I have been mostly unsuccessful in finding sitters and I find the search function on this site to be about as inefficient as it gets! I set the dates and type of pet but it doesn’t seem to narrow down the listings. Then there are people who indicate that they are available but when I reach out to them they say they’re not available. Which makes me wonder if people might be even if they don’t indicate it on their profile. It’s like fishing with a hook! Frustrating and time consuming and so far not worth the annual fee (only one three-night sitter thus far has worked out).
Any tips as to how to find sitters? Are other HO’s having the same issues?
Thanks
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I’ve been on THS (as a HO) about a year, with six completed sits and two upcoming. I’ve never reached out to a sitter. I post my listing with dates, and wait for them to apply. The only time I ever had difficulty getting applications was for a Christmas sit last year, which I eventually got.
I just looked at your listing and see that you already have two applicants. Hopefully, one of them will work out for you!
*Edited to add: I see that you mention some clutter in your listing, and that your one sitter mentioned clutter. It may be worth decluttering both for photos and for sitters - Get one or two storage bins, put items in a storage bin and in a closet for photos and for trips. You can just unpack those bins easily when photos/trips are done. Sometimes small things like that can make your place seem more appealing and more welcoming to sitters.
You’ve got four photos of the interior of your home - small house notwithstanding - sitters may want to have a better sense of the space they’ll be staying in, so a few photos showing those rooms from other angles and perspectives would round out their expectations.
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Hi,
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I’m not sure where you see that I have two applicants…I’m not aware of that! Please enlighten me!
I am working on the clutter issue - it’s a small house with limited closet space! And I do mention it in my listing so people are aware of it. When I am able to remedy the situation I will update my listing. I realize that this may not be appealing to some people.
Go into your Inbox on your Dashboard @Tales and there should be 2 applications for your 6-9 July dates. You should also have received an email saying there are these applications, unless you have Notifications turned off.
@Tales
I notice that you do require someone who is scent-free… that is of course absolutely your right to request this in your home. However it will limit the number of sitters who apply as the majority ( myself included) will not be used to living without laundry detergent & shampoos as you have requested.
Could you perhaps suggest alternatives for sitters who aren’t used to this way of living ?
For example “ I don’t use laundry detergent, but I use xxxx instead which will be available for your use during your stay “
You say all chemical scents so does this include soap, shower gel, and deodorants ? again it would be helpful to advise what cleaning and bathing products can be used and will be provided.
“ PLEASE NOTE: I can’t have anyone in my home who smokes - even outside. I also need someone who is scent-free, including laundry detergent, shampoos, perfumes and incense. Mostly chemical scents.”
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I agree @silversitters that it might be hard for someone to go scent-free if they don’t know what products are out there. Laundry detergent is easy enough to find, and soap as well. But deodorant? And shampoo? It would really help to know what product names can be used, and/or to supply them (within reason, of course).
The other thing I noticed, and which would keep me from applying, is the futon. At my age, my spine would protest after a single hour on one.
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Hi there!
As a sitter, I usually go over feedback (both from sitters and from the HO).
Going over your profile, I noticed your previous sitter left a Review about her stay, but you didn’t do it. For me, that’s really important since I believe that Reviews left by HOs give me a glimpse of the expectations they have about the sitter. Besides, it shows me the HO understands how important reviews are for us sitters so I might think twice before applying (just a very subjective opinion but thought it might be useful to share it with you)
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When I first checked, you had two applications, and now you have none. Did you decline the two? Oh, I see. You have two trips planned. Two applied for the July. None yet for your next trip after!
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Thanks - I will clarify about unscented product and offer some of mine. Deodorants are not an issue. I do mention that I use a topper on the futon which makes it quite comfortable. But I get it.
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Thanks for that feedback. I’ve been meaning to post a review - I’ve been traveling and, in general, exceptionally busy. But I will make a point to do so.
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Hi - thanks for that suggestion. I’m certainly not suggesting that people can’t shower or wash clothes! People are welcomed to use my laundry detergent or liquid soap for showering. I love your idea of mentioning this or suggestions they can find. Thank you!
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Thanks - yes I did have two people reach out to me and both did not work out for different reasons.
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I know what you mean about finding sitters. I had a couple of sits for this month and what I did was use the search feature and invited sitters instead of waiting for qualified sitters to apply to me…Especially with this 5 application rule.
I think I messaged/invited about 140 qualified sitters in my local area. No lie, I had about 6-7 who said that they can do the sit. I found a great sitter because of my invite though. Who knows when I might have finally came across her if I wasn’t proactively searching?
I do agree that the search features need to be better. As I was going through my process, I was thinking there should be a sort of recently active sitters. That would help tremendously! I had to sort through so many profiles that weren’t active since 2022.
Also it would be nice if sitters really used the calendar feature. So many sitters said they were already on other sits, but when I put in the dates, those sitters came up available. I’m not saying that the sitters are lazy when it comes to the calendar…Maybe some forget or maybe the user interface is horrible.
I don’t know, but most of the time, it’s like there is no point to put dates in the search. That should be improved too where calendar availability is easy for sitters to put in
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Thanks for your note, Shasta. Glad I’m not the only one having challenges with this!
Are you inviting people even though they don’t indicate availability (not on a sit but not indicating availability either)? I tend to invite people in batches since it’s so time consuming. The dates feature doesn’t work for me - that would make it so much easier. The other problem is you don’t know where someone is currently located in the world! My tendency is to invite people who live in very different places from where I’m located with the assumption that they wouldn’t want to leave their homes for some place nearby. But then I get some people saying they *only sit within an hour from their home. So there’s no magic bullet regarding who might be interested in sitting.
I can help explain the availability situations that arise. My husband and I have been with THS for about three years, we have many sits. From our perspective the availability calendar is frustrating because we often either travel when not sitting, or have friends/relatives pets booked to be in our home, but we are unable to fix our own availability on the calendar. It is unfortunate because we are force to turn down 90% of the sit invites we get, and we always feel terrible saying no. It looks as though we are available but we are not. Sometimes we extend a stay, before or after, at a sit location to do more sightseeing, so we may not return from a sit for weeks after it ends. We only use the app for THS and often there are features that can be done on desktop but not on app. I am not sure about the calendar. Rest assured we are not trying to frustrate HOs it frustrates us too!
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Then you need to message the applicants and decline them on the website
@Jmcrae I don’t think you need to feel ‘terrible’ declining an invitation to sit!! Just because someone likes your profile and invites you (flattering as it may be) does not mean you have to feel the same level of interest whether available or not! Just like you only apply for the sits that interest you and the host may or nay not reciprocate that interest! Until a personal connection is nade its all a bit of a lottery game… just mho!
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@Tales - my calendar is up to date- but I will receive invites for locations that I am not able to travel to . The calendar has no way for sitter to show both availability and location .
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Agreed, and we send a pleasant note to maybe make arrangements on another date.
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