We have been members for two years. We initially had great success securing pet sitters for our cat, Ruby Tuesday. The last sit there was only one response and then she blew us off. Now, I have two additional requests and no response. I have sent private invites to sitters whose calendars show they are available. But, again, no response. We have an amazing home including a beautiful pool. Is anyone else having similar problems. The THS staff only suggests boosting the request which I have already done.
Hi there,
Sorry to hear that you haven’t had much success. If you link your listing to your forum bio, members can review your listing and give advice; this is often the best way we can help you. In the meantime, you might want to check out this blog I inspired for THS about mistakes to avoid when creating a listing - have a read and see if your listing can be improved.
About invites and calendars:
Remember that the most successful way to secure a sitter is to have a stand-out listing that attracts applicants, rather than through sending invites. Invites occasionally work out for some owners, but most owners secure sitters via applicants; these are the people that actually want to sit for you and are available for your dates!
A sitter’s calender only shows availability according to dates that they’re booked / not booked for another sit on THS. A sitter cannot input dates that they’re actually unavailable for THS. So, the calendars are rather unusable and inaccurate. This is a big reason why sending invites rarely works out.
Hope that helps! 
(And here is how to link your listing to your bio if you’re unsure):
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They are unlikely to be available. They might have a job. Or other things to do. Or they might be available for a nice sit in Venice but not in their own province.
THS is pushing for growth which means there is going to be an abundance of homeowners looking for sitters but very few sitters who might be able to travel to your location or be available. Plus, they have likely dozens of other great places that they could sit at during the same time.
Basic supply and demand concerns that THS will have to work to even out as they continue to scale. Best of luck. Be detailed, transparent, and maybe provide use of car/bike/etc to make your listing more attractive if it isn’t already available.
Some people might be intimidated by an awesome mansion and not apply as a result.
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If you’d like feedback on your listing from sitters in this forum you need to attach it to your post.
It’s difficult to offer any suggestions that might help with so little info.
Part of the answer is that in some locations, especially during holiday periods, there seems to be a large number of homes available and fewer sitters.
I added my listing link - there was no way for me to know to do that.
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The first thing that is noticeable of your listing is that it says “currently not in need of a sitter”. Have you already found someone? Or, Did you post the dates?
As other forum members have said there is a lot of competition nowadays, there seems to be more house owners looking than sitters available. Most sitters shop with a very discerning eye, you have to capture their interest from the first photo and the title of your listing.
My first thought was: where is Chico, CA? It’s true I could use G…. Maps, but is there a way to indicate where it is at the beginning of your description? So to capture people’s attention.
If you don’t mind some feedback: some of your photos don’t put your house in the best light…. literally. Most of them are too dark. Plus, there are towels and clothing scattered a bit everywhere in the kitchen, it gives the impression that you took them in a hurry.
I personally would eliminate the photos of your garage (unless you’re including your vehicle, which is often a big plus), and of the driveway.
I also would put one or two photos of Ruby Tuesday right at the beginning because now you have to scroll through 19 of them before finding her.
Edited the end of my comment now that I was notified that the dates are indeed visible. 
Ohhhh, very interesting! I don’t see anything.
We are getting quite a few invites to California sits and we are in Canada. I think as was previously mentioned there seems to be more sits than sitters.
If we were available (we are not) we would certainly consider your sit, it looks lovely
Looks like a nice , welcoming, easy sit and you have good reviews @AreYouThatWoman - a few tips that may help. Better title “Easy cat, sparkling pool, relaxing home & warm welcome in Chico.” Or similar. The description is great, the title wouldn’t grab me at the moment. Yes to a few more light & sunny photos if possible, they’re all pretty dark. Lose the two pics of wall art and the hydrant and garage ones. It’s competitive out there so think of it as “selling” your home. Hope you find someone, looks nice and relaxing at your house with RT. #goodhangout
Chico can be challenging, given more sits than sitters in general and your location isn’t a popular destination.
It’s not too far from destinations with sits in more convenient locations. And just generally, there are places in every country that are nice to live in, but not necessarily appealing to visitors.
Your best sitter possibilities might be students from Chico State or their visiting parents, or others with family in the area. And they might not be on THS. Maybe try local Facebook groups or Nextdoor.
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Thank you. I’ll adjust photos.
Still, it seems odd to me that after a successful 18 months - suddenly nothing. I think I include a description of Chico in my information - college town in northern California. In fact, quite famous. But I’ll add something more.
Sorry to say, I did not know. And I know several other college towns in California.
I would like to return to Berkeley some day. Or visit Palo Alto/Stanford again. I have visited Davis.
I took a look at your listing for you, and here’s what I can suggest:
1: Your intro is quite long and reads like an autobiography rather than telling sitters straight away why they should sit for you. Your entire intro should ideally only be as long as your first paragraph in your intro. Sitters would rather know compelling reasons why they should sit for you rather than reading an autobiography about you, so tell them straight away what’s on offer.
E.:g: “Do you want to experience and explore the lovely area of Chico and relax in a pool and spacious home? Do you love cats? Then this is the sit for you! Hi, we’re (names) and we’re looking for somebody travelling without pets and children to care for our lovey cat just 1 mile from central Chico. This is an easy sit in which you will have plenty of time to explore, shop, hike, bike or take a drive in the country! We are a retired couple who enjoy travelling and are seeking a reliable sitter willing to send us pictures and updates of our cat while we’re away. Is this you? Check out our home and location section to see what else we offer you!”
Do you see how this is much more compelling than “hi, we’re (names), our career was this, we enjoy this and this, we adopted the cat because…” Etc. my 5 common mistakes to avoid for a successful listing should help. Remember this is an advert, and should read as one.
Besides this, all other sections are very clear and well written, so well done! My only other thought is that your dates are quite short - only 6 days at a time (and the first and last days, a sitter is busy arriving, unpacking/meeting you, etc and then cleaning/packing up/leaving - so really, it’s only 4 full days in Chico, which isn’t very long!)
This might attract people closer to Chico who can get to your sit within a few hours, but for others coming from further away, it may be too short a sit for them, especially as Chico is quite far from anything in the middle of the countryside. Perhaps you could consider offering a free extension of stay at the begging and end of your sit to give sitters more time to see the area.
Hope that helps!
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THS has been expanding unevenly — they can’t control how many hosts sign up vs. sitters. I joined a little over a year ago and sits have been more plentiful than sitters the whole time. That’s why I’ve had no trouble landing sits.
Have you considered asking your previous sitters? Maybe they had ties that might bring them back to Chico.
One of my in-laws went to Chico State and we went for graduation. It’s nice enough, but I can’t imagine loads of visitors, especially from afar, choosing Chico vs. say more popular destinations a few hours away. Chico isn’t even right off I-5. If it were, maybe you’d get road trippers making their way up or down California.
During college in the San Francisco Bay Area, I worked at two rental car agencies and was asked for directions all the time by tourists and we had handouts with popular destinations, say Reno, Tahoe, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino or Sacramento. I don’t remember people asking for directions to Chico. And that was in the era before GPS, so people asked for directions all the time. Chico is not as famous as you might think and there are many popular destinations to compete against in Northern California.
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Thank you very helpful.
We are hardly a mansion. A very comfortable home.