I am a newish host on this site and have recently run into a problem where after getting to the video chat stage in the process and discussing details I am finding more and more sitters want to do the sit “off platform” because they want to save the booking fee.
I am somewhat put off by this but I wonder if I am being unreasonable, also it has on more than one occasion deterred me from choosing this sitter, I say let me think about it and then I invariably pick a sitter that is fine with doing it through the site.
I feel that going off site means neither party is held accountable if things don’t go as planned because they won’t be reviewed, also as Premium member I don’t pay a booking fee as it’s built into my higher membership cost and also I get insurance if there is a cancelation. Also without trying to be judgemental I don’t I want a person in my home caring for my pets and my possessions who is unwilling or unable to pay a relatively small fee.
What do people feel about this subject and how do they handle it when it comes up?
Welcome @Pierce
As a experienced sitter I absolutely agree why you want to stay on platform for the backup and support THS offers.
However THS has created an issue with the introduction of booking fees and I wonder if they will see more and more sitters wanting to do a deal outside of THS. That’s in addition to many experienced sitters leaving the platform.
I only go off platform for regular sits that started on THS platform,
Sorry no real advice other than hopefully you find a good sitter that sits and will do so on platform.
I agree. For a first sit, definitely do it through THS. Now, if you’ve built a relationship with a repeat sitter, then I can see doing some sits offline. However, I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to go through THS if you have the premium package. Just seems smart to be able to use the insurance just in case.
I’d feel exactly the same, and that’s coming from the sitter side.
If someone is suggesting taking a sit off-platform, it raises a few red flags for me straight away. The whole point of using TrustedHousesitters is that it gives both sides structure, accountability and a clear record of what’s been agreed. Once you step outside that, you lose reviews, you lose the safety net, and if something goes sideways there’s no real recourse for either party.
From a sitter perspective, the booking fee is just part of the deal. It’s not something I’d try to dodge, because it’s tied to the protections and transparency that make the whole system work. If someone’s unwilling to cover that, I’d be questioning what else they might cut corners on.
I also think you’re right that it can influence your choice. Even if the sitter seems great on paper, that one suggestion can plant a seed of doubt - and when you’re trusting someone with your home and animals, that matters.
Personally, if it comes up, I’d just keep it simple and say I prefer to keep everything on platform for the protection of both sides. If that doesn’t suit them, there are plenty of sitters who are happy to work within the system.
You’re not being unreasonable at all - you’re being sensible.
I am a sitter and I totally agree with you. I was very surprised when the booking fee came in and sitters on the platform were talking about not renewing because of it or protesting loudly. Their solution is just change membership to premium which I believe is about a $100.00 difference per year. Premium is still less than a lot of hotels in the US for a one night stay so I never understood the financial big deal people made. If I was a host I would not want someone who asked to take it off platform for several reasons. One reasons being if they find paying $12.00 a burden then how can they afford to make other arrangements if I would have to return early because of an emergency. Or would they eat a lot of my expensive meats and fish in the freezer as they can’t afford food. I have done one repeat sit on here where the host said they were thinking about not renewing before I arrived. I told them I would only accept the sit on the platform as I wanted my review. I do this part time and since reviews are currency here I wanted mine. She did renew and I did the sit. She stayed on the platform and had many sits after that that I see from the reviews. She also stayed on the following year. If you have a choice I understand you picking someone else.
Sitter here and I agree with most, maybe fine for repeat sitters you are happy with, but I am of the opinion if you are struggling financially to pay the booking fee there could be more problems. If it’s an objection to the fee it’s slightly different, but if I were a premium host I don’t think I would take the chance.
I have been a sitter for 13 years and have no intention of ever paying a booking fee. Fortunately I have quite a while to run on my membership.
It is not about the cost it is the principle.
Incidentally I am on the legacy membership and if I upgraded to premium the cost would more than double.
It is only a matter of time before premium members are expected to pay the booking fee as well.
I am yet to see any improvements to the site since the introduction of the extra fees.
As you are relatively new and a premium member I would stick to your guns and keep things on the site.
As I mentioned in a previous post I am unwilling to pay a booking fee (on top of my membership, travel costs and free pet care services) but there are plenty of sitters who are, and some new members who have not known anything else..
There are maybe 1-2 sitters that I would be willing to do this for if they did a repeat sit, but also I understand there is a risk in doing so. I was asked by one sitter during discussion “oh, did you want to do this through THS???” as if that were not the norm, which was
For a new HO? I would strongly recommend turning anyone away who suggests this, at minimum until you’ve had at least 5 highly successful sits so you can get a better sense of how things go. And maybe never - I get why good sitters are turning to this as a workaround, but the booking fee was imposed on everyone and it’s hard to overcome the suspicion around suggestion off-site sits that had very good reasons pre-booking fees.
I’m taking as many sits as I can off platform, I’m not going to be strong armed by THS into a so called premium plan that offers me the square root of diddly squat, it’s all discretionary and at the whim.
THS describes itself as a matching site, to me that resembles Tinder and all the rest. Imagine arranging a date and having to pay a dating fee. No thanks. I don’t need any more reviews, whether I have 100 or 50 if they are great who’s worried about another one?
If THS had increased annual membership rates across the board by say 10% I’d have gone along with it. I’m not surprised that there seem to be many more unfulfilled sits, it’s not just because of the situation in the ME. I suspect that thanks to advertising in the US there’s been an increase in the # of HOs, not so.much sitter.
I won’t ask hosts to go off platform, but I get requests from previous hosts to do that indirectly, because they’ve not renewed. Or some have stayed with THS and volunteered to pay my booking fees, unsolicited by me.
I even have a pair of hosts who started offering me airfare to repeat sit. (They began offering that while still on THS, because they wanted me to return soon after a previous sit — they must’ve correctly figured that I wouldn’t pay my own way to return so soon.)
One of their three cats has since developed a condition, which makes for extra work, so they started offering me cash, as well as airfare. And that would all be off THS. (I haven’t accepted a cash sit, because I was busy during their requested dates. Not sure I would, even if I could make the dates.)
For me, it’s not the cost of booking fees, but the principle — I don’t think it right that sitters should pay to sit. That’s in line with my refusing to pay a cent in utility costs.
For me, sitting has always been icing, and I’ve actually reduced my sitting for reasons with nothing to do with THS’s missteps. That all just makes it easier for me to let my THS membership lapse. (It won’t expire for a stretch, because I have paid months, as well as referral-bonus months left.)
As far as I’m concerned, THS is expendable to me and hosts need sitters more than sitters like me need them. I also get referrals from previous hosts, for sits that would be off THS.
As a host, I have a less straight forward view than I’m seeing in responses so far.
To start, I see very thin to nonexistent “protections” offered to hosts by using THS. THS marketing hype plays up the value but, after reading the fine print and first hand accounts shared on this forum, it’s clear to me that hosts gain almost nothing using THS for more than a simple matching service. Once there’s a match, hosts are on their own.
Premium membership does come with some additional “insurance” but the fine print restricts the payout circumstances so much that cost of that insurance far exceeds the value imo. If we had sitters a dozen or more times a year, that cost-value calculus might change for us but probably not. Our vetting efforts, primary home insurance and Plan B offer much greater protection. Obviously, I’m not a fan of THS’s purported “protections” but, in truth, my normally restrained cynicism spikes off the charts if triggered by marketing hype.
THS sitter circumstances vary widely including relative affluence. THS marketing targets more affluent sitters (globe trotters, retirees, digital nomads, …) for whom the booking fee is a pittance. But for sitters who do lots of sits close to home, booking fees are intentionally exclusionary; otherwise, there’d be a cap on annual booking fees. It makes total sense to me that those sitters would try to go off platform.
So, for me, circumstances count. Our typical THS circumstances involve longer sits using non-local sitters with good THS reputations. A sitter wanting to go off platform under those circumstances would be a yellow or red flag for us. But if the sits are short and applicants with good reputations are local, going off platform makes complete sense to me and raises no flags.
I wouldn’t quit something I enjoy because a few of the policies of the company may not align with mine. The enjoyment overrides it for me. Each their own.
If the $12 fee is going to make the difference between them wanting to do the sit and not wanting to do it then you absolutely want to avoid them. What happens if their travel costs go up $12 or they discover some other slight impediment? Are they going to cancel on you or hit you up for money?
