Short-term Rental Owners Earn More Money With A Custom Property Website
Three. Fifteen. Eighteen. Twenty-two. Prime numbers? Nope. The number of trips you wish you’d taken this year? Perhaps. Actually, these are the typical commission percentages online travel agents (OTA) and third-party platforms like Airbnb and VRBO charge property owners to use their site to find and book renters.
In addition, have you noticed that when booking an Airbnb, the nightly rate is one price, but the total charges end up being almost double the nightly rate (depending on length of stay)? This is becoming standard across third-party rental sites and travelers are becoming accustomed to eating the charges for state and local taxes, as well as service and cleaning fees. Instead of continuing to pay fees to third-party sites, why not encourage travelers to book directly on your property website? You could choose to charge less per night, or roll the taxes and cleaning fees into your nightly rate. For example, let’s assume a traveler has budgeted $500 for a three night stay. On a third-party site they are likely going to pay around $85/night and another $250 for cleaning, taxes and fees (for a typical Airbnb listing, the traveler pays around 14% in service fees). That means that you, the owner, receive the nightly rate and cleaning fee (less the listing service fee), and the rest goes to the third-party platform. In contrast, if travelers are booking directly through your site, you can charge a slightly higher nightly rate, but eliminate the service fees, which results in a lower net cost for the traveler and increases your revenue.
And maybe as a property owner, you’re fine with the fees and appreciate the convenience of third-party rental sites. But, if you prefer a little more control and customization, why not try encouraging travelers to book directly through your custom property site? There are a number of reasons why making a small up-front investment in a customized property website, in addition to using an OTA as well in lieu of, could be in your best interest. As a marketing tool, it can be used to incentivize travelers to book your listing and by allowing guests to book directly through your website, more of the profits go into your pocket.
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