WHY NOT TO BOOK THROUGH VRBO/HOMEAWAY
Great realistic Article on why vacationers should not utilize VRBO/HOMEAWAY
DRAFT: 01/17/2021. MY OWN PERSPECTIVE REGARDING VACATION ENGINE/PLATFORM/PORTAL "VALUE"
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To me its all a simple generic formula about the real "value " to the consumer and is based on what the consumer experience is with the quality of the experience with the vacation property and its owner. None of the existing platforms in the vacation rentals market offer this "complete" experience. Your vacation experience is at risk when paying high commissions to an Internet based rental platform that is not even fully transparent and does it best in background Software processing to fully PREVENT interaction with the owner of the property . They do this as they understand the actual true value to the consumer is in this relationship and dialogue.
The same argument applies to the Owners... The annual subscription fees( some don't even charge an annual fee but you are placed at bottom of their search engine algorithms. There is no value and your property may be placed at risk since you have no knowledge of who, how many, the guests are. The level or ability to develop two-way trust is totally removed.
For any property owners that want to eliminate their dependence on these platforms feel free to contact me and I can provide you free experience guidance on how to do just that. I still do maintain my free airbnb platform but I only use that platform for what I call additional "Straggler" reservations in my OFF-SEASON.
All of the rental platforms do their best with behind the scenes processing to prevent this owner/vacationer relationship. You , and the owners are not allowed any dialogue with each other whatsoever. As such , your experience with the property property and your vacation is a roll of the die.
Here are my own reasons with 21 years experience as an owner and an original customer in 2001 , when they were a startup and also the first portal in the Internet vacation rentals industry . I was Beta tester for them and provided them feedback into feature functionality sets needed for customers and owners alike.
Note that got absorbed by HomeAway in 2017 . At that time , due to significant price increases and removal of functionality I researched and decided to build my own functional site with my own controls .
Also note that listing costs went up from $50.00( full functions) in 2002 to $500.00( restricted functions) in 2017 for a single listing. My current annual costs which include ownership of my own domain name is about $275.00 but I can have as many listings as I wish and unlimited photos/videos/galleries, etc. with complete controls. Most importantly I can interact and communicate freely and directly with with my customers. This communication is what the newer companies totally RESTRICT for both parties. The experience is now totally impersonable and because of that there is also considerable "quality risk" with that removal of the human experience. .
COST: To Both Owners and vacationer these folks are expensive. I like to understand the value of those costs and when the value is close to ZERO based on what I determine as Value( all folks have a different idea of value but typically $$ is a component parameter within) then it tells me to stay away and
Owners- Their model Charges all Owners for annual subscription fees now approaching $500.00 or more per listing. The only way for an owner to cover these annual overhead costs is to increment their vacation pricing.
Vacationers- Their model charges the vacationers upwards of commission on the gross sales prices . Note that there is absolutely no value in customer services as these platforms have ZERO relationships with the owners. The owners themselves are subscription customers these platforms
DATA MINING and CENSORSHIP:
DATA MINING- These platforms data mine your interactions with them and present advertisements to yourself during your online experience. You don't even have to purchase anything . They are incrementing their revenues by presenting you with advertisements relevant to where you are located, what you are looking for via "clicks" .
In addition more advanced AI ( artificial intelligence) methods involves "listening" to conversations you may be having and then decoding those conversations (live processing) to present you with advertising. You may mention something like "snowblower " or " beach" in a background audible conversation and then advertisements of such will start to appear in your browser. Remember that Input microphones DEFAULT mode on ALL devices is ALWAYS on . The AI is also becoming language independent as well. I am network Cloud Architecture by profession since the origins of the Internet so understand all of these technologies as well.
CENSORSHIP-