I tried inviting someone to sit who lives in my area and she said she only did paid sits. Can someone explain what that’s about? Why are they listed on the THS site?
They sound like a wolf in sheep’s clothing… sitters shouldn’t be asking remuneration for their services as sitters. Not even travel expenses.
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She clarified that she only sits for people away from here, which makes sense but her reply was a bit snarky. I have had people apply for my sits who DO live here, either because they have roommates or live part of the year elsewhere.
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Maybe the sitter only does paid sits locally ( arranged privately)but uses THS when travelling -Lots of sitters do that .
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I also do paid sits, but only in my local area. When I want to go further afield, I use THS. I shouldn’t think this is that unusual. But I’m sorry she was snarky with you. If I were invited to a sit local to me through THS, I certainly wouldn’t dismiss it out of hand, if I had no paid jobs booked for that period.
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Great question @janepell. I’m sorry she was snarky with you. That’s never any fun.
Lots of people prefer sitting near home (to build up their reviews, or to see a different part of the city/region, because they love pets but can’t have any of their own, etc.). Lots of other folks sit as a way to see new parts of the world and therefore prefer not to sit locally for free. I did a lot of local sits for free when I was building up my reviews, but after that, I felt it wasn’t fair to the local for-fee sitters for me to sit for free locally.
It’s too bad she didn’t either change her location to a place where she would like to get sits, or include a note in her profile that she prefers not to sit locally. That would have saved you some time and from being on the receiving end of some snark.
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There’s quite a number of sitters on here that charge when sitting near their home town or doing sits with a larger number of pets etc, but then sit for free on THS in the locations where they choose to sit/visit etc.
We’ve contemplated charging for sits within a 30 minute drive of our home via a different site, but we’d always happily return to sit for free for those that we’ve already sat for locally via THS, even if we decided to do charge others at some point.
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+1 @Silversitters. We have met sitters that do this too. Makes sense. Different objective.
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Since THS is a travel hack where owners get free pet sitting in exchange for accomodations and sitters get free accomodations in exchange for pet care, many people don’t sit locally. They might if they have some reason to. For example, a young person who works locally but can’t afford an apartment and wants to get away from the parents. Someone in a roommate situation who wants some privacy, etc. But most siitters will NOT apply to local sits. I am combined member. I only use THS to get away from where I live. When I’ve been invited to sit locally without applying, I’ve turned down the applications and explained why.
Many people on THS also sit for pay either as a side gig or main source of income. They will not apply to open listings and solicit payment as this is against the rules. However, if you contact the person because you can’t find a sitter, they might offer to “help you out” for pay. This should not be through THS as a sit. You can let the person know that you are looking for a sitter interested in the THS exchange and decline. This is one of many reasons why searching for a sitter doesn’t work. Sitters have no motivation to take random sits. The best way to find a sitter is to make your listing public and if you aren’t getting responses, to try to find help through the forum to make your listing more appealing.
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Whatever their reason for declining, there was no need to be snarky. I’d say you dodged a bullet.
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I do that. I live in a large retirement community and am a paid sitter to those that travel here. I use this site to travel away from my town. The way she answered you was unprofessional. How about, thank you for inviting me to sit. In my hometown I sit as a professional and get paid. I am on this site to travel away from my hometown.
I think she was hoping you would pay her which is so wrong.
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