AirBNB vs VRBO performance

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AirBNB vs VRBO performance

Khaled El DorryPro Member
Casselberry, FL · Member since 2016 · 111 posts · 54 votes

Hello - I purchased my first STR in Severville and listed both of them on Airbnb and VRBO. It was listed for May 5 as the first day of availability. May has been slow but June has 25 days booked and July is at about 50% booked. My question/concern is - Everyone I talk to prefers VRBO over Airbnb because Airbnb tends to be very super guest bias/friendly however all my bookings except for 1 came from Airbnb. I pretty much have the same photos, pricing, descriptions, etc... on both platforms. I found VRBO to be really silly to interface with Beyond Pricing and Lodgify so that may be my issue but looking for guidance to see how can I boost my VRBO performance as it looks dead right now compared to AirBnB.

Thank you

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Ken Boone
Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y

@Nathan Gesner 99% of the time we have a problem guest.. it turns out to be an AirBnB guest ..without fail.  Fortunately they only make up about 10% of my bookings.

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  • Carolyn Fuller
    Cambridge, MA · Member since 2015 · 651 posts · 736 votes
    4y

    Airbnb dominates some markets. VRBO is stronger in other markets. It is what it is. I don't think there is much an individual host can do. You could look at demographic data for the two companies. I suspect that Airbnb dominates the younger market and VRBO might be stronger in the older market so you could update your listing to appeal to an older guest.

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  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    4y

    Vrbo dominates my market.

    I haven't received an Airbnb booking in over 3 months. Vrbo has my calendar full.

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  • Kerry BairdPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Melbourne, FL · Member since 2011 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    4y

    @John Underwood, who is your typical demographic? Does it change between your bigger houses and your smaller ones? I have been similar to your bookings over my 3 years of STR rentals, until this last few months. VRBO usually provides a steady stream of families to my location…until recently. Like @Carolyn Fuller said, my younger guests usually are on AirBnb and older ones are on VRBO.

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  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    4y
    Quote from @Kerry Baird:

    @John Underwood, who is your typical demographic? Does it change between your bigger houses and your smaller ones? I have been similar to your bookings over my 3 years of STR rentals, until this last few months. VRBO usually provides a steady stream of families to my location…until recently. Like @Carolyn Fuller said, my younger guests usually are on AirBnb and older ones are on VRBO.


     My demographics are simular to yours for the most part.

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  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    4y

    In my market, VRBO does better for advanced reservations from regular travelers and those guests have fewer issues. AirBnB guests come in a close second but they tend to be younger, more last-minute bookings, and more problematic guests. The problems aren't enough to make me want to stop using AirBnB, but it's enough that we've identified it as something to watch.

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  • Ken Boone
    Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Nathan Gesner 99% of the time we have a problem guest.. it turns out to be an AirBnB guest ..without fail.  Fortunately they only make up about 10% of my bookings.

    2Reply
  • Scott K.
    Member since 2020 · 223 posts · 233 votes
    4y

    Airbnb guests tend to be younger, which brings on the issues of underage partying. If you limit stays to 2+ nights, and don't allow bookings within 3 days, and require 25 years or older as I do, you don't really have issues from Airbnb guests. 

    I wish I could say I like vrbo better but guests are consistently pickier, less tech savvy, and the platform has some major app issues and communication glitches. It drives me nuts how often a guest sends me a message after booking, but through a new inquiry, and they get confused and can't find my messages! Never seen that with Airbnb. 

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  • Michael BaumPro Member
    Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    4y

    I am in the same boat as @John Underwood for the most part. We have had 8 guests so far this year and 6 were AirBNB and 2 were VRBO. That is unusual for us. Overall this year, bookings are 70/30 VRBO/AirBNB.

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