are double-blind: neither is shown until both are in, or until two weeks have passed. Ratings on public pages count published reviews only, and the miles on a skipper's page come from completed Skippr.it deliveries.

Ports are nodes in Skippr.it's hand-built sea-lane network, which is what gives the distances, passage times and season windows on the route pages. Pick the nearest listed port; owners find skippers by distance from it. Tell us which port is missing and we add it.

Route pages exist for pairs inside a region and between the regional hubs. A longer delivery is planned the way crews sail it: a local leg to the nearest hub, the hub-to-hub passage, and a local leg at the other end. The estimator and your delivery show those legs and price on their total distance.

When a passage goes through the Panama or Suez canal, the estimator adds a canal transit line for tolls, agent, line handlers and fenders. The skipper's bid should cover the transit in the expenses advance; the agent is paid locally.