@Mokina, yes - encourage apply.
While not common then we have applied for multiple housesit listings of a Pet Parent. We were not sure. And considered, and respected, that perhaps we deemed a poor fit. Guess Pet Parents, like housesitters!, have decision criteria.
But turned out that first housesit, for which we were declined, was ultimately filled by a housesitter that had been used previously. So we were not declined, as much as another housesitter was a shoo-in.
Nothing to lose, if you still have interest in the specific opportunity.
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Hi @Mokina & @Fatamorgana
Iāll see if I can really clarify what I meant this time!
Sitters can indeed see all previous dialogues with all hosts theyāve ever communicated with either in the inbox or archive.
The annoying point, referenced by @Debbie & @Itchyfeet is that when you actually apply for a sit you will not see any previous conversation till after you hit submit- then the full dialogue opens in your inbox. So unless youāve gone through inbox before applying and reviewed the previous conversation you probably wonāt remember how the dialogue went etc
Butā¦if you apply for a sit (that you actually applied for long ago but have no memory of!) you would not think to check back and therefore will introduce yourself as a brand new person to themā¦!Then you hit submit and a whole previous dialogue opens up! It happened to us once and was a bit embarrassing!
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Both sides are able to see the full previous conversation as soon as the sitter submits their application!
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I havenāt applied for the same sit that I didnāt get, but I would. I have applied to sits and was initially declined and then something happened and the homowner invited me and I took those sits.
I am also a homeowner. From a homeowner perspective this isnāt about true love and kismit. Itās often about logistics ā who is where and can get and stay at my sit with no issue, experience (and sometimes there happens to be another applicant with more sit-specific experience), timing of application, and other stuff that isnāt personal. So unless a homeowner gave you a specific reason why you werenāt suitable, and that reason still stands, absolutely apply again. It certainly canāt hurt.
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Iām not interested in people not interested in my family. Although I could see myself accidentally reapplying to the same sit since the system doesnāt show me if Iāve applied before. Why does THS make changes for the worse sometimes?
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Iām confused. I thought once a sitter applied, they could contact and dialogue with a homeowner without sending in a new applicaiton. Maybe I get to see things differently because Iām a combined member, but I can find the old dialogues from previous applicaitons and thought this was why some sitters apply to introduce themselves when they canāt actually take the sit. Itās gotten more difficult to āfindā old emails since the āimprovedā the system. Are you saying that for sitters that arenāt ācombinedā itās impossible to reach out to a homeowner theyāve already been in contact with without applying again?
I donāt think most sitters are looking for love and kismet, but probably are saving time when not applying for sits they didnāt get before if they donāt know why they were declined. There are so many similar sits, itās just efficient to avoid ones with low odds, IMO.
I mention this, because there might be incentive for a host to reply to even declined sitters, especially if the sit isnāt in a popular location and/or has a lot of similar competition. Otherwise, such a host might be unknowingly reducing their applicant pool more and more as they post sits and reject applicants without clarity on why.
Personally, I wouldnāt mind applying again if the reason was clear and my odds seemed good. And in at least one case before, a host told me they were already in discussion with another sitter and later offered me the sit, which I accepted, when things didnāt work out with the earlier sitter.
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@Lokstar thank you for clarifying further
Probably many of you have been on THS for many years. I registered not long time ago, itās been 2.5 years now.
I mostly apply for sittings in one Country and when I see a post I remember if I applied for it or not.
I submitted for the same sitting only once, not because I was turned down, but because the HO had withdrawn the sitting as they were not sure about dates.
In that case I went scrolling down into the Inbox and found the message that I previously sent. I then made a few tiny changes accordingly, so no embarrassment involved.
By doing it this way, I avoid sending a message from the application page and click the submit button to only at that stage looking at the previous conversation.
I still have all conversations in the Inbox, I havenāt archived any of them.
I hope it makes sense.
Anyway, thank you all for sharing your experiences and points of view 
@Mokina I think you sit in Ireland, where there is a much smaller pool of housesits than in the UK, so that would probably explain why you are able to remember all the sits you have applied for. Almost all our sits and applications have been in the UK.
I have 189 conversations in my inbox. Part time sitters since 2019.
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Thatās right @Debbie thatās why I wanted to clarify.
I wish there were so many sittings in Ireland, or at least in proportion with the smaller population.
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No- Iām not saying that. Sitters can always contact a orevious host. They just have to search for the dialogue in their inbox.
Iām talking about when you are searching for sits and a listing with live dates pops up and you want to apply. Whilst on that application page you cannot see any previous dialogue. If you know youāve had previous contact you could go on the previous dialogue in your inbox and read it before hitting apply on the application page. On that previous message thread you could, in theory, alert the HO of your interest in the new dates but you cannot actually apply formally from that page.
Hope thatās clearer!
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Got it!
They also made the sytem more complicated for hosts since the latest mailbox āupgrade.ā Hosts used to be able to label sitters whoād previously applied. I donāt remember it exactly but it was something like āfavoriteā ālikeā āpossibleā āunsuitable.ā It made it very simple to review old messages and invite people. Now you have to go through all the old messages! I really think THS wants as many public listings as possible so the site looks busy and new sitters get a chance to apply.
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Iāve heard this sentiment in some previous threads where some sitters are adamant about not wanting to be on the āB list.ā Iād never have a B-list sitter sit for me. But I can only pick one A-lister per sit! As a sitter, Iāve often been the second choice after someone cancelled or turned down a sit. Itās not a problem for me.
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Thanks for your input
I have been with the site since it started in 2010.
I am very busy on the site and I cannot imagine how many thousands of messages that I have in my Inbox.
It would be impossible to look through my Inbox.
Once again, I have raised this issue with the Support team and am awaiting their response
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