@RedLassie I don’t think your opinion is necessarily unpopular, but rather there are certainly differing opinions. I’m with you and find it cringeworthy when I read it, especially when it’s repeatedly in a listing. I have yet to do any sit where the pets are referred to that way. However, all sits I’ve done I know the hosts love their pets dearly.
@Chelle83 Your first photo didn’t grab my attention. I’d suggest you use the photo of your dogs cuddled together (although I’d crop it a little to focus on the dogs only). I’d also reduce the number of photos of your dogs. The main purpose of the pet photos is to see the size and breed of the pets.
To be an accurate listing, you should also show fish included in your pet section.
You may have difficulty with offering only one double bed. I realize you mention a sofa bed, but many sitters find those unacceptable. With only one double bed sitters who need more space in a bed, or need to sleep in separate beds will not consider your sit.
I was also a little confused by you being willing to pick up from the train station but not from the National Express bus, which you say comes into Newmarket. Google shows your village is only 5.4 miles (9 km) from Newmarket.
I suggest you remove the two sentences at the end of Responsibilities (no car available, no pets). There’s no point bringing to someone’s attention what is not offered (a car) and the later section shows sitters can’t bring pets.
There are lots of things a host can do to make their sit more attractive, several of which were pointed out in the post above, including use of car, more comfortable sleeping arrangements, more convenient pickup and drop off, being able to bring own pets. Another big one is the sitter being able to leave the pets alone for longer periods so they’re not trapped at the home.
Some of these things may make a host uncomfortable but sometimes you must move out of your comfort zone to enjoy greater success and I’m not just talking about pet sitting.
Thanks for the feedback everyone, ive given the whole listing a revision so any further feedback welcome. The one thing I can’t work out is how I change the order of my photos to get the dogs as the first phot so any help appreciated
For sitter profiles there’s an arrow bottom right of each photo to move up one position at a time. It’s a bit laborious though. Not sure if it’s the same for HOs.
@Chelle83 If the home photos is a separate section when adding photos, you can put the photo of the 2 dogs cuddling into that section. That way you should be able to use it as your first photo. However, with THS fiddling with the listing format, I’m unsure whether this is still possible.
They are really cute ! Love the 1st pic of them both .
You mention ‘Please note: Due to Harry’s sensitive and sometimes nervous nature, this sit is best suited to an adult sitter or couple travelling without children or pets’ first in the description, and then repeat it in responsibilities, so maybe once is enough as I think people with children or pets would navigate away after the first mention.
I’d say it’s worth repeating this as not everyone reads the listing in the same order of sections. For example I read the reviews 1st then the responsibilities then look at photos and finally the about us section.
Yeah I almost always read responsibilities first, because if they ask too much of me then it really doesn’t matter about the rest. I enjoy looking after animals but there are limits to what I am prepared to do. I really wish dog breeds would be more prominent, if my favourite breed is in the title I am going to check the listing for a potential fit as I am already half way there.
I am struggling to find a sitter for a 9 night trip at the end of September in Somerset that has been up for a couple of months now. I’ve had 3 unsuitable applications - mainly because people haven’t read the listing properly. When I’ve looked at Somerset sits, they all say ‘low applications’.
In the past when we’ve had a short break that I’ve not been able to find a sitter for, I’ve approached local sitters on THS. I might need to start doing this soon as we are getting closer.
The drought is on both sides. As a sitter it took a lot longer to line up 2x sits over 2 months this summer.
I couldn’t find many sits that align with my requirements. Even the photos show messy houses, pets are so sick & medicated, and there’s so many responsibilities it’s literally a job. So many ridiculous restrictions have now been added which turn it from ‘holiday homestay’ to ‘free labour’.
I declined several offers because the chemistry was off during the initial call. The market imbalance @Maggie8K mentions is a great way to put it - THS seems to have lost its holiday homestay spirit. I joined in 2016 when it was explicitly ‘airbnb for animal lovers’ that attracted hosts and sitters with a passion for pets & travel. Hosts were more relaxed, and treated sitters like guests - and after every sit you had new friends for life.
I still find wonderful hosts, but it’s much harder. The pricing change doesn’t affect me until late Sept, but I will probably stay on basic and do 4 week+ sits only.
@debstheleo I can understand how disappointing it is for you. Many hosts do not realise the sheer number of sits advertised on THS, with hundreds being added each day. A listing only stays New for about 48 hours but with so many new ones added, it takes little time for a listing to be invisible to sitters. What isn’t widely known by hosts is that they can remove their dates for a brief time (a minute!) then re-post them. Their listing will become New again. Hosts can do this as often as they want to. If you have not known about this @debstheleo, and where you say you have listed it a couple of months ago, there will be several thousand listings ahead of yours by now which sitters will not be viewing. So, a) look at your listing and photos carefully to make it as attractive as possible to sitters, then b) remove your dates and re-post them. Fingers crossed you then receive suitable applications.
thank you @temba I had read about relisting my dates, but hadn’t apprecaited how regular I need to do this to keep it as ‘new’. I’ll do that on a more regular basis and see if that helps.
I’ve reviewed my listing and photos and I’m not sure I can change anything, but happy to receive feedback from anyone who has the time to look in case I’m missing something obvious - thank you
(edited to remove listing link from post - please add your listing link to your Forum profile if you’d like it to be reviewed by other members)
Agree on all points. And I’ve been seeing so many blank Responsibilities sections!
With dog sits, they vary so much. I wish we as sitters had the option of further sit parameters, e.g., length of time pet can be alone, puppies/no puppies, large dogs that have a yard vs. those that need to be walked regularly. Without being able to narrow it down, I’ve considered dog sits far less often. I have loved some larger dogs I’ve sat for, for example, but I lack the size and strength to deal with a big dog that could take off after another dog (or whatever) and injure me.
I believe the really good HOs and the really good sitters are continuing to find each other, thank goodness however that leaves ‘the rest’.
The rest need to up their game I’m afraid, and that means work. Work on their listing/profile, maybe work on pimping up their home, or investing in a behavioural trainer to sort out some pet ‘quirks’….THS is purely a matching platform. The users need to take more responsibility for making it work well for them.
As a sitter, very few sits I see listed are actually worth doing unpaid.
And many don’t even have enough perks to make up for it. Plus there’s always a risk that you might get into some crazy situation with a crazy person. (Most on TH are great but you know, one or two bad sits, especially when you’re a bit dependent on the accommodation, can really mess with your wellbeing.)
I have learned this the hard way and have very strong filters now. I have also considered shifting to paid sits only. I have even had repeat TH hosts offer to pay me which makes sense.
My travel situation has also changed. I’m not as nomadic and “exploratory” as before. It’s a life phase that has found a bit of resolve. I’m relatively settled in one area, focused more on work and income, etc. The exploratory part is key…
I do see some listings that I would be willing to take if they were paid. And I’ve had hosts who are clearly new to TH invite me to sits and ask my “rate”. I know the payment is a big topic here on TH and could lead to a whole other can of worms…but I think especially for those who are highly experienced on the platform, an exchange of payment in addition to hospitality and perks makes more and more sense…
For reference I’m also in a city right now that is affected by war and political issues. Lots of people evacuated for the summer or permanently. So it went from a host’s market to a sitter’s market very quickly. I’m bombarded with requests, and I know hosts here would be willing to pay to secure a sitter.
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however that leaves ‘the rest’.