I am fairly new to THS. I started bringing a gift to our sitters but then thought maybe since we don’t really know the likes and dislikes of our sitters, money might be preferred. What are your thoughts regarding tips for our sitters? Is it expected?
Please, please, please do not tip. It is against everything that THS stands for. Personally, I would leave any monetary gift where it was.
The best “tip” a sitter can receive is a clean, comfortable house. Pets as described in all the conversations and room to store their belongings.
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@Liz8689 that is very thoughtful of you .
It’s certainly not expected and not something that a sitter can ask for .
However we have received many small ( and large ) gifts of appreciation from hosts .
Ranging from flowers from the garden , a bottle of wine, a cake, cookies, mugs, gift cards, box of chocolates, and on occasion a small cash gift to spend on something of our choice during our stay.
We appreciate food gifts (but it wouldn’t suit all sitters due to allergies or food tastes and preferences ) . We also enjoy a bottle of wine, (but not all sitters drink alcohol ) There are also sitters travelling with limited luggage space to carry gifts home with them. So cash or a gift card for a local store often is the perfect choice for a gift of appreciation.
Whatever the gift that has been given , cash or otherwise it has always been accepted and appreciated by us .
If a sitter feels uncomfortable about accepting a cash gift, they can donate to an animal charity or another charity of their choice .
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Tipping is not expected but isn’t disallowed. Some HOs leave gift cards to local restaurants or grocery stores rather than actual cash. Sitters should never request payment though.
If you did tip me, please be aware that I would NOT mention it in your review because I wouldn’t want it to become an expectation for your future sitters. But I would thank you outside of the review.
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We do not want a tip. And, we live out of our suitcases, so it’s a really nice thought to gift us, but we have no room for that unless it’s liquor. 
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Don’t leave money, we’re sitters and we would just leave it, as we’d feel a little awkward taking it, whereas we’d happily appreciate chocs, prossecco, fresh bread, or any food bought especially for us. Something for the first night is always appreciated.
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I finished a sit recently and the new-to-the-platform owners tried to give me £200. This is not an insubstantial amount of money for me, but I refused it, and said that this really isn’t part of the deal.
The sit (dogs, house) had been lovely, and the owners had been very generous - leaving a well stocked fridge for me, so that was enough.
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Nothing is expected, everything is appreciated.
We are happy to accept all gifts, including cash tips!
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I think leaving a gift card to a grocery store or nice restaurant is thoughtful and appreciated. I wouldn’t leave wine as you don’t know if the person drinks unless you asked them first. Same with leaving chocolates as you can’t be sure of their dietary regiments. It always puts a smile on my face when someone leaves me a gift card with a lovely thank you note.
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So many people say do this or that… do what your heart tells you to. You are going somewhere and see something you’d like to gift your sitters? Go ahead.
We’ve had candy and some very personal things made for us, wine, a meal delievered, flowers, etc and in one instance a 20 for a pie we told the HO we were gonna get after the sit.
Do what feels good for good sitters 
.
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I thought you did 4 sits a year.
As someone I know would say, never expected but always appreciated. As others have said maybe not money but any other gift you think of. I have had two extremes, one sit (and it was a repeat) where the owners completely cleared the fridge (not even a drop of milk) which felt rather unwelcoming and another with gifts galore to the point where I became quite embarrassed.
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As others have said, small gifts are appreciated, but not expected. I’ve had great sits where they left me gifts and great sits where they didn’t. If you do want to leave something, the most common things that I’ve received are wine and/or chocolates or other treats, and gift cards. I like it when I’m in other countries and they leave me local treats (whatever the country or region is known for). Gift cards to local grocery stores or cafes are always nice.
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I think that if you are willing to take a non cash gift, or cash cards to restaurants, why wouldn’t you take a cash gift? If you are left a bottle of wine, but are sober, that doesn’t work. So why not accept cash in lieu of wine, chocolates?
First time someone left me a cash gift, one of the dogs was anxious, couldn’t play due to leg injury, so I was up and down letting it in and out, every 5 minutes the first day. But then it settled with me. And I am really good with dogs, and taking adventure walks let the dog chill. They left the cash gift because I think they knew the dog would be a lot of work. Which I think was considerate. Another time, it was twice the initial amount, but I was in rurual MI in winter and I think they were so happy someone took the sit. I needed to be there for dental work, so it was fine with me. They also bought me lots of fresh fruit and a case of seltzer. They asked what they could buy for me. They wanted to buy all groceries. On the other hand, I stayed in a beautiful home with a salt water pool in FL, easy dogs, so it was a great sit, but I was hoping for free ice cream – since they owned an ice cream shop. Alas, not offered. Sadness prevailed.
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I’ve only been left cash once out of 60 sits. My very lovely hosts left 50 pounds in a thank you card with a note saying something like ‘go out for a nice dinner on us.’ I texted them a thank you, same as I do for gift cards or other gifts.
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Sure. So? We do not have a permanent address and we sit around 3 or 4 times a year. I do not understand your comment?
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Maybe there’s been a misunderstanding? We do about 3 to 4 sits per year – it’s our hobby, because we truly love dogs. But we don’t house sit at any cost. It’s not about getting free accommodation for us.
We’re fortunate enough to be financially well off, as we work a lot and run our own business, which, luckily, is fully remote thanks to our business model.
Instead of putting our wealth into a house with four walls that would tie us down and require maintenance, we prefer to “waste” it by traveling the world. So when we’re not house sitting – which is about 80% of the year – we stay in hotels, holiday homes, yachts, or lodges in some of the most beautiful places on Earth.
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I am very firmly anti-tip on THS. I think it goes against what THS stands for.
That said, I do provide gift cards, welcome gifts/dinners and other items to (hopefully) make the stay as comfortable as possible. I also leave emergency cash that I mentally think of as gone.
I was introduced to THS when I expected to be a sitter, and thought about this long before I joined, currently just as an HO. I would not take a tip as a sitter either.
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Welcome to forum @Liz8689 !
THS is a mutual exhange between equal partners and not a paid service. As such IMO a «tip» is neither expected or required.
For me, as equal members my guideline is what I would have done for a friend or any other guest of mine. Personally, I would not give a friend cash, but maybe a thoughful gift or provisions for the sit. Maybe a gift card for the grocery store or a coffee shop I’d like to show them.
A small thoughtfulness saying «hope you’ll enjoy your stay» is nice but not expected. Systaran mention a cash gift for «a meal on us» which is a nice way to do it if you want to do something ofc. As a sitter I rarely get gifts as such. I’ve had homemade brownies, a «kit» for a pasta dinner (which wouldn’t have spoilt if I didn’t use it) or just hospitality as in please use the coffee and tea and such (be clear though, of exactly what you mean). If I was offered ice cream in the freezer as Huronbase mention that would be nice also, 
.
Most important is that I feel welcome and expected. Clean home, room in fridge (and freezer), provisions for pet and a solid WG.
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Thanks everyone for your thoughts re tipping. Clearly there are many different points of view. Moving forward I will simply trust my feelings regarding the tipping issue. I hope enjoying my home and my pup can be enough😊
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