Th3 Core

But they are sh## at it. Their offering is weak.

It wont stay that way for long.  I seem to remember trip advisor walking all over the little Guys who had been doing this for years, forcing them to sign up all their properties as they took control of the market, and then putting up their prices.

I dont want to see google taking everything, but have little sympathy with Trip Advisor.

You have no idea how hard faced some of them are.

For example Sykes charge 18-21% plus VAT. If you fill your own slots, they can still charge you.

Hoseasons do the same for all bookings.

That said, it's not for Google to try to swoop in.

You are good enough to market your own :-)

"Your margin is my opportunity." -- Jeff Bezos

It's interesting with a small portfolio (one vacation rental, for example) vs a larger portfolio (350 "keys"). If you have a few hundred keys, you can see how things are going and then start turning dials. So if you're behind, it's well worth it to give Expedia their 15-18%, because 85% of full revenue is better than 0%. This is why Expedia contracts are written to make it hard to cut them out if things are going well.

When you have 1-2 keys, though, once you fill, you fill. There's no more inventory to sell. You can't say "Oh, I'm pacing ahead, I can raise prices." It's already too late. If you think, "Their commission is too high," and you decide to wait it out and book without them, you might go empty.

So the decision about letting someone (Sykes, VRBO, whatever) turn your margin into their margin is a lot harder to manage as the season unfolds.