Rentalia going over to the dark side

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pepsipuss
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Rentalia going over to the dark side

Post by pepsipuss »

I have just received a communication from Rentalia telling me about their wonderful new system which means that I will get more business if I choose to go down a commission route. Carefully worded to suggest that it is only going to cost me €1 per booking plus 2% of the deposit for processing the credit card.

So far not too bad although i still don't like systems that don't pay me till 48 hours after the guest has arrived.

However drilling down to the end of the page I find that it is going to cost someone (not clear if me or the guest) 8% of the rent to be part of this system

Can anyone else find where it says who actually pays the 8%

http://es.rentalia.com/owner/faqs-reserva-online/
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costa-brava
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Post by costa-brava »

I don't use Rentalia but I took a look at your link. The first few paragraphs deal with online bookings for people who already have a subscription advert and there is no 8%, just €1 plus 2% for card handling.
The last part deals with commission based ads but this is only available for now in "Italia, Portugal, Francia, Croacia y Eslovenia" and this is where the 8% comes in.
Against HA and Trip etc it looks like a reasonable deal.
donnylu
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Post by donnylu »

I use the Channel Manager that powers this on rentalia. They are called Avaibook. If you are looking for a Channal Manager / reservation system, I would recommend them.
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pepsipuss
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Post by pepsipuss »

@Costa Brava. Yes I thought so too.... but nowhere does it say who pays the 8% if I choose to go this way after subscription expires. All I know is that if I don't, the people who have recently joined and are on commission will get listed above my Classic promotion with many 5* reviews. That does not sit well with me at all. I tried Premium one year and got no more enquiries than I do now because my property is large and does not have much competition in the area so it tends to come up early on search anyway so maybe this will not be so much of an issue... Unless of course they decide to go down the HA route and include properties that are so far they might as well be in another country!

Meanwhile it is unclear who pays the 8%. Does the owner pay out of the rent or is it on top for the client. If the former the commission on one week in August would nearly pay my subscription and if the latter it makes my prices affordable.

@donnylu. I have had Avaibook enabled since Rentalia started it three or so years ago. Not one guest has yet used it!!

I fear on lots of levels. The main one is that this is just the first step down the HA route of taking control of our business and eventually eating into my meagre profits. I also am not particularly enamoured of any system where the listing site keeps my money until after the guest checks in.
For true domestic harmony it is essential that dogs know their place, which is below all cats

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www.villa-rental-andalucia.com
http://www.fincalaserenidad.com
donnylu
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Post by donnylu »

Commission is better for me as it wasn't worth doing subscribtion anymore. I have noted when you contract it from the portal it says the commission is 10%. Seems to contradict the 8%.
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pepsipuss
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Post by pepsipuss »

donnylu wrote:Commission is better for me as it wasn't worth doing subscribtion anymore. I have noted when you contract it from the portal it says the commission is 10%. Seems to contradict the 8%.
Does it say who pays it?

Can't load any big pages this weekend as my internet connection has gone almost completely AWOL. Tecnico coming tomorrow (hopefully!)

The other thing I found a bit annoying was that this has only be communicated by a message in their forum rather than emailing their subscribers.
For true domestic harmony it is essential that dogs know their place, which is below all cats

LMH Accommodation Offers Report
www.villa-rental-andalucia.com
http://www.fincalaserenidad.com
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