Lay My Hat

I am wondering why quite a few inquiries this summer, which were just about to turn into bookings, instead turned into nothing.

What I mean is that out of all the people who sent follow-up emails (after getting complete price quote) saying basically "ok, where do I go to do the booking?", only one actually booked.

I send reply emails including URL of my booking page with the booking calendar, and explain how to proceed. Yet, the correspondence ends up with no booking. As I'm not getting any feedback from the potential renter beyond this step, I don't know what caused the change of mind.

I recently removed the final cleaning fee, in an attempt to avoid having "too many fees", but I can't remove the damage waiver and the fee charged by Rentalsystems. And I have a feeling that it might be the rather high fee charged by Rentalsystems that is scaring people off. Although I include this when I give the first quote by email, I believe it's psychologically discouraging for people to see it spelled out during the booking process.

I would appreciate any input on this, that could hopefully give me some clues.

It can't be the pricing, it seems like really reasonable pricing to me.

Hi. Your rates are reasonable but I do think it is probably the 4.5% that's doing it. Why do you need Rentalsystems? Can't you do your own bookings or at least offer payment by bank transfer as an alternative. Either that or put your rates up a little to cover the 4.5%.

Apartment looks lovely though!

I don't think you can hide the 4.5% booking fee in your own charges, Rentalsystems charges the customer regardless of your prices.

I'm not sure how the rentalsytems thing works, but if I thought I was going to be subject to a booking charge then I would look elsewhere.
So that might a barrier to them going forward.

Why can't you just accept bank transfers? All you need to do is send them your bank details and they do it all.

Mouse
x

I had originally planned to use Paypal, but because I am resident in Qatar, it hasn't until recently been possible to receive money (only send). Paypal also charges something like 3.4%, so that's another card fee that would scare people off (plus Paypal's reputation for withholding people's money doesn't make it an attractive option).

I chose Rentalsystems because it seemed to be the only option, also considering the advantage of having the whole process automated. But their fees are exorbitant.

I could maybe handle it via bank transfers to my offshore account, but bank transfers also do cost renters extra money. Again, I guess it's about psychology. Maybe bank transfer charges don't seem as negative as card handling charges that are displayed right in your face on an online booking page?

I charge a £15 'Booking Fee' to cover (or in some case contribute to) the cost of taking a payment online. I know adding fees aren't popular with a lot of owners, but it's what we decided to try this year and as of yet nobody has questioned it.

In the peak weeks if a guest decides to pay by paypal it doesn't actually cover the charges, but in some of the off-peak weeks it more than covers it so I guess it evens out. If people choose to pay by cheque or online bank transfer we normally waive the fee - we're not out to profit from it. We'll review how it's worked at the end of the year and decide whether or not to incorporate the cost of paypal fees into the week's rental cost or not.

Is not adding fees is a bit Ryanairish?

Looking at a rental advert, which is more likely to get bookings:

Weekly price: €825.00
(Plus credit card fees at 4%)

Weekly price: €850.00
Price is fully inclusive. No hidden extras.

No contest, the second one.

Guests can choose with us
bank transfer no charge
cheque no charge
PayPal / card 3.4%
I do find very few guests use PayPal and most use bank transfer
I think this points out guests don't like add ons

Guests can choose with us
bank transfer no charge
cheque no charge
PayPal / card 3.4%
I do find very few guests use PayPal and most use bank transfer
I think this points out guests don't like add ons

Thank you all for your contributions. Seems I should choose to accept bank transfers instead of using Rentalsystems.