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Any VRBO success stories?
Posted on 7/6/18 at 10:59 pm
Posted on 7/6/18 at 10:59 pm
I have a place on the water that I have on VRBO.
I hate them but they seem to be the only legit platform.
Anybody doing well with them? Any secrets to skirt their fees and deal directly with potential renters?
I hate them but they seem to be the only legit platform.
Anybody doing well with them? Any secrets to skirt their fees and deal directly with potential renters?
This post was edited on 7/6/18 at 11:00 pm
5
Posted on 7/7/18 at 7:21 am to Beessnax
isnt that the purpose of those sites?
to connect you with renters.
is a service.
i use airbnb...as both owner and renter.
is not very hard... with a new unit set the prices artificially low to create outstanding value and generate those critical "raving fan" reviews.
more outstanding reviews--> easier to set your price/vacancy balance where you want it
there are websites where you can really finetune/research for your area.
iirc, the renter pays the airbnb/cleaning fees.
to connect you with renters.
is a service.
i use airbnb...as both owner and renter.
is not very hard... with a new unit set the prices artificially low to create outstanding value and generate those critical "raving fan" reviews.
more outstanding reviews--> easier to set your price/vacancy balance where you want it
there are websites where you can really finetune/research for your area.
iirc, the renter pays the airbnb/cleaning fees.
Posted on 7/7/18 at 7:40 am to Beessnax
A friend of mine has a vacation rental. She’s doing very well with it. Most of her bookings come from VRBO. She’s booked about 80% of the time.
Posted on 7/7/18 at 7:41 am to Beessnax
Yeah get on Airbnb too, the main difference is Airbnb is stricter, doesn't have a good way to collect sales tax or collects it themselves, and the biggest difference is Airbnb you have to pay 100% at the time of making the reservation. So few people use Airbnb for reservations a long way out.
Get all your guests emails, and we email them the day of their departure and let them know if they are interested in booking again in the future to contact you directly to save money.
Get all your guests emails, and we email them the day of their departure and let them know if they are interested in booking again in the future to contact you directly to save money.
Posted on 7/7/18 at 10:49 am to baldona
quote:
Get all your guests emails, and we email them the day of their departure and let them know if they are interested in booking again in the future to contact you directly to save money.
The problem with that is the way VRBO uses their metrics to rank properties. You rent outside of their system, it lowers your total reservations through them and you drop in their rankings. Don't care about rankings? Then, sure, book all you want outside of them. Not worth it for the hassle to us. Of those few times we get asked we end up booking through VRBO anyway...sometimes from the same people who asked us to book outside.
We thought about switching to or dual listing on airbnb when they added that fee but realized we werent losing any reservations with it so didn't bother.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 7:37 am to blupony
quote:
The problem with that is the way VRBO uses their metrics to rank properties. You rent outside of their system, it lowers your total reservations through them and you drop in their rankings. Don't care about rankings?
I'm not sure you are understanding what hurts your rankings properly. VRBO ranks you on your conversions. So the more inquiries through VRBO you receive and convert to reservations, the better your ranking.
They don't care about simply blocking dates due to "reservations" outside of VRBO. VRBO has no idea why you blocked that date, it could simply be due to maintenance or owner use. Those don't hurt you. You can block a date and you can reserve a date. If you simply block a date for a reservation received outside of VRBO it has absolutely no effect on your search ranking.
Yes, the VRBO fee is laughable for people to complain about because AIRBNB does the exact same fee and no one complains about it on Airbnb. That is the exact reason VRBO added that fee and changed their income model, because they saw what Airbnb was doing and the revenue it would create for them.
So again, if a guest wants to return it has absolutely no negative effect for them to reserve with you directly.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 10:55 am to Beessnax
We just used VRBO in Orange Beach and when we got in the condo the owners had a list of units they own all over Orange Beach and their direct contact information in case we wanted to book directly with them in the future.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 4:35 pm to baldona
quote:
I'm not sure you are understanding what hurts your rankings properly. VRBO ranks you on your conversions. So the more inquiries through VRBO you receive and convert to reservations, the better your ranking.
I realize they don't hurt rankings to block off dates. What I meant was if everyone contacted you and asked to book outside and you did, it would lower your rankings because you would have 0 bookings through them.
Blocking off a few for friends, family, and return guests wouldn't affect it that much if at all. All else being equal, I book 50 reservations through them and you book 40 plus 10 outside their system, we both have the sAme total to us but I'll end up with higher ranking due to more reservations through them....or atleast that is what I was explained when I was asking how to get higher rankings. Who knows exactly what their algorithm is for rankings.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 6:24 pm to baldona
quote:
biggest difference is Airbnb you have to pay 100% at the time of making the reservation. So few people use Airbnb for reservations a long way out
Just this past week I booked a house for next spring using Airbnb. Only had to put down half up front. The rest isn’t due until two weeks before the trip.
Posted on 7/9/18 at 12:01 pm to Beessnax
We rented using VRBO for the first time this last week, a cabin in Gatlinburg. Process was super easy and it worked out well.
I mean I guess you could list it on Craigslist and let us know how that works for you =)
I mean I guess you could list it on Craigslist and let us know how that works for you =)
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