Many know that RentalHouses.com will be ending their volume discount at the end of this year.
I have some code work to do, but I hope to have my automated volume discount in place before RentalHouses discount ends.
I will predict that I will not be the only site to start a discount plan before the end of the year.
Property managers that I spoke to at the NARPM conference are looking for options instead of paying Rentals.com and RentalHouses full price.
What better way to get my foot in the door than to fill that void. 
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16 users responded in this post
I vote for $99-$299 Unlimited.
It seemed to work wonders for RentalHouses. Just don’t plan on turning a profit, but instead hope that some day a media company will come along and over pay for your site and you walk away a millionaire.
I actually might toy with that idea because it is simple to implement and I could put a year duration on it.
Remember my company is small with little expenses so I could actually do well if I got enough people using this type of plan.
Big publicly traded companies can’t offer this type of plan.
Hmmm…
Works great for me Dave!
The plan is for rentalhouses to cease offering volume discounts by the end of the year, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on that happening. Do count on them using this illusion in their sales calls as they will be trying to a create a sense of urgency & upsell as many customers as they possibly can. If Rentalhouses continues to employ the same telemarketing center in existence today, then rest assured the discounting will continue. If you happen to be one of the very few who are paying full price, its time to reneogiate.
Redneckrenter,
What do you think is the best approach for me to take – $299 unlimited or 3% discount for each active listing?
Dave,
When dealing with property managers half the time they don’t even know what Internet Listing Service (ILS) they are using or if it is working – just how much it costs.
In terms of growing your business, I vote for a tiered pricing model where it is $199 per block of 50 listings, for example: 125 listings would be 3 x $199 = $597 per month. Meanwhile, charge extra for upgrades: better ranking, company logo in the ads, link to web site, placement in PM directory, XML feeds, toll free#, etc.
For smaller companies or credit card customers, meaning less than 20 doors, charge 5% of the rent for a 3 month listings. Obviously, make sure the ads have to be renewed every 30 days or they automatically expire. Also, if the rent goes up in any listings they are automatically charged the difference. Otherwise PMs will write every property at $100 then jack the rent up to $1200 the next day. Here’s an example: $1000 rent x 5% = $50 per 3 month listing. Once again, charge for any upgrades separately.
As always – keep the blog rocking.
InTheIndustry,
Thanks for the advice, I think you might be right that price is a big driving force.
I am working on something big for the blog. Who knows I might have the it started in a few weeks.
Why not $299 all you can eat if you are a small shop with low overheads? Granted if you are a large corporation with large overheads then $299 AYCE may not bring in the $ you need…
Hey Dave,
How many $299 flat rate deals do you think you can sell? Pricing is one thing but you still need to convience the pm’s to pay for you site. Just curious?
The $299 is really quite appealing to me because it would be very simple to implement and take care of.
I think the customer aspect of this plan would be very easy. RentalHouses proved that this was an attractive price.
I have no idea how many I can sell since the only marketing I have done was the NARPM conference. I have done zero sales calls.
I don’t have that many PM using my site now, so I think this might be a way to get them interested.
My question is how much customer service is required for a $299 plan? Anyone out there with experience with that?
RentalHouses had a sales force that made out bound calls and attended NARPM meetings every month declaring $99 or $149 or $299 unlimited to everyone. People are not going to magically come to your site just because you have a low flat rate. Any thoughts?
True, they will not magically come over night, but after awhile word will get out and they might come over time.
I’m patient. And I am lazy, I not a sales guy.
then you should take a partner or some one who has that experience some one who has another website like yours or experience doing sales if you keep traveling just going to shows you will be broke as you are in what co and you have to travel to az/na/ny /fla/ ect just to do a major show to get the people you need some one local in some of those markets to attend local NARPM meetings each month take tampa how do you plan to market there travel major shows -phone calls ,emails,flyers, some one local can help if you hoigh on the search engines any way it should be worth it ( and worth it to the pm to pay a higher price ) and the expense to have some make the sales calls for you in a local market as they will win in the local markets now soon once rent.com and rentalhomepros.com get in the game
Dave,
True Rentalhouses did prove that $299 AYCE (at the top end, but there were a substantial number who paid just$99 AYCE)was attractive to Property managers, but they also proved that this pricing structure put them in the poor house. They didn’t offer this AYCE scheme becuase they wanted to, they offered it becuase they had to. RentClicks had everyone covered on every facet with the exception of price. If it was a football game, the score would 210-0; If it was a race, RentClicks would have lapped the field a 100 times over; If it was a girl, RentClicks would be an international supermodel and Rentalhouses would be Janet Reno. And even though using RentClicks came with a higher price tag upfront, true cost of ownership was significantly lower. How? Becuase their ads filled vacancies more quickly than anyone in the industry – including print media.
You don’t want property managers determining your price point. By the same token would property managers let tenants telling them what rent should be? Only if you prefer drinking Schaefer Light
Gotta run, but next time I’ll tell you why you dont want an AYCE pricing scheme.
RedNeck,
Thank for your comments as always – I laughed about the Janet Reno part!
I had lunch with a good friend in the industry today and he also persuaded me not to do the all-you-can-eat plan. I think I will offer the 3% discount or no discount at all.
Actually no volume discount really matches my business plan better.
Dana,
Thanks for your suggestions. I am wanting to keep my company very small (ie. hire just myself) so I might not be able to do your suggestions. If I did your idea, I probably could do very well for myself, but this site is not totally about $, it is about me creating something – actually creating everything myself.
Not sure if it the best idea, but I am sure having a lot of fun with it right now.