The fee is simple. The comparison is the point.

Added on top. The professional receives their full agreed rate and VetMark's margin is charged to you separately. This matters more than it sounds: models that deduct commission from the worker's rate create a quiet incentive to push rates down, and that eventually shows up in who is willing to work through the platform.

It depends on the seniority of the role, how specialised the brief is, and how much screening work it takes to fill. A discipline already covered on the vetted bench sits lower than a niche brief requiring a fresh search through all six stages. You get the exact figure in writing before anything begins, and it does not move during the engagement.

The markup percentage stays the same and applies to the new rate. If you move someone from full-time to two days a week, both the professional's rate and our markup fall proportionally. There is no minimum billing and no penalty for scaling down.

Yes, and plenty of clients plan for it from the start. The conversion terms, including how much of the markup already paid is credited against the placement fee, are agreed in your engagement agreement rather than negotiated at the point you want to convert. Raise it at the intake call if it is your likely direction.

For an ongoing engagement, the markup simply stops when the engagement does. You are never locked into paying for someone who is no longer working. For a direct hire, the replacement window is 10 business days from the start date, so a departure at three months is a new search rather than a guarantee claim. That is the honest position, and it is the same position every recruitment firm takes once its guarantee period has run.

No. Nothing is payable until the professional you chose actually starts work. That means all the sourcing and screening risk sits with us, which is deliberate: it is the strongest possible signal that we only take briefs we think we can fill.

The fair comparison is total cost, not hourly rate. A US in-house hire carries salary plus payroll taxes, benefits, software seats and amortised recruitment cost. Put your real all-in figure into the optional field in the calculator above and the difference is computed on your numbers rather than ours. We deliberately do not publish assumed talent costs, because we would be inventing them.

Amounts are exclusive of any applicable taxes, which are payable by you where they apply. Because professionals are non-US persons performing services outside the United States, US payroll withholding generally does not apply and a Form W-8BEN is collected rather than a 1099-NEC being issued. VetMark is not your tax advisor and you should confirm treatment with your own accountant.

They receive their full agreed rate on the schedule set in their engagement agreement. Where VetMark administers the engagement, we pay them directly, which is why you receive one consolidated invoice instead of arranging international payment yourself. Professionals are never charged a fee by VetMark at any stage.

If you engage a professional we introduced without going through VetMark, the applicable fee still becomes payable for 12 months after the introduction. It exists because we carry the entire cost of sourcing and six-stage screening before we invoice anything. It does not apply where you can show a documented relationship predating the introduction. The full wording is on the Terms and Policies page.

Possibly, for new engagements. Your agreed percentage does not change during an engagement that is already running. If we revise published rates we will say so plainly rather than quietly repricing renewals, and existing clients will hear it from us before they read it on this page.

You get it in writing before we screen anyone. The engagement agreement setting out your exact rate, terms and the replacement window is issued alongside the written search brief, which is step two of the process and long before any fee becomes payable.