Hi fellow TH owners! My partner and I have been members of TH for over a year now - we signed up after using Mind My House for a couple of years, and finding it difficult, at times, to find sitters. When we first signed up for TH, we were thrilled with the response - we’d consistently have 3-5 applicants within a week of posting a trip, and most potential sitters we met were super responsive and responsible.
Recently, however, I’ve noticed a declining level of response to our sitter requests, and a lot less reliability among the potential sitters who have applied. I’ve had multiple applications set up video meets and flake, show up late, cancel their application after expressing interest.
We have 5 star reviews from all past sitters, and nothing has changed about our situation, so I’m confused about the change in experience, which truly is a stark difference from our first 8 months or so on this platform. Have others noticed a similar change?
If you would like some input on your listing, you can add the link of your listing to your forum profile. There are many here that would happily offer advice on what you can do to attract more sitters and/ or ensuring a better match. It is often little things that can make a difference.
(Apparently, so I’ve heard) there are more sits than there are sitters (in the UK, U.S, Canada & Australia) so sitters have a lot of choice and competition between listings is high if you are in one of these countries. As @Garfield said, you can add you listing for feedback - here’s how: How to add a listing or profile link to your FORUM profile
You can also have a read of this blog to make sure your listing is on track:
As for sitter response, invites have a very low success rate due to inaccurate calendars (they are basically useless for sitters as they cannot enter their personal availability) and most sitters are not interested in sitting in their own local area. Many sitters may also withdraw their application or may no longer be available for your sit dates if there is no response from a HO within about 3 days or so, so make sure your responses are timely (if they aren’t already).
As for sitters showing up late or flaking - sorry this has happened to you, it must be very frustrating.
Yeah, I concur, linking the listing enables all of us to help you, give you tips and also see if it can even be found (perhaps something’s gone wrong).
Smiley - the post you quote is from '22, so this might still be late Covid.
Oh, about linking the listing - I don’t know how y’all did that, I am using the web browser and not the app, so
went on ths → “your listing” → “listing preview”
copied the number from the URL (…listing/nnn/edit/listing-preview)
went onto the forum → menu → my posts → preferences → profile
into “Website” I put https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/house-and-pet-sitting-assignments/l/nnn/
Hi Smiley - As a person who also started as a HO but now do Sits I can tell you that our preference is to not book more than 3 months out. Exceptions? Always. Especially for repeat sits (we were booked for the month of January 2025 back in March 2024.)
I understand your desire to lock down a solution - but from a sitter’s perspective, booking a sit 8+ months in the future requires knowing they are definitely going to want/need to be in that area then.
Most sitters won’t have that kind of visibility.
I would suggest that if you haven’t found someone you love yet, perhaps delist and list again in mid-January. Four months should be plenty of time to find a great sitter.
Cheers, A
The number of sitters will be decreasing again as our temporary break from petsitting will become permanent.
Its highly unlikely we will be renewing our membership.
Don’t know man, I just know that that’s what everyone else keeps saying all time, so somebody with info must know something Maybe @pietkuip knows? He always seems to know things
I doubt that. I would guess that it is quite typical that owner members have one or two listings per year, typically for their vacations. And I guess that sitters do more sits: the nomads, the remote workers, the retirees and probably also others, to get some value out of their membership fee.
THS does not release many figures but recently I saw some numbers. The average member uses THS only ten nights per year. Latest Member Numbers - #4 by pietkuip
I’ve definitely noticed that a lot of the sits that show up on my saved searches that would previously have been snapped up are now showing as 0 or only 1 applicant for a while. It feels a lot less competitive as a sitter which isn’t necessarily a good thing for the platform. As a sitter I’ve also become more choosy and having done a lot of lovely sits in order to travel around the UK I now only feel like taking sits where it will be truly beneficial to me and I expect a lot of sitters do the same as they become more experienced and learn from less than perfect sits. One of the main things I now look for is a really good bed of a decent size rather than a sad, cramped afterthought of a spare room because it’s just not possible to have an enjoyable sit if no one’s slept well. If you have a nice room with a decent bed available to a sitter then make sure to mention it because things like that really make the difference.
Thanks for the thoughts, everyone. I followed the (somewhat convoluted) instructions to add my listing link to my profile, so it should be viewable now.
To some of the points brought up here- I have tried to be very specific in my listing, have lots of photos, reply to applicants within a day, and have a separate guest room with queen-sized bed and a private bathroom, so hopefully the post is appealing… the only thing I can think of that may deter some sitters is the comment I have about our older dog’s behavioral issues - he’s a rescue, and can be reactive, but he’s totally lovable and manageable. I wanted to be honest about that, so that only potential sitters who are comfortable with that type of dog, and the rules/routines we’ve adopted to help avoid his triggers, would apply. I feel like that’s the most responsible approach, but if others have constructive suggestions about how to address or phrase this point, I’m happy to hear them.
Thanks!
Took a quick look. The overall impression is positive I would say. There are some obvious and easy points that could make a difference.
In the introduction text, write why a sitter should come to your area/ home. What is there to see/ do/ explore? Shorten the text about you.
Sitters want to have info on kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.
Write something of distances and transport. Walkable to what? Public transport possible, to what and what are the distances? Many sitters come by air, and are not so willing to add a rental car, so that is important information to get the right sitters. If a car is necesssary, could they use yours? Or could you drive them on arrival, picking them up, help them get groceries?
I would be more detailed on the dogs. What times, and particularly how long can they be left alone. Behavioural issues - it is good to be precise. If something is unclear, many would scroll on rather than ask you. So lost opportunities.
So a few tweaks would make the listing much better! Best of luck!
Had a quick look too and I agree with all points @Garfield made. I really like your listing, but what would make me hesitate is the behavioural issues - it’s unclear what this entails and what I would be expected to handle. ‘Behavioural issues’ could mean anything, and I would want a clear explanation and understanding before applying. You also say that Brando takes medication but don’t say what for. Sitters don’t like hidden surprises; full disclosure of all medical and behavioural issues is critical in a listing, and vague statements can mean that sitters may see red flags and skip the listing. Hope that helps!
I believe the description is fine, bar the things mentioned, and there’s plenty sitters with enough dog experience.
My feeling is that the sits are just too short for somebody to travel cross country or even cross oceans to make sense. If somebody can pick up another matching sit in the same area - nice. Otherwise they travel two days for a four day sit.
So, you’ll be relying mostly on relatively local sitters of which there might not be too many (or not many that want to stay in the area)…
Yes - short sits less than at least a week are a deal-breaker for many, as it’s just too impractical and is too much work to start and end a sit all within a few short days (considering settling in, learning a pet’s needs and routine, and then packing & cleaning up - all within 4 days). November date is better, but the October one may be harder to fill.
I don’t know how long your specific dates have been posted, but I see that you have the “low applications” tag and not the “new” tag. Is it possible you never got the “new” tag? Try deleting and reposting your dates to see what happens.
Recently there was either an intentional design change or a bug which is causing listings with fresh dates to not be tagged with “new”. Since most sitters seem to search by “new”, your listing is just not appearing at the top of their pages. Some sitters actively skip over listings with the “low applications” badge.
Since happening to my listing, I have also definitely noticed a decline in applicants.
Maybe 