Explainer
Farm-out vs farm-in: how affiliate work pays
Chauffeur operators rarely cover every job with their own cars. A client books a wedding with four cars when you have two, a corporate account needs a car in a city you do not serve, or another operator is short on a Saturday. Affiliate work fills those gaps in two directions.
Farm-out: you sold it, someone else drives it
Farm-out is sending a job you sold to another operator. The client is yours, the price the client pays is yours, and the partner is paid the price you agreed with them. What you keep is the difference, and that difference is only real if both numbers are known before the job:
- the price the client accepted;
- the price the partner accepted for the same job, including waiting, parking and any extras.
The common mistake is agreeing the partner's price loosely ("the usual rate") and finding out what it was when their invoice arrives. Ask for a complete price for the job and record it on the job, so the margin is visible before the car leaves.
Farm-in: someone else sold it, you drive it
Farm-in is the other side: another operator sold the job and offers it to you. You do not set the client's price. You decide whether the price offered covers your cost for that job, including the empty travel to the pickup and back.
Treat a farmed-in job like your own booking: check the brief, the times and the vehicle class, and only accept what you can cover. Declining a job you cannot do well protects the relationship more than accepting it and sending the wrong car.
What makes affiliate work pay
The brief decides most of it. A partner can only deliver your standard if they have the same information your own driver would have: pickup and drop-off, flight number, passenger name and phone, luggage, meeting instructions and any special requests. A short brief turns into a phone call on the day.
The second factor is recording the cost where the job is. When the partner's agreed price sits on the job, you can see the margin of each job, not only of the month.
Where 4fleet fits
In 4fleet you can ask several partners to quote a job, compare their offers, award it to one, and keep the same brief with the chosen operator. The partner's agreed price is stored on the job, so the booking shows what the job leaves after partner costs. If you work through GNet, jobs can come in from GNet and go out to it from the same workspace.
Related reading
Frequently asked questions
Is farm-out the same as subcontracting?
In chauffeur work the terms are used for the same thing: another operator delivers a job you sold. Farm-out is the industry word for it.
Who invoices the client on a farmed-out job?
The operator who sold the job. The client's contract is with you; the partner invoices you for their agreed price.
How do I know if a farm-in price is worth accepting?
Compare it with your own cost for that job, including the empty travel to the pickup and back to base. A cost per mile figure for the vehicle makes this a quick check.
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