Hi, I am new daycare in BC and am trying to fill in the spots now. I'm already advertising here, and on craigslist and on FB, and am registered with CCRR.

So this company approached me last week and offered to work together.
Their offer is that they'll refer families to me for short-term temp. placements for 1-2 weeks, 1-2 days, or even 2-3 hrs/day while I have spots available. And as I am going to become full, they'll still be helping out filling-in temp. vacancies (such as a kids absent due illness, or on vacation, or a temp empty spot until filled with FT/PT which of course I'd prefer) with their referred families [based on my availability of course]. They are working with families with kids travelling to Canada to study who need temp. daycare accommodations + they say they also have connections to FB groups of local parents looking for short-term last minute arrangements.

This sounds like a good option to work with them until I'm full. Definitely very tempting as this is extra income that otherwise I wouldn't have... But of course this company wants to charge a "referral fee" between 10-20% of my rate based on volume. And since these are short-terms and per/hr I technically could charge a bit higher rate to offset their commission...

Have anyone had any similar experience? Are you working with any such private referral service? Would you engage with such a service?
What did you pay? What would you pay? 10%? 15%? 20%? Would you set/increase your short term rates for this company specifically? Is it fair to their parents compared to other parents?

Thank you so much for the advise! Any insight will be much appreciated!