A customer finds you on a marketplace, books a car, and the platform takes a cut of the hire. That might be acceptable once. The problem is what happens next time: when that same driver needs a car again, they go back to the app, not to you. You paid a commission to win a customer the platform kept.
Direct bookings - the ones that come through your own site - cost you no commission and build a list of customers who come back to you. Here is how to get more of them.
Work out what the commission is actually costing you
Before you change anything, put a number on the problem. A marketplace commission is a percentage of every booking you take through it, charged whether the customer would have found you anyway or not. Over a season that adds up to real money, often enough to cover a website several times over. Our commission calculator lets you put in your own booking volume and see the annual figure. Most owners are surprised, and it is the fastest way to justify sending people to your own site instead.
Give people a reason to book direct
A direct booking only happens if your own site is at least as easy as the app. That means the three answers a renter wants - what you have, whether it is free, and the price - have to be on the page, not behind a phone call. With Webkio the rental booking system is built in: set your fleet, locations and rates, and take reservations directly, with live availability so the same car is never booked twice.
Then give them something the marketplace cannot:
- A better price, because you are not paying a platform cut, so you can undercut your own marketplace listing and still earn more.
- The full fleet, not the handful of cars the app ranks highest.
- Your extras and terms - child seats, additional drivers, mileage, deposit - set out plainly so there are no surprises at the counter.
Capture the customers the platform introduced you to
You will not drop the marketplaces overnight, and you should not try. Use them for what they are good at, which is reach, and then convert those one-off renters into direct ones. The handover is your moment: a card in the car with your web address, a line on the confirmation, a reminder that next time it is cheaper to book direct. Because Webkio sends automatic confirmations and reminders, the channel to reach them again is already there.
Take the payment yourself
Part of "direct" is owning the money, not just the booking. On Webkio, customer payments go straight into your own Stripe account and Webkio never holds the funds. The platform fee is 2% per online payment on Starter, dropping to 1% from Growth Business, and a refundable deposit is an authorised hold rather than a captured charge, so it carries no fee at all. Set against a marketplace commission, taking payment on your own site is the cheaper channel by a wide margin.
The honest limit
A new site will not outrank an established marketplace on day one, and for a brand-new business the apps may bring bookings you genuinely could not get alone. Direct bookings are a compounding game: every customer you convert is one you keep the full margin on next time. The point is not to vanish from the platforms - it is to stop letting them keep customers you have already paid to win.
Start free and set your fleet up once; the reservation side is covered in product terms on the car rental website builder page.
FAQ
Are direct bookings really cheaper than marketplace bookings?
Yes. A direct booking carries no marketplace commission. On Webkio you pay a 2% platform fee per online payment, dropping to 1% from Growth Business, and the money lands in your own Stripe account rather than a platform's.
How do I get marketplace customers to book direct next time?
Use the handover and the confirmation email. A card in the car and a line on the automatic confirmation pointing to your site, ideally with a better direct price, is enough to shift repeat renters across.
Do I have to leave the marketplaces completely?
No, and most owners should not. Keep them for reach, especially early on, but treat every booking they send as a chance to win a direct customer for next time.
Read next
- How online payments increase car rental bookings - taking the money on your own site.
- Turn website visitors into car rental bookings - converting the traffic you already have.
- How small car rental companies compete with big brands - where an independent actually wins.