Sarah W.

Love Ebay, have had a few misses but that's mostly on clothing that has shrunk in the wash (watch out for that and get actual measurements!) Non-clothing purchases have all been excellent: Refurbished electronics by top technicians (I'm using my bargain Acer Aspire E15 to write this review), bargain books (that don't have Amazon's 3.99 shipping fee), vitamins and cosmetics. Great finds all around especially if you're looking for hard-to-find items.

VRBO used to be our go to site for vacation rentals and we have had three or four great stays and I have just booked another in Florida. However, while perusing properties in the Carolinas, I noticed that many had fees added (service fees of up to $89) and that with taxes, cleaning and sometimes other miscellaneous charges the price would be much more than originally stated. Also "average" nightly price would be many times that once you put your dates in. Not all property owners were guilty of a laundry list of fees and variable rates but many were.

I read elsewhere that VRBO was sold to Expedia and has changed their business model. Significantly, VRBO (includes Homeaway) etc has to compete with Airbnb which charges property owners less and passes costs to the consumer/renter.

VRBO needs to go back to its roots.

I only got onto the airbnb website after being redirected there from bringfido.com when I was looking for pet friendly accommodation for a couple of nights. I couldn't believe what a disastrous setup for renters/consumers this website is. After teaser prices of say $80 per night, once fees had been added the total was three times the advertised rate. That's right, practically every offering was three times the initial price listed thanks to all the fees. It's practically fraud. Airbnb and the property owners must be laughing all the way to the bank, passing along fees to the customers like that. The risks and costs are all on the renter who could end up out of pocket and with no place to stay (or worse), I don't know why anyone would use it when they can get a budget hotel with guaranteed room and pretty much guaranteed safety for the same price or less. I understand airbnb may be part of the hookup culture and useful for being more immersed in a place, that's all very nice if you want the social side but still why pass the cost to the renter? I'm just waiting for there to be airnbnb murders etc (like the craigslist murders). Still, my biggest issue was the price gouging. Savvy travelers will take their business elsewhere.