What To Look For in a Co-Host
There are a lot of hosts who want to manage your vehicles.
Though co-hosting can be a win/win for both parties, it is also fraught with risks. Think about it. Your’e sending your valuable asset to a total stranger, hoping they will manage it well and send your earnings to you as they should each month. There are many stories out there of hosts sending vehicles to that stranger only to have them sitting, unlisted, with ignored mechanical issues or recalls, and co-hosts simply not sending earnings and essentially stealing from the vehicle owner.
Here are things you need to look for if you’re thinking about sending your vehicle to a total stranger to manage for you:
HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN A HOST?
Ask this question and ask for proof. If the person who wants to manage your vehicle hasn’t been hosting for at least a year, or even two, don’t. They likely haven’t experienced all of the challenges that a host will experience.
HOW MANY TRIPS HAVE THEY COMPLETED?
This goes hand in hand with time as a host. Experience. So important. I think I was at about 100 completed trips before people began sending vehicles to me, but even that is probably too low. If I wanted to send a vehicle to someone, I wouldn’t even consider a host who hasn’t completed about 200 trips at minimum.
ARE THEY AN ALL-STAR HOST?
If they aren’t an All-Star, full stop. Don’t send your vehicle. All-Stars perform at the metrics necessary for your vehicle to have maximum booking activity, earnings, and superior guest experience. Hosts who can’t achieve, and maintain All-Star status (pretty easy to do)…well generally speaking there are reasons why. There are also exceptions, excellent hosts who lost it for legitimate reasons, but those are few.
I lost mine once because I had to cancel/decline a bunch of trips to go spend a couple of months with my dying mother. Stuff happens. Look for trends, not one-off occurrences.
WHAT IS THEIR STAR RATING?
You should be looking only at hosts with a 4.9 or better. Anything less than that and there are likely some issues that will affect your passive earnings.
HOW MANY VEHICLES IN THEIR FLEET ARE OWNED BY THEM?
There are hosts out there who cannot afford, or don’t have strong enough credit to finance their own vehicles so they hope to build their business with other people’s assets. This is a red flag about their ability to manage finances well. Think about it. Do you really want someone who cannot manage their own finances to be in control of yours? Personally, I’d be looking for at least a 70/30 ratio or higher, with at least 70% of their fleet owned by them.
DO THEY HAVE EXPERIENCE CO-HOSTING?
Everyone begins somewhere. The first person to send me a vehicle was, well, my first. But if the person you’re considering already has experience doing this, even better.
ARE THEY WILLING TO BE VETTED?
We actually had someone refuse to provide his Turo link in a Facebook group once, when asking for vehicles to be sent to him, and he commented publicly, “I stopped allowing myself to be vetted a long time ago.” Mmmmkay….buh-bye. Before you agree to send a vehicle, ask them for their Turo link and contact information of others whom they’ve managed vehicles for.
Please be sure to take the time to do your due diligence and make good choices when your’e choosing someone to manage your vehicle for you and deposit money into your account every month!