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Post by crojoe on Nov 15, 2013 19:23:21 GMT 1
Hi Crojoe, S.E.O can be contradictory I checked ""holiday rental croatia" out at Alexa - and Im in 4th place for that phrase in the world at position 3 million and something - and I cannot make the Croatia villa rental business work! The irony! With no search phrase Holiday Rentals . com is the 25,000th most popular site globally of any website anywhere! (BBC is at 52 in at that list to give you a gauge) Owners Direct.com is at 112,000 and Owners direct .co.uk is at 16,000. Home Away is at 12,000. So Holiday Rentals.com are not one of the top players but they are in top 5 or 6 villa rental companies and 50 euros is much cheaper than £200. I had a quick look at companies that spee in Croatia and then suddenly you are in the 2-3 millionth ranking section. It remains a judgement call but surely the price confirms it - the cost is only 50 euros. Apparently I own the 4th most successful website on the planet for that search phrase but I just paid my own money for my house at 50 euros because I know it to be a good deal. You cannot contact Holiday Rentals direct about the deal because it is off their list –it is an exclusive deal negotiated by me – so you must follow the process at: www.croatia-holidayandhome.co.uk/announcement-villa-rentals.htmlOr you do not qualify and the deadline to have paid is Monday the 18th of November. Incidentally their team just completed the transfer of the house at no time or extra cost to me and I spent 20 minutes tidying up the bits that needed it like rates and calendars and the property is now live and advertising. Placing and rankings can change from day to day, but my point is one needs to do their homework before just forking over cash to a "deal". For example when in the UK I get calls all the time from companies promising me first page Google ranking, but then when I ask them why their company is not first page it drives home the point that they are just trying to sell their stuff and full of hot air. The real proof is in the pudding and end results. A search on Google or yahoo or Bing often bring up different search results. Sadly most search engines are now more inclined to honor those with big bucks to spend on adverting, making it next to impossible for small players to get in on the action, that is unless your willing to pay for ads they offer, and even then one never knows what results you will get. Today you got to spend money to make money.
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Post by ZAD on Nov 15, 2013 20:41:24 GMT 1
Give it up Mr Westby! Your holiday rental business has obviously failed. Don't flog a dead horse and try and move your customers over to a donkey. Which obviously has some financial gain to yourself.
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umoran
Junior Member
Posts: 12
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Post by umoran on Nov 15, 2013 22:49:19 GMT 1
Hey Zad - you make me umoran , even with your interesting partiality to an equine metaphor.
I have spent 12 years building this villa rental business and it failed commercially. I'm going to keep the CHAH site going with a different emphasis and hope to still be around in another 12 years in Croatia. I said I paid 50 euros of my own money to list my house because it was the best transfer deal I could get. I found a good deal because I wanted to give my clients a place to go to and at a good price as well. It would have been much easier to press two buttons and delete the section than do the work I put in.
I did not start this thread - I re-joined because I saw my name come up. Since then I have been defending the deal that I did. What margin to make me rich do you think there is in 50 euros going to Holiday Rentals?
I was tempted to finish with a clever gag about the only other equine family member I could think of that you forgot to mention - but that would be petty.
Six years ago when I decided to stop posting on this site it was because the members who clearly state who they are and their business , get flamed by anonymous members with no personal authority, who shout and run away. The only thing I can discover about you from this site is that it is your 44th birthday in in 4 days’ time, so have a fantastic time.None of which helps people engage in rational debate and until internet forums decide to do away with aliases, then these places will always make me a bit more weary than usual.
I promise to give it up Mr Zad.
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Post by crojoe on Nov 16, 2013 9:07:37 GMT 1
Hey Zad - you make me umoran , even with your interesting partiality to an equine metaphor. I have spent 12 years building this villa rental business and it failed commercially. I'm going to keep the CHAH site going with a different emphasis and hope to still be around in another 12 years in Croatia. I said I paid 50 euros of my own money to list my house because it was the best transfer deal I could get. I found a good deal because I wanted to give my clients a place to go to and at a good price as well. It would have been much easier to press two buttons and delete the section than do the work I put in. I did not start this thread - I re-joined because I saw my name come up. Since then I have been defending the deal that I did. What margin to make me rich do you think there is in 50 euros going to Holiday Rentals? I was tempted to finish with a clever gag about the only other equine family member I could think of that you forgot to mention - but that would be petty. Six years ago when I decided to stop posting on this site it was because the members who clearly state who they are and their business , get flamed by anonymous members with no personal authority, who shout and run away. The only thing I can discover about you from this site is that it is your 44th birthday in in 4 days’ time, so have a fantastic time.None of which helps people engage in rational debate and until internet forums decide to do away with aliases, then these places will always make me a bit more weary than usual. I promise to give it up Mr Zad. I agree, go for the best deal! Sorry though to hear your biz hit the wall, but then I have been there and done that as well in Croatia, changed plans and expectations a bit and things are slowly getting better (plus I now work part-time in the UK).
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Post by Karl on Nov 17, 2013 17:44:54 GMT 1
It has been interesting following this thread and seeing what people’s perception is regarding advertising their rental properties. It seems many people prefer to pay a commission on each booking, rather than the upfront fee and I can understand that as there are many Holiday rental websites out there and all owners what to get as broad a coverage as possible for as little upfront cost as they can. But as with all things in the murky world of holiday rental advertising, not everything is as it seems. Some owners might benefit from reading this before deciding which portals to use. It appears some of the more popular “portals” use methods which some people might view as unethical. fairerfees.com/how-they-steal-your-direct-bookings/Using google.co.uk and the generic search term – Holiday rentals Croatia – the top results are: PAGE 1 Search resultsOwners Direct – £199 for 12 months Homeaway - £249 – no Guarantee of a booking Holidaylettings.co.uk – 3% per booking or £329 for annual listing Booking.com – 15%? I could not find the actual figure on there website, did a google search and this percentage came up, so it might not be accurate. Villa Renters.com – 2% for bookings generated by the Owner??? WTH? Or 10% for bookings generated by them – PAGE 3 SEARCH RESULTSAIRBNB – 3 % per booking Holidayrentals.co.uk – 50 Euros (with this offer), then free for life? On the face of it, I think the deal being offered is good value for money. A one off 50 Euros fee for either a guaranteed booking orfree advertising for life does not seem like to bad a deal. If you get a booking, great that is the upfront cost covered, if you don’t you can continue to advertise for free on this site for ever, but more importantly, from what I can see you can actually include YOUR details on the Holidayrentals site. Why is this important? Possibly some of you will have you own websites detailing your property and the surrounding area. You can use Holidayrentals.co.uk to publish your own website and contact details, something that some of the other “leading” portals will not allow. By forming links to “leading” websites, you can improve your own website ranking’s and as people search using more specific terms – Holiday rental in Bol (for example) – you may benefit from a better Ranking - something that is achievable through good external links and good SEO work. So if you think about the 50 Euro fee as more than just an upfront advertising cost and more as a advertising cost, coupled with a website promotion cost, then 50 Euros starts to look a lot better. Anyway, as someone else said, it is horses for courses and you will all decide what is best for you. Hats off to Croatia Holiday and Home for actually spending the time to find and negotiate a viable alternative now that their section of rentals is closing down, I am not sure many companies would be that generous. Now he just needs to get the offer extended for until the end of November!
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Post by ZAD on Nov 17, 2013 20:59:26 GMT 1
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Post by Karl on Nov 18, 2013 11:24:34 GMT 1
Fair point ZAD, I have not checked it out that much, but both of these sites charge considerably more than the offer CHH has negotiated with no guarantee of a booking and no offer of free advertising should the owners fail to get a booking. If an owner is willing to throw £200+ at these sites then £40 (50 Euros) on Holidayrentals with the guarantee associated with this offer seems like an absolute steal.
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Post by ZAD on Nov 18, 2013 21:50:27 GMT 1
As I mentioned earlier, Karl, I know several owners who rent through homeaway.co.uk (formerly the original Holiday Rentals) and book their Croatian properties solid for 3-4 months. let's say they charge £50 per night. 3 month's worth of bookings equals £4,500. A massive return on an investment of £249, compared with a £40 punt and the promise of free advertising if you don't get a single booking.
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Post by usplitu on Nov 19, 2013 10:25:49 GMT 1
I've been following this thread and I think it is commendable that Mr. Westby has had the decency to arrange a discounted, guaranteed rate with a rental website for his clients having decided to close his own listing service. He could easily have sent a single email advising his clients of the closure and walking away. I have recently left the tourist rental market in Croatia but I have been active there for many years. At €50 with a guaranteed booking, it is certainly an offer that I would have considered. There also has been lots of comparing and contrasting of different rental site options here.
My experience has been that the new 'per booking' commission options versus the standard up front charge is more expensive only when you reach an income of approx €13,000 from that site (based on holidaylettings.co.uk rates). Holidaylettings charge £329 annual listing vs 3% per booking, however the 3% also includes the paypal transaction fees - which can come to 2.5% if charging your clients directly (an additional saving). There are disadvantages with each option of course, with the commission based bookings, you do not receive your funds until the guest has arrived - with an upfront paid fee you are in control of the payment structure and you have full information about your potential guests before they make a reservation.
The biggest player of them all, booking.com, list their commission at 15%, however at that rate you are not on the first page. You need to opt for a higher percentage, up to 18%, to bump yourself up the pages towards the first page. Based on income of €13,000 - that makes commission of between €1,950 and €2,340 !!
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Post by keepsmiling on Nov 19, 2013 11:52:11 GMT 1
That's an eye-watering amount booking.com charges. Wow! I noticed that accommodation on the website are more expensive than other websites.I'm in the process of looking for a website to advertise.
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Post by usplitu on Nov 23, 2013 12:53:40 GMT 1
Croatianlocations.com are now also shutting up shop. They have also negotiated a transfer deal with holidayrentals.com However the initial deal was €97 and it has now been dropped to €70. Same one guaranteed booking as the chah deal.
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