Payment options if you create your own listing on Facebook or Houfy?

I’ve seen several threads discussing payment options direct to you, if you use a STR listing service other than AIRBNB & VRBO or create your own site, but I can’t find the information I need.

Please help. I’ve almost completed my listing on houfy.com.

I can currently accept payment via PayPal, cashiers or certified check & Zelle.

What is a good resource for being able to take payments via credit card? What do you like to use?

You can send anyone a PayPal invoice to pay with a credit card. They don’t need an account.

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We take PayPal and the guest just uses a credit card to pay.

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Houfy is now set up with Square and Stripe. Join us in the Say Yes to Houfy facebook group where all of that is being discussed. :smile:

More payment options will also be coming down the road too!

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and BTW - the payment options integrated with Houfy will go directly to your bank account immediately. Houfy is not going to hold the funds

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If you send a paypal invoice is there a fee for payer or payee for a credit card? I pay my cleaner through paypal but use my checking account to avoid a fee.

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Stripe is a great company for credit card processing that you can integrate right into your website. Low rates, they don’t charge you for disputes, and very user friendly, unlike so many merchant services companies. If I was still doing e-commerce i would switch to Stripe in a heartbeat.

With Square you can do over the phone payments now (non-card present transactions) but the processing rates are slightly higher for these types of transactions. I’m sure Stripe as a back end interface that you can use as well, if you want to take CC’s over the phone.

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@cabinhost do you have a link to sign up for Houfy?

Last week I found two Houfy groups on Facebook. I applied for/requested permission to join the Facebook group for property owners last week. Thank you for the reminder to check to see if they approved me yet.

Thank for sharing a sample of the information they share.

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You can go directly to Houfy.com and select the join button

OR @cabinhost Can earn points (I’m not sure how the points work yet…) if you PM him your personal email & he sends you a link to the
“Invite your Friends to Houfy” site.

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@Barns

If you sign up; Learn from my mistakes. Before you invest a lot of time give them the link to your Airbnb listing & they can pull in much of your listing verbiage for you. Also there are links to sync the calendars and your pricing.

I had a nice surprise…my listing had received 15 views before I set up billing/payment options and pulled my Airbnb reviews over.

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@Brandt - we have a business PayPal account set up, and they charge3% of the invoiced amount plus 30 cents per invoice.

I think if you set up a personal account they don’t charge to transfer money, but you won’t get records (invoices, reports, etc) like you do with a business account.

We also have our staff on direct transfer with our bank and that doesn’t cost anything. They have an account with the same bank we do, so we just transfer to their account from ours - no checks needed.

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PayPal takes a cut. No one processes credit cards for free, do they? You can pass that on to the guest if you like, or absorb it and raise your rates a tad.

I pay my cleaner with Venmo.

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Exactly! People do not understand how easy it is to import their listing…they do not even have to manually upload. they can sign up for payments (no middleman) and then direct all departing guests to use their Houfy listing (no service fees)…and no crazy extenuating circumstances for hosts. And on top of that, it is developing into a social site.

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The people who join now have their own referral link. Both the new member and person who referred will gain points in joining through the link. And yes, the idea is to make this a member owned site. The site is still in inventory gathering phase, and almost 600 members are in the FB group giving feedback. The two man team is amazing. For example…a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that my lodging taxes increased twice within the same year. In January it was for the first of the year, and then October began the increase for the county. So…we went from 11.75% to 13% now…ugh!! However, owner of Houfy developed the software to accommodate this. I don’t know of any other site out there (where owners collect directly) that will allow two different tax rates for different seasons. Most owners have to back collect taxes or just eat them. Just an example of how you can be a part of something where your input is taken seriously…

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Just keep in mind that PayPal does not protect vacation rental transactions (for owner nor purchaser) - it is excluded and your are on your own with whichever way a dispute outcome is filed. Not to say that you aren’t on your own anyway with a regular credit card chargeback…but PayPal specifically excludes vacation rentals. I have been using PayPal and understand the risk.

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Just send me a PM if you have any issues accessing the group. One is called “Say Yes to Houfy” and this is a closed group. You have to already have imported your listing into Houfy. Then you are approved.

Another group is the “Houfy Vacation Rentals” group. Both guests and hosts can join. Basically, if you have open weeks as a host, last minute cancellation, or if you are a guest looking for accommodations for a certain time period, then you can post there. People will respond back with their listing, rates, etc. Actually, there are many groups on Facebook similar to the latter. People want to transact directly and not go through the middleman to pay service fees. The word has been getting out.

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they’re doing a competition at the moment, if you’re listed with HOUFY https://www.houfy.com/houfyinc/posts/chance-to-win-amazon-gift-certificates-at-houfy-11108

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First prize is a $750 Amazon gift certificate. Last contest, the houfy member won a free week stay at their choice of one Thijs’s rentals: Mexico, Colorado, Morocco, etc.

Anybody here is welcome to join.

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Actually - the prizes just got shifted around a bit. It’s now $1,000 for first place.

  • First Price: $1000
  • 2nd: $500
  • 3-7 $100

Starts Monday, February 4th, at 7 a.m.

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