I really think charging 10 euro for the host and 10 euro for the pet sitter is not fair at all. If there was no annual subscription, why not… But I just think that this platform is just greedy…
I cancelled my renewal. Don’t worry, you will still have access until the end of your subscription.
(edited by Forum team to ensure post meets Community Guidelines)
Yes, paying this fee makes it a lot less attractive, especially for sitters. Why not pay a bit more for accommodation and be free of any responsibilities? Especially for short trips.
Short sits are going to loose out the most indeed, in terms of loss of willing sitters.
The only way right now indeed to continue my membership once it expires is if they forfeit the booking fee (won’t happen…) or give me Premium for the price of Basic, such that I can sit it out another year and see how (un)popular the booking fee turns out to be once it’s in full force. E.g. how many HOs are going to complain about reduced sitter interest etc?
You’ve heard our feedback… and? Nothing. New “improvements” that very few here seem to want. No direct management feedback (heaven forbid they would deign to lower themselves into a community forum to “explain”) and general dissatisfaction. Sorry, Community Managers. I don’t want to appear to be shooting the messengers, it’s just that we’re not really getting any message beyond “We’ve heard your feedback…and we’re not going to take any notice of it”
Ah, but there’s a select few that are being contacted by THS, allegedly. That’s strikes me as lip service, so that THS can say at a later date we asked and this is what we were told by members. I doubt we’ll ever know how many members were surveyed and the make up of the survey, it won’t be transparent.
Well, I will definitely do fewer sits now, and will no longer recommend THS.
I always look at sits in a country I love, and there has been a sit there with a duration of 2 days, still there after several days, says low applications. It is in a desirable location. Must be the short duration and booking fees that keep people from applying.
My ‘get around’ for this year (membership was due to run out in March) is that I advertised my discount code on the local community fb whilst I was on a recent sit including photos of the local area and us actually being there. It seems to have done the trick as we’ve now picked up sufficient extra free months to cover until July this year (we’ve got a confirmed sit in June).
@BonnyinBrighton that is very proactive and I applaud your thinking outside the box 
Well done you!!! 
We are not doing many sits atm as we are chilling in Asia. However, we do have a couple locked in for later this year. Both homeowners are ceasing their membership prior to the sits and have asked us if we are ok to do the sit off platform. Thats a 100% hit rate from our experience. Maybe a complete coincidence, but I’d love to be a fly on the wall to see the overall stats since the booking fee came in. Its obviously having some impact.
Yup, good tactic to include photos highlighting a local connection. I mentioned that on this thread for newbie sitters as well: Advice on Sitter Pics - #11 by Maggie8K
@bluehorse have cancelled my auto renewal. Presently on standard membership. If I also get offered premium for basic membership price will stick around for another year to see how it goes. Not paying the booking fees.
Hi Bonny. I’ve sent you a DM. Sarah
Interesting strategy. I’ve shared my code on a couple of community websites and got nuthin’. Hadn’t thought of doing it during a sit on pages in the locale though. 
If you do that, does everyone who looks at it see your profile, your name, and where you’re from? That makes me hesitate a bit to put it on random pages.
“Increased expenses make it necessary to raise our fees in order to continue to bring you a higher level of service.”
Or something like that.
That’s what my cable company keeps telling me. I’m about to fire them too.
The introduction of this new fee presented as a service enhancement has been met with widespread dismay among sitters in various groups on Facebook. What was once rooted in principles of mutual trust, exchange, and community, much like Couchsurfing in its early days, now appears to be shifting toward a conventional corporate service model with steadily increasing costs.
Across multiple house-sitting Facebook groups, I have seen consistent expressions of frustration and disappointment. Many feel this change undermines the original ethos of the platform and signals a move toward a more transactional, Airbnb-style structure—something I, personally, do not support.
On principle, I am seriously considering stepping away. However, before doing so, I would value your perspective. Do we accept this change passively, or do we take a collective stand and formally petition for its reconsideration? If the sitter community acts in concert, our voice carries weight.
Please let me know where you stand on this.
Since you asked: the constant complaining and whining about the fees and calls for some sort of large scale pushback is a waste of time and bandwidth.
Prices increase. Cost of doing business increases. You can avoid the booking fee by paying for a Premium Membership. If you use the site a lot you’ll save the increased membership fees many times over. If you don’t use the site all that much then pay a few bucks worth of booking fees per year.
Or? If you don’t like the fee and refuse to upgrade to Premium? Rather than complain, spend your time more productively and find another site that meets your needs and budget.
Welcome to the forum @Shahyan. You are not alone in your thoughts about this. As you can see, there are 415 comments and this is the second thread opened in relation to the introduction of booking fees when it was announced early December (the first thread had well over 1000 comments). You also only need to read the reviews on TrustPilot when this was announced too.
THS have no intention of changing their decision.
@Shahyan, welcome to the forum.
As @temba said, you are certainly not alone. And this is indeed the thread where “complaints” belong. There are even complaints about complaints… 
Regarding your question:
People are taking different approaches. These threads may be useful:
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/what-s-your-plan-re-booking-fees/72712
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/other-house-sit-sites/44132/75
Yes, I feel the same way. I was once a member of Couchsurfing and hosted literally hundreds of people (had 200 reviews there). When they wanted to charge me for logging in, I stopped using it. They wanted me to pay for the privilege of hosting people in my home! Now I am a pet sitter on this platform, and like some others I have felt some of the old Couchsurfing vibes here (mutual support and kindness). It might have been naive on my part because there are loads of members here who don’t see it that way at all. The majority probably see it as a transaction and have no interest in ongoing contact with sitters or hosts (there are exceptions - some hosts have been keeping in touch and have invited me back).
Anyway, now I am being asked to pay for the privilege of helping others with their pets. I am currently on my first pet sit that I paid a booking fee for. Thankfully, it seems to be a good one. Sweet kitty, nice owner and a very cosy apartment. I don’t see myself frequently pet sitting in a couple of years. My life is going that way anyway, that I want to be at home more. Whether I will stay a member here or not, I don’t know yet. I have until March 2027 to decide.