Ownerdirect.com

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Well you have nothing to lose by trying it, if you can overcome those reservations - but the main reservation I have is that no-one else here has tried the site and is therefore able to report on whether it delivers inquiries/bookings; it's a question of whether the investment of your time, to enter all your details and text, is going to prove worth it.

If you do decide to give it a whirl Goria, please let us know the outcome further down the line, and good luck.
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janskov
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Post by janskov »

I tried them from 2004 to mid. 2005 and they gave me 1 enquiry and no bookings.
The site seems professional enough and has good facilities so maybe it could work for other destinations.
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TravelPixel
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Post by TravelPixel »

I didnt realise villarenters.com had been aquired by the daily mail group - thats certainly good news for the marketing clout of the operation.

Part of the reason we chose their offering was their details and photos of each property, really good.

:)
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Just looked at the VR site, TravelPixel, and the pics of the handful of properties I looked at were blurred++ or at best, not quite sharp enough. Could it be my Mac? And is it possible to get away without paying commission at all? eg if you continue to handle your own bookings and payments - it wasn't totally clear to me, though perhaps I didn't read the blurb sufficiently thoroughly. :oops:
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TravelPixel
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Post by TravelPixel »

Hi Goat,

Regarding the pictures, they are most probably submitted at too low resolution by the owner - most seem to be fine to me - although it may also be your display.

I think you will always have to pay commission to the service as they are doing a job for you - promotion of your property across their network, im sure thats fairly common practice? With the daily mail aquisition, it's surely even more attractive to property owners to have a presence on their network.

:D
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Angel
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Post by Angel »

Villarenters... it is a totally free listing. You pay for their services.

If they find your client, you pay them commission.

If you find your own client, you pay if you use their debit/credit card facility. If you organise your own payment, they charge nothing.
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Angel wrote:If they find your client, you pay them commission.
Angel, how do they find you your client? Is this if you opt for them to handle all your inquiries?
Angel wrote:If you find your own client ... If you organise your own payment, they charge nothing.
If this is right, then I was correct in thinking that if I handle all my own inquiries and collecting of payments, the service is indeed free, from start to finish? :D
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be
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Angel
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Post by Angel »

Hi Goat

VR find clients by all their marketing and affiliate schemes. Whether a booking is deemed a VR booking or my booking depends on the web address (url) that brought the client to the booking calendar.

If you go to my 'website' below, it gets redirected to my VR page and the important bit in the address is the &rcam=ownerweb at the end.

If you get to my VR page through say, villarenters.com, that bit of the address is &rcam=myvillarenters

There's another crafty thing in the web address - ?rag=nnnnnn which tells VR whether it's really me or an affiliate who's just listed my property - and I may, or may not, know this. They actually get 2.5% commission on any booking, which is paid for out of my 10%.

Complicated, isn't it? I spent quite some time getting to grips with it!

So, yes, you could just use the VR system for free if you process all payments yourself. The downside of this would be that you can't stop VR (or affiliates) marketing your property. You would then have to decide to accept or decline any booking that came that route.

HTH
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Thanks for explaining that Marion, you're an angel!
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Gloria - Casina di Rosa
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Post by Gloria - Casina di Rosa »

So, can you always decline a booking request, even if on their calendar the week is free?
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Angel
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Post by Angel »

Yes, Gloria, you can decline a booking request.
rosario
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Location: Costa de la Luz

about ownerdirect.com

Post by rosario »

Hello Gloria,

i have just joined this forum and have come across your post.
well, i have a townhouse in Costa de la Luz, and i can tell you that for more than one year, i have not received any enquiry from ownerdirect.com. However, owners direct.co.uk is worth the money.
maybe tomorrow can contact again.
:)
Rosario
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