Well HELLO there guys, gals and Pups! Just finished registering but haven’t pulled the trigger on paying to join , yet. Because these are tough times and sadly this website doesnt seem to be empathetic with folks finances, i find having that having no choice but to either pony up an entire years membership fees or walk away , well thats kind of a rude awakening…even for the greediest of websites! So that said, what’s your opinions, experiences on here? Worth your time & money? Are you getting many offers as sitters? And just because a HO posts on here that doesnt mean they arent also searching elsewhere, correct? So while i do see alot of opportunities as a sitter id be interested to know whsts the percentage of the HO’s are actually hiring a sitter from here…looking forward to your responses! Plz dont yell st me for saying what many think! I mean id rather pay a higher monthly rate month to month than to pony up $100’s upfront.
Yes, I struggled a bit with the whole year cost up front. I did think that they could at least offer quarterly payments. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do it again come renewal, but have decided to address that when it comes up.
I can say however that it has been totally worth it for me. As a sitter I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting like minded animal lovers. I definitely wouldn’t have had the same opportunity’s of places to visit had I not taken the plunge to join. It’s said that a change is as good as a rest and I believe it has been for me.
Pet sitting costs money. More than the THS membership fee.
There is the cost of travel. On the way, there may be nights in paid accommodation and there will be gaps between sits while you are far away from home.
And getting sits is not as easy as booking an AirBnb. It takes much more time.
As someone who has been using the site for a decade, the membership fee is totally worth it. The basic plan works out to probably the cost of one night in a mid-range hotel in the US.
There are other house-sitting sites that charge a lower fee but they also have way fewer listings–maybe a handful a day at most depending on the site. I see from your username that you are based in Florida…if you are primarily interested in US sits, you might like a US-only site such as Housesitters America, but again, the number of listings pale in comparison.
As for HOs using other sites, I do sometimes see sits posted here on other sites as well, but if this were a common practice, the other sites would have a LOT more listings than they do.
If finances are an issue for you, there are a few things to consider, depending on how you plan on using the site.
Let’s say someone who has their own place, their own car, and only sits part time ,books a sit within driving distance and has plans to return right home afterwards. If that sit got cancelled unexpectedly, they can just stay home or try to get another sit if they wanted. If the HO needed to come home early, they can just go right back home if they wanted. They didn’t lay out any money for transportation, they don’t need to find a hotel to stay in until their next sit starts, etc…
But if that same thing happened to a full-time sitter, or someone traveling and house sitting for an extended period, they may incur a variety of unexpected costs; they may lose out on non-refundable transportation costs. These two groups of people may also incur accommodation costs due to gaps between sits…it is not always possible to line up sits perfectly back to back.
As long as I have been sitting, cancellations have been very rare for me, but there are a few times when a HO came home early due to illness or family situations, and we did end up having to pay for hotels or Airbnbs anywhere from one to a few nights. When we do international sits we often get into the country a day or two before the HO needs us there–even if the arrival day is not the actual day they leave–and we need to pay for hotels.
Again, if finances are a major concern, when doing sits it will be important for you to find out how the HO handles any expenses that may come up during your sit, particularly if the animal needs to go to the vet. If you are in the US, many HOs seem to have an account set up but this may not always be the case.
Some leave money in case you need to get something for the home or animals, or if possible, they will buy the items on line and have them delivered.
But others may ask you to pay for something and will reimburse you. I personally don’t really discuss stuff like this ,because in my experience, it has been rare I needed to buy anything; and if I had to, it was never anything super expensive, and I was always reimbursed promptly.
But if someone were in a position where even fronting a smaller expense would be difficult because of low cash reserves or not much available credit on a card, they would probably want to.
Hope this helps a bit with deciding whether this is the right thing for you.
We’ve been house sitters for 8 years on here and we got the first sit we applied on and have been very successful at getting sits for the time we’ve been members and we don’t actively look for sits - do a few a year. We live in Vancouver but when we first started out we lived an hour out of Vancouver. We applied on mainly sits in Vancouver and did lots of them. One night in a hotel in Vancouver would cost $300-$500 depending on the season so the cost of a one year membership was way less than spending one night in a hotel in our own city. We ended up moving back to the city after doing these local sits. Not sure where you live or how far you plan on travelling to do sits but that is definitely something to factor in. If there are desirable sits that you would like to do not far from your home, I would start out applying on those to get a feel for it and see how you enjoy - definitely worth the membership to do that and I would recommend! We’ve done a number of international sits so of course there is airfare involved. You need to factor in if you can afford to spend that money on airfares.
Nobody will hire you here. This is an exchange. Travel accomodations for petcare. Many homeowners will have a paid backup l if they can’t find a sitter here. Some might also be members of another similar site where housesitters are not paid. Most people who post here will find a sitter here.
You definitely should not pay to join this site if you are looking for paid sits.
It’s true that a couple $100’s is quite a bit to pony up—trying to figure out how many times a year you’d actually sit might help soften the blow. It might also be worth signing up for a less expensive US site for starters, to see if you even like the concept.
Just to clarify:
House and pet sitting aren’t gigs in the sense that you get paid to do them. The system is based on an exchange: you commit to a few hours of your time every day and get a place to stay.
You don’t get chosen: you actively and enthusiastically apply to sits that not only appeal to you in terms of location and how beautiful the house is, but rather that above all you know you can handle (type and number of pets, responsibilities, etc).
Recently there has been an influx of HO’s signing up and not enough sitters, so, depending on where you’d apply to sit, you might be fairly successful.
Don’t worry too much about the money. Once you join and hopefully have a fantastic experience, then you get two months free each and every time you refer anyone else to the site (pet owners or sitters), your referrals get 25% off their subscription thanks to you, and you get two months free for each person that joined via you. We’ve got years and years worth ahead of us for free that way (to July 2027 to be precise). So we’re only out of pocket for the first year, and free thereafter.
If you are struggling to find the yearly fee, i would walk away now.
As has been already said, it actually costs you money to do it ( travel costs etc ) so you could be struggling again, potentially having to cancel sits at the last minute for financial reasons
It depends on your circumstances. I was backpacking anyway when I signed up, so as someone not paying rent and relying on budget short-term accommodation, it very quickly paid itself off many times over. The first couple of sits might be harder to get, but after you’ve got a couple of positive reviews under your belt it’s very easy.
I’ve been a basic member for 2 weeks and secured 5 local sits close to where I live so minimal travel costs- it’ll get me started and hopefully I can build a 5* reputation via stellar reviews.
My motivation is to get sits in far flung places and yes when I’m away from home for 2-3 mths I’m hoping to save on Airbnb. But it’ll be a patchwork of house sitting/Airbnb/staying with my son in Australia as this is my priority area and the initial reason I signed up.
Yesterday I noticed a 3 week sit in the USA with the HO desperate for applications but with flights from London at £1000 (for the cheapest most uncomfortable route/time) and then adding on car hire it’s a no-no for me.
So yes lots of opportunities for sitters-but lots of benefits/costs to calculate for your own situation. And it’s NOT a paid ‘gig’… you’ll still have your daily living costs food etc
Please don’t forget that the ‘free’ accommodation is only part of the agreement. You will be responsible for the home and pets, communicating with the homeowner and leaving the property as you found it.
You will need to pay to get there and provide for yourself.
Never underestimate the responsibility involved.
Hi @Tampacaregiver
I’m going to be honest as a THS sitter with nearly 2 years sitting experience on THS. Starting sitting and doing sits costs money. So maybe if the signing up fee isn’t within your budget then it’s not a good fit for right now. Starting as a sitter on THS also takes time. It took me 23 applications to get my first sit although I didn’t do what I would now suggest and first apply for local and last minute sits to hopefully build your feedback so you stand a chance of getting the sits in popular locations.
Having said that there are more HO’s listing pet sits than sitters at the moment on THS.
I think of THS as a way to combine my love for animals and a cheaper way to explore new locations.
but you DO get chosen! You cant tell a HO to hire you!!
@Tampacaregiver for the cost of a couple of nights in a hotel I’d say it is definitely more than worth joining. We’ve been housesitting around the world via THS for over 5 years and in the last two years alone we clocked up around 300 nights of sitting- per year! Many of our sits, like the current one, are in beautiful homes in interesting places, with adorable pets!
We sit full time and are not paying rent or mortgage on a homebase anywhere therefore we save immensely on living costs. But we do still have plenty of costs! Flights/car/fuel/travel insurance and all the normal daily costs food etc
I tend to look at the annual membership, not as a fee exactly, but as a ticket to immense freedom of travel! It gives us, personally, the chance to live our normal daily life in a variety of different settings along with different animals & different responsibilities. I.e lots of variety! There’s never a dull moment!
And I think many fellow sitters would agree its a life changing adventure!
In your case if you are struggling with the membership fee then I would reasses your motivation to housesit. Its important not to think of it just as a way to save money (even if you do) because there are real and important responsibilities involved. Make sure you are willing and able to do what’s needed.
If you do decide to give it a go- through THS, or privately, I’d suggest you start local, and with short sits, to keep costs down. Last minute opps are good to get started. We all have to start somewhere! Once you have a few good 5* reviews it will get easier. And try to get some private references too.
Good luck!
You get chosen for some and declined for others. It’s a numbers game but there are always plenty of opportunities available.
This thread may give you an insight into what some sitters were doing throughout 2023
Is this something you know for sure? Does THS make their sitter/home host ratio figures public?
I have no idea but I would guess that there are always more sitters than home hosts which is why most listings get multiple applications - or I could be wrong and maybe they don’t!!
The process is usually, you apply for sits, the HO doesn’t usually contact you and ask to sit. Hopefully, this should clarify but just reminding you, its unpaid either way. Good luck
It’s not something that I know for sure, however it has been mentioned a few times here in the forum. Guilty to have repeated something I read without checking my sources. 
I am sending out more applications than I do sits. Some are declined, others never get an answer, some are withdrawn by the HO, and I have had an HO cancel on me.
Then, there are full-time sitters but there are no full-time hosts. I suppose that a large proportion of hosts only has one or two listings per year.