When we get unsolicited invitations, they tend to come in batches (like 3 in a day ) and then it goes quiet for a couple of weeks or a month and then another flurry . It has averaged out at 1 or 2 a week and increases for sits over holiday dates . (We have had 6 so far for Christmas this year )
The platform has a tab “find a sitter” which owners can use to search for a sitter - this produces what appears to be a random list of sitter’s profiles in no discernible order .
So I assume that when an owner does a search there is an algorithm that puts our sitter profile at the top of the search page for that day and then we get a flurry of messages and invitations.
So far None of the unsolicited messages or invitations that we’ve received have worked out for us . Wrong location or dates don’t work.
I suppose it’s similar to jobs, whereas it would feel strange if jobs I would never apply for kept contacting me asking if I wanted to work for them. It’s not unheard of, but it isn’t generally the way the job market works.
Maybe it irks me a bit because it’s beginning to invoke a similar feeling to getting spam mail.
I think this approach would make sense if it was a paid service. If it’s unpaid the spectrum of factors as to why people sit varies too broadly for you to pluck random people off a list and invite to sit. Which is probably why I keep getting regular offers that are of no interest. I often think, well I’d do them if I was being offered money, but there’s no reason for me to be in that place or do that labour without compensation, so there’s nothing in it for me.
Yes. All these poor HOs who think that sending invites is going to land them a sitter are wasting so much time and are getting so frustrated. There are multiple threads from them wondering what they’re doing wrong and the answer is always don’t bother, most of us aren’t interested in invites. Sure there is the odd situation where the stars align, but it’s the exception, not the rule.
THS allows me to see who has expressed interest in my listing in the past and in my area, so I have done this in case a sitter either hasn’t seen my listing.
I didn’t realise it wasn’t welcomed.
I certainly don’t know if I speak for the majority of sitters, and it seems like your approach is a bit more tailored.
I think a lot of sitters will usually sit because they want to be in a specific place, and at a certain time - like for a holiday, or they’re between moving house. There’s such a variety of pet needs too, so only a sitter knows what their preferences and limits are, which can also shift over time.
I am trying to think of examples, maybe it would be like if an AirBnB host messaged saying “Hey do you want to come on holiday between X and Z dates” . In my mind It’s not the most sensical way around?
I think it’s different if someone has liked your listing. Then you know that they’re probably looking for a sit like yours. But many HOs just send messages to random sitters who may or may not have any interest in their location, pets, etc. I think it’s those kinds of messages that are pretty pointless. I think unwelcome may be too strong, but they’re more of a waste of time for everyone involved. The HOs for spending time on the contact and the sitters for having to then go read the message and probably respond in some way.
If THS would allow sitters to set up some level of limits on who could contact them, it would help everyone.
What I’ve done is set my profile to a really low demand area. So anyone searching for sitters in their area are unlikely to find me. I think it helps a lot as I rarely get invites unless I’ve updated my location to somewhere more popular for sits.
The most bizarre request that we have received in our THS inbox was to travel several hundred miles to an island ( which would have involved a six hour drive and an expensive ferry crossing ) to take care of an anxious dog while the owner went to work - it was just for a few hours - no overnight stay …… and the message was sent the day before they needed a sitter
It’s next to impossible that an unsolicited invite would line up for me, but it takes seconds to decline. I wrote a brief and polite decline msg and put it on a shortcut key on my phone and tablets. So by my typing three characters, a refusal spits out and I hit send. Shrug.
I’m a relatively new sitter, and have been getting about 2 or 3 a month. I accepted one fairly local one early on in order to build up my reviews - it was for 4 dogs, so I wouldn’t have looked at this sit (2 max for me) but it was ok although I’ve declined at least 2 further invites from this HO.
But my next sit was out of the blue from a new HO, and as it looks great (cat, in an area I want to be in) I accepted. I wonder if a previous HO in the area suggested me?
However, most invitations seem fairly random (?desperate?) and I decline with a simple “sorry but I’m not available”.