@Miki M. there was a panic when VRBO announced their guest service fees and I'll be honest, I wondered if it was going to affect the number of inquiries and bookings we would receive through VRBO. VRBO just did a crappy job of rolling out that fee and it surprised most owners. I didn't know about it until I sent out a quote and a guest asked about the fee.
I wouldn't exactly say the guest fee is hidden, but VRBO doesn't come right out and mention it on the front page. Guests usually won't see this fee until they get the price quote and there's only a few places where VRBO mentions possible additional fees and taxes, but this is similar to AirBnB and others too.
I would suggest that you (and any other owner) list in the "additional information about rental fees" section of your VRBO listing that there is a VRBO fee and the percentage of the rental rate is can be. We've actually had a few guests tell us they booked with us just because we "warned" them in this section about the guest service fee.
As for an owner, I haven't encountered any hidden fees for us. We've always just paid the annual listing fee and that's it.
Definitely try it out and I suggest trying other platforms out too. See what has the most listings in your area as that's the platform that may get you the most exposure.
Best of luck and hope this helps!
