Is the concern with having the price comparison tool or simply being able to book direct on your website?
The reason I'm asking is it would be very simple (or should be) for whomever is designing your website to build a price comparison panel to display on a page on your site, which has a price comparison for any week that you care to choose. It doesn't have to be a particular week, or even the week that your particular guests are looking for. Just a comparison panel that shows the pricing of your property on various sites for a particular sample week that you choose.
Then, right beside that, you have your widget from OwnerRez where the guest can enter their own dates and info, and either request a quote, or see one instantly, depending on which OwnerRez widget you setup.
If you or your web designer has problem designing a comparison panel, a cheap, quick and easy way to create one would be to just take a screen shot of the multi-site panel that shows on Google Vacation Rentals for your property (you are on Google Vacation Rentals, right?), where they show 6-8 websites where your properties can be seen on the web, with prices for whatever dates you request. And if it's like mine, your own website will appear at the top of that list with the best price, and an "Official Site" designation right next to it.
My point is, you can easily have a comparison panel on your site, which gets the point across to your guests, without it being variable to a particular week, that booking direct with you is the best choice. It doesn't have to be variable. The comparison prices for whatever sample week it shows will be all you need to do to make the point to the guest that your own site is the best place to book. They will assume that the deal for their week is just as good as the sample they see.
No additional tools or third party software or subscriptions are needed. Just design the comparison panel, and have your OwnerRez booking widget right there.
Simple!
Or am I missing something?
If you think so, let me know why, and I'll happily straighten you out! Hah hah hah!
Voting is a good thing but a good idea is a good idea regardless how many people vote for it. We don't always see everything in the forums as we've got busy lives.
So, in my opinion, you should NOT only consider the number of votes but use some common sense as well.
Is the concern with having the price comparison tool or simply being able to book direct on your website?
The reason I'm asking is it would be very simple (or should be) for whomever is designing your website to build a price comparison panel to display on a page on your site, which has a price comparison for any week that you care to choose. It doesn't have to be a particular week, or even the week that your particular guests are looking for. Just a comparison panel that shows the pricing of your property on various sites for a particular sample week that you choose.
Then, right beside that, you have your widget from OwnerRez where the guest can enter their own dates and info, and either request a quote, or see one instantly, depending on which OwnerRez widget you setup.
If you or your web designer has problem designing a comparison panel, a cheap, quick and easy way to create one would be to just take a screen shot of the multi-site panel that shows on Google Vacation Rentals for your property (you are on Google Vacation Rentals, right?), where they show 6-8 websites where your properties can be seen on the web, with prices for whatever dates you request. And if it's like mine, your own website will appear at the top of that list with the best price, and an "Official Site" designation right next to it.
My point is, you can easily have a comparison panel on your site, which gets the point across to your guests, without it being variable to a particular week, that booking direct with you is the best choice. It doesn't have to be variable. The comparison prices for whatever sample week it shows will be all you need to do to make the point to the guest that your own site is the best place to book. They will assume that the deal for their week is just as good as the sample they see.
No additional tools or third party software or subscriptions are needed. Just design the comparison panel, and have your OwnerRez booking widget right there.
Simple!
Or am I missing something?
If you think so, let me know why, and I'll happily straighten you out! Hah hah hah!
I have a price comparison graphic but that is static and only demonstrates "potential" savings based on a particular stay I "created". A dynamic tool would be more impactful in my opinion as it allows the potential guest to see exactly what the OTAs charge and exactly how much they would save on their specific stay.
You're right Robert if you have static pricing. But I use dynamic pricing so it would be nice to have a widget that shows comparison pricing. HiChee says they have plans - and their site is super quick. So everyone who is wanting this.....signup for HiChee and ask....and then schedule an email to ask every week LOL
Tim would you be willing to share a screenshot?
Here is my site and I would love a widget to go in the yellow area
You're right Robert if you have static pricing. But I use dynamic pricing so it would be nice to have a widget that shows comparison pricing. HiChee says they have plans - and their site is super quick. So everyone who is wanting this.....signup for HiChee and ask....and then schedule an email to ask every week LOL
Whether one has static or dynamic pricing, having a comparison example is better than nothing.
I certainly recognize why a live comparison is better, but in the absence of that, having a fixed example probably has 75-80% of the same impact on travellers.
Some may argue that having a live comparison tool is NOT the best approach because it gives the guest the price for their dates, taking away the incentive/reason for them to contact you.
Getting the guest's email address allows you to market to them in the future. Having them see a price and leave without booking has value, yes, but probably not as much when you could inform them of the differences in pricing AND get their contact info if they're truly interested. And many are... that is until they find out that your price is twice what they were hoping to pay and give up and disappear!
For those of you who haven't seen it, if you are on Google Vacation Rentals along with other sites, you have a live comparison feature already available online. It looks like this:
I have no idea if anyone could 'jury-rig' some means to display that on their own site, but a high-end web developer may be able to do it.
Tim would you be willing to share a screenshot?
Here is my site and I would love a widget to go in the yellow area
I don't know how much flexibility you have in your website, but there are almost certainly ways to incorporate a static price comparison. Could be as simple as making the graphic and adding it like a picture.
I am all for this! Having worked with ORZ since 2019 and watching the evolution of the software. I feel this would be a great addition to our direct booking website.
[Another topic was closed as a duplicate of this topic (Rate Comparison Widget for Direct Booking Sites)]
I'm happy to announce to everyone following this thread our new integration with Direct Booking Tools! https://www.ownerrez.com/blog/integration-with-direct-booking-tools
Its $50 min spend and 6 dollars a listing per month, this should be built into OwnerRez this is a money grab not a viable option.
Its $50 min spend and 6 dollars a listing per month, this should be built into OwnerRez this is a money grab not a viable option.
This request remains open for voting for a native price comparison widget. Just wanted to let users know what options are available in the here and now. We do not have space on our current development roadmap to build out a widget like this at this time, but we'll keep you posted here in this thread if that changes.
Just want to add my thoughts that the $50 minimum is really a non-starter for us, too. We have 6 properties but they are in two different countries so that's two different websites. This should be a native option within OR.
I encourage anyone interested to schedule a call with the team at Direct Booking Tools. While we at OwnerRez don’t have input on their pricing, I know they’re excited about this integration and eager to work with OwnerRez PMs and Hosts.
Let them walk you through the value they provide. It’s more than just a guest-facing widget, they also offer unique reporting and analytics on quote generation, which can help you adjust future rates and capture more bookings.
If enough OwnerRez clients show interest, they may even be able to offer a discount on their standard pricing.
Here’s a link to schedule a quick 15-minute call with their team to hear their pitch:
https://directbookingtools.com/schedule-a-demo/
I’ve personally used the tool on my own direct booking site and found it genuinely valuable, not just a "money grab". Ultimately, it’s up to you to determine the value it brings to your business and how much that is worth to you.
$50 min is not worth it (to even schedule a call with them). I currently have one rental unit, so $6 per rental is ok with me, but not $50 min.
This capability already exists in other parts of OR (Channel Rate Tester) so turning a portion of it into a widget or merging it with the booking widget wouldn't be hard. I appreciate all the integrations offered, but we shouldn't have to pay a 3rd party for something that can easily be implemented natively in OR.
I think this would be a great tool to add to the booking widget as well. I will be testing DirectBookingTools and see how it works and if it is worth it.
i would also suggest an extension of the channel Rate tester, it would be nice to see it in a calendar format with the pricing for each ota to give an overview in one snapshot/spreadsheet type. Rather than having to change dates and ota to find out the price
