Cross promoting vacation rental on AirBnB and VRBO
Specialist · Carolina Beach, NC · Member since 2016 · 390 posts · 496 votes
My wife and I have been doing very well listing a guest house at the front of our home on AirBnB for three years now. I've found AirBnB to be VERY easy to manage and their fees are low. But I've reached a point where I don't want to be too dependent on just one medium for bookings.
I know there are a myriad of tools now for managing and syncing the two calendars but I was wondering if anyone can share some experiences, positive or negative of using the two sites.
Hi Neil,
I use both sites and Airbnb gets the majority of my bookings. VRBO has changed their fees and I'm not a fan of how they go about their business, but it has worked well - mostly for longer term guests. I recently posted this message for another group of private investors.... My thoughts are consistent with some of yours.... And I think all "channels" put us at risk.... Would love to hear your thoughts....
"1. Airbnb's recent announcement and acquisitions are placing them too close to what I believe are MY guests. I view Airbnb as a marketing tool to bring me guests and once they are MY guests I want to own that relationships and provide additional offerings. Post reservation I capture my guests information and market to them, but so does Airbnb. Who do you think owns the Guest?
2. Pricing, pricing, pricing. Third party apps promising higher rates but I've tried BeyondPricing and Wheelhouse - not a worthwhile gain. I purchase Airdna data on occasion - seems to be a good tool but heavy lifting to sort through it all. houghts? Ideas?
3. Where else do you market your properties? I use HomeAway/VRBO and they have brought me many of my longer stay clients, but IMHO their fees are excessive and they have no clear direction. I still get stronger bookings with Airbnb. HomeAway's recent announcements concern me as well - they are removing contact information from OUR view. I tried Booking.com - weak interface and really poor customer service. They're huge but I feel like I need to take a shower after dealing with them. I used TripAdvisor as well - wasted effort.
4. How do you feel about building your own brand? Is this a worthwhile investment? I've build thejetsethost.com but scratching my head on pushing forward with more effort and expense to really build out a marketing plant.
OK, that's probably a bit much for now but would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, frustrations, etc...."
Hi Neil,
I use both sites and Airbnb gets the majority of my bookings. VRBO has changed their fees and I'm not a fan of how they go about their business, but it has worked well - mostly for longer term guests. I recently posted this message for another group of private investors.... My thoughts are consistent with some of yours.... And I think all "channels" put us at risk.... Would love to hear your thoughts....
"1. Airbnb's recent announcement and acquisitions are placing them too close to what I believe are MY guests. I view Airbnb as a marketing tool to bring me guests and once they are MY guests I want to own that relationships and provide additional offerings. Post reservation I capture my guests information and market to them, but so does Airbnb. Who do you think owns the Guest?
2. Pricing, pricing, pricing. Third party apps promising higher rates but I've tried BeyondPricing and Wheelhouse - not a worthwhile gain. I purchase Airdna data on occasion - seems to be a good tool but heavy lifting to sort through it all. houghts? Ideas?
3. Where else do you market your properties? I use HomeAway/VRBO and they have brought me many of my longer stay clients, but IMHO their fees are excessive and they have no clear direction. I still get stronger bookings with Airbnb. HomeAway's recent announcements concern me as well - they are removing contact information from OUR view. I tried Booking.com - weak interface and really poor customer service. They're huge but I feel like I need to take a shower after dealing with them. I used TripAdvisor as well - wasted effort.
4. How do you feel about building your own brand? Is this a worthwhile investment? I've build thejetsethost.com but scratching my head on pushing forward with more effort and expense to really build out a marketing plant.
OK, that's probably a bit much for now but would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, frustrations, etc...."
I use Homeaway.com and AirBnB. Homeaway and VRBO bring me 98% of my bookings. Airbnb is very weak in my location.
Booking on Homeaway.com sync easily to block out the reserved dates on my AirBnB calendar.
Homeaway doesn't block me from communicating with potential renters. Also their new fee structure has not slowed down bookings any.
I also use Craigslist and I get more leads from it than AirBnB.
I am running a vacation rental not renting a room at a bead and breakfast so it is no surprise to me that people who are looking for a vacation house are using VRBO and homeaway over AirBnB, at least that is how it is working out for me.
Agreed with John : airbnb works better in larger cities with smaller places while vrbo works better for a large beach house.
I wouldn't try to compete with these billion $ cimpanies building my own brand (site) unless you have a $B to invest. I have no issue collecting guests infos.
John please tell me more about craigslist : you generate traffic to your vrbo listing from craigslist? Or you have created your own site? How about the "quality" of the crowd from craigslist ? I only accept guests with reviews on airbnb and since I don't have this feature on vrbo, my guests from Airbnb are "better" (less demanding, cleaner, easy going,...).
@Neil Henderson I have many complaints about VRBO/HA's technology, fees, and practices, just like I have complaints about Airbnb customer service, and strict communication rules but if someone is asking from a "how do I make the most money" standpoint I suggest use all the services you can including facebook and a personal website and see what gains traction. Don't let what other people do dictate what you do, it depends on your rental type, location, and clientele and no one here will be able to tell you what is best for you.
@John Underwood # of leads =/= quality of leads, of course.
@Kevin Lefeuvre My Craigslist adds are listed in several different local markets. I suggest they check out my calendar and pricing info on Homeaway, but I still get emails asking for pricing and availability from the CL I guess I should add a reference to my AirBNB site also. The CL add has most of my pictures. Search CL for you area under Vacation rentals and I am sure you will find other rentals. The ones in my area generally refer to their VRBO number as I do.
I refresh the add every few days to keep it towards the top of the search results.
Since it is free it is a no brainer for me to use even if it only generates one lead a year.
I also sometimes get someone that just wants to send me a check months ahead of their desired reservation and I have no problem with this either.
My perception is that people using VRBO are middle aged people that don't mind spending money on a nice place.
The inquires I get from AirBnB are more of the millennial crowd that may not have as much to spend as someone in the peak of their earning potential. These tend to be more people who are splitting the costs vs a smaller family.
I get a copy of renters Drivers license when they make the reservation so I know who they are and I have never had any issues with the people that are renting my house.
I have not created my own site but probably should do that in the future.
@John Underwood thanks for the clarification on CL. I do see those ads here, but mostly from apartment buildings property managers, renting furnished, usually above one month up to one year, filling in their gaps of long term tenants (usually one year lease). But hey why not. I thought the automation offered by VRBO and Airbnb (SEO, Listing and photos management, price management, calendar management, inquiries and in case of dispute, some support) was exactly why we were paying them, but you are right if it brings you additional revenue, then it makes sense.
And yes on top of what we said above about the vrbo vs airbnb sweet spots I do see the same thing as you when you say: " My perception is that people using VRBO are middle aged people that don't mind spending money on a nice place. The inquires I get from AirBnB are more of the millennial crowd"
The user interface of the 2 platforms, vrbo being old tech (middle aged people won't even notice and don't care, millennials can't bear it :) ) and airbnb on the contrary new with a modern behavior or even language is a perfect match for them. :)
Hey @Neil Henderson
No harm in using multiple sites. Import all calendars into one Google calendar then export your Google calendar into each platform. Keep it simple and sweet!
Good meeting you at the Best Ever BTW
We only use Airbnb for our 2 tiny house rentals. We're booked about 50% of the time for both houses this month (which is a big increase for us), and it's all I can handle. January was slow, and I was considering the other platforms, but I've tabled the idea for now. Airbnb's platform is amazing. I really like the multi-calendar and wish I could see it on my phone app!