Online Booking And Payment Systems

If you are planning to buy a rental home, or you're thinking about what to do with one you have just acquired, this is the place for any questions about starting out in the rentals business.
Stephndez
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:29 pm
Location: Wales

Online Booking And Payment Systems

Post by Stephndez »

Good Evening All,

First post so hopefully i am in the right place and look forward to advice from all you experienced forum members.

We have recently taken over two small holiday cottages along with all advertising and websites.

We have aquirred an online booking company that links to our website and allows us to manage bookings, send out letters, and take payments.

The costs seem a bit steep for what we use, and wondered if anyone else uses someone,has used, or could recommend someone they already use.

Thanks in advance
Stephndez
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:29 pm
Location: Wales

Online Booking

Post by Stephndez »

is there no other owners out there that use a booking system as we have had a lot of views but no replies, can anyone advise as per above,

Many Thanks
zebedee
Posts: 1270
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: yorkshire dales

Post by zebedee »

I don’t use a booking system. I have my own template letters, accept payment by bank transfer, cheque(yes, really) mobile phone transfer. Transferwise to accept payment in another currency.

All of this is free, apart from my own time.

Many others use platforms such as Stripe to accept credit card payments.

If you are managing the bookings, why are you paying someone else???
SusanMay
Posts: 125
Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:23 pm
Location: Dorset

Post by SusanMay »

I don't use an online booking system either. I have a calendar and a rates chart and a form on my website for enquiries and booking details. I then take payment by cheque, bank transfer or I email an invoice (using Wave/ stripe) if the guest wants to pay online by card. The downside is that people can not book with "one click" so this may deter them. However that is also a positive as it gives me the chance to double check the request for availability and correct rate.

I did look into Freetobook which provides a way for guests to select the dates they want and see the rental fee, then to take the payment online straightaway (with a backend of Stripe). It has no annual fee. I may switch to it but it had the downside of having to keep calendars aligned and the fact I rather like the 2-step process.

Other booking systems include Bookalet, Supercontrol and Ownersrez. You can google them to see was they offer. You need to check if you can happily use their accommodation pricing structures (some seem to only have a week rate or a short break rate, others have a daily rate) , and also consider the annual cost of using them.
Jenster
Posts: 454
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2016 8:24 am
Location: Cornwall
Contact:

Post by Jenster »

I use freetobook at the moment. It is fiddly to set up but works ok. The basic facility is free but if you want to integrate stripe cc payments it is about £89 I think. I don’t do this, I just email a payment request once a booking is made, with a wave invoice for cc payment if requested.

I have looked into bookalet in the past and found it very good. I am currently trialling the reservation manager that comes with my promote my place website. This is also very good but is a new feature and does not allow online booking on my website yet. When it does I will probably switch to this completely.
Sandra J
Posts: 66
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:54 pm
Location: North Yorkshire

Post by Sandra J »

We chose Supercontrol. Although the cost is a little steep for a single property I like the convenience of being able to send emails, payment processsing and reminders, etc from one location. Booking online is simple and I have set it up so that no money is taken from a guest until I approve the booking. Guests comment on how easy the system is to use. With running the farm as well time is very important and Supercontrol has streamlined the whole process. We did look at other booking systems but didn’t find they offered the flexibility we needed for changeover days, short break prices and lengths of stay.
COYS
Posts: 795
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 1:24 pm
Location: Greek Islands

Post by COYS »

zebedee wrote:If you are managing the bookings, why are you paying someone else???
+1
And the fewer the links in the chain, the smaller the chance of a c**k up.
I’m yet to come across a back up ‘system’ that is actually better than my paper calendar + sharpie.
This time next year Rodney, we'll be millionaires.
Stephndez
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:29 pm
Location: Wales

Thanks

Post by Stephndez »

All,

Thank you for your replies and comments. We also have looked into Bookalet, who seem to cover most things and have a reasonable costing structure.

As mentioned in one of the posts, the booking system allows guests to see your calenders, rates etc and book online. Also allows us to send confirmation emails with info.

BUT, the bottom line is they are expensive.

Has anyone, or is anyone using Bookalet

Thanks again.
ianh100
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:37 pm
Location: Sherborne Dorset

Post by ianh100 »

We like many here use PIMS to manage our 2 properties. It works well for us and keeps us organized. I will send you a discount code.

You can take a trial and see if the format works for you
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