We are new to THS. We live in Southern Oregon (beautiful area) and have a month-long sit listed. The “invite” function is frustrating. I have tried searching by location, which gives me hundreds of potentials, but when I click on the profiles, many of them only want out-of-country sits. There doesn’t seem to be a way to “filter” for sitters who want to sit in the United States, for example. And, a filter by availability? Also, no way to “eliminate” a sitter, based on those filters … only a way to mark them as favorites.
Am I missing something? Is there a filter I haven’t yet discovered?
Inviting sitters rarely works, people are often booked up along way ahead. The best thing is to have a really good attractive advert with good photos and information regarding how long pets can be left, why people might like to come to your area. Then people will apply but you do need a back up plan just in case you don’t find anyone. As you are in the USA it’s likely to be someone from your own country as international sitters are not travelling so much due to the issues with border control. There is lots of information on this if you use the search. The filters you mentioned are not available but would be useful
No you are not missing anything . As you have discovered- the “invite a sitter” function is badly designed and not fit for purpose . In general , it doesn’t work for hosts or sitters .
The way to get sitters on THS is to post an attractive listing and sitters who do want to visit your area and are available for your dates will apply to you .
There are Help articles on how to make an attractive listing and common mistakes to avoid
As others have already stated, inviting sitters is a low rewards exercise. Invites are like trying to sell your home or rent out on Airbnb by sending out invites to potential buyers/renters. You MIGHT get a nibble but most likely not.
The typical way HOs find sitters is that they publish an enticing profile of their home, community and pets plus the dates you need a sitter. Then you wait for interested sitters to apply for those dates. You’ve got a lot going for you being in Ashland.
May I just add a balance to the advice not to bother with inviting sitters? -
As a sitter, I’ve only received two invitations to sits. One was unfeasible because of the dates and distance (but I was still flattered!). The other turned into one of the best experiences of my life; I sat there three times, very happily. Of course invest most of your energy in creating a tempting listing. But please don’t completely give up on sending out invitations, if you stumble across a sitter who might be a great fit. It can work very well.
Incidentally, I’m a Brit who’s actively looking for sits in the US. I have no trepidations about border control.
The ‘invite sitters’ feature would seem helpful in theory but in reality it really isn’t. This is especially the case for countries or particular regions that have a large number of members.
The location that many sitters list is not necessarily where they are looking to sit, it may just be where they are from.
Of course there are sitters who sit locally–sometimes exclusively. There are those who may have listed that as their current location and are open to remaining in the area. I know I have done this many times.
But in a country like the US that has so many sitters, the chances of aligning with such people, who also happen to be available for your specific dates is usually pretty small.
There have been a handful of times I booked a sit through private invitation. But I suspect the overwhelming majority of sits are filled by way of sitters applying for a listing.
If your listing is the listing I think it is, there are some issues.
In general, there’s information missing that sitters look for. Say something about why I should want to visit your area, and why I should want to choose to apply for your sit. If I don’t find that, I will scroll on to the next listing that might have that info., and apply for that sit instead.
The most important, I think, is that the daily schedule really doesn’t permit the sitter much/ any time to explore the area. That means that you have a very limited available pool of sitters that could be interested, as many use THS to travel. It seems one can barely leave the home at all. Even a remote worker would like to go out and explore the area, go out for a meal and such, in particular for a long sit. So I would say something about how long a sitter can go out without the pet (4+ hours is a minimum for many, while 6+ hours will open for a larger pool of sitters). It is also interesting - in particular if pet can’t be left much, but regardless - what there is to see/ do and that I can bring the pet to. Is there some pet-friendly cafes/restaurants or things to do?
As mentioned above by Maggie8K, if you’d like input on your listing (whether it is the listing I think or not.. ) you can add it to your forum profile, and we can help you. Sometimes small tweaks make wonders.
Echoing on Fledermaus’ reply, since receiving several reviews, most of my sits have been arranged by invitation. I am in the US. I have friends who are HOs on the site, one currently has a sitter from the UK, and all three have had plenty of international applicants. It may depend on location, but Oregon seems to have plenty of appeal.
Hi, Eliza; I’m also one of the sitters who tends to take invites more often than some others…we all have different reasons & ways we use the service. But I do think you’re less likely to get a hit on a blind invite for such a long sit, unless there’s something very compelling about your location or there’s someone local to your region who’s doing the digital nomad thing. Then, if you have optimized your listing as others suggest, those sitters tend to reach out to you…and all the things @Garfield mentioned tend to apply as well.
When I personally accept a local sit invite, it’s usually because it’s a short, last-minute sit where someone is in a bind & I’m trying to help out — and because I’m newer to THS, the experience & reviews are also a bonus to me. It also helps that I’m retired & my time is pretty flexible, but that’s a bit of a niche situation.
If this is the case, I would avoid such a listing even as a full-time telecommuter. There’s no appeal to travel elsewhere only to be trapped in the home most of the time, from my POV. There are plenty of sits with reasonable flexibility, though, and if there weren’t, I’d rather do nonsit travel or stay home, with freedom.
Even as someone who likes to spend a lot of time at sit homes, I enjoy it voluntarily, not as a requirement. And since I’m going to spend a lot of time at a sit home, I look for ones that are attractive, clean and comfortable enough that I’d like to spend a lot of time in. Like I’m currently sitting two sweet cats in a beautiful home near loads of amenities, including many great restaurants with delivery via DoorDash.
Invitation wise, I started receiving many even from the start of joining THS and have only ever accepted the first one, because I had calendar flexibility then. Since then, nothing has lined up, because so many variables have to fit. And I’ve since stopped favoriting and eliminated all previous favorites, to limit the number of invites I get. To me, they’re a waste of time, since the odds are so low for a good match.
It would save everyone time if THS would add features like letting sitters choose whether to receive invitations and/or choose locations for invitations. But I wouldn’t hold my breath for THS to add such.
) you can add it to your forum profile, and we can help you. Sometimes small tweaks make wonders.