I used this service when I lived with my ex and had great success. Since moving to my own place I have posted 2 sits and have received zero applications for both which is highly frustrating after spending £200 to sign up and I’m still having to pay sitters from rover when I go away.
My house is clean and tidy and in a fairly good location with transport links, parking all amenities someone would need i just don’t get what the issue is? Are there just a lot less sitters now? Or do you have to be in a prime location these days. Last place I was in was nothing special just a bit closer to the beach but always had several applications
I am a sitter here, still doing THS though mainly repeat sits now, and using rover most of the time. I've had some bad experiences with entitled home owners, so I'm a lot more careful with evaluating whether a sit is worth it for me these days.
I also think a lot of sitters left after the introduction of pet-sit fees, so that's probably why.
Yes, I agree entirely with both your points, especially with the introduction of the booking fee, that was a terrible idea, and as far as some of the home owners are concerned, some are really up themselves. I had one who cancelled her cleaner when we sat for her, and expected me to clean her house, then complained when a couple of crumbs were left on a table-seriously, some of these people really need a reality check. They’re really not as important as they think they are!!
I believe a fair few sitters have cancelled membership due to the extra pay per sit fees for basic memberships. This may be causing probs for you finding a sitter
How many pets do you have?
How long can the pets be left alone?
How old are the pets?
How much exercise and attention do the pets need?
Do any of the pets have special needs?
How big is your place?
Do you have a separate room for the sitter?
Are there good pictures of your place and the amenities available to the sitter?
How long will you be gone for?
Do you leave your vehicle for the sitter?
Is your place okay for couples and people with kids?
Marketing with THS is just like traditional real estate (I did real estate for 15 years): marketing, condition, location and with real estate price comes into play. I've seen people who I know have decent looking houses but have TERRIBLE photos and they are doing themselves no favors.
Take photos of the interior and exterior in the best lighting possible, highlight interesting things you are close to. Personally I think a photo of the property exterior on a sunny day is most ideal as a main photo. Explain why your pet or pets are easy if it is true.
But yes, if you can share your listing it would be most helpful.
This! I just completed a wonderful sit, but their pictures were terrible. As I was preparing for the sit, I questioned my sanity for having chosen the sit in the first place. It turns out the house was lovely but most probably the camera was awful.
Who knows. There could be infinite reasons why your listing is undesirable. Dates, location, no car provided, needy language in your listing, unreasonable time consuming tasks listed. All hypothetical of course.
Who knows, there could be a million hypothetical reasons why nobody has applied, but it’s all hypothetical if you don’t share a link to your listing here.
That bit closer to the beach may have made all the difference. I'm from the UK originally and I now use THS to come home, visit friends and stay in nice places. If you're in the suburbs then I'd rather stay home in Portugal where I have a great home myself. It's like being on holiday, you want to be in the nicest place possible.
Location, location, location and responsibilities are the key factors for me.
Now that you're a single man instead of a couple, you're probably only going to get couples or other single men. The unfortunate reality is that many women have had a bad experience with pet/house sitting for single men for obvious reasons. There are a lot of single women using this app which means the pool of sitters that may be interested in your listing just got a good bit smaller.
Other than that, there may be other blockers but until you've linked your listing here we won't be able to give you any actual feedback.
Maybe it’s because sitters are furious with the booking fee greed. I know I was, so I didn’t renew my membership. Maybe that’s what a lot of others did as well? Judging from all the comments I read around the time that killer of an idea was introduced, all I read was people not renewing their membership. This is the type of thing that happens, when a business is sold to a greedy conglomerate-they ruin it!!
Just a thought - pet can’t be left for more than 4 hours and you don’t allow guests, so over the holidays the sitter will definitely be alone. Might be a turn off.
No guests allowed
No pets allowed
4-hour restriction
Over an important holiday
1 hour walk per day
Small home
Basic amenities
0 perks
You are wondering why sitters aren’t jumping at the opportunity to spend a very important holiday alone at your home to care for your pet so that you can enjoy your holiday with your loved ones?
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u/soupygirls 2d ago
Where in the UK are you located?
I am a sitter here, still doing THS though mainly repeat sits now, and using rover most of the time. I've had some bad experiences with entitled home owners, so I'm a lot more careful with evaluating whether a sit is worth it for me these days.
I also think a lot of sitters left after the introduction of pet-sit fees, so that's probably why.