I’m new to THS and waiting on responses to our posting. Some sitters have saved our post and I’m able to send them an invite but what does this actually means - does this just let them know I’ve viewed their profile and willing to progress or does this invite evoke a more formal commitment? Any advice would be appreciated.
There is no commitment.
And the success rate of invitations is usually low. Even if your sit would be incredibly attractive, the odds that the sitter would travel at that time are not very good. (But if you need a sitter in Venice for a few weeks, for example now at the carnaval, I could adjust my plans…)
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Sitters often use “favoriting” to flag sits they like, but can’t make work timing wise. Favoriting is supposed to automate an alert to them in the future if that host posts other sits at different times.
I wouldn’t put much weight into favoriting. Odds are low that they’ll work out. You can always invite those sitters, but timing often doesn’t work out.
Your best odds are posting a sit and having sitters apply.
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@AlisonM If you choose to send invitations to Sitter members, you are simply asking them to Apply to your listing if they wish. They might then Apply, and you would review their application, have a chat with them, and decide if it is a good fit.
Inviting a Sitter is NOT a commitment on your part to choose that Sitter.
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If you favorite a sitter profile the sitter can’t contact you.
If you invite a sitter to APPLY for a private date, the sitter can apply for that date but you’d still need to confirm the sitter and the sitter would still need to confirm that he or she can do the sit.
Sometimes, HOs send a “fake” date to a favored sitter just to start a conversation and see if they would be interested in future dates. It is a workaround because there is no direct way to contact someone you haven’t already contacted except by offering or applying to a sit.