That’s great @adamcchristie as that wasn’t how I interpreted your original comment. Hope you enjoy all your sits.
No, Victoria Australia. But I was just saying to my friend here on this petsit that I would love to go to UK next 
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Hi @adamcchristie, what a shame you missed out on a meetup in Melbourne Friday week ago with other sitters. I guess it depended on where in Vic you happen to be.
Oh no, why did I not know about that!? Is there another one coming up? And how do I find out about them?
@toml had posted about it before Christmas on the Forum @adamcchristie. No other one coming up but just keep a check on the Meet Up thread.
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Thanks for the heads up @temba. I was off the community forum when I was at home in between sits but will make a point to check in now. Cheers, Ada
Yes! As a HO I’d like to encourage sitters to do this, especially in light of the recent cap on no more than 5 open applications. Know that it can take HOs a few days to communicate back and forth with the initial applicants, and that the listing may very well reopen if none of the initial applicants works out.
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Thank you @pdxgal - and I am pleased you realise you can reject any unsuitable applications and unpause your listing. Unfortunately many HO are unaware and feel they have no option but to choose from the first five.
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@adamcchristie, yes the new ish 5 cap rule seems to take away choice and control for both HOs & HSs.
Whilst it may have it’s rationale and even possibly some limited benefits, I’d (and I think the vast majority of members) like to see it return to the more “free and open market system”.
As any benefits are, it seems for the most of us users, far outweighed by the limitations and issues caused by its introduction.
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@Purdie I don’t know how many ordinary members are aware. It seems that most HOs don’t know about the limit, maybe they never get that many applications anyway. Ordinary sitters may not know either, as THS is not telling anybody.
It is the “power users” for which the limit is a major issue, and they are overrepresented on this forum.
I am agnostic on the issue. But I hate it that THS does not communicate that that they have this limit.
As to the topic of this thread, if I saw that there were already 7 applicants, I would not be likely to apply. It would likely be a waste of effort.
@pietkuip yes the main ones moaning the loudest seem to be the old longtime users who were used to hoovering up every sit in sight.
@Ashleynov - not at all. I have been a sitter with THS a long time and we all had to start somewhere.
The 5 limit was introduced to speed up communication between homeowners and sitters and to help the newer members.
I have no problem with the limit as such - my issue has always been that such a significant change was not communicated to all members. After a year there are still members unaware of the limit.
@Ashleynov I disagree that long term members got all the sits. When we were starting out and had just 2 or 3 sits behind us we were chosen from 25 other applicants for a wonderful sit in Kuala Lumpur! The sit was on 4-7 apps when we applied but reached 25 before they made a decision. The difference was the host had 25 applicants to choose from and not just 5. These days its the fastest applicant who gets a shot and not necessarily the most experienced.
THS has not been AT ALL transparent about this policy which has now been in place for over a year and many members still don’t know about it!! And as for the idea that this policy would speed up response time- in my experience I don’t see any evidence of it. Some hosts respond quickly and politely and others don’t- its still the same. But then ofcourse so many people don’t know about the policy anyway…
Those in the know- mainly forum members- have found ways around it- e.g when the apps reach 4 sending a quick ‘save the space’ message - to grab the last place- followed by a more leisurely well thought out application. If you do your research first and then apply- as we all used to- you will most likely miss the chance to apply at all as the listing will already have reached 5 and closed! Its each man for himself these days. As a result of our ‘technique’ we do still manage to get most sits we want but its a lot more stressful than it used to be.
I don’ think it puts people off, but if the applicants aren’t suitable or you haven’t been able to get in touch with them, you should decline them in order to get new applicants. You can also post your listing in a forum to get help with it if you are having trouble getting applicants.
If you know it’s not a fit, decline the HS. You only get 5 active apps at a time anyway and leaving people on a sit when they are not a match is poor form for the ones who have already applied.