Length of sit

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
1

How long do people people like to sit for? We have a sit listed, which is for 2 weeks and have had quite a few people decline.
Am I being impatient, we listed a few weeks ago and the sit is for June 19th onwards.

Also, do people think it appropriate to offer sitters anything extra. We have a beach hut which they can use, but I was thinking of things like allowing them to use my car (it would be.insured for them) or a supermarket gift card for them to help buy food for their stay

2

Use of car can really help in isolated spots or where car hire is expensive, especially if they have travelled a fair way for the sit. The use of the beach hit would also be a brilliant perk.
It’s not supposed to be remunerated so a voucher might be tricky. Perhaps have some groceries in and say they can help themselves to a welcome start!

3

We have an apartment in Bournemouth very close to the main pier so we do know the area very well.
A car would probably be more of a hindrance. The bus service is incredibly good and parking is terrible. Talk up the beach hut. Everyone loves a day on the beach. Are you child friendly? Families would jump at two weeks beside the seaside. Also, Poole is very close to Salisbury, Southampton and Winchester. All these cities are historic for something for everybody. And of course the New Forest. A wonderful place for doggie walks.
If it had been during the school holidays and children friendly I would have probably applied as my grandchildren love the beach. (Our apartment is on short term let so they don’t get to stay there.)
Good luck and I hope you find your dream sitter.

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4

I’m not sure how long it is since you listed but it looks like a nice sit, I would add how long the dogs can be left for, then hang on in there.

I will eat my :cowboy_hat_face: if you don’t get any applications

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5

Umm are you inviting sitters? This is a common early error for new THS members as it’s not how the system works. In brief

  1. Sitters calendars are redundant barely anyone completes these.
  2. Sitters will apply for locations they’re interested in for dates they can fit into their complex lives.
  3. Some sitters like us will only do a few sits each year maybe 6 maximum. Others sit full time and have very complex jigsaw arrangements booked long ahead.
  4. Occasionally you’ll be lucky and a sitter is available for your dates at your location…… but it’s not the common way HOs get sitters.
  5. Make your advert attractive and appealing avd sitters will apply. Read it with a sitter’s perspective and be realistic about what’s in it for them?
    Best wishes
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6

We sit for typically for 2 weeks or more, but we do plenty that are shorter sits in between, and we love sits that are 4 weeks or more.

You’ll have more success if you tweak your profile. Your first/main photo that sitters see is the one with No9 on… swap it for a better photo, it’s the one photo that makes a sitter decide whether to click into your profile or scroll on. Whilst wisteria is lovely, yours is still in it’s infancy, whereas statistically the most clickable main/first photo’s are ones that either show the exterior front of the whole property, or the rear garden if it’s pretty, or the cutest pet photo.

Also your Intro part is only 18 words long, so it doesn’t give sitters any reason to read on to the other sections. As sitters we like to know who we are helping out, and we like to know a little more about the personality of the person or people who will be writing our reviews, because we want to have a feel-good feeling about the owners, not just their pets, because the pets don’t write our reviews.

Go through each part of your profile again, and compare it to other owners profiles that have excellent reviews, and take some tips from them.

Hope that helps

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7

Length of sit completely depends on each individual sitter @Pugzus. Two weeks in June in a beach location is attractive, especially for families if it is family friendly. If sitters are international, before offering the use of your car, do check with your insurance company as this has been more difficult to offer post pandemic in the UK.

Inviting sitters rarely works. As others have said, if you have created a great listing with clear, welcoming photos, you will have greater success attracting sitters. You can remove your dates briefly then re-post them; by doing this, your listing will become New again which is what you want.

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8

I have been left a gift card to the nearest grocery store by two PP. I personally think it’s a nice jester. It is not something you put on your profile to attract sitters. You don’t want someone to apply because they can’t afford their own groceries. Contacting sitters usually doesn’t get much results. I never used the calendar on here. It’s not a job that I need to share my schedule plus I travel spontaneously. Best to have a good profile and wait for people to contact you. Good Luck

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9

Thank you for your advise, I will have another look at the listing.

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