Redweek just for members

[DannyTS]

Maybe so, but a lot of owners who use RW actually like the idea of paid memberships to contact them. And I would venture to guess that some owners who use RW would probably stop using it if RW changed its policy and allowed anyone willy-nilly to contact them about their ads.

We continue to talk about apples and oranges. Yes, contacting an owner should continue to be a paid privilege. I merely referred to seeing weeks/prices for every resort without being registered

 

[bizaro86]

We continue to talk about apples and oranges. Yes, contacting an owner should continue to be a paid privilege. I merely referred to seeing weeks/prices for every resort without being registered

I think it depends on their goal. If they want to grow their business with people who don't already know about timeshare, your plan would be the only way for that to work.

For them to continue to make money off folks who already know about TS, their way is better, because they gather email addresses they can market to.

 

[Egret1986]

We continue to talk about apples and oranges. Yes, contacting an owner should continue to be a paid privilege. I merely referred to seeing weeks/prices for every resort without being registered

I now get what @DannyTS is saying and agree that people should be able to see the listings without registering AND THEN have to sign up to contact.

The question is not whether Redweek should charge. It is where the public firewall should be.

Making listing visible publicly would provide a better benefit to the advertisers who fund Redweek as their ads get more visibility and Redweek gets more search engine love.

Yes, I get what Danny is stating, too. It has absolutely nothing to do with paying a membership fee to contact owners.

If you are a renter i totally understand why you would want as few people as possible to have access to the inventory

Yep. With this thread having nothing to do with the Redweek membership fee, I agree that having to register an email address just to see the inventory does prohibit potential business for owners and Redweek.

Again, folks, no one said that there's a problem with paying a membership fee to contact owners. It's about drawing in potential renters and buyers by showing inventory before having to give up an email address. If you see something interesting, then provide your email address and pay your membership fee.

Sounds to me more like a browser problem rather than a RedWeek issue, but we can agree to respectfully disagree.

Not a browser problem. Have you signed out and then tried to look at the specific inventory? You can't do it. I'm a Redweek member. I signed out and you cannot go into a resort and see the specific inventory. There is a firewall unless you register.

So funny how someone can start a thread about filet mignon and everyone comments about top sirloin.

OP is talking about the requirement to REGISTER FOR A FREE account just to view listings, nothing about paying for an account whatsoever, nothing about $15 or $19 or any other payment.

I agree with Danny, not Lanny. I see this as an impediment to demand. No, registering for a free account will not keep spammers or scammers away. Look how many we get here. I can't tell you how many websites I've walked away from because they want my email. Imagine if you had to register on Travelocity, google travel, etc.

Companies pay exorbitant amounts of money just to get people to click ads to come to their websites. I see no benefit to sellers or landlords to making people pay just to see someones rental ad, Crazy in my book.

Also, if you can't "vent" on Tug, what would we all do?

There's been several posts since yours trying to break down what the OP is trying to get across. Still, posts about the membership fee for contacting owners.

As you state, ...I've walked away from websites because they want my email. "Imagine if you had to register on Travelocity, google travel, etc."

 

[theo]

I agree that having to register an email address just to see the inventory does prohibit potential business for owners and Redweek.

Perhaps I have misunderstood the issue of concern here. I haven't viewed RedWeek rental or resale inventory in recent months, but I frankly still fail to see how providing an email address to RedWeek (once) to be registered on their site (permanently) is somehow burdensome or in any way intrusive.

I've had nothing but prompt success renting out the occasional week on RW, so the "lost business" theory admittedly escapes me. I have also never experienced any problems or unwanted contacts as a result of RedWeek having my email address (for over a decade now). I don't do so, but I know that many people maintain separate (frequently "gmail") email addresses for just such "single use" purposes; how hard is that? To each their own.

 

[DannyTS]

Perhaps I have misunderstood the issue of concern here. I haven't viewed RedWeek rental or resale inventory for quite some time now, but I frankly still fail to see how providing an email address to RedWeek (once) to be registered on their site (forever) is somehow onerous, burdensome or intrusive.

I've had nothing but prompt success renting out the occasional week on RW, so the "lost business" theory is admittedly lost on me. I have also never experienced any issues, problems, or unwanted contacts as a result of RedWeek having my email address (for over a decade now). I don't personally do this, but I know that many people maintain separate (frequently "gmail") email addresses for just such "single use" purposes; how hard is that? To each their own.

People have reported a slower rental activity on RW in the last couple of years. Since the tourism market has actually grown this may be a surprise for some. When did you last rent on RW? Have they changed lately the way people see the inventory?

 

[DannyTS]

I frankly still fail to see how providing an email address to RedWeek (once) to be registered on their site (forever) is somehow onerous, burdensome or intrusive.

The issue is not if it is convenient or acceptable for you or me to register but rather how to maximize the number of people that can see these listings while keeping the interaction between owners and potential buyers to a minimum. I continue to believe that having to register after seeing what you are interested in is the way to go.

you can see below a search for "Westin Kierland Villas rent"
Which one do you think potential buyers will abandon when RW is the only one that asks you to register right away? The price may be better on RW but most will not even know.

 

[theo]

When did you last rent on RW? Have they changed lately the way people see the inventory?

Rented out 3 weeks via RW in March of this year when family matters precluded travel.
I cannot speak to any changes RW may have implemented; I simply do not know.

 

[dioxide45]

By the way, a 2 tier system works fine for TUG. You can see posts without registering but you have to be a member to have full access. I wonder how popular TUG would be if it did not give any access to any posts without registering.

This is a good analogy. If people had to register for a forum in order to read it, that forum would never show up in online search results. This is why you never see posts from the sightings forum if you ever do a Google search on TUG. I agree that putting a wall up just to see listings is unnecessary and keeping potential renters/buyers away. I have had Redweek membership off an on over the years, but only because I had previously had a free membership and was able to see the listings. For me signing up for a free membership doesn't make much of a difference. I get so much junk email already and can filter it out fairly easily, but I know for many they don't want to provide that email address for fear of spam, regardless of what a sites Privacy Policy might say.

 

[icydog]

Redweek used to allow potential renters to contact the owners but the potential renters could not read the whole ad. Consequently I was getting hundreds of emails requesting time that I did not have, for a cost I could never meet, for rooms that were non existent. Now I get renters who are not tire kickers. They see my inventory, my costs and my terms all spelled out for them. I think $19 per year is a bargain to find all the gems hidden on Redweek. And no, I would never want to go back to their old system.

 

[dioxide45]

Redweek used to allow potential renters to contact the owners but the potential renters could not read the whole ad. Consequently I was getting hundreds of emails requesting time that I did not have, for a cost I could never meet, for rooms that were non existent. Now I get renters who are not tire kickers. They see my inventory, my costs and my terms all spelled out for them. I think $19 per year is a bargain to find all the gems hidden on Redweek. And no, I would never want to go back to their old system.

No one is suggesting that they go back to something like that. The problem is that you must sign up for a membership (free) to even be able to browse listings. The OP said they are okay with paid membership in order to contact owners.

 

[breezez]

Having registed users only able to view reduces spam and bot bandwidth on their site.

Not a big deal to register

 

[hurnik]

I know a lot of people that won't use any website that requires registration (even "free") just to "browse".
It may be a generational thing, or occupational thing. I work in IT, so I'm used to having to create a free account to browse Knowledgebase articles, etc.

Although, IMO, I see nothing wrong with Redweek changing it so that non-registered/logged in users can at least see the prices/listing. Anything more than that, should require a login/membership, IMO.

I haven't had any reduction in tire kickers though. I'll constantly get requests for other dates, or people asking if it's still available and then that's it.

It's still *WAY* better than Craigslist, IMO.

But I do agree with the OP:
Shouldn't need an account to browse the listings and see the prices.