For my fellow sitters. If you are considering upgrading to premium to avoid the additional fees, consider this. Presently, the Basic Sitter plan is $129 USD/yr and the Premium Sitter Plan is $259 USD/year, so you would need to confirm at least 11 sits to justify the upgrade to avoid the additional fees.
So, for any sitters that usually keep the Basic Sitter plan for an annual vacation or a few trips a year, I wouldn’t recommend upgrading, as you will not be saving money with the upgrade.
Full-time sitters or sitters who often confirm 11+ sits a year would benefit most from upgrading.
The OP hasn’t specified the currency they are referring to. I know it isn’t CDN for sure.
To find my info in my own currency (on Samsung phone), I log into the website, go into Dashboard and scroll down to pricing.
USD price difference between Basic and Premium is $130 USD, which means unless you plan on confirming 11+ sits a year, there’s no cost benefit in upgrading to Premium.
Hope this makes sense and is helpful, especially with the introduction of additional fees per sit.
I just looked up details on my auto renewal. My basic member renewal is shown as US$169 vs US$299 for premium. As a host, the $130 premium upgrade adds cancelation insurance capped at $1500 with a $150 copay. $130 to protect a maximum claim of $1500 is pretty good for THS, not so much for hosts.
@Themavericksitter Here’s a little more data for members to ponder. In Canadian funds, the increase for an owner (pet parent) or combined account to go from standard to premium is $100. For a sitter, it’s $120. Why more for a sitter?
I shouldn’t be surprised as consistency has never been this site’s strong suit.
I don’t see why anyone is surprised at the changes being imposed on THS members. This is the Air B&Bing of a successful idea which will lead to its demise. Obviously every facet of Trusted House Sitters is being scrutinized in order to wring additional fees from users. As a Canadian, Basic is going up to $300 plus THSs is wringing another $35 per sit out of non-Premium members. Don’t forget the Duo fee in case your spouse or partner can’t be trusted. Soon Basic Members will be expected to pay the add-on cleaning fee of $100 — just like Air B&B, and wait for the Insurance Deductible fee. You can count on more fees showing up because THS is the “Golden Goose”, and unfortunately it will have to die before the investors are happy.
It has been a great few years and we have loved every sit we have done, but the focus has moved from the animals and their wellbeing to the money and its wellbeing.
The new booking fee is clearly designed to penalize infrequent users.
Those with several sits per year (more than the break even) on the booking fee will be the least affected and gain the most from using the site. With such a large number of sits and the money saved on both sides of the transaction, $120 euros per year is nothing.
These are things to consider when upgrading. I’ve been a member for almost 3 years and never considered upgrading from the Basic to Premium plan, as I didn’t see any needed value. However, when considering the implementation of additional fees, many might be pondering upgrading, especially sitters and hosts with frequent sits.
I’m just discovering that sitters pay more than hosts, for memberships. This makes sense as I’ve always perceived THS as being more favorable to hosts. Also, I would also assume that sitters are more active on the site, being they confirm more sits than hosts.
Agreed. I can see the Basic membership either going away completely or being rebranded into a more expensive tier, which makes picking between Basic and Premium more complicated.
I’m not surprised, as I have seen the global economy decline and many corporations are trying to milk those that can still afford to spend a little extra. In the upcoming years, these same corporations may have to offer major discounts and promotions, when revenues decline due to very few having any discretionary spending. Affordability is becoming a major concern.
So, the change has just made many question their future with THS, who might begin operating like Airbnb in years to come, yet what would be the benefit to sitters?
When I sat full-time, I’d take breaks between sits at nice Airbnbs or hotels, for the relaxing experience. While, I love pets and helping others, if THS becomes too overwhelming (dealing with challenging hosts, travel becoming unaffordable, and cleaning issues) and expensive (due to these additional fees and higher travel costs) most sitters that can affordable to still travel, will just opt for Airbnbs and hotels. I myself am a digital nomad and have been living in a Mexican beach town for just about the same cost of traveling from sit to sit. I’m presently pondering between keeping my membership for the occasional sit or just leaving THS to focus on longterm stays in affordable areas.
@Themavericksitter I don’t know why you made the assumption that sitters confirm more sits than hosts. I’m actually doing a sit next week where the owner had far more listings this year than I’ve done sits this year.
I don’t think there’s anything available to support your assumption, as TrustedHousesitters rarely share any data. Besides, every confirmed sit represents one owner profile and one sitter profile, so surely that makes the count equal? No need for a response as it’s more of a rhetorical question.
@Themavericksitter, majority of competitive platforms charge zero to homeowners - only to housesitters. We find this deeply unattractive - irrespective of fair trade then, with zero cost, the homeowner has no skin-in-the-game so may be easily tempted to post listing opportunistically then cancel at a later date.
I suspect more sitters than hosts will upgrade as a “money saving” move. Hosts with more than 10 sits per year will break even but I doubt most host members use THS more than 3 or 4 times per year.
Next post from THS will be to say there’s no more basic membership plan! Aaagghh!! lol