A while back I wrote a post on an idea I had for a volume discount. The volume discount was based on a sliding scale (see the graph in previous post), the more you buy the more you save.
After thinking about it more and getting advice from others in the industry, perhaps that idea was not the best.
One person told me,
“We know that the pricing RentalHouses had once worked very well for attracting customers - why not use a variation on that”.
To review what RentalHouses pricing used to be before they were purchased by Primedia:
- up to 5 active listings $99 ($19.80 per listing)
- up to 10 active listings $149 ($14.90 per listing)
- up to 20 active listings $199 ($9.95 per listing)
- Unlimited $299
I think that RentalHouses’ volume discount was a good idea, it just needs to scale better. I am against the last item which is unlimited postings.
One person offered the following,
“Realize that raising prices down the road may make you an enemy. Don’t come out of the gate with something that cannot be sustained.”
This is very true. I want to make sure I get this priced right from the start - so that is why I have been taking my time on this decision. I think RentalHouses pricing was not something that could be sustained over the long haul.
Here is my current idea for a tiered discount on my basic listings:
- up to 5 active listings $170 ($34 per listing)
- up to 10 active listings $270 ($27 per listing)
- up to 20 active listings $400 ($20 per listing)
- up to 50 active listings $750 ($15 per listing)
Considering that Consumer Source is not offering a volume discount now (or at least not advertised on their sites). I think these numbers seem fair.
What are your thoughts - please let me know.
Related Articles
24 users responded in this post
That is a step in the right direction. You have to value your product. Anyone can give it away as RH proved!
CSI must have a volume discount for the ‘Family of Sites” Who would pay $79.00 and ad if they manage a large number of properties?
Kevin,
I am hearing stories of very large property managers getting big discounts on the CSI Family of Sites and recently having that big discount reduced.
Dave
$79.00 an ad!
Do you have any numbers? Seems like Rentclicks major cities are taking a dive moving into Spring!
$5500 unlimited is what I heard for the “family” of sites that all do the same thing
I do not track RentClicks listings for each city but I am hearing rumors that their number are down across the board except a few cities.
$5500 a month?
Tim,
So for 100 listings it would cost you $55 a listing. Interesting.
heard that from a company that was offered that in GA they should probably get their pricing worked out so it is uniform
$55.00 a listing……that is steep! Probably better off paying $59.00 for a featured on Rentclicks!
If they have their pricing all over the board like Rentclicks did….they will alienate their Property Management client base….again!
when they gave me the $79 price I dropped them and forsee alot of people doing the same
Kevin,
You bring up a good point. I heard many were not going with the CSI family of sites plan, perhaps they are buying upgrade listings on RentClicks instead which makes sense.
I wonder what volume discounts Rentclick’s is offering? What about Rentalhouses? PM’s can’t be spending $39.00 a listing when they had “all you can eat” for $299.00!
I hate the way RC lists their cities for example-
Atlanta, Marietta, Alpharetta, Roswell, Norcross, Newnan, Douglasville, and Greater Atlanta Area
I would rather have it listed by each city so searches are more specific then you would not need to pay through the nose for a featured listing
Dave , I am still stuck on the all you can eat. I am getting a pretty good deal w/ rentalhomesplus, and get pretty decent results.
I also agree with Kevin, no way would I pay $79 per ad!!
mt,
You are not getting an all you can eat plan from RentalHomesPlus - are you?
pretty close, I get a certain # of ads per month for a flat fee
I have been using Rentalads.com, they are offering a free trial period for 6 months for unlimited listings and then will be $99/month for unlimited after the trial. I am getting a pretty good response - especially for free!
Chris,
Can’t argue with results for free! Rentalads is trying to build up a book of listings. A year from now if they make it I do not think they can survive on $99/month unlimited. Rentalhouses would be out of business by now at $299 unlimited if they were not bought out!
Catch 22:
The various national, regional and local paid rental sites have to build up their inventory. This helps them move up the search engine rankings and insure that when a consumer comes to their site there will be suitable content and the consumer will have a good user experience and hopefully find a rental!
They can give it away for free or use all you can eat pricing to build inventory but they are operating from a position of weakness.
They have to move up the search rankings and build traffic. Once they start to accomplish this and show PM’s decent results then they need to start charging a reasonable price. If they can’t make any money they will soon drop off the face of the earth….as many have done!
The PM’s are used to paying very little and will balk at a large increase in their per ad price!
On the other side of the coin is when these various rental sites do grow and have lots of listings the PM’s advertising on these sites will see diminishing returns on leads. The more listings on a site the less response each individual ad will have.
That is the folly of CSI, Rentals.com and the “family of sites”. When they start to advertise they cant waste money on advertising all the sites. Rentals.com will emerge as the main site and if they are successful and have more content than they know what to do with the individual PM’s listings get buried and their response rate plummets.
The PM’s will search out other internet alternatives. That is why there is hope for the little Rentals sites and the reason I see a new one appear almost every week!
Rentalads.com gave me nothing it is not worth the time to enter the listings
That is why I started my little regional site back in 2005, For my search market…My site rocks with all the major search terms..I hope to grow as time goes…Just my 2 Cents.
Nice Blog btw Dave…I read it all the time.
Robbie