Return on investment expected from rental advertising

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
la vache!
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Return on investment expected from rental advertising

Post by la vache! »

I know this has been covered on other threads, but I can't find the specifics I want! Alan (aka Fluffy) came up with an logical example of what return he would expect on a rental website, but I can't remember what it was. Any other responses are also welcome of course...
Fraise
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Post by Fraise »

Hi. There's a thread running on Complete France on this at the mo as well. I've almost decided that I don't care what formula someone comes up with- if they get me a couple of bookings and aren't expensive I'll stick with them, if the odd enquiry turns to nothing I'll part company.No matter what the price really ,if they get me some bookings that's fine by me ( having said that,I do care about price and have decided not to bother with Alistair Sawday cos it's expensive). I am actually only paying for 2 listing sites at the mo,both middle of the road price wise and it seems to be working.I think my own website is getting more hits than it used to ,so bookings haven't declined!

www.thepetitmanoir.com
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Susan,

I can't remember where I posted it and I don't dare try to repeat it in case I contradict myself.

Basically, what I was saying is that I don’t accept the proposition that if a Rental Site costs one week’s rental and produces one week’s booking it has paid for itself.

For me, the cost of a Rental Site comes out of profit not turn-over. What “profit� might be and what “percentage of profit� one is prepared to give away are individual things for each property owner to determine.

Personally, I am now obliged to revise all my figures. My larger property has become subject to long term lets and that leaves the turn-over and profit from my smaller property as the base line from which I assess the cost and performance of Rental Sites.

There are so many factors involved – enquiries, bookings, turn-over, profitability.

Perhaps competing in one’s location is becoming more difficult; more properties and less demand? Perhaps one’s marketing doesn’t have the right direction and is not reaching the right people? Perhaps one’s pricing is wrong or one’s overheads are unnecessarily high? Perhaps one is spending too much on under performing Rental Sites or on inappropriate property enhancements? Who knows?

It all reminds me of the opening scene to Shakespeare’s Macbeth – it’s a witch’s brew.

Fluffy
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debk
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Post by debk »

No matter what the price really ,if they get me some bookings that's fine by me
But if one of the sites only gets you peak season bookings... which most any site will give you... then why pay for the extra listing? Seems like throwing money away? (Then again, I'm one of the few who found posting on free sites to be a time drain with few/no non-peak results and, therefore, a great waste of resources. I'm afraid I'm permanently deficient in this whole "which listing sites" area. :cry: :lol: )
debk
Fraise
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Post by Fraise »

Yes, you are right but I do want some sort of web presence and I am only paying out about £160 in total. The free sites have all been a waste of time and I don't bother with them any more!
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debk
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Post by debk »

The free sites have all been a waste of time and I don't bother with them any more!
Whew. It's not just me then. :) :) :)
debk
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

I'm with you both on the free sites - it's a waste of time creating the listing generally! Alan, thanks for your opinion, I seem to remember it was in the region of 7 times the amount paid for the listing, but as you say, there are so many dependents to consider. Fraise, you are doing incredibly well to get away with only £160!! I'm going to be more ruthless with a number of sites when the renewals come up next year. H-R continually gives me the out of season lets, so it is well worth the money to me, but there are a couple of others, not cheap, from whom I've not had even one booking this year, not even in peak.
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debk
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Post by debk »

it's a waste of time creating the listing generally
That was bad enough... but even worse was trying to keep track of them all (URLS, ids, expiration dates) plus updating each with changes in rates, new photos, new amenities, etc.

There are some free listings out there, 3 years later, that I still can't get de-listed. But since no one ever responds, I decided to not worry about the out-of-date info. :roll: :lol:
debk
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