Well that’s £45 in sit fees just saved in one weekend. Four HO’s, some of whom I was vaguely acquainted with and one newbie asked me to sit for them in November, January, February and March. Five days, eight, twelve, twenty eight and another twenty eight respectively to take me up until the end of March. It really was a case of being in the right place at the right time, a couple I met through mutual friends over drinks, a phone call out of the blue and bumping into someone on the street. 
Congrats! What country are you in?
Great news @TheEnglishFlaneur
This must be the weekend everyone makes their plans for next year !
So I take it these are all private arrangements - we are also doing mostly private arrangements since THS announced the sit fees .
I’m in the UK and that’s where the 5 sits are.
Yes, all 5 are off platform, hence saving £9 in fees for each sit.
Good job, you are on fire 
@TheEnglishFlaneur, sometime the universe provides 
. Congrats on the confirmed sits. Simply FYI, that GBP45 is similar to the incremental cost of THS UK subscription from Standard (booking fees) to Premium (no booking fees).
Given some experience, we find a steady trickle of informal approaches from past pet parents or their family/friends - two this week alone! Dates/stuff don’t always align. But win-win when it does.
Exciting that you’re already taking bookings into 2027!
How does this save you £45?
The fee for each sit is £9 for the THS membership level I have.
The exact difference is £70, so almost 8 sits per year if they were with THS. I have a repeat sit in the US in late spring, a purely house sit with no pets in the UK next summer and another repeat for Christmas 2027.
I started out with some sits that I wouldn’t do now, but they got me established. I primarily use THS these days for seeking out sits in locations that are more desirable for me, aside from the repeats and referrals. I don’t do sits full time, but I’m able to mix it up with doing my own thing. Like many others I do it because it’s fun and a hobby, not because I need somewhere to stay, or work.
@silversitters I mainly do repeat sits off site now since the introduction of the booking fees and a lot of my hosts have let their membership lapse anyway for the same reason
.
You are doing great! How many reviews have you got?
Around 50.
But how does it save you? Do you only get charged if you apply for the sit and if an HO reached out, there is no fee? Or were these all booked off platform?
The 5 sits I referred to were all off platform.
Yup, THS is definitely not necessary for landing sits, especially for repeat sits or referral sits. And the more reviews you have, the easier it becomes to go off-platform if you want to.
Yup, I’m declining invitations stating we no longer take bookings through THS because of the booking fee. We are plenty busy enough with off-platform arrangements and have even managed to move some of our homeowners over to the Globalpetsitter platform with us to try it out while it’s still free