Change to Redweek process and all those extra fees... And not in a good way....

[dioxide45]

Fair point—any marketplace needs both quality listings and engaged renters. That said, Redweek’s rising fees are pushing owners to look for better options—just like it did for me—and that’s where FindingMeili.com naturally comes in.


It’s not just about listing—it’s about making rentals more cost-effective for both owners and renters. Many owners are probably already seeing the benefits of lower costs, and as more listings grow, so does the renter base. If owners keep feeding Redweek despite the constant nickel-and-dime tactics, nothing will change.

If you’re tired of overpaying, I found it worth trying a platform actually built to solve these pain points—which is why I mentioned FindingMeili.com in the first place, to help other owners looking for a better option

What is the success rate of renting on this other site? I suspect it is very low given that there really isn't any awareness of this site as from the renter's perspective. It doesn't help owners to list on a different site if they don't rent their week out. The renter base doesn't simply grow with increased listings.

 

[Oceans8]

What is the success rate of renting on this other site? I suspect it is very low given that there really isn't any awareness of this site as from the renter's perspective. It doesn't help owners to list on a different site if they don't rent their week out. The renter base doesn't simply grow with increased listings.

I can’t speak for other owners, but I rented out a few of my Desert Springs units with Finding Meili without an issue. Obviously, any platform takes time to build renter awareness, but if owners don’t start listing on alternatives, nothing changes. Redweek didn’t start out as a giant either—it grew because owners listed and renters followed. If an option offers lower fees and a better process, it makes sense to at least give it a shot rather than just accepting ever-increasing costs IMO.

Marriott Facebook groups have tons of owners advertising their Redweek listings.
If DIY owners want to save, they could start posting their $16 listing with FindingMeili instead and letting guests know that way—why advertise a more expensive platform when they could direct guests to a cheaper one?

From what I’ve seen, some brokers and owners have used Finding Meili’s 'Meili Approved' option, which lets guests pay by credit card. I’m guessing that’s how some owners are renting their units. I haven’t personally used that feature, but I could see how it might help if renters prefer a more traditional booking setup.

At the end of the day, if owners want a stronger renter base somewhere new, it’s only going to happen if people actually use it. That’s how any platform grows.
Personally, I’d rather use a platform that doesn’t nickel-and-dime me at every chance they get. The whole point of renting out my deeded weeks is to help with maintenance fees if I can’t use them—not to get hit with fee after fee after fee…

 

[dioxide45]

I can’t speak for other owners, but I rented out a few of my Desert Springs units with Finding Meili without an issue. Obviously, any platform takes time to build renter awareness, but if owners don’t start listing on alternatives, nothing changes. Redweek didn’t start out as a giant either—it grew because owners listed and renters followed. If an option offers lower fees and a better process, it makes sense to at least give it a shot rather than just accepting ever-increasing costs IMO.

Marriott Facebook groups have tons of owners advertising their Redweek listings.
If DIY owners want to save, they could start posting their $16 listing with FindingMeili instead and letting guests know that way—why advertise a more expensive platform when they could direct guests to a cheaper one?

From what I’ve seen, some brokers and owners have used Finding Meili’s 'Meili Approved' option, which lets guests pay by credit card. I’m guessing that’s how some owners are renting their units. I haven’t personally used that feature, but I could see how it might help if renters prefer a more traditional booking setup.

At the end of the day, if owners want a stronger renter base somewhere new, it’s only going to happen if people actually use it. That’s how any platform grows.
Personally, I’d rather use a platform that doesn’t nickel-and-dime me at every chance they get. The whole point of renting out my deeded weeks is to help with maintenance fees if I can’t use them—not to get hit with fee after fee after fee…

I'm all for more options for owners and renters. The main issue I see with these new startups is that they fail to invest into SEO and advertising. That seems to be why Redweek is so successful, and can thus charge more. They put a lot of the money that owners and renters pay in fees back into making sure they get more owners and renters coming to their site. Some cursory searches using common rental terms doesn't bring up any results for this Finding Meili site. I even struggle to find Koala on the first page of Google search results.

 

[rickandcindy23]

My Resort Network is actually pretty well known as well and would be a good one to try in place of Redweek. I noticed Seth Nock's company lists resales there. Samuel Rodriguez had listing there last year, when I was looking for Westin weeks. The site used to be pretty good for my rentals.

 

[Oceans8]

I'm all for more options for owners and renters. The main issue I see with these new startups is that they fail to invest into SEO and advertising. That seems to be why Redweek is so successful, and can thus charge more. They put a lot of the money that owners and renters pay in fees back into making sure they get more owners and renters coming to their site. Some cursory searches using common rental terms doesn't bring up any results for this Finding Meili site. I even struggle to find Koala on the first page of Google search results.

Totally agree that SEO and visibility are crucial for any rental platform. Redweek has been around for a long time, and they’ve reinvested in advertising, which is why they dominate search results.

Since Finding Meili is newer, SEO will definitely need to continue growing over time. But at the end of the day, awareness isn’t just about search rankings—it also comes from word of mouth. A lot of owners already share their redweek listings in Facebook groups, forums, and with past renters.

If DIY owners want to save money, they can do the same with their $16 Finding Meili listing and start directing renters there instead. That’s how alternatives gain traction—by owners actually using them.

I personally like a lot of Finding Meili’s DIY features that other sites don’t have for owners and our guests

 

[soslios]

Not just the fees but changing name on Marriott reservation is now a problem when You rent unit.

MVC wants You be responsible for any damage to unit and sign for it. Can't change name on Marriott.com any longer.

 

[andre10056]

I get the sense that not too much rents aside from the highest in demand resorts. So if someone were to have chosen a "verified" option in the past for some lower in demand resort, Redweek would have earned nothing after collecting their initial $49 or $59 fee.

So Redweek has decided to exploit to the maximum extent the low hanging fruit of high demand resorts. Resorts that were always in such high demand that owners might very well have chosen the lowest cost DIY option as a rental was pretty much assured.

Desperate timeshare owners of lesser demand resorts will likely still advertise on Redweek and will likely still be unable to find renters. But Redweek will now clean up with 100% verified Disney and Hawaii timeshare rentals.

 

[dioxide45]

One plus side to this, the rental of DVC exchanges will disappear from Redweek. That will make @rickandcindy23 quite happy.

 

[andre10056]

Not just the fees but changing name on Marriott reservation is now a problem when You rent unit.

MVC wants You be responsible for any damage to unit and sign for it. Can't change name on Marriott.com any longer.

The resort will always expect you to pay for any damage caused by your renter. After all, it's your deeded week. And, of course, it's not just the damage but perhaps having to find lodging elsewhere for owners of succeeding weeks who can't move in during the repair/renovation process.

That's why, if you're going to rent out your timeshare, it would be nice if the middleman (like Redweek) might have insurance for the owner if such damage occurs. To my knowledge, they have no such insurance. That would make it a "no go" for me.

 

[andre10056]

One plus side to this, the rental of DVC exchanges will disappear from Redweek. That will make @rickandcindy23 quite happy.

Redweek has a long, long list of DIY listings for Disney resorts. They would of course, be losing out on some of those $39 "hosts" who might not be able to verify their weeks. But, unless a very high percentage of them were exchange rentals, it's likely that Redweek will generate significantly higher revenues from those who are, indeed, owners.

Redweek's risk, of course, is competition. But, at the present time, no such competition exists to entirely replace Redweek. If you are an owner of a Disney week, you will almost certainly advertise on Redweek, even though you might diversify and try other sites as well. For example, if I've got thousands of dollars at stake, I'm not going to exclusively rely on Finding Meili which I had never heard of. And whose name, from a marketing perspective, is almost absurdly hard to remember.

 

[TheHolleys87]

But, at the present time, no such competition exists to entirely replace Redweek.

I’m not so sure. A Google search for “D.V.C. rentals” turned up quite a list of online agencies, and RedWeek wasn’t on it. Maybe people who are accustomed to using RedWeek for timeshare rentals in general might look at RedWeek, but someone who reads about renting D.V.C. and isn’t familiar with RedWeek might not. And the ones who do find RedWeek as well as the other D.V.C. rental agencies might prefer an agency that “specializes” in D.V.C.

 

[sponger76]

if I've got thousands of dollars at stake, I'm not going to exclusively rely on Finding Meili which I had never heard of. And whose name, from a marketing perspective, is almost absurdly hard to remember.

Agreed. I saw the name and instead of timeshare rentals I thought it was a site dedicated to help find a missing Chinese girl.

 

[andre10056]

I’m not so sure. A Google search for “D.V.C. rentals” turned up quite a list of online agencies, and RedWeek wasn’t on it. Maybe people who are accustomed to using RedWeek for timeshare rentals in general might look at RedWeek, but someone who reads about renting D.V.C. and isn’t familiar with RedWeek might not. And the ones who do find RedWeek as well as the other D.V.C. rental agencies might prefer an agency that “specializes” in D.V.C.

Since I'm not a DVC timeshare owner, I don't know all the possible DVC rental options that a DVC owner might have. Of course, DVC specialists are just doing what Redweek is now trying to do: go after the low hanging fruit.

If I were a DVC owner, what I'd like to find is free listing, insurance if the renter destroys the place, and reasonable fees upon a successful rental. And, quite frankly, I'd also like to see the middleman provide an escrow service for the renter by which he would hold money until AFTER the tenants might move in. In that way, I'd know that I'd be more likely to be successful because the renter would feel more confident in his/her not showing up in the resort lobby and being told, "you don't have a reservation here".

If one of those DVC specialists had all of the foregoing and was well known or could easily be found, Redweek may have made a mistake. As to DVC, anyway.

 

[dioxide45]

Since I'm not a DVC timeshare owner, I don't know all the possible DVC rental options that a DVC owner might have. Of course, DVC specialists are just doing what Redweek is now trying to do: go after the low hanging fruit.

DVC owners have a very robust rental market to take advantage of and many different brokers out there that offer DVC rentals. Redweek is usually low on the list for DVC owners to list their DVC rentals. They can usually find renters much faster by going through one of the many rental brokers that operate in this space.

 

[andre10056]

DVC owners have a very robust rental market to take advantage of and many different brokers out there that offer DVC rentals. Redweek is usually low on the list for DVC owners to list their DVC rentals. They can usually find renters much faster by going through one of the many rental brokers that operate in this space.

I'll have to check out these DVC specialists. To the extent that there are apparently so many out there, I would expect that they're either "free listing" or else there's cutthroat competition to get DVC owners to advertise with "them". I would also suspect that such a narrow concentration would necessitate their charging beaucoup bucks in "successful renting" fees in order for it to be a viable business.

Without much in the way of geographic diversification, of course, their entire livelihoods would depend on a Fort Myers Beach hurricane event never occurring. Fort Myers Beach timeshare resorts might still be closed years after their 2022 hurricane and flooding. Such an Orlando area event, or whatever catastrophic event, would reduce the income of those DVC rental specialists to zero.

 

[dioxide45]

I'll have to check out these DVC specialists. To the extent that there are apparently so many out there, I would expect that they're either "free listing" or else there's cutthroat competition to get DVC owners to advertise with "them". I would also suspect that such a narrow concentration would necessitate their charging beaucoup bucks in "successful renting" fees in order for it to be a viable business.

Without much in the way of geographic diversification, of course, their entire livelihoods would depend on a Fort Myers Beach hurricane event never occurring. Fort Myers Beach timeshare resorts might still be closed years after their 2022 hurricane and flooding. Such an Orlando area event, or whatever catastrophic event, would reduce the income of those DVC rental specialists to zero.

Here are the DVC specialists that I am aware of; DVC Rental Store, DVC Shop, DVC Store, David's Vacation Club Rentals. Some have also diversified into the DVC resale marketplace to broker point resales. Some of these are million dollar companies. That said, their entire business model is based around that of another company. So there are risks. They are renting millions of DVC points. Orlando is fairly immune to Fort Myers Beach hurricane like events. Sure a storm may pass over, but it rarely has any impact except for a day or two of wind and rain.

 

[dioxide45]

That’s rich, considering 'Redweek' sounds like some period tracker site . So, who’s really bad at marketing?

The term "redweek" goes back to the traditional days of timeshare where Red was a season and time of year considered to be peak season for timeshare.

 

[andre10056]

Here are the DVC specialists that I am aware of; DVC Rental Store, DVC Shop, DVC Store, David's Vacation Club Rentals. Some have also diversified into the DVC resale marketplace to broker point resales. Some of these are million dollar companies. That said, their entire business model is based around that of another company. So there are risks. They are renting millions of DVC points. Orlando is fairly immune to Fort Myers Beach hurricane like events. Sure a storm may pass over, but it rarely has any impact except for a day or two of wind and rain.

Yes. I chatted with David's. Told them I had a Saratoga Springs early June. And was told that there were no fees whatsoever and I would be paid "16 points".

Not sure what that means but it appears that they would accept your points rather than having you first use those points to lock in a specific week at a specific resort. So, if that's the case, there is a very real possibility that Redweek's format, in requiring that there must already have been a specific week, may very well have a much higher percentage of exchange weeks in their listings. It will be interesting to see if Redweek will have anywhere near their present number of DVC listings going forward.

 

[dioxide45]

Yes. I chatted with David's. Told them I had a Saratoga Springs early June. And was told that there were no fees whatsoever and I would be paid "16 points".

Not sure what that means but it appears that they would accept your points rather than having you first use those points to lock in a specific week at a specific resort. So, if that's the case, there is a very real possibility that Redweek's format, in requiring that there must already have been a specific week, may very well have a much higher percentage of exchange weeks in their listings. It will be interesting to see if Redweek will have anywhere near their present number of DVC listings going forward.

It is harder to tell now that Redweek doesn't take unverified listings, but lately it seems that most of the listings were V&P and only a small percentage weren't. It doesn't seem that a lot of DVC owners go with DIY rental options, at least not on Redweek. I suspect even DISBoards gets more DIY owners renting their points than Redweek ever did.

 

[dioxide45]

I notice this new site that was just brought to many people's attention yesterday has no contact or other information about who is behind it. No terms of use, no privacy policy. Nothing. What exactly am I signing up for and why do they need my date of birth?

 

[TUGBrian]

they can do the same with their $16 Finding Meili listing and start directing renters there instead.

TUG is cheaper, has more traffic and more listings....so as an alternative that seems like a better option to promote?

guess we will see how things go. as of now it appears there are nearly as many URLS to this new site posted by you in this thread than there are active listings?

also odd to have absolutely no contact details/info anywhere on the site.

 

[TUGBrian]

deleted much of the nonsense on this thread.

 

[rickandcindy23]

One plus side to this, the rental of DVC exchanges will disappear from Redweek. That will make @rickandcindy23 quite happy.

Yes, that will make me happy, but I still won't advertise my DVC on RW because nothing rents, even the lowest priced rentals mostly just sit there without renting. DVC Rental Store is my go-to for those rentals.

 

[dioxide45]

Yes, that will make me happy, but I still won't advertise my DVC on RW because nothing rents, even the lowest priced rentals mostly just sit there without renting. DVC Rental Store is my go-to for those rentals.

I suspect this is because the renters know there are better places to go to rent DVC, that being the other point brokers I mentioned in post #41.

 

[andre10056]

Here's a Redweek page that might also be considered a "low hanging fruit" page:

The Galleon Resort Timeshare Rentals | RedWeek

Rent directly from The Galleon Resort owners, starting at just $257/night. By-owner rates often 25 - 50% lower than the resort's!

www.redweek.com

Very high number of listings, a small percentage of which are verified. I remember seeing a page like this and thought it was a Disney resort page. But I may have been wrong about that and it was likely this one.

And this is what I was taking about. Getting all those owners to now get verified and protected. Cha Ching both upfront and also when it rents.