Redweek Price Increase!

[jwalk03]

Looks like Redweek has increased their prices! (DIY use to be $30 and $45 for V&P with no commission) And they are now charging the $99 commission for Verified & Protected Rentals as well as full-service rentals.

 

[DeniseM]

I think the increase was around 6 mos. ago - there were some discussions then.

 

[jwalk03]

I think the increase was around 6 mos. ago - there were some discussions then.

I do see that the DIY was $40 when i placed an AD in January plus an extra $10 for the Verified & Protected. But there was no $99 commission when it rented so that is definitely newer. In the past there was only a commission on the Full Service option.

 

[dioxide45]

I do see that the DIY was $40 when i placed an AD in January plus an extra $10 for the Verified & Protected. But there was no $99 commission when it rented so that is definitely newer. In the past there was only a commission on the Full Service option.

I had created this chart back in November in response to another thread. So this was their pricing back then. Do they even still offer a DIY+Verified? The +$99 on V&P is new.

 

[tschwa2]

I contacted redweek about this and they said they added the $99 commission a few days ago because "of the amount of work our staff needs to perform to complete each booking."

 

[rickandcindy23]

I contacted redweek about this and they said they added the $99 commission a few days ago because "of the amount of work our staff needs to perform to complete each booking."

A phone call is all it takes. The verified/ protected option is still the same price, and I wonder if it will increase again because it's more work (for whatever reason).

Koala still would be the ideal booking site. No money paid if you don't get a renter. If only we could get more renters on Koala to look, and if only it was a more organized website for timeshare travel.

So many listings on RW for Westins on Maui, yet Koala has very few, and I am pretty sure my RW listing will be the one that rents and not my Koala listing.

 

[jwalk03]

I contacted redweek about this and they said they added the $99 commission a few days ago because "of the amount of work our staff needs to perform to complete each booking."

Amount of work- right. No way on earth I am paying them a $99 commission because they reviewed the confirmation email i sent them to confirm its real.

 

[dioxide45]

A phone call is all it takes. The verified/ protected option is still the same price, and I wonder if it will increase again because it's more work (for whatever reason).

I think you mean Full Service is the same price? V&P effectivly went up by $99.

 

[tschwa2]

Amount of work- right. No way on earth I am paying them a $99 commission because they reviewed the confirmation email i sent them to confirm its real.

It isn't on the verified part. If you take the payment yourself and just want verified it is still just $10 more.
It's when you do the payment through redweek. Not only do they charge the buyer a 9% fee, to process the credit card, they hold the money and in more and more areas they take the required taxes out and submit those. My guess is most casual owners don't bother paying those taxes when they take the payment themselves.

 

[DRH90277]

I like the Verified and Protected aspect and suspect Redweek thinks they have established a new standard for rentals with this. The fixed nature of the $99 charge is very material to the lower end rentals.

It also seems Redweek has mastered the art of double dipping as the renter sees the aggregation of new fees to the seller and to them in the rental price. Seems time to look hard at the aggregate charges to the renter versus on top of what I get.

 

[WorldT]

It isn't on the verified part. If you take the payment yourself and just want verified it is still just $10 more.
It's when you do the payment through redweek. Not only do they charge the buyer a 9% fee, to process the credit card, they hold the money and in more and more areas they take the required taxes out and submit those. My guess is most casual owners don't bother paying those taxes when they take the payment themselves.

@tschwa2 I believe this thread was started because the extra $10 is gone. Now there are only three options. DIY, protected and verified, and finally full service. You do not get the option of verified but take the payment yourself. The verified and protected now comes with a $99 fee when rented in addition to the other fees charged to the renter that you mentioned.

 

[DRH90277]

The aggregate cost to the renter is what matters. This new $99, a fixed charge, has just raised the renters cost by 3% plus. This may not seem like much but the new aggregation of Redweek's ever increasing take is significant. Some of us will look hard at alternatives and make the best choice for us.

 

[TUGBrian]

TUG listings still 0$ =)

 

[CPNY]

A phone call is all it takes. The verified/ protected option is still the same price, and I wonder if it will increase again because it's more work (for whatever reason).

Koala still would be the ideal booking site. No money paid if you don't get a renter. If only we could get more renters on Koala to look, and if only it was a more organized website for timeshare travel.

So many listings on RW for Westins on Maui, yet Koala has very few, and I am pretty sure my RW listing will be the one that rents and not my Koala listing.

Redweek is only as big as it is because of us owners. We have a lot of power in word of mouth. Whenever I tell people about the advantages of timeshare rentals, I usually direct them to Koala or Redweek. As a community, we need to start telling more non owning renters to look at koala. The $99 commission, plus listing fee, plus renter 9.5% commission is insane. Time to move away from Redweek IMO

 

[dioxide45]

The aggregate cost to the renter is what matters. This new $99, a fixed charge, has just raised the renters cost by 3% plus. This may not seem like much but the new aggregation of Redweek's ever increasing take is significant. Some of us will look hard at alternatives and make the best choice for us.

I think you mean to say "owner". At least that is the terminology I would use. Person renting out a week they own would be an owner. Owner is the same as landlord in a residential rental situation. The person paying the owner to use the week would be the renter.

Now if you really mean renter based on this terminology, then where does the 3% come from? It could be any percent depending on the actual rental price.

 

[vol_90]

Looks like Redweek has increased their prices! (DIY use to be $30 and $45 for V&P with no commission) And they are now charging the $99 commission for Verified & Protected Rentals as well as full-service rentals.

View attachment 91035

I don't see a price increase for full services rental postings. They have been $59.99 since 2019 when they reduced it from $79.99. The $99 fee has always been there and only deducted at time of payment from a successful rental. Am I missing something from a Full Service Rental perspective only? FYI I have used Full Service Rental postings since 2018.

 

[dioxide45]

Here is a history of the DIY lisitng fee that I posted in another thread in late 2023;
August 2010 - 19.99
November 2011 - 24.99
Feb 2013 - 24.99
Feb 2015 - 24.99
March 2016 - 24.99
April 2016 - 24.99
June 2016 - 24.99
July 2016 - 24.99
October 2016 - 29.99
September 2017 - $29.99
October 2020 - $29.99
October 2023 - $39.99

 

[DRH90277]

I think you mean to say "owner". At least that is the terminology I would use. Person renting out a week they own would be an owner. Owner is the same as landlord in a residential rental situation. The person paying the owner to use the week would be the renter.

Now if you really mean renter based on this terminology, then where does the 3% come from? It could be any percent depending on the actual rental price.

Yes, owner is the more correct term.

The 3% is assuming a $3,000 average rental with a $99 add. Of course, the 3% is a larger percentage of a lower priced rental. At least it is a fixed charge rather than being a percentage.

 

[grupp]

It is really unfortunate that they decided to add the $99 fee to the DIY Verified and Protected. It is a significant increase without any additional value added by Redweek.

Although, I had already started to move away from using the verified and protected because of the increase fees they were charging the renters. Immediately after Covid, verified and protected seemed to be an advantage but that seems to be changing as the renters are are trying to avoid the fees. It will be interesting to see if there will be a decrease in the verified and protected listings in the future.

I still have not had much luck on Koala over the last few years and not expecting that to change. I have had very good luck with Vacation Candy the last few months. I know there are some that do not like their business model of adding $500 to the price of the rental. Some of my rentals align well with where they have strong demand so it works out for me.

Edited to add:

I started a thread in the Redweek discussion forums in the Buying, Renting, and Selling Forum stating my displeasure with the change. Feel free to go there and share your opinion either for or against this change. (hopeully, this does not violate any Tug rules, if so you can edit it out)

 

[tschwa2]

@tschwa2 I believe this thread was started because the extra $10 is gone. Now there are only three options. DIY, protected and verified, and finally full service. You do not get the option of verified but take the payment yourself. The verified and protected now comes with a $99 fee when rented in addition to the other fees charged to the renter that you mentioned.

They still offer it as a $10 add on to the $39 DIY. Just indicate that you want DIY and then at the same time they ask if you want to pay for a highlighted ad, you can add $10 verification.

 

[WorldT]

@tschwa2 interesting. Thanks for info.

 

[DRH90277]

Looks like Redweek has increased their prices! (DIY use to be $30 and $45 for V&P with no commission) And they are now charging the $99 commission for Verified & Protected Rentals as well as full-service rentals.

View attachment 91035

This would be even more helpful if the non-tax charges added to the renters side were shown. It's very easy for Redweek to double dip. Afterall, the renter is looking at the total cost of the rental.

 

[dioxide45]

This would be even more helpful if the non-tax charges added to the renters side were shown. It's very easy for Redweek to double dip. Afterall, the renter is looking at the total cost of the rental.

Doesn't the renter just pay the rental price + any taxes. What non tax charges would Redweek need to show them?

 

[rickandcindy23]

It's not just about RW's increases in prices for listings that is turning off owners. It's the constant warnings on listings of fees that may not exist, the lack of exact information on listings and warnings of obstructions that don't make sense, and the warnings that Wyndham could cancel the rental is another thing I noticed on my listings:

My Kauai Coast at the Beach Boy, booked with Shell and Shell has no rules against renting. Why would anyone rent my week with this language added to the listing:

Also posted on my Peacock Suites listings:

We own oceanfront center at WKOR, and this has been added by RW to my listing:

All of these warnings have me looking at RW as a company that is detrimental to my rentals.

 

[grupp]

It's not just about RW's increases in prices for listings that is turning off owners. It's the constant warnings on listings of fees that may not exist, the lack of exact information on listings and warnings of obstructions that don't make sense, and the warnings that Wyndham could cancel the rental is another thing I noticed on my listings:

My Kauai Coast at the Beach Boy, booked with Shell and Shell has no rules against renting. Why would anyone rent my week with this language added to the listing:

View attachment 91146
Also posted on my Peacock Suites listings:
View attachment 91147
We own oceanfront center at WKOR, and this has been added by RW to my listing:

View attachment 91148
All of these warnings have me looking at RW as a company that is detrimental to my rentals.

Is there anything in the notices that is not true?