Home ● Newsroom ● Engage your visitors to compare your prices with those of your OTAs

Marketing

Engage your visitors to compare your rental rates with those of your OTAs

The principle is simple. On your website, show the difference in the price per night between your ads on Airbnb, Booking.com, etc… and your prices for a direct booking!

Demonstrating to your visitors that their stay will cost them less by booking directly is a great way to draw their attention to your website.

On each of our templates, we have included a space, ideally located near the booking form, that allows your visitors to click on the OTA logo (Airbnb, HomeAway, Tripadvisor…) where your property is also located. See the example on the Template Loft-Loft.

Your visitors go on your Airbnb ad to compare

The commission rate has changed on Airbnb.

The service fee (the Airbnb commission), directed only to the host and no longer shared between the latter and the holidaymaker comes into effect. This new fee is now set by default each time a person creates a new Airbnb account. Of course, existing accounts can also choose to activate it. This fee is only paid by the host, which means that guests no longer have to pay any additional fees on top of their reservation total.

Airbnb’s help page indicates that the minimum charge to the host starts at 14% and can increase up to 20%. In addition, a 2% fee may be added if the host has a super strict cancellation policy.

Airbnb thus aligns itself with other OTAs, such as Booking.com or others that already practice this system.

This is good news for you, as it becomes clearer for holidaymakers. Indeed they pay the price that is displayed. This makes it easier for them to compare with your own rates on your website.

Let’s do the calculation together:

You have a villa with 3 bedrooms, which can accommodate up to 6 people. Your price is displayed on Airbnb at $300 per night. Travellers wish to stay 5 nights.

$300 x 5 = $1500
Airbnb service fee 15%: $225
You will receive $1275.

On the other hand, if (this is an example) your strategy, on your website, is to position your overnight price of $270 (-10%).
The customer will pay $270 x 5 = $1350.
If you send the payment by Paypal.me (see our article on this subject), the customer will pay $1350 with his Paypal account (if he has one) or by credit card.
You will get $1350 minus the Paypal fees (4.5% – if it is the system you have chosen).
Either: $1350-$60.75= $1289.25.

You don’t lose any money and your customers are happy to have made a good deal.

Once they realized it was cheaper by booking directly.
Offer them more in terms of services. But…

The equation is simple, once they understand that the price of the night is cheaper by booking directly, they will look for the advantages, the services that you could offer them and that are not registered on Airbnb. Indeed, it is always tricky to indicate on your Airbnb ad, what you offer as extra services.

For example, we have one of our customers who told us about a bad experience. In the thread of the discussion on Airbnb with holidaymakers (who had already made their reservation) was punished by Airbnb because it offered car rental services so that customers could enjoy their vehicle as soon as they arrived. He asked them to prepay this service (through Paypal.me, the owner having to prepay the vehicle to the car rental company). The holidaymakers refused to pre-pay and complained to Airbnb, who immediately forced him to go through the control center: « It is strictly forbidden to ask for money on the chat line ».

The owner, to please them, agreed to make a commitment to the car rental company saying that the holidaymakers would pay on arrival. However, upon arrival, the holidaymakers, directly at the airport, got hung up by another car rental company, slightly cheaper than what the landlord was offering. They accepted and arrived at the villa with the new vehicle. Of course a heated discussion took place with the owner and the holidaymakers. Without going into further details, at the end of their 3 night stay, they rated the owner with only 1 star!

Of course, you understood it, it is a particular and isolated case among all of our holiday friends. But it was important to relate it here.

This is why on your website you have to be very clear in your proposals of free or paying services. Holidaymakers will appreciate your transparency, even if these are services they will have to pay for in advance.

In conclusion

Encouraging holidaymakers to compare your rental rates with those of your OTA listing is an excellent marketing technique for developing your direct bookings. We’ve included it in all our templates… don’t miss it!