How long should a HO wait

before inviting another sitter after inviting the first one?

For example, I’ve invited a sitter for my dates for which her calendar shows she is available and she has read the invitation. That was 48 hours ago How long should I wait for her reply before contacting another prospective sitter?

If this is a sitter who did not apply, rather you reached out with an invite, I would not wait any time. As a sitter it’s very rare, even if my calendar is available, that I would be able or interested in doing a sit I’m invited to even though I am always flattered when invited to a sit. I think if you’re inviting sitters who have favorited your listing you may have better odds, but even then I would certainly advertise your sit and invite other folks as well. If this is a sitter that applied to your listing and you were trying to confirm, but have not heard back yet I would probably move on as well. If you can see that it’s been read and they chose not to respond in a timely manner probably not a sitter you would want regardless.

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Thank you. That helps a lot.

If there are more sitters that you like the look of It is best to invite multiple sitters at the same time - as @Freebird says, the success rate of finding a sitter using this method is much slimmer than when sitters make applications to you

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I thought it wasn’t the done thing to privately ask more than one prospective sitter at a time.

@Sunny15 oh no, it happens a lot. As a sitter I’ve received many private invites that weren’t addressed to me by name, so I assumed they were sent to more than just me. A few of those sits were even filled before I had a chance to look at them.

Thanks again! Off now to invite a few more sitters - wish me luck :hugs:

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May the force be with you!

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The only time you should not invite multiple sitters is when you are sending a private invitation to a previous sitter and both parties have already verbally agreed to the sit. Otherwise, you are just inviting them to apply to your sit without obligating yourself.

@Sunny15
I also wanted mention, that if you are not having any luck with your private dates/invitations, TrustedHousesitters can make these public and boost your listing to the top of the website which then sends out your listing to all the available sitters. Do email TrustedHousesitters’ support so they can help you with this.
Warm wishes
Therese

Thank you, Therese I will see how I get on this weekend. That is useful to know. Best wishes Lucille

We often receive invitations, but unfortunately, they are usually for our local area. We live in Tucson, but we don’t housesit in Tucson. Our profile lists the areas we are interested in, but it seems they don’t read that far. I would send the invitation to several sitters. Look to see they are interested in your area, though.

Thanks for this.

May I ask whose responsibility is it to keep the petsitter’s calendar uptodate? Two potential ones today who both replied politely stated they were either on holiday or already pet sitting on the dates which appeared open on their calendars! I don’t invite anyone who doesn’t appear available on their calendar so it’s a waste of my time if the dates show up as free. Has anyone else had this issue?

Hi @Sunny15. The availability calendar is often not kept up to date by sitters for various reasons. Here’s a thread that might give you more insight into why:

Thanks for this. How do I know if my listing in the past has been favourites and if so, who by?

Hi @Sunny15,
If you’re not aware, an invitation to a sitter is an invitation to them to apply … it does not bind you to accept them … It’s fine and accepted to invite several sitters to apply at once so you can review and select the best fit. When we have lots of time before a sit, we normally invite one at a time, but wouldn’t wait for more than a few days before inviting another.
Good luck!
Bruce

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Thanks Bruce. That’s reassuring!

Hi @Sunny15 if you log on to the THS website & go to the menu by clicking the 3 horizontal lines (hamburger) in the top right hand corner, you will see “who’s saved your listing” about half way down the menu list. Click on that and you will see the sitters names and their profiles for those who have favourited your sit listing.

Thanks, but I can’t see any menu or hamburger when I open the website!