Legal
How we are paid
The commission and conflicts policy, in full.
How we are paid
You pay us an annual membership fee. It is published on the membership page. That is the whole of our income from you, and the whole of our income in respect of you.
What we do not accept
We do not accept commission, referral fees, introduction fees, spotter’s fees, rebates, marketing contributions or any other payment from any supplier, in any form, whether or not it is called a commission.
This includes villa agencies and owners, hotels, restaurants, beach clubs, nightlife venues, yacht brokers and owners, car and transport firms, event promoters, ticket agencies, retailers and service providers of every kind.
Mark-up
We do not mark up third-party costs. Where a supplier invoices you, you pay what they charge. Where, exceptionally, we pay something on your behalf, we pass it on at cost and we show you the invoice.
If a payment is offered
We decline it.
Some arrangements are structured so that a payment cannot be declined — certain marine and accommodation contracts, for instance, build the intermediary’s share into the price and will not pay it out any other way. Where that happens, we credit the amount against your fees, and we tell you at the time rather than at the year end.
The commission register
We keep a register. Every offer of a payment made to us goes into it, with the supplier, the amount or basis, the date, and what we did about it.
Members may ask to see the register at any time, and we will send it within five working days.
Our staff
Our staff may not accept payments from suppliers. Gifts and hospitality above a nominal value are recorded in a separate register, which is subject to the same inspection right. Anyone who does not follow this does not work here.
Why we do it this way
Not for the moral credit. For a practical reason.
The moment somebody other than you is paying us, every recommendation we make carries a second reason that you cannot see. The villa that pays thirty per cent gets shown before the villa that pays twenty. Nobody needs to be dishonest for that to happen; it happens by gravity. Removing the second payment is the only reliable way to remove the second reason.
You can read the arithmetic in full in How commission works on this coast.
If this ever changes
We will tell you before it changes, not after, and we will change this page on the same day.