Are you on another platform along with ABnB.?

[Wende2]

Hi all.......just curious to how you're making out with that.  Any issues with being double booked.? 

Seems to me I remember some yrs back someone mentioned that happened.  Just thinking

I may go to VRBO, do a test run, just really worried about the double book.  If my bookings drop off

I'm diffidently looking into going elsewhere.  I doubt ABnB cares, after seeing the listings they have

on their opening pg.  I'm a small, well tiny fish in this sea.

Thanks guys.

[Lorna170]

@Wende2   I have been using multiple platforms for years.  Have never had a double booking, but that is probably because I immediately check the calendar on the "other" website and verify that it has updated properly.  I also do not have instant book on both websites -- instant book on Air but Request only on the other.  Works fine.  Good luck!

[Wende2]

@Lorna170....Hi....Thanks, after looking at the listings on VRBO, there aren't as many as I had originally thought near me.  Think I'll give it a go, thanks for the advice.  I'm on IB here, so like you I'll set the other as a request, great idea to have time to double check.  Have a nice weekend.

[Fred13]

I am also on Airbnb & VRBO for 7 years (plus have my own web site); IB on Airbnb and have VRBO and personal web site follow the Airbnb calendar (ICAN). Usually yearly breakdown is:  70 bookings on Airbnb, 20 Direct and 15 on VRBO. We have a 4-day minimum on all 3.

[Wende2]

@Fred13   Hi......that's Great, and 4 days too.  I'm going to have to at least give it a try, if it's turns out a bust, I'll just drop it.  Thanks for the info, have a wonderful summer.

[Lorna170]

@Fred13 @Interesting stats.  My split is about 50/40 Air with the remaining 10 percent direct. My VRBO bookings are usually 7-10 days long, whereas air guests are 2-3 days.  

[Fred13]

Hmm, come to think of it @Lorna170 my VRBOs are usually 6-7 days long, never noticed.

[Wende2]

@Lorna170   That's great 7 - 10 days, that's worth listing to me.  I too have very few bookings for longer than 2 - 3 days.

[Elaine701]

Fred, you're a VRBO hottie! 15 VRBO bookings? That's impressive. Our ratio is something like 80 - 5. 

[Fred13]

Well, not for long. Before Covid was 80-8 or so, but in 2021 it was 22, no idea why. The bummer, the VRBO cancellation policy choices for us are: full refund up to 60 days before scheduled start of a reservation or zero (0) refund. Have to go with 0 refund, the 60 day/full refund one being a killer. 80-5 I suspect will be the future for us also.

[Wende2]

@Elaine701    Hi......Have you been on VRBO for very long.? 

[Elaine701]

@Wende2 

From 2018 to 2020. We stopped in 2020 because the few bookings we received from them weren't the greatest guests, and we were surprised at all the hidden charges. 

I reopened our VRBO listing in 2021, but received several double bookings because their calendar sync wasn't working, and thier support was totally unresponsive. At least they didn't clobber us for cancelling the 2 double bookings they brought us. So we shut down our VRBO listing again in 2021. It's just not worth the hassle. 

Airbnb is a devil I know. One needs to be very careful with Airbnb, but I know my way around them... Mostly. 

Yet Airbnb is unpredictable, so I could be clobbered by them at any time, for no identifiable reason, and I have little faith they'd even be able to tell me why.

But Airbnb do have one redeeming feature; they bring in so many bookings, that I have the luxury of picking and choosing which guests I want, without suffering much downtime. I literally have block dates to prevent them from being booked. And if one guest doesn't get the booking, there will be another right behind them. So I don't have to worry if it's going to be booked.

If I were exclusively on VRBO, I could go weeks or months without a booking. And then I'd have to accept whatever I could get. Desperation is not a good position to be in. 

It's all a bit crazy, but it's just the nature of the beast. I'm counting my blessings. 

[Wende2]

@Elaine701...that's great you're still getting booked, I haven't had 1 since June 27, that's far from normal for me, views have dropped off by the hundreds as well.  That's the reason for looking into VRBO, if I'm not getting any or many here, I'm hoping VRBO can pick up the slack.  Probably wishful thinking, but one can always hope.

[Elaine701]

@Wende2 

Well, first, we're lucky that we're located in a high demand tourist destination, and particularly at this time of year, bookings are all but guaranteed. 

But Airbnb is also wildly popular over here, and despite VRBO (homeaway/expedia) having bought up all the smaller regional booking platforms (and therefore listing on VRBO puts you on all those platforms), VRBO is hardly a household name here, and not anywhere near the "go to" that Airbnb has built. 

Surely the popularity varies by region, but in our experience in this region, VRBO is like a nonexistent platform. Not only a fraction of the market reach, but I've never ever received any reply to any question or support ticket I've initiated with VRBO. It's as if they don't exist. 

Now, that may sound alarming or a gross exaggeration about VRBO, but in some ways it could be regarded as a plus when compared to Airbnb, because there's always a risk in getting Airbnb involved in any host-guest issues. Yes, at least they respond, but they are often rather disconnected with reality, and can turn it around to bite you either directly or indirectly.

My experience leads me to adopt the view that no matter what platforms you use, you're really on your own, and so you should deal with issues on your own whenever possible. Otherwise, you will likely be sorely disappointed, or even damaged by getting the platform involved.

Use them for what they can bring to the party (e.g., bookings). Keep a distance for everything else. If they don't deliver what you need, then move on. If they're bringing decent bookings, then use them for that, but watch your back. You can't really depend on any of them. 

Now, I've read a lot about people not getting bookings since the Airbnb summer rollout. Again, we're lucky not to have been affected by this. And frankly, I've seen no difference in our search results. We still show up on page 1 for searches that are appropriate for the type of listing (when we have availability).

But that may be due to the high demand in our area combined with Airbnb's popularity. In my case, the evidence points me to keep with the devil I know. I'm definitely uncomfortable with dependence on Airbnb, but the alternatives aren't any ray of sunshine either. In fact, in the case of VRBO, it's just an unproductive additional burden. So, I dropped them. 

Good luck. Hope you can get some results with VRBO! 

[Wende2]

@Elaine701...Same here, I"m just 5 mins from the tourist visiting my area.   I haven't had a booking in nearly a month, very usual for me.  I'm thinking the more sites people have to find me at the better, maybe I'll get bookings from those too.  My thing is worrying about getting double booked by accident.

The others that mentioned VRBO said nice things about them.  Even CS was great.?  Guess I'll find out what my experience will be.