Just been reading some of the OD posts here and have been enlightened to certain aspects.
I am on a subscription, not commission and I do not take bookings through their site.
It has just occurred to me (been a busy time) that I have had NO enquiries for ANY of my 4 properties listed there for between 1-2 months per property.
This is usually my busiest two weeks of the year for enquiries and now I am becoming concerned.
Is anyone else experiencing this, or is it because I wont sign up to online payments / bookings?!
I have a reasonably full calendar and have my own online booking system so I don't want to use theirs!
Owners Direct - enquiries all time low
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MockettsFarm
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 5:22 pm
- Location: Kent, UK
- Contact:
My experience of OD is the same as yours, Mocketts Farm, although we are in very different holiday locations. If you look at reviews on TrustPilot there is a constant theme of (subscription based) owners leaving Owners Direct because of a steep drop in bookings. Reviewers blame it on the increased complexity of using the site and on the "Travellers Service Fee", both of which are off-putting for holidaymakers.
Unlike many others, my property gets reasonably good exposure on OD and I do online bookings/payments, but I have not had one single booking directly from OD since 1st June 2016, which was the date they introduced the TSF for subscription listers. In past years my entire calendar was filled to the brim with OD bookings.
I am quite resigned to this state of affairs. OD has become just a billboard for me, because guests seem to find my property and private website by other means, and my bookings are good for 2017.
Owners Direct are still blindly pursuing their path to self-destruction. Lately, they have removed owners' telephone numbers from the main page and hidden them somewhere obscurely within a listing. They have also stopped publishing availability calendars, so that if a holidaymaker likes the look of a property, he is no longer able to see at a glance what dates are still available. No wonder holidaymakers find the OD site so user unfriendly.
Unlike many others, my property gets reasonably good exposure on OD and I do online bookings/payments, but I have not had one single booking directly from OD since 1st June 2016, which was the date they introduced the TSF for subscription listers. In past years my entire calendar was filled to the brim with OD bookings.
I am quite resigned to this state of affairs. OD has become just a billboard for me, because guests seem to find my property and private website by other means, and my bookings are good for 2017.
Owners Direct are still blindly pursuing their path to self-destruction. Lately, they have removed owners' telephone numbers from the main page and hidden them somewhere obscurely within a listing. They have also stopped publishing availability calendars, so that if a holidaymaker likes the look of a property, he is no longer able to see at a glance what dates are still available. No wonder holidaymakers find the OD site so user unfriendly.
I'm subscription only, and my enquiries are almost non-existant, whereas in previous years I'd filled up my calendar by Oct-Nov, I still have large gaps in the calendar.
I have a third party agency also selling my cottage and it uses to be 33% them, and 66% OD. Now it's about 85% them and 15% OD, with a lot of gaps in 2017.
I have had three enquiries from OD in the past week (two converted, one dates unavailable) but normally I'm swamped at this time of year, and these three enquiries are the first I've had since Oct.
I have a third party agency also selling my cottage and it uses to be 33% them, and 66% OD. Now it's about 85% them and 15% OD, with a lot of gaps in 2017.
I have had three enquiries from OD in the past week (two converted, one dates unavailable) but normally I'm swamped at this time of year, and these three enquiries are the first I've had since Oct.
I'm on subscription with nothing online enabled. Whilst there's not masses of traffic to my listings, there's enough trickling through. I've had 9 enquiries and 6 bookings since Christmas.
With one particular listing, I almost wish that OD wasn't doing so well, but it remains the number one site providing bookings for that particular property despite numerous adverts elsewhere. It means I remain tied to the beast but so be it whilst I retain complete control over the bookings.
With one particular listing, I almost wish that OD wasn't doing so well, but it remains the number one site providing bookings for that particular property despite numerous adverts elsewhere. It means I remain tied to the beast but so be it whilst I retain complete control over the bookings.
My experience is a bit different to yours. I'm on subscription and do not accept any online things. At this time I'm normally booked for the first 1/2 year, Aug + Xmas. Not so this year.
After nearly no enquiries or bookings since "best match" and Brexit I get now every day enquiries, but no answer and no bookings. Sad.
I put my telephone number in the description and it is still there, and I emptied my calender (to get some enquiries) and it is full visible.
I live in Euroland and my prices are in Euro. Since Brexit my house is 100 Euro more expensive because of the rates.
My statistic shows (compared 2015 June - Dec /2016) a loss of about 50% enquiries and bookings. Very sad.
After nearly no enquiries or bookings since "best match" and Brexit I get now every day enquiries, but no answer and no bookings. Sad.
I put my telephone number in the description and it is still there, and I emptied my calender (to get some enquiries) and it is full visible.
I live in Euroland and my prices are in Euro. Since Brexit my house is 100 Euro more expensive because of the rates.
My statistic shows (compared 2015 June - Dec /2016) a loss of about 50% enquiries and bookings. Very sad.
I wonder if people are getting smart and searching out listings without OLB/OLP. I too have had no enquiries for months (I have both enabled), but have filled most of the Summer through direct bookings. Easter and May are another story...not a sniff so far on OD, TA (also subscription) or anywhere else. I can only hope people will book later for these months as there is not quite so much urgency as for the popular summer period.Nemo wrote:I'm on subscription with nothing online enabled. Whilst there's not masses of traffic to my listings, there's enough trickling through. I've had 9 enquiries and 6 bookings since Christmas.
With one particular listing, I almost wish that OD wasn't doing so well, but it remains the number one site providing bookings for that particular property despite numerous adverts elsewhere. It means I remain tied to the beast but so be it whilst I retain complete control over the bookings.
Am on subscription with online booking enabled.
Apr 15-Apr 16: 50% of bookings from OD/HA
Apr 16 to preent: 32% of bookings from OD/HA
Views on the OD site have been down substatially since they ended tiered subscription and rather than describe my location as Brighton - have called it Adur - which no one knows!
Bookings from OD/HA are falling - but despite this I am in a slightly better position looking at my availability for 2017 than was I was a year ago for 2016...
Apr 15-Apr 16: 50% of bookings from OD/HA
Apr 16 to preent: 32% of bookings from OD/HA
Views on the OD site have been down substatially since they ended tiered subscription and rather than describe my location as Brighton - have called it Adur - which no one knows!
Bookings from OD/HA are falling - but despite this I am in a slightly better position looking at my availability for 2017 than was I was a year ago for 2016...
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AngloDutch
- Posts: 727
- Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:25 pm
- Location: Netherlands
After practically giving up on OD after the introduction of the service fee, we started to receive bookings from them in August, and have had 1 booking every month since then.
Actually, in 12 years listing with OD, we've never had so many bookings through them as in the last few months. Although only 1 booking has gone through their site, with most guests clever enough to bypass the service fee and selecting bank transfer as preferred payment option every time (even though we offer them PayPal as well).
We are on subscription with OD, but renewed VR at the end of the year on commission basis after 6 years on subscription with them, as our VR listing has been performing very badly since the site changes, with only 2 bookings since then (this compared to 14 bookings across our 2015 calendar from HA before they turned everything upside down).
Why OD is working so well for us now, could be because we have our rates set in GBP, although it does cause one heck alot of confusion for guests from the euro zone as they cannot understand why they are receiving quotes in Sterling, when they originally found the same listing on another HA family site with GBP autoconverted to €...
We don't dare switch our GBP rates to €, as who knows what could happen to our enquiries. Also, I don't think that is a good thing to do when you're dealing with Holiday Rent Payment, as long as there are guests who have not completed their balance payments yet. We could just imagine guests getting payment reminders with the original amounts in GBP but with a € inserted infront of it
Actually, in 12 years listing with OD, we've never had so many bookings through them as in the last few months. Although only 1 booking has gone through their site, with most guests clever enough to bypass the service fee and selecting bank transfer as preferred payment option every time (even though we offer them PayPal as well).
We are on subscription with OD, but renewed VR at the end of the year on commission basis after 6 years on subscription with them, as our VR listing has been performing very badly since the site changes, with only 2 bookings since then (this compared to 14 bookings across our 2015 calendar from HA before they turned everything upside down).
Why OD is working so well for us now, could be because we have our rates set in GBP, although it does cause one heck alot of confusion for guests from the euro zone as they cannot understand why they are receiving quotes in Sterling, when they originally found the same listing on another HA family site with GBP autoconverted to €...
is a frequent question we get from guests, and not just in German either....Wir haben doch den Betrag in Euro gebucht und bei mir erscheint Pfund...das ist doch sicherlich ein Irrtum??? (we booked in Euros yet I am seeing Pounds...this is certainly an error?)
We don't dare switch our GBP rates to €, as who knows what could happen to our enquiries. Also, I don't think that is a good thing to do when you're dealing with Holiday Rent Payment, as long as there are guests who have not completed their balance payments yet. We could just imagine guests getting payment reminders with the original amounts in GBP but with a € inserted infront of it