Redweek DIY - now a mandatory $99 "success fee"?

[DeniseM]

The was one change. The price went from $29.99 last year to $39.99 this year.

True - and they did it with no notification - that annoyed the heck out of me! But that happened some time ago, and it's not $99.

*Looking at my records, it looks like the price changed around the last week of October, 2023.

 

[TravelJoy]

How do we create more demand for TUG listings so that buyers use it more?

Flood facebook the way DVC resellers do.

 

[domenr]

More great RedWeek news.
I've been using RedWeek for about two years; full-service ads and DYI (when I have more time to make a listing). Only about 30% get rented.

This was sent today.

MaryBeth Gerth (RedWeek Customer Service) Aug 6, 2024, 1:28 PM PDT Hello Ramona, Unfortunately, your week spans over Wyndham's restricted weeks. As a result, we cannot complete your posting.

Wow - so Club Wyndham owners, who have up to TWO guest allowances per year (different from 'guest confirmations' aka guest certificates), cannot even apply them. RedWeek has decided for us that, if it's a restricted week, they won't even list the unit.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Flood facebook the way DVC resellers do.

You joke, but advertising is probably a big difference here. But the cost of advertising would mean that TUG would need to raise fees, and then we start getting closer to RW.

 

[dioxide45]

You joke, but advertising is probably a big difference here. But the cost of advertising would mean that TUG would need to raise fees, and then we start getting closer to RW.

Yeah, the cost to customer acquisition cost is a big expense. For small businesses, it can often wipe out or exceed the revenue from the customer.

 

[tschwa2]

More great RedWeek news.
I've been using RedWeek for about two years; full-service ads and DYI (when I have more time to make a listing). Only about 30% get rented.

This was sent today.

MaryBeth Gerth (RedWeek Customer Service) Aug 6, 2024, 1:28 PM PDT Hello Ramona, Unfortunately, your week spans over Wyndham's restricted weeks. As a result, we cannot complete your posting.

Wow - so Club Wyndham owners, who have up to TWO guest allowances per year (different from 'guest confirmations' aka guest certificates), cannot even apply them. RedWeek has decided for us that, if it's a restricted week, they won't even list the unit.

Unless things have changed, they won't do a verified and protected or even verify an owner priority week because they can't verify that you haven't used your exceptions or won't use them after you list but before the rental takes place.

They will still allow you to list on the straight-out DIY $39 listing.

 

[rickandcindy23]

More great RedWeek news.
I've been using RedWeek for about two years; full-service ads and DYI (when I have more time to make a listing). Only about 30% get rented.

This was sent today.

MaryBeth Gerth (RedWeek Customer Service) Aug 6, 2024, 1:28 PM PDT Hello Ramona, Unfortunately, your week spans over Wyndham's restricted weeks. As a result, we cannot complete your posting.

Wow - so Club Wyndham owners, who have up to TWO guest allowances per year (different from 'guest confirmations' aka guest certificates), cannot even apply them. RedWeek has decided for us that, if it's a restricted week, they won't even list the unit.

Even if you list it yourself, which you can do that, you will have a warning on your listing that it could be cancelled. RW is VERY HEAVY HANDED with their warnings. They add a lot of warnings on ads, which are not justified.

I had warnings on all of my ads for Peacock Suites, which I booked with SHELL, not Wyndham. I have owned Shell way before Wyndham took it over, about 15 years now, and there are no rules against renting Shell, but the warnings were keeping me from getting any inquiries at all, when I have always rented very successfully on RW before Wyndham's stupid takeover. I didn't make money on anything for the many years I advertised, just got my fees back. I emailed RW and told them I didn't appreciate the warnings on my listings, and they took the warning off.

Sometimes you can fight a big company and sometimes you win.

 

[PPAES]

There's also Vacation Candy, though their reach seems to be limited compared to Redweek.

True and the $500 fee on the top of your rental price is very steep IMO.

 

[LeslieDet]

This is the VRBO model: Slowly and persistently insert yourself as a middleman between the landlord and tenant.

VRBO was originally a listing service. They have step by step changed to a point that they are fully inserted and taking fees off both sides of the transaction transaction. They watched AirBnB and figured out where the $$ is.

Redweek is now following that exact business strategy. Guaranteed there will be no DIY option within 2 to 3 years.

Redweek started as a small "mom and pop" business and was sold by the original folks a few years ago. Thus, all of the fee increases and changes.

 

[Ddaley]

That sucks. It doesn't look like there is an option to use them as a listing site and really "DIY"

I clicked around and you can still get to the $39 DIY option without using redweek for payment processing and no success fee.
https://www.redweek.com/rent-my-timeshare/diy

I tried this and at the end of the process there are terms and conditions that you must accept and this includes a "$99" success fee that you agree to pay. Now how this is enforced if redweek is not involved in the contract may prove challenging. What happens if I get a renter from a tug listing? I am definitely not happy with the new "success fee" and would love to find a good alternative to redweek. I have no objections to paying a listing fee but very much object to paying a listing fee, a success fee, and charging the other side (renters fees) as well.

 

[tschwa2]

I tried this and at the end of the process there are terms and conditions that you must accept and this includes a "$99" success fee that you agree to pay. Now how this is enforced if redweek is not involved in the contract may prove challenging. What happens if I get a renter from a tug listing? I am definitely not happy with the new "success fee" and would love to find a good alternative to redweek. I have no objections to paying a listing fee but very much object to paying a listing fee, a success fee, and charging the other side (renters fees) as well.

You can't click on the $10 I'll have redweek handle it, for collect payments. You have to click on the DIY

Terms say"
- If using online booking: --- If your rental is successful, $99 will be deducted from your final payment. --- Your rental payment will be disbursed within two business days after the check-in date. Funds may be held if there is a dispute, or if required documentation is missing, as outlined in the rental agreement. --- You agree to comply with the terms of RedWeek's rental agreement and understand that online booking expires 10 days prior to check-in, due to processing time required. --- When we send you a booking request by email, you agree to accept the offer within 48 hours and change the name on your reservation to your renter's name within another 48 hours by contacting your resort or owner services directly. --- If your week becomes unavailable for any reason, you will deactivate your posting on RedWeek immediately. --- If we contact you with a full-price offer and you decline, or fail to respond within the 48 hour deadlines for each step, your posting will be removed and you will be responsible for the $99 success fee."


DIY is not online booking. If Redweek does not collect the payments and you DIY the fee does not apply

 

[jehb2]

I just fold the costs into my rental fee. But I don’t pay any additional fees other than the annual membership fee and ad placement.

 

[Marathoner]

I have no plans to get into the concierge or full service side of the rental industry, but im always willing to make changes/improvements to the marketplace to make it easier for renters and owners to rent a timeshare!

id like to create a new/easier "portal" type landing page that makes finding listings easier for everyone, but the main "friction" to listing/renting really high dollar stuff is always going to be the fact that both sides kinda have to just trust each other. companies that choose to guarantee a rental/etc are always going to have that leg up in offering such a service even at a premium.

While we do some verification of rentals to prevent the obvious scams, actually guaranteeing listings is a whole nother ball of wax.

Have the TUG look and feel be like Redweek for the DIY ads. Making it user friendly is the first and biggest step in increasing adoption. This means large fonts and making UX be very clear. Currently, the fonts are small and it doesn't look professional

 

[TUGBrian]

Feedback to make the site better is ALWAYS welcome! If i can do it, i will!

do you mean for the ad creation? or the display of listings?

they are quite similar to me already (for the latter) and the font on TUG is actually larger?

I do like the segmentation/gradient between the listings, going to add that =)

 

[TUGBrian]

have started making some small changes to how listings are viewed on TUG....will be a work in progress but hopefully itll become cleaner/easier/more user friendly for allsellers/buyers/renters!

 

[rickandcindy23]

@TUGBrian The messages between owner and renter/ buyer would be so much easier to answer if they came through directly to email, rather through a messaging system that I have to log into. I would like to be able to reply to a message from my email directly. The middle step of logging in to view messages is not great.

 

[Ski-Dad]

Hmmm - Anytime I have contacted a seller on TUG marketplace, I do so through the TUG system, but I have always gotten a direct email back.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Hmmm - Anytime I have contacted a seller on TUG marketplace, I do so through the TUG system, but I have always gotten a direct email back.

I get my messages directly from Redweek and like that method.

 

[TUGBrian]

@TUGBrian The messages between owner and renter/ buyer would be so much easier to answer if they came through directly to email, rather through a messaging system that I have to log into. I would like to be able to reply to a message from my email directly. The middle step of logging in to view messages is not great.

yea, we debated this at length from the start. the problem with direct messages is that so many owners dont even get the message notification that they have a message on their listing (we had to put in yet another automated email to remind people they had unread messages each week).

the fear was that if a member never got the message, and the message wasnt stored on the listing it would be lost forever if it were placed in spam and never noticed.

i think perhaps we may have to develop a hybrid strategy where the message is still stored on the listing permanently, but the details would also be in the instant email notification.

 

[Ski-Dad]

That's a thing I find about Facebook Marketplace. If you don't check your messages on their system, you may miss it. Most of that stuff gets caught by various spam filters. I have had sellers get back to me two weeks later indicating they just saw my note.

 

[dioxide45]

I get my messages directly from Redweek and like that method.

This seems completely contradictory to what you said in post #41.

 

[rickandcindy23]

This seems completely contradictory to what you said in post #41.

But TUG messages don't come into my email as a message. I get a message saying I have a message, then I log in, look at the message, click on the email address to send an email back.

Redweek, the message comes directly to me, and I answer it directly back through my email.

 

[Sn0wbird]

I agree that the messaging system between buyer and seller could improve to make it easier to communicate. It will be helpful to automatically include the title of the add in the email notification to easilg identify which ad was the buyer referring to. Perhaps something like ebay where I get the message details in the email.

 

[TUGBrian]

yep, we will get that change made...seems like the easiest solution to improve things messaging wise.

still cant control it when those messages go into spam folders though!