Lay My Hat

I joined up with OD paying a subscription when I began advertising independently in 2013..

Percentage of bookings
April 13-14: 18%
April 14-15: 30%
April 15-16: 31%
April 16-17: 40%
April 17-18: 19%
April 18-19: 15%

I haven't had a booking through them since March this year (and that was after a reduction)

From time to time people see me on OD/HA then book direct.

I am also listed on OD/HA Commission .. I have had one booking through them in this financial year.

Air Bnb is starting to do better for me
April 17-18: 14%
April 18-19: 12%

The rest of my bookings for the current financial year have come to me directly (26% are returning guests)

Renewal is due on 9th June.. Would you stay with them?

It's a personal choice, but judge the expenditure against the income.

I decided to go the commission route as 3yrs ago, after always booking our place out every year, enquiries, never mind bookings, dropped off a cliff.
The downside is that the rental price increases significantly and I think makes the situation worse....although other properties still do well out of them.

Looking at your figures....I might give them another year and see what that brings.

Mousie
x

Thanks Mousie

I cancelled my subscription with OD last year because I disliked the new changes they were bringing in and the arrogant attitude they displayed when they took my property 'off air' because I had not replied to enquirers through their site.
I subsequently joined Simply Owners Direct, who have been successful in getting me bookings and are an excellent company to deal with.
I also advertise through Independent Cottages, who are also a great company to deal with and get me a fair number of bookings.

rosebud wrote:I joined up with OD paying a subscription when I began advertising independently in 2013..

Percentage of bookings
April 13-14: 18%
April 14-15: 30%
April 15-16: 31%
April 16-17: 40%
April 17-18: 19%
April 18-19: 15%

I haven't had a booking through them since March this year (and that was after a reduction) … Renewal is due on 9th June.. Would you stay with them?

To me those figures are the trend which exactly fits the pattern for a lot of owners.

If Expedia hadn't got its hands on OD at the end of 2015 and introduced a booking fee ("service fee") in June 2016, that 40% kind of return in 16-17 (where many bookings were actually taken in the previous year, I suspect) would have continued through the following two years, instead of the lowly 19% and 15%. I don't put it down entirely to the change of their business model, because OD have had a 'bad press' for the last two years - just look at their Trustpilot record - and Expedia have always had a 'bad press'.

Frankly, I think this is the downward trend to expect. And OD joining forces with HA(UK) in a couple of weeks is not going to make a noticeable difference.

I haven't done the calculations, but I think my OD booking figures are the same or somewhat worse than those above. After 10 years, I shall not be renewing with OD/HA when my sub. expires on 18th. June.

Thanks Drax and Andrew

I haven't advertised with Simply Owners.

I really liked Independent Cottages and was with them for 4 years.. but 2 of those didn't generate any bookings unfortunately..

I have 3 days left to make a decision 're OD/HA...

My bookings with OD have remained at about 50% of all bookings for the last two years. Unfortunately they are still the only listing site that delivers for me (the rest is repeats and direct bookings, many of whom found me through Google maps and Facebook). I have 'played ball' with all the changes to online booking and payments etc almost from the start so from their point of view I am a 'good' owner I suppose.

Having said that, I haven't had an OD booking in a while and it remains to be seem what the impact of the move to HA will be. This time of year tends to be slow for me anyway as I am all booked up for the summer and autumn bookings haven't started yet.

Luckily I have until next Jan to decide whether to renew again...it's a difficult decision I know. Perhaps look at it this way - were you happy that the 15% was value for money? If the downward trend continues and you only get 10-12% of your bookings through them this year, would you be happy with that? And how do people find you direct? Do you think this and ABB could increase enough to fill the gap?

Thanks Jenster
I am booked until the end of August .. so similarly not expecting much from listing sites right now.
Like you I have followed the rules .. signed up for online booking ..even Instant Book

Were you happy that the 15% was value for money?

Reasonably happy .. if I include guests who saw me on OD then searched for me and booked direct, it would have cost me 5.8% per booking (without the 3% bank fee) at the current renewal rate.

If the downward trend continues and you only get 10-12% of your bookings through them this year, would you be happy with that?

Not really

And how do people find you direct?

Normally by typing 'Steyning holiday cottage' :The name of the place where my cottage is (I will show up on page 1 as it is not very well known) Once recently people have found me on Google Maps, and once recently, through AirBnb

Do you think this and ABB could increase enough to fill the gap?

Quite possibly but I am not sure..

I am certainly doing better with AirBnb and think this trend will continue. I like the control one has with their site. There is a bit of pressure from them to lower prices .. to some extent I have done this for short breaks.

I had a bad start several years ago with AirBnb with some difficult guests, however guests within the last 12 months.. with one exception.. have been fine..

What did you decide in the end Rosebud? Stay or go?

I have decided to renew this year as having done the analytics we get around 25% of our bookings from them even with the added guest service fee. We have paid more already this year on commission than we did with subscription. Hopefully I will be able to drive enough direct business to drop them next year.

Hi Jenster

Despite misgivings, I decided to stay..

Something bizarre happened re Ranking metrics

17 May 18 my ranking was 67 (out of around 6996 properties) with 93 page views in past 30 days
5 Jun my ranking was 389

I paid my subscription on the 8 Jun on the 9 Jun my ranking dropped to 2403!!

Today it is 2500 with 40 page views

I think it is unlikely I will be renewing in June 2019

Jenny