Vrbo Fees for Owners in 2021 | Hospitable.com (2024)

By The Hospitable.com Team

Vrbo is a popular vacation rental platform where homeowners can list their homes directly. It was one of the first companies to promote individual owners renting out their homes as vacation rentals.

Remember that owners can use Vrbo to rent out their entire vacation home, apartment, or condo. So if you’re only looking to rent out a separate room in your home, the Vrbo platform isn’t the place for you. But you can try to start a business on Airbnb instead.

Today, the Vrbo boasts over two million private homes in over 190 countries and attracts millions of vacation rental guests searching for the perfect stay. But is it the right listing site for your short-term rental property? How much does VRBO charge for each listing?

In this article, we’ll talk about Vrbo fees that every vacation property owner is being charged for using the platform. This info can help you decide whether this site is a smart choice for your STR business.

Vrbo Owner Fees: What Are the Options?

To list your property on Vrbo, you need to accept their fee structure. Currently, there are two Vrbo pricing models hosts can choose from: pay-per-booking and subscription. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.

Annual Subscription

The subscription model costs a one-time, flat fee of $499 per year paid in advance. It covers all the bookings you make on the platform and all the service fees that would otherwise be charged to your account when a guest is making a booking.

This Vrbo owner fee includes special features, such as online booking, listing your property on international sites, access to Reservation Manager, 50 HD photos, and an interactive map. You’ll also get access to a reservation calendar that makes it easier to track when people are staying at your properties.

Pay-per-Booking

This flexible model is good for hosts who are new to the vacation rental industry because it allows you to pay only for the bookings you receive. It also works best for owners who get bookings for more than one channel. The Vrbo commission charged for pay-per-booking listings starts at 8% per booking.

This is how the overall Vrbo owner fees are made up:

• 5% Vrbo service fee is calculated from the total amount of the reservation, including additional Vrbo fees (like pet fees or cleaning fees) and excluding taxes and refundable deposits paid by the guest.
• 3% Vrbo credit card processing fee is charged on the total amount of Vrbo payments you receive from your travelers, including taxes and refundable damage deposits.

Which Vrbo Listing Fee Is a Better Choice?

The pay-per-booking model works best for owners who are only expecting their vacation rental property to be booked for six weeks or less in the year or earn estimated revenue of $10,000 or less. And if you earn more than that and Vrbo is your main source of bookings, the subscription plan is the better choice. But you can’t use a single annual subscription for multiple homes.

Still, if you really want to make more money, your focus shouldn’t be on picking the platform with low fees for hosts that can save you a few hundred dollars. Instead, your focus should be on getting more bookings overall. The more people see your listing, the more bookings you’ll get and the more rental income you’ll earn.

To get your STR property in front of as many travelers as possible, you will need to list your home on multiple platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and more.

Is Vrbo Cost Worth It?

Is it worth paying these fees to list your house on Vrbo? The answer is definitely yes! This platform gives you lots of visibility, however, earnings from short-term Vrbo rentals vary greatly. How much you can earn will depend on your property type, its size and location, and your financial goals.

Still, while Vrbo works extremely well for a large number of vacation rental property owners, putting all your eggs in one basket is never a good idea. So we recommend that you list your property on as many sites as you can manage to reach more guests.

And if you want to build a successful STR business, you should go one step further. Optimize the process of handling your properties on multiple platforms using automation software like Hospitable.com. It will help you:

• Synchronizing all your accounts and listings within a single dashboard
• Ensure perfect communication with your guests across platforms using our centralized inbox
• Enhance your team collaboration and assign tasks to your team members automatically
• Update your pricing from one convenient location

If you are new to the automation of your STR business, download our free guide to learn how to save time while growing your revenue and improving your guests’ experience.

Final Thought

If you own a property in a popular vacation destination, it may be beneficial to rent it on Vrbo. It’s a big vacation rental channel that receives millions of visitors and bookings every year. Property owners can list their properties on Vrbo, paying an annual subscription fee of $499 or choosing a pay-per-booking model.

Vrbo has been a trusted name in the vacation rental business for quite some time. Listing your vacation home on it will put you in front of a wide audience, increase your visibility worldwide, and drive traffic towards your property listing.

Many Vrbo hosts cross-list their properties on Booking.com to reach more guests. Check out our Booking.com host guide for beginners to find answers to the most common questions about creating a listing on this platform.