I have been chatting to some new THS members, both Home Owners.
They have said that even though their applications stop at the 5 application mark they are able to see dozens of more interested applicants “waiting in the wings”. How do they see these extra interested sitters? Are they sitters who have favourited the sit, or is there another way they become visible to the HOs?
I’d be curious to know the answer to this as well. I had no idea this was even possible for the HO to see additional potential candidates beyond the initial five. My understanding was that they would only see the details of the first five applicants and in order to onboard more applicants, some of those initial prospective sitters would need to be declined. Hopefully, somebody will be able to shed some light on this.
Hi @liz & @Chatsetchiens tagging @Therese who will be happy to pick this up for you both when she is back online …
Thank you 
Appreciate that. Thanks, Angela.
@liz I was confused about your post as I was unaware you could see these as a sitter so I reached out to our support team for advice. I was told this is not something they can see and maybe they are just talking about their list of favorites they have saved.
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As a sitter there is no way to indicate interest for a particular sit other than applying. I can either apply or not. They are probably seeing sitters who’ve added that listing to their favorites, but that doesn’t mean those sitters are interested in those dates. They may be, but they may have added it to favorites to get notifications of future dates.
Wonder if what they are seeing is more than 5 applicants who all had the “apply” window open before the 5 applicants was reached so their applications still went through. I was recently with a HO who posted a very desirable sit in Mexico, and she received 21 applications in about an hour without ever declining anyone and re-opening the sit. We both assumed it must be applications that were “in-process” and still went through.
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These HOs were in a very popular location so the 5 applicant limit was reached quite quickly. As they were both first time users (they are friends and each joined at the same time) it seems unlikely that their sits were “favourited” by too many people as the sits disappeared within a couple of hours. But other than favouriting, I can think of no other way they could see other applicants. I agree that they could have been sitters who favourited the sit but weren’t available for those dates (and the HOs misinterpreted that to mean they were all available sitters) but one HO said they have over 46 sitters waiting in the wings
that’s an interesting observation
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Do you know if that one HO has 46 emails? That would be actual applications.
Or on what “screen” are they seeing 46 sitters?
If it is one of these screens …these are just saves by sitters and not applicants.
If mexico is a saved area in a geographic search a sitter set up then the sitter would get an alert and they can save the home, which is not an application.
Here are the save screens from the web and the app
Hi All,
My understanding of sitters ‘waiting in the wings’ would be that sitters have ‘favourited’ the listing. These ‘favourited’ sitters could also have accumulated over time, and not necessarily be from the current listing going out.
Personally, I “favourite” listings when I am unable to do the current dates but would be interested when the pet parent/owner lists their new dates. This way I know I will get a notification as soon as they list again.
If a sitter is in the process of applying for a sit, this will go through regardless, even if the 5-pause application has been reached. As long as the sitter keeps the application tab open, tick the dates and starts their message, they can then research and double check the listing for suitability, and then send their application. This will go through to the pet parent or owner, as is what probably happened with the Mexico listing.
I hope this helps a bit.
no, my understanding is the HO saw 40 + people who were interested in his listing, apart from the first 5 applicants. I am assuming they were people who saw the listing but didn’t apply in time. As the listing was only up for a very short period of time (couple of hours??) and the HO had only joined that day I was surprised that so many people had seen and favourited the listing in that period of time, if that indeed is the case
thanks Therese, that helps and is interesting. So if sitters are in the process of applying, having opened the application tab, ticked the dates and started to write a message their message will go through, even if the 5 application limit is reached? Resulting in an HO getting more than 5 applications at a time?
I’d also be interested to know how this works. I had a HO say he had 50+ sitters “waiting in line”. His words.
Hello @liz @sitkashel Therese is currently offline but I am more than happy to clarify how it works.
@liz That is correct. So for example if a sitter sees a listing and it has four applicants already, they click apply and start a message, in the meantime, someone else sees the listing has four applicants and also clicks apply and starts a message, as long as neither member navigates away from the message screen or closes the message screen, both applications will go through. The owner will be able to view these in their inbox.
However, if you have not started an application then the very moment a 5th application is officially received the listing will pause and be in reviewing. Then an owner will need to decline an application to reopen the listing for new applications.
It does seem very unlikely that there would be that many people (40 plus) all applying at the same time, all with applications open at the exact same time. If that was the case then the owner would see all 40 applications in their inbox. It is much more likely that the owner is seeing the sitters that have favourited the listing.
Even if a listing is very new, it can still receive lots of attention and be favourited by many sitters early on. As soon as I receive my saved search alerts or view new listings, if I like the home and pets, then I mark it as a favourite even if I am not free for those dates. I assume many sitters do that when they see the new listings, so it can receive lots of favourites not long after posting.
I hope that clarifies it further, but any more questions please let me know.
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Thanks! This is what I was thinking. His house and dog and location are awesome so I’m assuming he has many people hitting the heart!
I’m lucky to be sitting there for 6 nights starting tomorrow! And I’ve applied for my second sit already! In London!
Cannot wait!
Wow, yes, if his location, home and pets are amazing then that would definitely happen.
That’s great news about your sit and enjoy every moment! 
I have a question about applications using phones vs laptops. I saw a favorite show up on my phone that I wanted. I then went to my computer to apply and it was already closed for reviews. Is there usually a lag between the app and the laptop?
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Hi @Karilil this is copied from another thread and gives some insight and of course another reason for this may be that it may have reached the maximum number of applications by the time you went to apply on your laptop.
If you have any other questions on this issue, please don’t hesitate to ask, we are all more than happy to help. 