So so many sits not being filled

So I have been off the forum for a while. This was an interesting thread.
We were in Europe for 10 months and did 3 sits while there in 3 countries. Now we are back state side looking for sits until Jan 1 when we start a long term sit.
So I can say as someone actively looking that I feel there are still plenty of sits with lots of competition! Granted, I’m looking in California and AZ for Nov and Dec - but everything we’ve applied to has had plenty of applicants as soon as they are posted.

I will agree with whomever said many sits are posted TOO LATE! Some of us need to make our travel arrangements and booking things only a few weeks in advance is tough.
For example, we were looking for sits in November and Dec a month ago and found only one for Thanksgiving week finally - and only NOW am I seeing a ton of Thanksgiving week listings. Too late for us.
We are also looking for Christmas week and very surprised how few there are (that fit our filters) and so I want to book an airbnb for Christmas week bc I do not like waiting until the last minute.

I have applied to a few who respond with “going out of town now and will get back to you when I return” in one case they are away for THREE WEEKS and the other for one week…so I am to wait until they return to see if they even want to chat about the sit? Disappointing.

I do see TONS of sits in the UK and often wonder how they all get filled. Sadly, we are not interested in that part of the world, so I would say to any owners struggling to find sitters to post as many photos (clear, bright) as possible and list as much info as possible.
I don’t even bother looking at listings with very little info such as “dogs need to be fed morning and night” - that’s it?? What else??
“comfy home in nice area near many shops and restaurants” - what? um…what else? Describe the home, please! I like reading things like “our home is a 4 bed, 2 bath home, you may choose between either of our 2 guest rooms” or “sitters will stay in the spare room where we have a futon” - these are important details for us.

We don’t want to waste your time or ours so please look at other HO’s listings where there is a lot of information and photos and compare to what you have.

I do also wonder how the sits with many animals get filled (7 cats for example) but bravo if they do!

I too, prefer minimum one week sits as we find it a lot to get used to a place, get our groceries, settle in, get to know the pets etc for less than a week isn’t ideal - especially if there is travel involved.

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@Andrew I find this frustrating too. Currently there are 9 listings under the search parametres, “anywhere, no pets” and 3 of them have pet responsibilities. Two of the listings even mention pets in the headings. These listings are not going to get much traction as most sitters want to look after pets and these won’t come up in most saved searches.
@Angela_L can you please refer these to membership services.

Hi @Crookie just picking up on this one as Angela has reduced WiFi today. I know @Snowbird has identified these from an earlier report and has already notified the listings team for review. Just to avoid duplication :slight_smile:

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I agree about the inaccurate listings e.g. “Spend Easter with…” and then the listing dates are August, or “care for my … dog” and then listing 2 dogs, a dog and a cat etc. I am also seeing a number of day sits - I flagged up a couple recently but then just yesterday I came across at least another three.
There are also sits where family are mentioned as “popping in” and even as staying there for some or all of a sit. Clearly these are against the rules or at least the spirit of THS so it is likely these will not be filled.
Late advertising as someone has mentioned is also an issue. I am a relatively new member so don’t know if the aftermath of Covid and travel uncertainties etc have compounded this. I realise that sometimes there is an unexpected need for a HO to travel but find it difficult to think that all these late sits are a result of last minute travel plans. So, a combination of inaccuracies, very late advertising and going against THS rules could be impacting on the number of sits filled.

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Of course, the other way to see this is that as filled sits are immediately taken off the site, there needs to be a lot of unfilled sits listed to keep the whole process working.

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Yes very good point. Just yesterday a ‘new’ sit I was interested in had disappeared within 2 hours of my seeing it presumably because they had already received the 5 applications permitted. So, the proportion of sits not filled will inevitably look greater than it might have done previously.

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We have a sit posted for three weeks in mid-January to the first week in February (with slightly flexible start-end dates). We are located in the temperate climate of southern Pennsylvania, so even a winter sit has so much to do and enjoy in Lancaster County, PA! We have yet to get any applications, even with the listing on for a few weeks and boosted. :frowning: So yes, where have all the sitters gone?

Our link is embedded in our profile name, so if you might be interested in this sit, please take a look.

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Your listing looks great (even extra hangers in the closet!), and I see you’ve got good reviews. I think it’s a bit early for Jan/Feb for some sitters, so you might want to refresh your listing in late October or November.

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@KenandMary1998 - Not sure if you’re aware, but it’s possible for you to look through sitter profiles and to invite them to apply… You’ll probably get a pretty high rate of declines, so no harm in inviting several at a time. Most will get back to you pretty quickly. Good luck!

Yes, we are aware. Thank you.

@anon62832136, there could be many reasons those HO’s are no longer on TrustedHousesitters. They may no longer be traveling, have someone living with them now who stays with theirs pets, or worst case scenario, they lost their beloved pet you may have stayed with in the past.

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Yes those are all possible. But could it really account for the sudden & dramatic change after the six years I’ve seen it being the same?

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Looks like an interesting sit for sure Shafofo and one that I might consider for a different timeframe although already booked during your dates on a sit, camping, and hosting Thanksgiving Dinner for 30 family members. Just finishing up our 50th sit here in Canmore, AB but always looking to get away on new adventures. One thing I would mention is that you talk about making a car available if needed however you have not selected “Car Included” to create the bubble on your profile. It is this “Car included” bubble that sitters like myself use to search out a great sit. With out this bubble, your sit would never show up for me or others to apply. You may want to consider adding this to your profile and hopefully have more sitters applying. Safe travels to you on your next adventure.

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Thanks for your comments. I can’t find my original post and not sure what it said but the good news is I have a great THS sitter lined up. My decision not to select “car available” was intentional as I prefer a local sitter this time of year. It’s wildfire season here so having someone from the general area helps me relax knowing they won’t be disappointed by the hot, dry weather or caught off guard if there’s an emergency. With the new automatic pause feature I didn’t want my applications to fill up immediately with people coming from far flung places and having to explain all of that. That said, I didn’t want to close off options to others completely. Any sitter who took time to read my whole listing could see that a car was an option. In spring I adjust to reach a wider audience. It’s like a game sometimes figuring out how to reach the right sitter at any given time LOL

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Oh my gosh! That sounds more like an animal shelter than a home. As a HO I think that’s unreasonable.

Exactly @KLHoeflich, way too many for us. Oddly I’ve also noticed a couple of posts this week that want “volunteers” for animal shelters on THS and are posting as sits. Are they allowed @Therese? :thinking:

@Cuttlefish

We would need to see the listing and it does depend on how it is worded.

In essence, if a homeowner is looking for a sitter and they are giving a sitter the option or choice to do some volunteering whilst sitting at their local shelter. This is a sitters’ choice to either accept of reject this option. It is not really related to the sit itself, and should not be a condition of the sit.

The homeowners may be very active in their local shelter and maybe their dog likes to go with them whilst they help. There are many variables, and could be aligned to giving a sitter other options as what to do whilst sitting.

We would not disallow this on a listing, however, again, it does depend on how it is worded.

No problem, have emailed the link to support so they can have a look. 8 dogs, 4 dates, ongoing volunteer programme in Thailand.

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I think it is great to see how many applicants have applied for each sit now.

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I’m with you. I must have sent 100 invites. Nothing