New to the Channel manger,
Does anybody here has properties in Costa Rica.. i been booking exclusively on Airbnb. and have decided to make the change to multiple OTAs.. not 100% set up.. but was wondering what other Costa Rican clients use for payment gateways.
any help or advice would be great.
Regards,
RJ
This is actually an ongoing issue that comes up from time to time - at present, we aren't aware of any of our banking partners that operate in Costa Rica.
Due to the number of Costa Rican clients we have, though, we'd be interested in talking with a suitable bank that operates there, to see if we can integrate with them as we do with many others. Naturally, a larger bank would be preferable, particularly if it covers multiple countries in the region.
Any suggestions or contacts we should reach out to?
Actually, i think the best bet is BAC
https://www2.baccredomatic.com/es-cr/comercios-afiliados/herramientas-aceptar-pagos/e-commerce
the big issue is they charge 100USD per month for their eCommerce integration. The good news is that they cover a lot of different countries in Central America.. so figure out how to integrate one country it may be just a copy and past after that.
Hi there Roman,
I'm Suzy next door to you in Panama. Nice to meet you and good luck with your direct business. If it's of interest, here is my vacation rental. https://www.villaibisbuenaventura.com/
The option I'm using right now for direct booking payments is Paguelofacil (not sure if that is just Panama or Costa Rica as well) but there is also Cuanto https://web.cuanto.app/en. (also not sure if it's just Panama). These are not payment gateways as such and there is no direct integration into Owner Rez meaning it's kind of long winded as it's not automated, but right now, seems to be the only option other than a Paypal merchant account (expensive).
Best wishes,
Suzy
Suzy,
thank you for the information. I will look these companies up.
What other OTA are you using? I am currently only using Bookings.com and Airbnb. with Airbnb only connected via iCal. I see you are using VRBO as well. I have not connected my properties yet to this OTA. My price points do not seem to fit. Do you think it's worth the effort for an 80USD per night tiny house?
Hello there Roman,
At this moment, I am using Airbnb & VRBO, with most of the bookings coming from Airbnb as that is what everyone in Panama is more familiar with. It seems that the bookings have dropped off and September is very quiet for us, most likely due to the economic climate. What is your experience?
You can certainly be on on VRBO! Sure, you have a different target market to us but you never know where you are going to pick up business. Lots of Americans love to go to Costa Rica and are looking for everything from small, keenly priced places to stay to large and expensive accommodation. Just be aware that VRBO have a higher host fee (8%). You can also connect VRBO with ical, but I use the API to connect Airbnb with OR. It works well.
And how about Booking.com? What is your experience with that platform and where are your customers coming from?
I was considering putting our property on there, but the fees are very high and I have seen so many negative comments about guests cancelling, as they do for hotels, that I am wondering if it is worth the effort and aggravation.
Let me know, Roman, please.
Thanks
Suzy, Villa Ibis, Buenaventura, Panama
Suzy
thank you for the information. I will look these companies up.
What other OTA are you using? I am currently only using Bookings.com and Airbnb. with Airbnb only connected via iCal. I see you are using VRBO as well. I have not connected my properties yet to this OTA. My price points do not seem to fit. Do you think it's worth the effort for an 80USD per night tiny house?
Hello Suzi,
I was exclusive to Airbnb for close to 4 years. After some contentious unfavorable guest experiences and Airbnb not being fair to hosts i decided to diversify. I did an experiment about 2 years ago with a channel manager. but Airbnb was really fulfilling all my booking needs at that time. I have an apartment and a small tiny house. located around my pool not far from the beach. so I discontinued exclusive Airbnb about 1 months ago.
As for business on Airbnb, it has fallen off a cliff. I am glad i made the move to OR. i am on bookings now API. but i maintained just an iCal connection with Airbnb. I am very familiar with the UI of Airbnb and all the discounting systems and did not want to have to interact only threw OR. or start paying the 15% that Airbnb charges for their API, Channel manager connectivity. it seems to be working out well.
VRBO in this market is pretty much exclusively high-end Villas. I would like to get on the Expedia network but i don't think VRBO is the way to go for me.. i may try to connect the iCal with the Expedia group and just manage the rates and discounts by hand. it seems that OR is unmotivated to add any API to Expedia partners at this time.
my typical Airbnb demographic is /was 60/40 60% north Americans and 40% euro.
my very limited data for bookings is the opposite 40/60 40% North American 60% euro. so it looks like i am going to be more rounded.
on the bookings billing part. my friend makes all his guests pre-pay/deposit threw his pay pal merchant account. otherwise, he cancels their booking. it works for him. I have heard from a lot of other villa owners that bookings have a lot of cancelations and no-shows. that is why you need to get the deposits. paying on arrival does not work with bookings.com. especially being small.. no shows have a huge impact on the bottom line.
I like how your website is set up. did you do this yourself or did you have someone do it?
Hi there Roman,
It's interesting to know about how you are working with OR. How are you finding the platform?
As I thought, Booking.com opens the European gateway ... which is what I want to do. But the payment situation combined with no shows and cancellations sounds problematic. I will look into that with Booking.com to see what the options may be.
With Airbnb, I just changed the rates to reflect the 16% host fees. It's the only way I can do it so I don't lose money. But its complicated with different rates in the system.
Yes, the website I built myself as I did not like the templates that OR provide.
Bye for now
Suzy
