Ebay holiday lets - my experiences

Up, down, could be better? How to get more bookings is our number one obsession. Talk shop here.
amandajane
Posts: 199
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2014 8:37 am
Location: South hams, devon
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Post by amandajane »

Echoing Felicity's comment really.

Congratulations on your results, and thank you for taking the trouble to keep updating us.

I may well try eBay for a gap I've got. My only concern is not being able to "vet" the guest in any way.
stewart-sandeman
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Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2015 1:35 pm
Location: Scotland - highlands
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Post by stewart-sandeman »

An ongoing update re selling on ebay that i thought worth sharing with others who may be interested.

Firstly - the two houses I rent are abnormal so bear this in mind (one can only be reached by boat, and the other cannot be reached by car and requires guests to walk down a steep hill - carrying luggage and food etc) so not your typical rentals.but the lessons may apply to others if treated as general learnings.

1 - trying to rent months (e.g Jan - March) when few want to go to remote parts of Scotland even if cheap is pretty pointless - even if price is low. So only really an option if trying to back fill weeks at a few weeks/months notice.

2 - For odd weeks where there are no rentals in summer or slightly off peak it is a reasonable option - I start the bidding at £400 for a £650 rental - and this has been successful.

3 - The level of repeat purchase the following year at full price has been OK.

4 - No tremendous difference to customers who have paid the full £ via other outlets, and ebayers no negative issues to date re purchasers.

5 - Try to persuade people to pay via normal routes and not pay pal as commission is high via pay pal.

so in summary - if it it a first year or early days of renting your house, and you have a few weeks spare and they are fast approaching and take the "opportunity cost" approach of better some £s from a rented house than empty weeks it is a route worth exploring. If no bids it has cost nothing apart from your time.

Totally understand that you will never know if you might get a booking at late notice at full price - and that is the dilemma - but in my opinion a bird in the hand is worth twice as much as a bird in the bush.

My rental houses are not mainstream and that may distort things but as a first year rental with a new house and ebay I have achieved a total rental of 37 weeks - although the four ebay weeks are at a discount - I personally think it is an approach worth a try.

Peter
aloneifly
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Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2012 2:20 pm
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Post by aloneifly »

Stewart, your website is brilliant.

The cottages are very unusual and look fabulous for the market you are seeking.

Overall well done and good luck for 2020
( Perfect place to escape Corona virus!)
FelicityA
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Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2010 2:54 pm
Location: Cotswolds
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Post by FelicityA »

I don't come in here very often now but remember your conversation and your properties, as aloneifly says, are fabulous. So pleased to hear you have been successful with this unusual pair of properties and I think you may well find some fleeing the virus in your neck of the woods!
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