Rental site commissions

[LeeH]

First of all, I’d just like to say thanks to everyone on this forum. My wife and I joined a couple of months ago, and we visit every day or two to catch up, and it has proven invaluable!

So, after a few months of preparation, we’re just about ready to go live with the website for our first holiday let, and to then start taking bookings. The only thing that can possibly go wrong now is for the whole purchase of the apartment to fall through (! ), but I’m not too worried about that. We exchange on Friday and complete next Friday. As soon as we complete we’ll make the website go live (we don’t want to do it before contracts are exchanged, because it’s not fair to potentially book someone in for a holiday break if there’s the remotest possibility it could fall through). We’re hoping to be ready for our first guests in just over a month (we’re using the four weeks between now and then to completely refurbish and refurnish).

So, website done (complete with booking system, etc) and the next thing is for us to decide which listing sites to advertise with. There’s obviously a lot going on with each of them, right now, but they seem to be a necessary evil.

I’ve been looking at which sites come up with our selection of search terms, and I’ve looked at their terms. Do these commission rates sound about right? Have I missed anything?

Sykes : 20% (+VAT) – ¼ of the rental fee seems like a huge commission.
Booking.com : 15%
HomeAway : 9%
FlipKey/Trip Advisor : 3%
Air BnB : 3%

Thanks, again – this is an amazing community!

[Casscat]

I'm not in the UK so not relevant to me, but in addition to having a massive charge associated with their listing Sykes also have an utterly dismal reputation amongst people here from what I can tell. Where you list will depend to a certain extent on the type of property you have and what your target market is. I know it's an apartment and it *might* be somewhere near Scarborough but apart from that nada!

[greenbarn]

Sykes is an agency, the others are listing sites; you need to decide which way you want to go!

[zebedee]

Hello
In Yorkshire, you might want to register on Yorkshire.com. No commission but a lot of traffic to your own website if you are happy to manage your own bookings.

Welcome to the site and good luck!

[LeeH]

Sykes is an agency, the others are listing sites; you need to decide which way you want to go!

I included Sykes as the only thing they were offering for their 20% was a listing on their site and for them to list on the other listing sites for us. No management of the apartment, just bookings, which makes their 20% (24% with VAT) seem particularly steep. It would save us some time creating multiple listings, but that's about it.

[FelicityA]

Welcome to LMH LeeH! In the member's section you will find that Essar has kindly written a virtual thesis on the subject, detailing the relative charges made by the listing sites. Find it here viewtopic.php?t=25559

[LeeH]

Hello
In Yorkshire, you might want to register on Yorkshire.com. No commission but a lot of traffic to your own website if you are happy to manage your own bookings.

Oh, I'll check them out - thanks!

Welcome to the site and good luck!

Thanks! I suspect I'll need some!

[LeeH]

Welcome to LMH LeeH! In the member's section you will find that Essar has kindly written a virtual thesis on the subject, detailing the relative charges made by the listing sites. Find it here viewtopic.php?t=25559

I just flicked through that, thanks. And wow! What a fantastic resource!

[russellt]

FlipKey/Trip Advisor : 3%

Good luck with your new venture.

HL/TA commission is 3% + VAT. And of course, they may add ~13% to your price, which the guest pays. How you view that in terms of commission rates, market price, etc, is a source of endless discussion.

[donnylu]

Yes you've missed Essar's document.

[greenbarn]

Sykes is an agency, the others are listing sites; you need to decide which way you want to go!

I included Sykes as the only thing they were offering for their 20% was a listing on their site and for them to list on the other listing sites for us. No management of the apartment, just bookings, which makes their 20% (24% with VAT) seem particularly steep. It would save us some time creating multiple listings, but that's about it.

That is what an agency normally does; agencies that actually manage the property are very few, and would charge a lot more than 20%. Sykes happens to be one of the worst examples of a large agency; they sell your property aggressively and undervalue it to achieve high occupancy rates. Many owners using Sykes have ended up with high occupancy consisting of many poor quality guests causing them trouble, and getting a low return for the work they put in.

There's some very useful information from LMH member Charles Cawley, who runs a small agency (not in your area) and is happy to share his experience for our benefit, and the benefit of the industry as a whole. To save searching for it, I've copied the sig from his posts with the links:
Helpful info. Please copy and put in web browser:
countryholidaylets.co.uk/about-us/landlords-homeowners-info-pack
Extra information:
holidayletsforsale.com/advice-cottage-owners-info-pack/

[e-richard]

I included Sykes as the only thing they were offering for their 20% was a listing on their site and for them to list on the other listing sites for us. No management of the apartment, just bookings, which makes their 20% (24% with VAT) seem particularly steep. It would save us some time creating multiple listings, but that's about it.

An agency ALSO does all the dealing with guests, chasing of payments, managing reminders, booking forms, contracts, and correspondence.

I'm not saying it's good or bad value, but it's a lot more than just listing.

[LeeH]

An agency ALSO does all the dealing with guests, chasing of payments, managing reminders, booking forms, contracts, and correspondence.

I'm not saying it's good or bad value, but it's a lot more than just listing.

Ah, yes - makes sense.

We've decided against the agency route. 24% seems too high a price to pay for the services they offer.

But again, I'm struck by the helpfulness of this community! Thanks, Richard (and everyone!)