USVI-On-Line

Its been awhile since I was there but in the old days there would always be boat captain guys in the park trying to get people to go boating with them. I asked a captain why they did it that way once and he told me that if someone else called him to book a trip for people they had to pay a commission 20%. Nowadays all the boat guys have web sites and internet ads which probably costs a lot of money. But all the stuff you need to know is there so you can book yourself and not have someone else make the phone call for you and take 20% commission from the guy who owns the boat. I have seen lots of people here and on the other forums hooking up sharing charters all by themself. I figured the boat guys were helping to keep track of the people asking and helping hook them up also. It all seemed to be working out good. Ive seen Pia advertising here and I know she is freinds with a lot of people. I know it doesnt cost the people who want to go on a trip any more money but its not really free because if everyone starts using someone else to book there trips for them all of a sudden and 20% is coming out of the boat guys pocket every time won’t prices eventually go up? Can I ask if any boat captain can tell me if it still works like this or am I wrong?

Not a boat captain, but I think your supposition only works if the boat captain was only able to get a charter thru an intermediary or single channel...a lot of these guys get charters via repeat business, referrals, word of mouth, search engine/website, social media, intermediaries or saying hello to someone at the bar...and I don't think they turn their noses up at any of these channels when it comes to securing some guests, especially a new customer. A charter's a charter and the cost of acquisition via advertising will always be much higher than the vig someone like Pia would charge for a sure thing...and these captains are not dumb, they're not going to let the finder's fee cut too far into their profit margin.

Another way to look at it...did the Villa Finder companies make the the cost of villas go up overall? If that was the case, I'd think all Villa Owners would be only use VRBO or search to get their guests.

Only thing that makes prices go up are gas prices, inflation and the laws of supply and demand.