@Figgbee No this happens to me as well and we have a premium membership. It’s just that for many popular sits they fill up almost as soon as they are listed. We’re in a popular tourist destination and we get five applicants almost immediately after making the dates live.
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And it’s happening……
A little fancy badge on a profile does not mean that member is the best possible sitter. It just means they have taken the more expensive route to become a member. We had extensive discussions on this when they brought in the membership tiers.
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While premium members may not get priority today, you can be certain thats where THS is headed with this model for both hosts and sitters. What would be the point of membership tiers if there were not real benefits like this? I fear that the 5 application limit is also a step in this direction.
I see “Featured Listings” when looking for sits. Have those hosts have paid something for that benefit? If so, it stands to reason that we will soon have “Featured Sitters” that have done nothing more than pay for the label.
Its the nature of a membership model, theres only 2 ways of increasing revenue: Adding more members and extracting more from the members you have.
And even if it’s controversial, if you buy the premium membership (for the insurance and the lounge passes currently), you will be looking for the extra benefits or you’ll simply revert to the basic plan. Just the same as a rewards account at your bank…all about revenue generation.
Much as I detest the rule that dare not speak its name, it is a symptom of the societal model into which the world has developed.
THS is a business, like any other. Amazon charges for Prime (and persistently devalues it). Remember “Air Miles” that got bought out and devalued to nothing? I don’t need to make a list as we all know it’s true. Anything that was once a great deal or perk has been watered down. Anything we rate highly now will diminish in the future.
The single worst problem about THS is that it was once a community with values that its members (of many years) believe in, still adhere to and long for. Those core members remember that they felt supported and that they were largely treated fairly, as though they were in a club. Maybe it was Covid or maybe it was a deliberate policy shift by the owner/founder/CEO/directors (I don’t know the management hierarchy) but the decision was made to expand, seek (and get) investment (which must have come with strings attached) and make more money (including recouping what was lost through the Covid years). That is the reality of what we are seeing happen to the once comfortable, manageable sized, contented community; it is now a rapidly expanding, US focused, big business. We are not members, we are customers. We will continue to see devaluations; I suspect there will be a limit on the number of sits that basic members can apply for/undertake per year (and the equivalent for HOs) and new paid add-ons to membership categories. The lounge pass perks will be removed in the coming years (unless the price increases). We are paying punters, we don’t have “rights” and we can’t ask for things to be run “fairly”.
What we need is for someone who understands how to start and run a business (not me!) to enter into the market as an “old fashioned” rival and re-make what THS once was.
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@Saltrams House Sit Match seems to be trying to fill that void and are highlighting their ‘difference’… They are on a big membership drive with free months/huge discounts. We need multiple healthy competitors so we as consumers have more of a choice. Atm, THS is the ‘Google/Amazon/Airbnb’ in the space but Im confident other companies will gain ground and new disruptors will come.
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Sorry @Rubos, I got carried away with a diatribe (as usual) and didn’t specifically address your suggestion.
As we are in the business model I outlined & nothing will beam us up into the good old days, I agree with your idea. I’d pay.
Straight to Google…
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@Saltrams Thank you for putting my very thoughts into words so eloquently 
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@Twitcher, thank you! Nothing I love more than drafting verbose copy and being called eloquent is a big 
for me 
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This must be the worst idea ever presented by a member of this forum. An idea that in no way benefits the members but, as per your own observation, aligns perfectly with THS’s planned evolution (and even expected). Thus, I cannot help but wonder who is behind this idea. Regardless of the “who”, I am certain that THS will study this thread (survey?) with great interest.
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@Saltrams their FB group is quite good too.
I think we are also seeing signs of increasing problems with the software. It is not easy to maintain user interfaces on different platforms (different mobile phones, different web browsers), it is a never-ending job to keep up with all the new versions. And then there is the backend.
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I understand your point and get your frustration about the rule and what you actually get for paying more. (I’m not a premium member)
I wouldn’t be in favour though of those paying more having the ability to apply after the first 5 applications, as I’ve been a (regular) paying member for more than 8 years and before this rule always had the possibility to apply for sits even if 5 people before me had already done so.
In other words, the value of my regular membership has actually gone down. The price has gone up, but what I’m able to with it is less than before the 5 application rule came in place. So we could also argue the other way around: the price of regular memberships should go down due to the 5 application rule as it means we don’t have full access to all listed sits anymore…
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@Itchyfeet agree. I don’t to see a tier system where the more you pay the more privileges you have.
My edit:
To add . By privileges I don’t mean club passes and insurance I mean privileges to buy your way in front of other sitters to edge them out
@Rubos
(If I phone my telecommunications provider and find myself waiting in line while another customer who’s willing to pay more gets assistance faster, where’s the problem in that?)
Do you trust them with your pet just because they paid more?
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@Rubos
(Regarding privilege,
Aren’t we regularly investing in services, seeking superior benefits compared to those offered to a “standard account”?)
Do you think better sitters have more money?
I must say, since have posted this simple idea a while ago I saw a lot of reactions passing by and I was astonished by the responses and the feeling that brought that idea up.
I just wanted to let you know, forget the whole idea, I kinda started to like the 5 maximum applications! It has it benefits so I vote to keep the 5 maximum applications.
Kind regards
Since the OP has decided to retract this suggestion, this topic will be closed. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and input.