Booking channels charge fees for marketing your listings. These fees are called "channel commissions" and can vary in amount from channel to channel. For example, Tripadvisor's commission is 3% of each reservation while Vrbo changes approximately 5% of each reservation (calculated on the accommodation fare and cleaning fee only).
Tip:
Use markups to cover the cost of channel commissions.
In Guesty, channel commission is managed in the "Financial settings" page within the Financials mode.
Channel commission for integrated channels
Some channels deduct their commission when collecting guest payments and transfer the remainder to you. This is called "pre-deducting." These channels communicate to Guesty that the commission was deducted, so the channel commission appears as a negative value in the guest folio breakdown or guest invoice.
In Guesty's "Channel commission" page, these channels are displayed as "Channel collect".
Other channels charge their commission separately from guest payments, and will bill you directly. For these channels, configure the commission either in the channel or in Guesty in order to reflect it in the guest folio breakdown or guest invoice.
If Guesty's "Channel commission" page indicates that the commission is calculated by the channel, configure the setting on the channel directly if possible (in some channels the configuration is set for you and can't be edited).
Otherwise, configure the commission in Guesty as explained below.
Channel commission for direct or manual sources
You can also configure a channel commission for direct or manual sources such as the Guesty Booking Engine (Booking Website for Lite users) or a third-party agency that is not integrated with Guesty. For channel commissions for these sources, create the channel commission on the account level and pre-deduct it based on your business needs.
If you are required to pay tax on top of your channel commission, you can add it in the "PMC tax" field.
How channel commission is presented in the guest folio breakdown or guest invoice
If you choose to pre-deduct, Guesty will know to represent the commission in the guest folio breakdown or the guest invoice as a negative amount. The reservation's total will then be calculated minus the commission. If a reservation is made through a booking channel that pre-deducts their commission, Guesty will represent this information in the guest invoice if it is provided by the channel.
Configuring channel commission in Guesty
You can set default channel commissions for all listings by setting these values on the account level (Pro users only). If certain listings require a unique setup, you can set those specific configurations per listing. Channel commission can be added on the following items:
- Total payout
- Accommodation fare
- Cleaning fee
- Cancellation fee
- All additional fees
- All taxes
You can select multiple items on which to apply the commission.
Important:
The Vrbo commission in Guesty is calculated based on the accommodation fare and cleaning fee only, though Vrbo may calculate the commission on all invoice items. Therefore, the channel commission in Guesty and in Vrbo may not match.
Adding channel commissions to your account (Pro users only)
Follow the instructions below to add channel commissions to your entire account.
Step by step:
- Sign in to your Guesty account.
- In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Financials mode.
- Click Financial settings and select Channel commissions.
- In the top-right corner, click Edit.
- Edit the percentage amount for each channel's commission and add a PMC tax if relevant.
- Click Save.
Adding channel commissions to a listing
Follow the instructions below to add channel commission per listing.
Step by step:
- Sign in to your Guesty account.
- In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Operations mode.
- Click Properties.
- Click the relevant listing. For a multi-unit, access the listing's main settings. The change will be applied to the sub-units.
- In the menu on the left, click Pricing & Policies, then click Commissions.
- In the "Channel commission" section, click Edit.
- Switch off the Use your account's default settings toggle.
- Edit the relevant settings.
- Click Save.
If you set up channel commission on a listing and then decide to use the account settings instead, the account settings will override the listing's settings, but the listing's settings will still appear in the property page.
Step by step:
- Sign in to your Guesty account.
- In the top navigation bar, click
. - Hover over the relevant listing and click
. - In the menu on the left, click Pricing & Policies, then click Commissions.
- In the "Channel commission" section, click Edit.
- Edit the relevant settings.
- Click Save.