My first rental with Koala for 2026!

[rickandcindy23]

I am thrilled to say that I rented a 2026 DVC week, net I rented at $20.50 per point. $20.50 - MF's so not really net of $20.50 per point. We own OKW and the fees are higher.

I am thrilled because Redweek listings have died on the vine, every single one that I have attempted to rent over the last 3 years, even though my cost was significantly less on my DIY listings than any other listing. No one else is renting on RW either. Well, maybe a few are renting but almost nothing OKW has worked for me. Is $1,000 really that ridiculous for a five-night stay in a studio, Sun-Fri at OKW? With RW adding its own profit to each listing, and no longer a DIY option, it's not a great venue for DVC.

RW should stop charging a listing fee because I think twice before listing with RW after losing listing fees over the last few years. When I cancel a listing, I send them a note saying that I lost money on this listing because I paid them, offered a great price, usually the lowest, and I still couldn't rent the week.

DVC Rental Store has worked great at $20 per point, and I have been happy with it because it costs me nothing to list. But the maintenance fees go up each year, and DVC Rental Store has had the maximum at $20 for the last few years, meaning I am losing a bit each year over the prior years. DVC Rental Store advertises everywhere.

Works great for me for most rentals but I shouldn't lose money because our fees do go up and they won't raise the max payout. The thing to know is they will try to get you to rent for lower than $20 (the max) because they are making several dollars per point. A lower point cost means a better guarantee of a rental for them and for the owner. But you absolutely can get $20 per point and never settle for less, no matter the warnings you will see as you set your price.

My recent rental with DVC Rental Store was 153 points at Riviera in a studio. That was a great one, so I reserved another long stay for the same exact dates and listed it as well. I also listed that stay on Koala. We will see how Koala does with that one.

I would really like to rent only a few per year to stay under Disney's radar as a profit-making DVC owner. My goal is use half of our points each year.

.

 

[Huskerpaul]

I would really like to rent only a few per year to stay under Disney's radar as a profit-making DVC owner. My goal is use half of our points each year.

I'm guessing that if you stay at or under 50% rentals you will be fine.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I'm guessing that if you stay at or under 50% rentals you will be fine.

Yes, I think that will work okay. I don't want to stand out.

 

[TheHolleys87]

Yes, I think that will work okay. I don't want to stand out.

DVC’s stated policy is that they’ll question an owner who makes 20+ reservations a year. The owner’s explanation of the reasons for or use of those reservations will be the basis of determining whether the owner is engaging in commercial activity or not. So as long as you make fewer than 20 reservations a year, you’ll fly under the “commercial use” prohibition.

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

I am thrilled to say that I rented a 2026 DVC week, net I rented at $20.50 per point. $20.50 - MF's so not really net of $20.50 per point. We own OKW and the fees are higher.

I am thrilled because Redweek listings have died on the vine, every single one that I have attempted to rent over the last 3 years, even though my cost was significantly less on my DIY listings than any other listing. No one else is renting on RW either. Well, maybe a few are renting but almost nothing OKW has worked for me. Is $1,000 really that ridiculous for a five-night stay in a studio, Sun-Fri at OKW? With RW adding its own profit to each listing, and no longer a DIY option, it's not a great venue for DVC.

RW should stop charging a listing fee because I think twice before listing with RW after losing listing fees over the last few years. When I cancel a listing, I send them a note saying that I lost money on this listing because I paid them, offered a great price, usually the lowest, and I still couldn't rent the week.

DVC Rental Store has worked great at $20 per point, and I have been happy with it because it costs me nothing to list. But the maintenance fees go up each year, and DVC Rental Store has had the maximum at $20 for the last few years, meaning I am losing a bit each year over the prior years. DVC Rental Store advertises everywhere.

Works great for me for most rentals but I shouldn't lose money because our fees do go up and they won't raise the max payout. The thing to know is they will try to get you to rent for lower than $20 (the max) because they are making several dollars per point. A lower point cost means a better guarantee of a rental for them and for the owner. But you absolutely can get $20 per point and never settle for less, no matter the warnings you will see as you set your price.

My recent rental with DVC Rental Store was 153 points at Riviera in a studio. That was a great one, so I reserved another long stay for the same exact dates and listed it as well. I also listed that stay on Koala. We will see how Koala does with that one.

I would really like to rent only a few per year to stay under Disney's radar as a profit-making DVC owner. My goal is use half of our points each year.

.

Apparently someone is renting on RW. This is similar to other emails I've received from them in the past few weeks. Could be all smoke and mirrors for all I know, but Koala still doesn't seem to have much traction.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Apparently someone is renting on RW. This is similar to other emails I've received from them in the past few weeks. Could be all smoke and mirrors for all I know, but Koala still doesn't seem to have much traction.

I got the same email from RW. I am renting some on RW but specifically Disney is NOT renting, at least not the reservations I have listed over the last 3 years. I gave up on RW 3 years ago for Disney. RW is still the better known site. RW has been around for many years, and I have been renting there for almost 20 years. Paying for a listing and then it doesn't rent, it's painful.

Koala is fairly new. I have rented more DVC with Koala than RW over the last 3 years. I can see my history on Koala. Could be a lack of listings, which to me means that people should be listing on Koala for FREE, if you have a reservation that you want to rent. What do you have to lose? You need to take it down right away, if you rent through another means (disboards, TUG, RW, DVC Rental Store, David's,etc.).

TUG Classifieds and Koala are free to list, and the more listings a site has, the higher the website will show on Google, or at least that is what I understood from years ago.

It's like when our family started a vacation rental website (Wyndham rentals mostly), it was important to enter places to visit near the resort in the resort descriptions. The more words that matched a specific search, the more likely the website would show on the first few pages. I don't know if it works like that anymore. My son says it's longevity of a website that moves it to the top.

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

I got the same email from RW. I am renting some on RW but specifically Disney is NOT renting, at least not the reservations I have listed over the last 3 years. I gave up on RW 3 years ago for Disney. RW is still the better known site. RW has been around for many years, and I have been renting there for almost 20 years. Paying for a listing and then it doesn't rent, it's painful.

Koala is fairly new. I have rented more DVC with Koala than RW over the last 3 years. I can see my history on Koala. Could be a lack of listings, which to me means that people should be listing on Koala for FREE, if you have a reservation that you want to rent. What do you have to lose? You need to take it down right away, if you rent through another means (disboards, TUG, RW, DVC Rental Store, David's,etc.).

TUG Classifieds and Koala are free to list, and the more listings a site has, the higher the website will show on Google, or at least that is what I understood from years ago.

It's like when our family started a vacation rental website (Wyndham rentals mostly), it was important to enter places to visit near the resort in the resort descriptions. The more words that matched a specific search, the more likely the website would show on the first few pages. I don't know if it works like that anymore. My son says it's longevity of a website that moves it to the

I’m guessing launching a travel company in 2020 was full of challenges, and I’ve yet to read anyone actively renting on Koala aka go-koala.com. I’m really not sure why you name your company and then need to include go- in the website, otherwise you end up landing on a couch website using only koala.com. The times I have searched for random properties has been a weird exercise in locations and dates and I don’t even look there anymore.

From their original press release: "We named KOALA to bring a fuzzy presence to the notoriously hard-edged world of timeshares," concludes Kennedy, "but more than that, KOALA brings a new way to transact, travel, and enjoy stunning resorts without the hassle. As travel picks up again, we're positioned to benefit every player in timeshares."

I don’t need a fuzzy presence to help me find or rent weeks, I need a website that works and maybe some marketing to make people aware of your market presence.

YMMV

 

[dioxide45]

I’m really not sure why you name your company and then need to include go- in the website, otherwise you end up landing on a couch website using only koala.com.

This is something I've mentioned in the past. There are so many companies out there with the name of Koala. Ever see those baby changing stations in restaurant bathrooms? Koala Kare. There is a mattress in a box company named Koala. There is an insulation franchise called Koala Insulation. Then the sofa company you mention. They had to add "go-" to the URL in order to have a website. Koala.com was already taken.

In the end the name doesn't matter as much as the product or service they are selling. But having the top level domain be the exact same name as your company is a good start for any new startup.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Rented a 2026 Sheraton Desert Oasis reservation just now on Koala.

 

[tamu_bu]

Koala works so very well. Got my first rental with them back in 2023 and never tried redweek because of that.