Numerous members have stated they won’t be renewing their THS memberships because of the new “Booking fee”, and still others are threatening to leave due to new rules implemented by THS at around the same time.
Will enough sitters leave to make a difference? Only time will tell, as memberships expire and are not renewed over the next year. One way to track it is to monitor the number of sitters who have favorited a host’s listing.
As of now, we have 262 sitters who favorited our listing. This number has steadily increased since we joined, so I would expect it to at least stay at this level if not increase further as we post additional dates.
I will report back in a few months or when I see significant changes in the number, and I ask that other hosts do the same.
This will be beneficial in determining the continued value of our host memberships.
Hosts with Premium memberships can see the list of sitters who favorited them by clicking on their profile, and then Favorites, and then “See sitters who favourited your listing”.
Not to hijack your experiment, but to be honest I think a better measurement of value for homeowners is to track the cost of hiring a sitter vs. the cost of your annual subscription fee+booking fees. If you only book 2-5d of THS sits per year, and the average in-home sitter in your area charges $45/day, is it still a savings? (And do consider the effort you go to in order to submit a listing and vet applicants in that equation, vs using a known, paid regular sitter.)
Unfortunately, there is really no similar comparison for sitters. I guess one could ask “did you save money over renting an AirBnB?” But the truth is that I don’t have to travel…THS simply offers me an opportunity to do so, while I “pay” for that stay with my pet- and house-sitting services. I could also take paid sits instead, but currently do not.
So many variables to factor in. The more pets you have the more kenneling etc costs. Are there even paid sitters available in particular areas? The value of having a home occupied, how do you put a dollar amount on that? I really think it’s going to hit the full time sitters the most as they will be booking the most. No such things as a full time home owner ( in the sense of booking multiple sitters all year) in case anyone doesn’t grasp the comparison.
As an advocate of curiousity & experimentation then applaud initiative. It may require significant patience as fee changes only take effect at renewal - so rolling over next year, or longer for those with referral credits. And no control group. No matter, interested in any trends.
Our guess is that HO with attractive listings (location, pets/responsibilities, property) may continue to receive ample applicants.
@idocsteve, not many listings in southern europe and plenty housesitter appetite so think you’ll be fine. If housesitter already willing to pay international airfare to conplete housesit then they’re probably either premium members or insensitive to booking fee.
Understood.
THS does not publish data on THS membership (e.g. #HOs, #PPs, frequency listings/sits, geography). Suspect even THS has limited insight into likely impact and timeline. Unintended consequences (e.g. imbalanced HO vs HS) certainly seem possible. Guess see how unfolds, maybe.
That may or may not be true, but this thread is for hosts to post how many sitters have favorited their listings, so it can be determined if that number drops off over time, thus supporting the theory proposed by many, that members will leave this site in large numbers due to the new Booking fee and/or the updated Terms.
