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Best sites for renting my week

travelinmom

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I have used redweek.com for years, but last year I didn't receive many responses. Does anyone have experience with other sites? I'm trying to decide if I should try a different site this year. What is everyone's opinion on the best site to use?

Thanks in advance!
 

Tacoma

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I have used redweek.com for years, but last year I didn't receive many responses. Does anyone have experience with other sites? I'm trying to decide if I should try a different site this year. What is everyone's opinion on the best site to use?

Thanks in advance!

I also needed to rent out 2 prime summer weeks this year as I did not deposit them early enough. Both were 2 bedrooms mid July one in Banff and one on Vancouver Island oceanfront. First I called my resort to find out if they would do a full midweek clean if guests changed. Since they both would I put them on airbnb with titles that clearly stated the only dates they were available and that the minimum rental was 3 nights starting or ending when my week was. The Banff unit got lots of responses and rented in about a month (February) to 2 different groups for more than I would feel comfortable asking for a week long rental. The Vancouver Island got no responses so about a month into my airbnb listing I paid to rejoin redweek and list an ad. I have had zero responses from that ad. Meanwhile I kept dropping my price on airbnb. Two weeks ago I panicked and listed it at work for my costs and it went. The same day I got an airbnb request for 5 of the 7 nights. If I took that I would have changed the title of my ad to say only 2 nights left and date them. Note if you do use airbnb make sure you set your cancellation at strict so people can't just hold it and cancel with no fees.

I know many people like to book at the last minute but I am going to Peru/Bolivia this summer and do not want to be dealing with a last minute rental.

Joan
 

TUGBrian

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TUG of course =)
 

Carol C

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Rarely have I had luck with redweek. And i think they're kinda pricey.
 

BigRedNole

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As a purely renter, I search multiple places and options to find the best possible price for where and when I want to go. Redweek, TUG, VRBO, eBay, and other places. I also look directly for owners on forums like this to see if they want to rent directly. At the end of the day for me, price usually wins out over a specific resort. Prices can also range drastically for the same room type at timeshare resorts. For my vacation this Summer, I received ranges from $560 to $3,000 for a 1BR for 1-week at WBC. Another resort for the second week of vacations, it was the same thing with price ranges. Priced competitively, you shouldn't have an issue. If you list the rental for $2,000 and others have it listed for $1,000, it is unlikely you will rent it out.

This is just my opinion for a pure renter.
 

MuranoJo

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I've had occasional luck on myresortnetwork. Most of my rentals come from Redweek, however.
 

tscofl

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I have used redweek.com for years, but last year I didn't receive many responses. Does anyone have experience with other sites? I'm trying to decide if I should try a different site this year. What is everyone's opinion on the best site to use?

Thanks in advance!
When I was looking around, I found redweek expensive to list.
 

chapjim

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I'm a fairly small renter as far as renters go -- maybe 50 rentals a year. Far and away, I've done more business on Craig's List than anywhere else. Yes, I know it's like the wild west but it's not as bad as it was several years ago. I haven't seen the "we're from England and my boss says he will pay for it" line in a long time. It's like a good restaurant in a bad neighborhood. You go back because the food is good but you park under a street lamp if you can.

I concentrate on a relative handful of resorts -- Bonnet Creek, Ocean Walk, Skyline Tower, The Resort on Cocoa Beach, and Quarter House. While a listing on RedWeek.com is relatively expensive, I end up using a single listing two or three times by just editing the type of unit and dates. So, I get my $ worth. One thing I like about RedWeek.com is that brokers tend to look there for listings. Probably, they are more willing to deal with someone who doesn't mind paying to list a rental. Setting a price is a lot easier on RedWeek.com because you can easily find other listings in the same resort and same time of year.

I hate to say it but I have the least success on TUG. I'm not sure why. Sophisticated buyers, perhaps? But, listings are cheap and you can edit everything on the listing, including the resort, so the $3 goes a long way.
 
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travelinmom

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Thanks for the feedback everyone! I have own more than we use each year, so I rent a couple of weeks each year, but last year was very late and lower than usual responses plus they keep raising their prices. TUG seems to bring lower response unfortunately. Hopefully I'll have better luck this year.
 

spackler

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TUG doesn't come up very much on Google searches; Redweek & others have more visibility.
 

theo

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I have used redweek.com for years, but last year I didn't receive many responses. Does anyone have experience with other sites? I'm trying to decide if I should try a different site this year. What is everyone's opinion on the best site to use?

We rarely rent out any of our owned weeks, but when having to do so have had a 100% success rate on RedWeek (including two weeks earlier this year).
Posting the same weeks for the same very reasonable rental price on TUG has never actually produced any results --- and few inquiries. Not sure why. :shrug:
Our rentals are too infrequent for this observation to be statistically meaningful, but the difference in results has for us been that of night vs. day.

I (once) used MyResorrtNetwork. Limited available description space inevitably produces lots of unnecessarily repetitive questions and because responders need not pay a membership fee (unlike on RedWeek), there are too many tire kickers and bottom feeders to deal with on MRN; I wouldn't consider using MRN again.

Never used Craigslist and likely won't. I just have no patience for the (too many) spammers, scammers and their ilk who seem to frequent Craigslist. YMMV.
 
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MOXJO7282

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I think for name brand high demand weeks there is no debate - Redweek.com wins hands down in my experience. For less expensive, and/or independent resorts Redweek is probably the least successful because IMHO those that look to rent the less expensive, independent resorts aren't willing to pay the RW membership fee so they search the free sites for the rentals they need.
 

theo

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I think for name brand high demand weeks there is no debate - Redweek.com wins hands down in my experience. For less expensive, and/or independent resorts Redweek is probably the least successful because IMHO those that look to rent the less expensive, independent resorts aren't willing to pay the RW membership fee so they search the free sites for the rentals they need.

You might well be correct, although it's hard to comprehend that paying $20 for a full year of ad access is a show stopper that would make a difference to someone prepared to rent a week at a likely minimum cost of $850 or so. Seems like penny wise and pound foolish logic to me, but to each their own. :shrug:
 
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DeniseM

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Theo - I think it's more of a mind-set with bargain shoppers, and there is nothing wrong with being frugal, but with timeshare rentals it does deny you access to Redweek, which is definitely one of the "safer" places to rent.
 

tscofl

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I'm a fairly small renter as far as renters go -- maybe 50 rentals a year. Far and away, I've done more business on Craig's List than anywhere else. Yes, I know it's like the wild west but it's not as bad as it was several years ago. I haven't seen the "we're from England and my boss says he will pay for it" line in a long time. It's like a good restaurant in a bad neighborhood. You go back because the food is good but you park under a street lamp if you can.

I concentrate on a relative handful of resorts -- Bonnet Creek, Ocean Walk, Skyline Tower, The Resort on Cocoa Beach, and Quarter House. While a listing on RedWeek.com is relatively expensive, I end up using a single listing two or three times by just editing the type of unit and dates. So, I get my $ worth. One thing I like about RedWeek.com is that brokers tend to look there for listings. Probably, they are more willing to deal with someone who doesn't mind paying to list a rental. Setting a price is a lot easier on RedWeek.com because you can easily find other listings in the same resort and same time of year.

I hate to say it but I have the least success on TUG. I'm not sure why. Sophisticated buyers, perhaps? But, listings are cheap and you can edit everything on the listing, including the resort, so the $3 goes a long way.

Hi

You mention on Redweek you can just keep editing a listing and repost? I wanted to post on redweek but it was expensive. They don't charge per listing?
I remember there were 2 different options. Thanks
 

DeniseM

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A RW listings is good for 6 mos., but it is resort specific. You can edit it and use it over and over (for 6 mos.) but only for the original resort. Personally, for the price, I think the security and quality of the people who inquire is worth every penny - compared to the scammers and low-ballers on Craigslist. ;)

That being said, I have found (like others) that less expensive rentals do well on Craigslist and high end rentals do well on Redweek, because they have different clientele.
 

MuranoJo

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...

I (once) used MyResorrtNetwork. Limited available description space inevitably produces lots of unnecessarily repetitive questions and because responders need not pay a membership fee (unlike on RedWeek), there are too many tire kickers and bottom feeders to deal with on MRN; I wouldn't consider using MRN again.

I'm also not gonna venture into Craigslist, well, because I don't have to (as of yet).
But, for some reason, I've had better luck than you with MyResortNetwork (MRN). I've been posting there as well as Redweek and TUG for about 12 years, and I've not had the issues of tons of questions and tire kickers. And I have rented a few here & there. Not a lot, but enough to make it worth posting an ad there.

Just a different experience on this end.
 

hurnik

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I like Redweek because it weeds out the scammers. Craigslist on the other hand....
TUG, I think I've only advertised once or twice, never a nibble. Probably because I've rented for my cost plus $100 and that's "too much". LOL!
 

RLS50

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Redweek: Should maybe be renamed Marriott Week? Seems to be the place to go for high end rentals from the better systems.
MyResortNetwork: Works great for some areas and regions. I.E. Virgina Beach properties
Craigslist: A roller coaster ride. But we have come into contact with some really nice people on Craigslist. Both as Owners looking to rent to others, and as Renters / Buyers looking to rent or purchase from others.

Here is an interesting observation...at least in our experience...

We have found that most people who utilize one of the above services either don't know about, or don't use the other. For example I have found many Redweek people who don't know about MRN and would never think of using Craigslist. And vice versa for the others. And VRBO people usually don't know about or use any of the 3 sites listed above.

Hardcore TUGgers may know about all 3 options above (and other places as well) but most out there do not. At least in our experience.
 

funtime

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Pricing is the key to selling on Redweek. You want to lead on price and have some lead time for the rental. Sometimes you have to post your week on Redweek a bit below your actual cost to be competitive. I try to think of my rentals as income averaging. I make more on my winter ski weeks, and less on other weeks. The pricing is very important because your product can depreciate to zero if it does not rent. In the past my strategy was to just deposit into one of the exchange systems, but now I have too many weeks in the bank. If you get stuck you have to deeply discount and go over to Craigslist (CL). We have rented weeks on CL after they have already started just to recoup some of the costs. Sometimes we have had luck on ebay, but only at very modest prices. Ebay also makes you jump thru hoops to be travel certified and takes hefty fees. Redweek on the whole represents a good value.
 

theo

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Redweek: Should maybe be renamed Marriott Week? Seems to be the place to go for high end rentals from the better systems.

I must respectfully disagree. Fwiw, we own intervals only at a few small, older, independent resorts. None are Marriott (nor within any other "chain") and none are "high end" by any standard or measure, although our particular fixed weeks are in prime seasons when demand often exceeds supply.

Not peddling RedWeek or waving its' flag, but have 100% success rate there, despite our resorts (or rental prices) not being "high end" by any benchmark. :shrug:
 
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RLS50

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I must respectfully disagree. Fwiw, we own intervals only at a few small, older, independent resorts. None are Marriott (nor within any other "chain") and none are "high end" by any standard or measure, although our particular fixed weeks are in prime seasons when demand often exceeds supply.

Not peddling RedWeek or waving its' flag, but have 100% success rate there, despite our resorts (or rental prices) not being "high end" by any benchmark. :shrug:
Theo,

That's interesting, thanks. My observation is just one experience so I don't presume to speak for everyone.

I have just found that Redweek is well known especially among people looking for the big brand timeshare rentals. For example Marriott timeshare rentals.

However in certain geographic areas that are still extremely popular beach locations, but do not have a big brand presence, responses to Redweek ads seem more random and spotty.

For example I barely get any Craigslist responses to a Marriott ad, even prime summer oceanfront at a good price. You put that same unit and price on Redweek and get multiple inquiries and a quick rental.

Conversely the Craigslist responses in the non-big brand markets seem to outnumber Redweek responses 5-1 at least. Maybe even higher. In addition when questions are asked by that person and I sometimes refer to my ad in Redweek for the same listing, I have found about probably 80% of the Craigslist responders know nothing of Redweek when it is mentioned to them.

This could be geographical market anomalies at work? Could be price? Or it could be nothing. Anyway thanks for the comment. It's always helpful to hear others experiences.
 

RLS50

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Just wanted to add that my comments are not intended to be a criticism or endorsement of any renting option. We have found differing degrees of value in all of them.
 

jpurdon

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Not many comments on VRBO. Any opinions why that is?
 
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