Spain-Holiday new pricing structure

[roxytoo]

Ok i have the answer. The upgrade is not a stand alone product. So to have it I would have to pay the full amount of 545euros for a years advert )which includes 245euros sub) starting from now. The the 245 I paid in Feb 2019 doesn't count now. I dont get that as a business model.

[Marks]

I was told the current adverts would not be affected but the new enquiry limits would take effect from the next renewal.

[costa-brava]

I don't understand why there hasn't been more kick back. Is everybody just accepting it? From what see, they haven't just changed the rules; they have done it and are still doing it dishonestly. Here is their blurb for prospective advertisers. On the left it describes the commission based option and on the right the subscription.
Subscription
You receive enquiries directly from the guest
You handle guest payments
You handle contracts and cancellations
Secure communication
No commission - pay by subscription
ABSOLUTELY no mention of the crazy scheme you guys are being hit with.
I still say you should all send an internal LMH message to Claus Sorensen. I know he has moved on to new ventures but Spain-hol is still his baby. Here is the link to send him a private message within the LMH forum. privmsg.php?mode=post&u=4800

[AndrewH]

It's not my territory, I know, but I do follow this thread with morbid interest, because SH now has the worst pricing model I could ever imagine. It leaves the likes of HomeAway and TripAdvisor standing. Random enquiries don't equal actual bookings. They're crazy!

[Marks]

I have sent Claus a PM asking him to respond on this thread.

[volcano]

I was told the current adverts would not be affected but the new enquiry limits would take effect from the next renewal.

+1

[roxytoo]

Thanks Marks. I think it is def misleading us, I dont think you see where the capped nonsense is until you sign up. Mine was capped at 100 enquiries (which I wasnt informed about) before it went down to 50 but dont think the 50 applys until/if I renew in Feb. But I'm still not being shown as I went over the 100 enquiries. The algorithum they use penalises me as my calander is pretty much empty and I have had a lot of enquires so I dont get shown anymore. In fact I only have 3 weeks in Nov booked, thats genuneily all I have for my apartment . So thought I would pay more and add the plus on but not able to do that without starting again from now. Which means the 245 plus vat I paid is now worth nothing. I have been with them since 2002 and used to advise it was the best company to be with but I dont think I can say that anymore. For my apartment in Aug 2018 I had 7946 views, this year I had 480. I wonder how others are doing

[Vera]

I had already decided to switch to a commission listing as my performance on SH has dropped to such an extent that my two listings have generated 4 bookings worth 36 nights since February from 9 enquiries.
I have paid the equivalent commission of 30%, so a switch would benefit me as I would also increase my prices to the same as booking dot com which actually brings me more bookings.
I also dispute their web referral and phone call stats. they claim that in the last 3 seasons I have had 47 phone enquiries. No one has ever called and said they saw our listing on SH.
I used to happily recommend SH. Not any more.

[Marks]

Mine was capped at 100 enquiriesFor my apartment in Aug 2018 I had 7946 views, this year I had 480. I wonder how others are doing

I have received 119 enquiries, 40 of which came in June alone

My views are down 16% Jan - Sep 2019 v same period 2018.

If I take out the 40 June enquiries, these are down 20% for the same period.

they claim that in the last 3 seasons I have had 47 phone enquiries. No one has ever called and said they saw our listing on SH.

That's the number of times someone clicks on the 'call the owner' link which reveals your phone number. You can take this off in the security settings of your profile.

[volcano]

I had already decided to switch to a commission listing as my performance on SH has dropped to such an extent that my two listings have generated 4 bookings worth 36 nights since February from 9 enquiries.
I have paid the equivalent commission of 30%, so a switch would benefit me as I would also increase my prices to the same as booking dot com which actually brings me more bookings.
I also dispute their web referral and phone call stats. they claim that in the last 3 seasons I have had 47 phone enquiries. No one has ever called and said they saw our listing on SH.
I used to happily recommend SH. Not any more.

This is my correspondence with SH:

Dear Sirs
Is it true that I will be asked to pay after 50 requests received? that corresponds to a 100% price increase!
And how does it work with inquiries that are clearly not intended for me? So today I get one for Pla..., my house is in ..... And why does a click on the phone number count as a request? And how do you prevent me, for example, bombarding competitors with fake requests, so I have to pay? And if a customer with the system does not get along and sends a new request instead of staying at the original one then I'm the stupid one? This can not be true!
A request does not lead to a booking. Are you now paying for correspondence?
It is a pity that this site also takes part in the general rip-off.
Kind regards

And here is the answer:
The Basic package replaces the Standard package that you know from before. The package has the same features and is online for 12 months or until it has received 50 inquiries. This ensures a more even fair distribution of inquiries.

In your case, your advert will expire in June 9th 2020 so you are not affected by this change. It only applies to adverts paid from September 2019.

Concerning the inquiries, duplicates are not counted, nor the clicks on phone numbers.
We'll see...

[roxytoo]

But before that it was 100 enquiries...............

[paolo]

I would say that the reason for pay-per-enquiry as a model is not necessarily to rip off owners but to ensure that they respond quickly and well, and most of all keep their calendars up to date. Homeaway and Airbnb do this by punishing you in the search results if you don't answer quickly or don't take a booking for dates showing as available.

[volcano]

I would say that the reason for pay-per-enquiry as a model is not necessarily to rip off owners but to ensure that they respond quickly and well, and most of all keep their calendars up to date. Homeaway and Airbnb do this by punishing you in the search results if you don't answer quickly or don't take a booking for dates showing as available.

I'm sorry I do not think so. It's not that easy. I decide who can be with me and who can not. what is this punishment? I always answer immediately. The fact that my calendar is updated unfortunately does not help at all - because people do not bother to check their data. And so there are just cancellations. The same applies to the price. So I'm being punished twice and three times. I have the work, correspondence back and forth, the counter of inquiries increases and in the end I may pay even more for it!

[Sunbeam]

I also find that often the guest will not check the calendar or the price. Or if the price is shown, they still ask for the price. And we accept weeding out dud enquiries as part of our job.

[paolo]

I would say that the reason for pay-per-enquiry as a model is not necessarily to rip off owners but to ensure that they respond quickly and well, and most of all keep their calendars up to date. Homeaway and Airbnb do this by punishing you in the search results if you don't answer quickly or don't take a booking for dates showing as available.

I'm sorry I do not think so. It's not that easy. I decide who can be with me and who can not. what is this punishment?

On Homeaway and Airbnb you enter your parameters for the guests you will accept - number of adults, children, age of lead renter, etc. And it is not possible to try to book dates that are showing as unavailable. The advertiser also sets which days a rental can start and end at any time of the year, and minimum rental periods. It is therefore theoretically impossible to try to make a booking which does not meet your criteria. Therefore if you do not accept a booking request you are punished by being less visible to the site's users.