any one using channel manager manage your multiple listings?

[Helen868]

HI hosts:

do you use channel manager to manage your listings? which one do you choose (marketing, price, calendar,,,,,)?

thanks

[Jenny-and-Tom0]

Hi Helen.  

I'm the developer of Host Tools (https://hosttools.com) one of the more popular channel managers.   There are a lot of my users are here on the forum.  It's very easy to use, inexpensive and has a lot of features.  I've also put together a spreadsheet of channel managers, features and prices if you want to compare. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ivkdyGn9GGSnL15PB1OgIWtWNCb15Y4A5ihcpz24ZsU/edit?usp=sharing

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,
Tom

[Helen868]

thanks Tom! now i am thinking of "Smoobu" "lodgify" and "RedAwning ", but can't make decision.

[Marshall68]

Can we avoid Airbnb 15^ fees

[Lena60]

Hi Tom, can your channel manager deal with parent/child listings? For example - I have a chale.. I have a listing for whole chale and linked listings for the two rooms in the chale (that I rent at low season). Can the channel manager link rooms so that if one suite is rented, it closes the whole chale but leaves the other room available? I doubt I'm the only one who does this. 

[Lisa723]

@Helen868 I use MyVR, mostly because it can push prices from usewheelhouse.com to Vrbo.

I also use hosttools for automatic Airbnb messaging. But (@Jenny-and-Tom0) I would not describe this service as a channel manager.

[Jenny-and-Tom0]

Hi @Lisa723. Thank you for using Host Tools. When was the last time you logged into your account on Host Tools? A lot has changed recently. 🙂 Host Tools now integrates with VRBO as well as Airbnb and supports all other channels via iCal links. It has a unified inbox, multi calendar and availability syncing between channels. It’s definitely a channel manager now.  I’m also about to release smart lock support which no other channel manager supports. I’ve been very busy. 🙂

[Lisa723]

@Jenny-and-Tom0 yesterday. I log in regularly to manage messages. 

Can you push listing content, and prices from usewheelhouse.com, to Airbnb and Vrbo? Do you offer direct-booking website building/hosting?

[Jenny-and-Tom0]

Host Tools doesn’t integrate with other pricing tools because it has its own rule based pricing tool but I have had a lot of requests to integrate with the big three dynamic pricing tools and it’s something I’m considering.  No, Host Tools doesn’t have a direct booking service but there are some great free ones available and you can import reservations from them via iCal and automate the messaging. If you’re interested, the spreadsheet I created and linked to in my first post has a links to the direct booking sites.  Do you use smart locks on your listings?

[Lisa723]

@Jenny-and-Tom0 sorry, but your pricing does not compete with WheelHouse. Yes, I use ResortLock (EdgeState). It integrates directly with Airbnb, but not with Vrbo. A channel manager that could push WheelHouse prices to Airbnb and Vrbo, integrated with ResortLock, offering unified listing content, and with your current messaging service on all platforms, would compete favorably with MyVR. I want everything in one place.

[Jenny-and-Tom0]

I may eventually integrate with RemoteLocks but they charge my users an extra fee to use their service so I’m going to support August/Yale locks first and then branch out from there.  I have to respectfully disagree with you about the pricing tool. Wheelhouse is good if you don’t want to spend too much time creating a pricing strategy because they do a decent job of pricing listings with very little input. However, Host Tools price tool will make you more money. No one knows your listings prices better than you and once you’ve tweaked your pricing strategy I believe you will make more per night on average using a rule based pricing tool. I can understand not wanting to set it up though especially if you have a lot of listings. 🙂

[Lisa723]

@Jenny-and-Tom0 I'm tied to ResortLock because it works without WiFi and integrates with Airbnb. Since your pricing is based on Airbnb's "smart" (aka dumb) pricing, turning it into something that works would be anything but automatic. I only have four listings, but it would be too much for me. Other hosts may be much better at pricing than I am, but when I switched to WheelHouse my revenue doubled. And it's truly "set and forget."

[Jenny-and-Tom0]

Host Tools has the option to use Airbnb's smart pricing but because it's rule based you can set your own base price and ignore smart pricing.  That's great that Wheelhouse is working for you.  Everyone runs their short term rentals differently.  All I was saying is that Host Tools' pricing tool is different from Wheelhouse.  In some ways it's better and in other ways, it's not.  I'll reach out to Wheelhouse to talk about integrating their their pricing tool. 🙂

[Lily396]

Anyone build your own website for you listings? I'm thinking of paying $500 for a professional website and wondering if anyone goes the same route. We could share the cost ($50/person if we can get 10)

[Summer129]

@Lily396 Yes - I have my own website and will be doing direct bookings through that as well as Airbnb.  Just make sure you have insurance.

@Helen868  I know this is an old thread, but I would do a hard pass on RedAwning.