We have done overlapping sits a few times for owners who live 10-15 minutes drive apart.
We did this in order to SERVE more owners, not because we need a place to stay. I suspect there are many sit listings that do not get filled. Allowing overlapping sits may alleviate this problem.
Obviously, to each his own. We have given 100% to every sit we have done and are asked to return frequently, including by those owners who “endured” an overlap!
I know that’s how it used to work previously, and I believe that’s how you and other experienced sitters would continue to do it @PVGemini 
As long as everyone is aware of the overlap since application stage, no problem!
But now, if THS starts marketing new “co-sitter membership with the ability to overlap”, I do see the possibility of new members using it in quite a different manner, in the mindset “we paid for it, we’re entiteled to use it”. Or thinking that an overlap is always ok, without further discussion.
@TrustedTeam
Please can you confirm , is this at application stage or confirmation stage ?
Will @TrustedTeam be answering questions about this initiative on this thread in the forum ? Or is there an alternative way to communicate with you ?
Also I think I signed up - I was just asked for an e-Mail address and nothing else - I have not received any e- mail confirmation can someone from @TrustedTeam
please confirm that I have been signed up for the beta test ?
We did a lot of overlapping sits before the rules changed. I think the longest was 48 hours, it’s not for weeks. I cannot remember a host who was not grateful for us doing this. We always explained what we intended to do during the initial stages and made sure they were ok with it before we accepted the sit. If an overlap affected an already established sit we spoke to the hosts before we even applied for the new sit. We used common sense, if one of the sits had multiple animals and was impossible for a single person to give them the attention and work they needed we never overlapped.
At the moment a sitter can start and finish sits on the same day. Eg. A sit starts on Monday at 10am but the previous sit doesn’t finish till 6pm on Monday. That’s 8 hours overlap.
Being able to overlap also helps us to fit in regular hosts. It’s a win win for everyone.
I think at least for one of the sits it would had to be either at the confirmation stage or even after confirmation. Unless this only works when sitters apply for two sits simultaneously, which wouldn’t be too practical.
Let’s say there’s a sit booked on January for 5.-20. of May, and later, say on March, the sitter would apply on another sit starting on the 18th of May. So the first HO would then be informed that the already confirmed sitter couple is applying on overlapping dates, right?
I don’t know, what would happen, if the first HO would not accept that? Would they have to cancel the sit and find new sitter? Would the sitter be forged to choose between sits? I see many possible complications here.
And like I said, the previous system allowing overlaps seemed to have been working just fine. But this new system seems to have a potential to be creating all new set of problems. Please remember, not all sitters are as experienced, considerate or caring as the ones in this forum.
Morning all,
It’s been fantastic to see so much interest in testing this new feature - thank you for your support.
At this stage, it’s very difficult to address questions with any certainty beyond this testing phase. Needless to say that our teams will be listening to the feedback of participants throughout the process.
When you apply for this BETA testing, a confirmation email is NOT automatically sent. Not to worry though, based on the volume on applicants that have been received over the past 24 hours or so, it’s safe to say that the process is working correctly. 
I hope you’re all having a great day!
Morning @Mark_B,
Just to clarify, this is not a new feature though new THS staff and members may think it is. For those of us who have been around for years, being able to overlap could and was done. Then in 2023 there were cases where pets were neglected by a sitter/sitters being left alone while sitters moved to another sit. Instead of those few sitters who did this being dealt with, THS penalised all members by disallowing overlapping sits, stating it was for the pets’ welfare. This change was brought in towards the end of 2023 and had a marked impact on owners trying to get sitters for the Christmas season.
All that is being offered now as “new” is something that we already had.
Update: We’ve now closed applications to join this BETA as we’ve received so many from members wanting to take part, thank you again for your amazing support.
(I’ve also updated the opening post).
I do not want to do overlapping sits . The only reason to want this option is to be able to contact an owner whose dates overlap with another sit but say that their dates are flexible .
At the moment there is no way to contact them to let them know that you are available from xx date onwards .
It would be useful to both hosts and sitters if THS made it possible for hosts to opt into having sitters contact them to ask questions when they have dates listed without having to make an application.
I’ve done many sits (pre-no overlap policy) where I reached out to the HO saying I was interested but unavailable for the last day (or first day). Technically overlaps, but the hosts happily made other arrangements to cover that day. I’m in the Midwest of the US at least a couple times a year and many sits don’t get a lot of applicants there. I did one not too long ago where an HO had one applicant that they deemed unsuitable and were at the point of trying to figure out alternate arrangements for two weeks for their diabetic cat or cancel their trip. They were extremely happy when I applied even though I had to leave the day before they returned. They had no problem getting a friend to cover the last day. The only reason I was able to reach out to them was because my last day conflict was a family event. Had the conflict been another sit, I would not have been able to contact them at all and they likely would have had to cancel their trip.
‘Overlapping’ was already being done responsibly (either couples splitting for a couple days, or HOs making other arrangements to cover a day for solo sitters). There were a couple instances of bad sitters being irresponsible and, of course, those sitters should have been removed. Instead we were all punished (sitters and hosts) for a few bad people.
It’s interesting that this option was removed and is now being offered as an extra feature. Some of you may remember the survey that went out maybe a year or so ago (sometime after the overlapping policy) that asked loads of questions about what extra features we would be willing to pay for and how much we would be willing to pay for those. And so begins the ‘extra’ features for extra cost.
Does anyone know yet if they’ve been accepted for this beta group? I signed up right after receiving an email invitation to join but I never heard anything from THS since.
Feature idea for the co-sitter … person-specific housesit search notifications (i.e. push & email notification sliders).
No idea if actionable, of if still single login, or all sorts of other technical stuff that I’d not understand so thought simply toss pebble of idea.
My spouse and I each find THS Saved Search function to be fabulous (even with warts re ‘Continental Europe’, ‘Use of Car included’, … 
)
But over time it has become apparent that we use the search feature in quite different ways. Not better or worse, just different. Works well between us. My spouse loves receiving many notifications and scrolls listings to identify & favourite properties that meet our criteria, even if dates per current listing do not work. Lacking patience 
, I relish few notifications that are actionable to housesit booking plans.
I am in the same situation - I signed up but have heard nothing.
Does anyone know yet if they’ve been accepted for this beta group?
Hey, good question.
We haven’t yet selected successful BETA applicants. Those who are successful will be contacted via email, I expect this will be in the next couple of weeks.
Anyone who isn’t successful on this occasion will not be contacted. I will share updates in this discussion around key milestones in the run up to the BETA launch, and i imagine successful applicants will share their news and BETA experience in the forum too.
Why not try a one day overlap for solo sitters that have 2 sits nearby each other ?