schmerl

I agree MmePerdu . We put in a request to rent and the owner then contacted us. The price was listed just as it is on VRBO. No bargain hunting for us as we book very nice single homes.

mlgb

I agree MmePerdu.

Sorry Blondie, perhaps rather than make assumptions about Airbnb (you wouldn't be the first), you should actually look at.

There can be as much personal contact as you want, you get to decide and the tenants are "vetted" by Airbnb as well.

They also charge a service fee to the tenants.

Perhaps another alternative is to list with a rental agency or create your own website. Or market to your prior tenants directly.

happyclam

I was on a Horizon Airline flight and see that the Seattle entrepreneur who started expedia and some other travel sights bought homeaway (including VRBO) recently and my guess (and only a guess) is that the new ownership started these profit gauging practices.

This year VRBO automatically charged by credit card for the premium status without asking me. They then sent out a misleading notice of their intent to charge a fee to renters on top of the high and ever increasing fees they charge owners.

They then try to force you to have automatic payment through them thru credit cards (accept the offer that comes in) so they can take the fee off the top. They penalize you in your prominence on their sight if you don't do this.

They have never got our pricing structure right, so for every customer the automatic price given is wrong and needs clarification.

When I asked them if we can just communicate directly with the client, they said they are setting up a system to monitor when this is occurring.

They have taken a very good system that really worked for us to a horrible system that is costing us business because of its complexity and pure bad quality.

I'd like to know what kind of profits they were making prior to the change. Obviously not enough. I doubt they will remain a prominent listing with this crap.

happyclam

clarification, I meant I read about the new ownership on the horizon in flight magazine.

nerohill

I have a property on Vrbo and just realized how high this booking fee is. Its 9% ridiculous. And I logged in as a regular guest to check out my listing and saw an warning symbol that said this renter has a low acceptance rate. I was furious that VRBO actually put a negative comment on my site just because I haven't used there booking option. And they also said I would be at the bottom of the list if i don't use it and keep a high booking rate. I also lost a renter because of the fee. They actually asked me to lower my price to cover the new fee. Know that vrbo is taking a percentage they should at least give the owner a discount or refund if the booking fee's actually add up or pass the yearly subscription price.

TINFLOmega

The CEO of Expedia is worth ~$5 Billion and his salary last year was about $12 million, with another $84 million in stock options granted to him by the company. So why does VRBO (Expedia is the parent of HomeAway/VRBO) need to gouge us with this exorbitant fee? I don't get it. This is why people are getting PO'ed at corporations.
I do get it; Expedia (HA/VRBO) provides a service that is valuable to those of us "average Joes" who can't afford to own a second home in FL or HI, but how much more does this guy need to collect to feel good about himself? I'm done with HA/VRBO. We'll deal with owners directly from here on and just hope that's OK with Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Expedia. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but apparently $5 Billion isn't enough. Don't worry, folks, I'm sure he'll muddle through the next recession just fine.

JJESSEN12

We, as owners, were not advised that by signing onto Online Bookings it was enabling VRBO to charge travellers a fee. We suggest all travellers who do not want to pay a fee contact the owner directly rather than clicking on Book It. As far as we know by contacting the owner directly you can avoid the fee. We are very upset that VRBO is doing this but we know our listing will go to the bottom of the list if we disable the option.

Christina

Guys like that are just driven, it isn't an issue of his personal wealth as the money isn't going to him directly. They don't regard this as a charity where they are trying to help people out, it's just money.

I find it a very odd policy, though, a booking fee if you do it through the website, otherwise nothing. That is a goofy model, it should just be one way for everyone, although I gather the website does provide some service if the owner won't take credit cards. And the fee also varies, if it were a very expensive booking, then the cap at $499 fee wouldn't be that bad.

I think that CEO just sees that Airbnb charges a fee and therefore doesn't see why there isn't room for VRBO to charge one, also, and that actually seems believable from a business point of view. From what I read on this policy, the VRBO fee averages 6% (they claim) which is lower than the Airbnb fee (which is 6-12% but can be higher), so that's the way they are pricing it, figuring people still will pay more if booked through Airbnb, so to the client, logically they are still a reasonable choice, if everythign else is equal.

Time will tell if this ruins VRBO or not, but if there isn't a good competitor without a fee, not sure it will. I think I read there is some deal on Tripadvisor where rentals are now advertised and the client doesn't pay a fee, that might be a good way to go as they get a lot of traffic.

vincenzo32951

Sometimes you can run a google search on the name of a property on VRBO and hit the owner's website, if there is one. Then book that way.

twinkler11

I am a property owner and am very angry over Homeaway's changes and gouging travelers for more money. I pay a listing fee and then they make you register to accept reservations and payments through their 3rd party provider--which is actually a subsidiary of their network of companies. So they get a piece of the online payment. If you don't do the online payment system, you get knocked down from the rankings. Homeaway's changes have ruined my season. I am in upstate NY in a rural area that has a specific draw--fishing. I do get families that vacation, but they are on a budget and can not afford a ridiculous booking service fee. Please do not assume that property owners are OK with Homeaway's shenanigans. There is a lawsuit that has been filed. I want folks to get directly in touch with me, I take Square now. It is just hard to find other listing sites that have the exposure that Homeaway has.

PaulLebovitz61

I understand that business models need to change to keep up with the times, but it needs to be based on sound market research. Clearly Expedia did not do the research in trying to change VRBO to compete with Airbnb. Would a 2-3% service fee be ok to charge to clients, maybe, but 4-9% - get real. We have a rental that on average got 2-4 booking from VRBO per month. Now we at best are getting 1 booking every 2 months. How can this be the result of good business decisions. Funny, to make up the difference we have just listed with Airbnb.

stefanpdx

We have had our condo in Mexico on the VRBO website for 8 years and have paid them $399 each year for our listing. They are not only screwing travelers but owners as well as in addition to the service fee they now charge travelers they have set up online payments for which their argument to owners is "convenience" but is just really a method of controlling disbursement of rental fees. They "park" rental money in an escrow account and make interest off of it before disbursing it to the owners. This website has gone from a useful tool to one of the biggest rip offs in the travel industry. They now make money off the owner's yearly listing fee, rental money disbursement, AND the service fee they charge the travelers. Deal with the owners directly and avoid their scam!

JamesKnight

It seems to be a good idea to deal directly with the owner, but I have been told owners will be penalized for direct bookings. They will lose credit for the booking, thereby placing their listing at the bottom of search engine results. To avoid this penalty, some owners will only rent through the site. They will simply refer the potential renter to the site to make the reservation. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

sylvia3

You pay for listing position, but many owners with in demand places and/or good prices do not bother with it.

MmePerdu

Sylvia has an excellent point. In locations with a great deal of competition, if your place is handsome and prices fair, with good discounts for longer-term, the place will rent itself, in the top few or further down. People will find you.

I've never listed with anyone but Airbnb and adjust my price as needed, almost always land on the first page. I realize the systems for position do not compare, my point being why pay? Or, ultimately, why stay with VRBO?

scdreamer

I have rented through VRBO and Homeaway many times over the years, in many domestic and overseas locations.

A month or so ago, I reserved a summer rental for this July, and after the transaction had gone through, I saw that I had been charged a hefty service fee by VRBO.

I still had to deal with the property management company associated with the vacation rental, so I don't see what this fee is covering.

I'm done with VRBO and their subsidiaries. I can rent from FlipKey or directly from local rental agencies.

I hope those who list with VRBO will see that their potential clients are not going to put up with this bogus fee.

vincenzo32951

James: >>It seems to be a good idea to deal directly with the owner, but I have been told owners will be penalized for direct bookings.

JamesKnight

Availability is one of the factors considered for priority on search engine results. Another factor is whether you accept online bookings. Consider those factors over time, the search results should place your property lower on the list of search results. Most renters will find something suitable in the early results, thereby never seeing a nice property further down the list. This is all in their Terms and Conditions for use of the site. These are stated as factors considered in ranking search results. See paragraph 25 of Terms and Conditions on the web site.

As for wanting to hear it from an owner, I am an attorney representing owners to protect their interests. My inquiry was to hear if anyone else was experiencing this drop in search results rankings.

LaurieLee10

I have a vacation rental in Lely Resort, vrbo.com/351402. I have not switched over to the online booking and payment. I do not want this extra fee (service fee) added to my renters/guests at my vacation home. If it ever works for me to get another vacation home, I will have no option as they make all new homes use their system of collecting these fees from renters. When I use VRBO, I always try to find a way to work directly through the owner.

Inakauaidavidababy

As a renter, I was surprised last night when an owner told me over the phone that they only book their property thru vrbo. They don't do any one on one transactions. Not what I'm used to or comfortable with. Of all the places I've rented, and there have been many, I've always dealt with either the owner or local agent one on one thru emails and phone calls. I'm used to receiving contracts and sending checks. That is my comfort zone. Mandatory booking thru vrbo is not in my comfort zone.