Which do you prefer VRBO or Airbnb?

Question

As an owner of vacation rental property on Maui, who self-manages, and a Realtor sharing with my clients two main hosting services of VRBO and Airbnb.  Which do you prefer?

Peter R. · Answer

@Jeff Graves there is a particular feature I hate about Airbnb if that helps.  The restrictions on content in communications is mildly infuriating.  I cannot send a link to my website to show prospects the area, attractions, extra photos, etc.  Airbnb strips out all URLs that aren't Airbnb.

I find myself sounding like a five year old that's just grasped the concept when I type out www dot mysiteaddress dot com to prospects just to get it by Airbnb's filters.

And not CCing me automatically is annoying, VRBO sends a copy of all correspondence by email by default, both inbound and outbound.  For me it's easier to see the entire communication thread in email, works offline too.

But, on the flip side, VRBO's new service fee and the screwing of long term high-tier listings is a dumpster fire in real time.  So there's that.

Sky Mikesell · Answer

Airbnb without question... VRBO is unraveling... about a year ago rates started going up... they now hit the owner (us)  and hit the vacationer renting the property ...    so our experience has been the people coming thru VRBO are certainly looking to stay a bit longer (which is good) but they all want a discount or a deal because of the fee vrbo is charging them....    we of course had no reason to discount so we didnt book many thru vrbo .... because we didnt close enough of them then VRBO has now taken the tactful approach of sending us a letter accusing us of stealing their leads since our close ratio was low... and tellling us if we want to remain using their service we must pay an annual fee.    So to sum it up... Airbnb has worked well for us... our property is in central florida near disney. maybe vrbo is nicer to owners in Hawaii. :)

Jeff Graves · Answer

@Peter R.  I am frustrated by the stripping of the email and web links too.  I think even phone numbers are too so I type mine with a space between each digit.

Remo F.

I hope that helps.

Aloha,

Jeff

Jeff Graves · Answer

@Beth L. Yes...Airbnb allows late cancellations which I don't like either.  Yes they hold the funds till the day after check-in.

As far as funds being received AFTER the guest arrives...on VRBO you have two options...receive it at the time of booking, or the day after they check in.

My personal preference...I prefer to receive the money the day after they have arrived...I figured I would have fewer refunds to deal with, less fees, and I don't want to be spending money that isn't actually mine until the conditions of the host-guest agreement have been met.  If I'm needing the money to cash-flow my rental then I would be robbing Peter to pay Paul (so to speak).  I don't want to handle money in that way...I have a reserve built up so I don't need that "float".

BTW - we have cancellations less than 60 days...are non-refundable.  My wife and I were just talking about this...we would probably refund as much as we could re-book.  Why not.

Aloha,

Jeff

Blair Russell · Answer

I started out on HomeAway/VRBO, put a listing on Airbnb that didn't really didn't draw much activity and then suddenly Airbnb blew up and I was getting a ton of inquiries in fact I only keep my original VRBO listing on the site, and  all new ones have been on Airbnb because there was no upfront listing fee, the search features were better, the mobile application was better, the service and software are just better. Customer service sucks on both but can be atrocious on Airbnb. VRBO w/ Expedia has become ridiculous with these fees and a bad copycat of Airbnb as far as features go. It impossible to do any management on VRBO, where as some people with small operations can run everything on the Airbnb platform. And actually once you get used to Airbnb I find using their communication platform simple, but this all depends on how you run your rental. I would argue though even if your area is still big on VRBO (as some of mine are) you are missing out, or will be, if you aren't trying Airbnb. It's no longer the rent a couch platform, it's the leader in the market.

Jeff Graves · Answer

@Sky Mikesell - I think it's important for me to learn what others are using and why they like it...even if feedback I get aligns with what I'm currently doing.

I was also expecting I guess for people to mention specific features they may like about either of them.  Is there one particular feature you like about Airbnb?

Sky Mikesell · Answer

@Jeff Graves sounds like you already had the answers to your own questions :)  not sure you ever needed us. :)   good luck

Which do you prefer VRBO or Airbnb?

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