Rental site under fire over new platform

KIWI property rental website Bookabach is under fire from subscriber customers over its move to a global, commissionbased platform.

Crib owners and property managers have lashed out on Facebook over the move, which reuire them to pay more for renting out their properties.

But Peter Miles, founder and general manager of Bookabach, said the move is necessary to have a sustainable future for the company and compete with other rental businesses.

‘‘That was a part of the acquisition . . . to compete with the likes of Airbnb and Booking.com,’’ Mr Miles said.

‘‘We had a subscription price of $300 and for that you effectively could fill your boots with as much rental as you wanted.

‘‘For a lot of them [crib owners and property managers] they were, after [paying] $300, getting $10,000, $15,000, even $25,000 worth of business, but we can’t operate like that.’’

The new commission model will charge those property owners 5.75%.

Bookabach was acquired by HomeAway in 2013, and the company has been trying to move off its original online platform on to a global one ever since.

Mr Miles said one challenge Bookabach faced was having about 70% of listings that could be booked online, while the rest of the property owners would have received direct banking details from the crib user.

But after 11 years renting out her Waipu Cove hideaway on Bookabach, Marie, of Auckland, said the change forced her to jump ship.

‘‘We had an annual subscription, and then I got an email from them saying that they won’t be renewing that subscription, that we had to go to the new HomeAway site, which basically means we will be paying a heck of a lot more,’’ Marie said.

Unlike Bookabach, HomeAway does not allow property owners to screen people before accepting the booking, Marie said.

She now lists her property on Holiday Houses, which is run by Trade Me. — NZME