Vrbo Grandfathers a Few Listings Into Legacy Subscriptions as 12% Commission Nears

Property managers on Vrbo's annual subscription plan face a pricing change on October 29, and a small group has been exempted.

Some listings can keep annual subscriptions after Vrbo ends its legacy subscription model on October 29. Exempted listings include some users of Vrbo's in-house Escapia property management system, plus others not on Escapia. Vrbo said "a very small number of listings that met multiple criteria" were grandfathered in, and did not say how many qualify. Partners cannot add new listings to the legacy model.

Who is affected

Most annual-plan listings must move to a 12% commission per booking when their plans expire; for some hosts the subscription costs less. The 12% includes payment processing and replaces a 5% host commission. About 12% of U.S. Vrbo listings and 6% globally pay roughly $699 a year regardless of booking volume, a holdover from HomeAway.

Property manager Ginger Harrelson calculated that a listing now breaks even at about $5,825 in annual Vrbo bookings, down from roughly $14,000 under the 5% model. Mary Beth Miles of Vacation Rental Collective said a flat 12% matches OTA practice, noting Booking.com and Airbnb charge around 15% and 15.5%.

Renewal problems

Some hosts said subscription purchases were blocked before the deadline. One host's $19,500 renewal for 28 listings failed, and those listings were suspended. Vrbo Partner Support confirmed that purchases have been halted.