Frequently asked.
Short answers. Honest about what v1 does and doesn't do yet. If something's missing, ask directly — we'll add it here.
Pricing & cohort
What does it cost?
$50/year for Plus, $100 for Pro, $250 for Premier — all per-listing. If you're in the founding cohort (first 1,000 listings on the platform), you're free for 1–3 years depending on signup order. After the founding window closes at listing #1,000, full pricing applies to new signups.
What's the catch if it's free?
No catch. Founding cohort is free for 1–3 years depending on signup order. After that, $50–$250/yr per listing. We're hand-onboarding hosts before activating Stripe, so even if the founding window closes before we turn payments on, you're unbilled until we flip that switch.
What do the founding-cohort tiers include?
First 100 listings → 3 years of Premier free. Listings #101–500 → 2 years of Pro free. Listings #501–1,000 → 1 year of Plus free. Each tier has different photo limits and placement; all tiers include unlimited contracts + unlimited templates.
Can I upgrade mid-year?
Yes — upgrades land mid-period and you keep the higher tier's benefits immediately. Prorated billing kicks in once paid tiers are activated (founding-window hosts are unbilled today). Cohort benefits stay locked to tier of origin: if you upgrade a founding Plus listing to Pro, the Plus cohort discount doesn't transfer upward to Pro once paid tiers activate.
What happens if I cancel?
Listing goes inactive at the end of the current billing period. Your contracts and guest records stay preserved — you can reactivate anytime. No data deletion on cancel.
Payments & money
Who holds the money?
Stripe Connect direct payout. We never touch it. You keep 100% minus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. We're a facilitator, not an escrow.
Can I take payment outside the platform?
Yes. The platform is contract-first, not payment-locked. You can run the signed-contract flow with us and collect payment however you prefer — Zelle, ACH, cash, check, or Stripe through us. Your call.
Will you charge a booking fee?
No. Unlike Airbnb (~15% host fee) or Vrbo (5–8%), we charge a flat annual listing fee and take zero percent of your bookings. Guests don't see an added service fee on our checkout either.
Contracts & trust
Is the signature legally binding?
Yes. Our signing flow follows ESIGN/UETA standards: every signed contract has a full audit trail showing signer identity (email + IP + user-agent), ESIGN consent timestamps, and a chronological event log. Hosts and registered guests can view it directly in the app; external guests (those who signed off-platform via invitation link without creating an account) receive the signed PDF with the watermark contract-ID anchor for their records. See how signing works →
What if the guest damages the place?
Governed by the rental agreement you both signed. Our job is making that agreement enforceable (signed, audit-trailed, PDF). v1 doesn't do damage arbitration — the dispute is between you and the guest. We plan to add optional damage-waiver insurance as a facilitated add-on later; not in v1.
What's your dispute process?
We don't adjudicate host-guest disputes — the signed contract is what governs. If a guest disputes a Stripe payment, that runs through Stripe's chargeback process (which we don't mediate). For platform-level issues (bugs, account problems), our Trust & Safety page has the intake path.
Do you verify guest identity?
Yes — guests can opt into ID verification, and we encourage it for stays where it matters (high-value rentals, first-time bookings). Photo ID is stored encrypted, accessible only to platform admins for dispute-resolution purposes, and retained while the account is active. Disclosed in our Privacy Policy. Host-gated requirement (forcing a listing to only accept ID-verified guests) is on the roadmap; not in v1.
Is my data safe?
TLS in transit, Ory Kratos for authentication, PII access restricted to platform admins. Not SOC 2 certified yet — small team, launch posture. If your use case requires certified compliance posture, let us know and we'll tell you honestly where we are.
Compared to other tools
I already use DocuSign. Why switch?
Same legal status, 1/3 the price, vacation-rental-specific. Guest info auto-fills from the booking. Free during the founding window — try it in parallel with your DocuSign for a month. If our tool doesn't replace what you use DocuSign for, don't switch.
I already use OwnerRez / Hostaway / Lodgify. Does this replace them?
No. Those are property management systems — they handle channels, calendars, cleaning, messaging. We don't do any of that in v1. We replace your DocuSign line item, not your PMS. They coexist: ship your listings through your PMS, send your contracts through us.
Does this replace Airbnb?
Not head-to-head. Airbnb is a marketplace with massive guest reach; we're a direct-booking contract tool with a small (for now) guest audience. Most hosts we talk to use both — Airbnb for new-guest reach, us for repeat guests and book-direct transactions to save the ~15% Airbnb fee. As our marketplace density grows, that balance shifts.
Why should I list with you vs Shore Summer Rentals or VRLBI?
Those are regional listing directories — good at what they do. We add the contract-signing tool, audit trail, guest-portal booking flow, and (over time) platform-wide discovery as bookyour.place grows into a multi-market network. You don't have to pick: list on both.
Platform mechanics
How does iCal sync work?
Pull iCal feeds from Airbnb, Vrbo, OwnerRez, or any PMS that exports one. Our system imports blocked dates so your calendar on bookyour.place stays in sync with your other platforms. Setup takes ~2 minutes per listing.
Can I bring my own contract template?
Yes. Upload your existing PDF or paste your terms into our template editor. Our built-in "starter" template is a reasonable default for Jersey Shore rentals but it's not legal advice and you should review/adjust it for your situation.
How do reviews work?
Bidirectional: hosts review guests, guests review hosts. Full edit history is preserved and we don't suppress negative reviews. Listing ranking and search relevance are under active iteration; see our Trust & Safety page for the current posture. Review density is light today (pre-launch); grows with the platform.
What if I need help?
Contact Paul directly — small team, direct founder access during launch. Email support is listed on the contact page. Priority support is a Pro+ tier benefit for future-pricing reference, not gated during the founding window.
Still have questions?
Email us directly — or just list a property, the contract tool is free during the founding window.