Well those four sits were not back-to-back. They were over a 12 month period but two of them were booked well in advance. I agree that this is almost certainly the rationale for THS making this change rather than the stated claims that it would speed up the decision-making process. It’s true that maybe four sitters would pay a membership fee if each got one sit per year but in my case it is unlikely that I will renew as the opportunities for sits is now not only reduced but also more time-consuming having to check the site multiple times a day. It simply isn’t worth the trouble for me.
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Yup, each is us decides what’s worthwhile to us or not. Meanwhile, THS is doing what some companies describe as making chicken salad: “Chicken” is what users or partners consider valuable. If you have only so much chicken, you try to stretch it by making chicken salad, so you can feed more users or partners. Not everyone will like chicken salad enough to feel satisfied, but usually enough do so you come out ahead as a business.
I don’t think the ratio is that important. There are some areas and some types of sits that will get an almost unlimited number of applicants and some that won’t. I have cats – easy. But I have 3 of them and one has to take medication twice a day – a bit harder. But I live in NYC, so if I’m just patient enough eventually a great applicant wiil come my way and usually more than one so it’s a tough choice. If I lived even 20 miles north, and only had one sleepy easy peasy cat, it would still probably be harder to find a sitter.
The ratio of sitters vs home hosts is very important and will be a constant headache for THS
As all members pay the same membership fee, it is the goal of THS to keep us all happy and wanting to renew our memberships year after year.
Too many sitters = some not being able to secure sits.
Too many home hosts = some not being able to secure sitters.
It is a very fine balance!
Not all members are looking for sitters/hosts at the same time, so theoretically, it can just happen that numbers match (which, of course, doesn’t guarantee anything due to other aspects involved)
This is exactly why getting the correct balance is so difficult for THS
I think the idea of the company acheiving “balance” by ratio is impossible. Not all sitters are equal. Not all sitters have availality at all times. Some sitters might not sit for certain animals. Some sitters traveling with partners or children might not work for some sits. Some sitters don’t sit internationally, etc.
Homes also aren’t equal.
I think the idea of making this an essential travel hack for ANYONE who wants to travel for lower cost (petparents, sitters, combined) is the best option. Some homeowners may find that nobody wants to sit for a dog that can’t be left for more than two hours in a suburb an hour from the nearest city. They might become frustrated and demand a refund. Some sitters might find that they can’t click on time or haven’t gotten that Paris sit and might not renew. I think like many companies they are taking churn into account.
There are probably more things they could do within the search and matching to make things run more smoothly. IMO (no marketting expert) they should be advertising more heavily for petparents in major cities and tourist areas. If they could fill offer more sits in popular areas, they’d get more sitters. I’d also like to see them have actual standards for sitters and petparents instead of figuring that no one will accept the totally unqualified sitter claiming to have super powers of telepathic communication with animals or that no sitter willl go to the rickety house that shows black mold in the photos.
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This only works if you can keep the application window open. That’s not always an option, for example if I’m heading out - once you’re disconnected and then later on become online again, it doesn’t work
Yes, exactly this. I’ve spoken to HOs who get 5 applications, none of them what they’re looking for. Nonetheless, they may feel very hesitant about declining a ‘2nd choice’ applicant, because they don’t know if they’ll get better ones when they open up again and the 2dn choice might not appreciate being invited to the sit after all, after first having been declined!
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