Should I add Washing machine charges?

[Jaimee1]

I'm interested in finding out how many other hosts out there charge for washing machine usage if it's not an amenity you offer as part of your room fee?

[Lois-and-Darryl0]

We do offer our washing maching and dryer as an amenity.  We've had about one-fourth of our guests use it.  And we think offering it, and the soap, free of charge, is a boon to make our Guests happy with their stay.  I'm not sure if I would actually charge for it.  It can't really cost that much to use, so that feels to me like a way to try to nickel and dime your Guests.  They already pay much extra than their nightly fee.  You might consider either not offering it at all, maybe express your concern about it getting broken or something.  Or consider offering it as an amenity.  Many of our visitors are traveling and really appreciate the convenience, but so far, out of 14 bookings, we haven't had one person take advantage of it. 

[Amber26]

I'm also curiois about what other hosts do. I stayed with a woman who said the first load is free and additional loads are $1

[Matthew285]

@Lois-and-Darryl0 Your comment is very helpful, and I wanted to make sure I understood everything you were saying.

At the top of the comment you mention that you offer your washer/dryer and that "about one-fourth of our guests use it".

At the end of your comment, you say "but so far, out of 14 bookings, we haven't had one person take advantage of it".

Is there a different thing you are offering in the last 14 bookings (that no one is using) that is different from the washer/dryer ?

[Carol872]

Disagree, we charge £10 per load to wash and dry. It cost us £2000 to get it installed and that cost has to be recovered. The machines only have a short life span and so you have to charge to make sure you are not continually out of pocket.

[Charlie231]

Carol, we are in California near Yosemite. A guest just got angry when I told her that we charge $5 to wash and dry, a little less than what you charge. Yep, washers break, and with all of the fires California has had, our power is getting expensive. 

[Marjan27]

My airbnb guest just wanted to do two loud of laundry while he's staying at my place just for 10 days! I'm so mad. It's just misusing the system. He had just two black shirts and two white shirts and he wants to wash them separately! He couldn't pack couple of shirts extra for his two weeks trip?

Water and Electricity is very expensive in Southern California. I have just one loud of laundry per week and I live here. My washer is huge and it takes a lot of water. 

I think it's very fair to ask for money if they want to do laundry.  And Ask for a good money then they will double think about washing many shirts. My laundry is in my kitchen, that means he will spend most of the day in front of me at the kitchen. I'm so tired of this Airbnb!

[Karen77]

I offer the use of my washer and dryer free of charge.  Rarely does anyone take me up on that.  Those who have have done one small load each.  

[Sandra126]

Since you don't charge very much for the room I think it is fair to charge extra for washing. There are some places who do it for the guests, and return it dry and folded at a higher fee, but offer guests to go to the public laundrymat if they prefer. Most use the inhouse service from what I have read. Others let the guests use the laundry for free, but that needs to have a limit on it as hosts report here on the forum guests who wash a pair of pants every day, sort of thing. ATO deem a load of washing to be $1 cost, so I can only assume that is a reaonable actual expense. Not drying included in that. I see that you charge $5, is that dried as well? You could charge slightly more that laundrymat costs without any issues.

If you have longer staying travellers they will want to wash clothes. If you are near beach activities they may fill the machine with sand. Better for you to to the washing, that way you can check pockets etc so the machine doesn't get broken. I depend on the washing machine and only very rarely have I let guests use it! But when I do, it is free.

sorry about the slightly rambling message.

[Khong0]

I don't charge my guest for using the washer that i have in my unit. i provide as an added value thingy. It's either you don't put a washer there or try to factor the cost into your daily stay rates if you plan to put it there. If you are staying in the same unit and hosting out only room then charging would be ok but if you not are staying together with the guest then i suggest you doing it like what i just suggested as some guest will definitely use whatever that is in your property regardless of whether with permission or not because they will always think that products in the rented space are for use, after all, from a guest point of view, why put it there if it is not for the guest to use. my 2 cents.

[Sandra126]

@Khong0, this is just a room on a house, not the whole space. Otherwise I agree with you definitely.

[Khong0]

Here's an example of how i might charge. I would check the price offered by the laundries by machine and will use that price as a baseline with additional markup as a precaution for repairs afterwards as it is privately used by me and providing use to guest is just an added value. And i would explain it to the guest why i charge it higher compared to the laundromat, base on experience some users might not know how to operate the washer/doesn't take good care of the machine while using it so it is deemed to have some form of damage that requires repair so charging it extra seems to be fair. Then i would suggest them an option to do their laundry at a nearby laundromat/inhouse housekeep which charges slightly cheaper. That way the guest will have choices and if they don't mind paying extra to use yours then i think it's ok, if they mind then they have other options from you where they can send it to the nearby laundromat/inhouse keeping. 

[Kelly58]

In my house, where I rent a room for an average of $23/night I word it like this in my House Rules:

"3. I'd be happy to do any of your laundry for FREE if I can include it in mine to help make a full load. I separate out several colors and fabrics. Please just let me know ahead of time so I can be sure to accommodate your needs and wants as best as possible. Otherwise, washer and dryer are available at $2 per washer load & $3 per dryer load."

[Jane255]

I started by offering everything free...until privileges were abused. I had a 2 night guest with an infant. Not only did she do 10 loads of laundry, but I couldn't get her to start laundry early on her check out day and she stayed all day. Washer and dryer are now off the amenities. I will offer them verbally if guests stay 4+ nights.

[Lana7]

I'm with you Jane.  I used to offer my washing machine as an amenity - but a nearby fellow host friend of mine told me the story of how they had someone completely abuse that privlidge with them, and ran the washing machine 24 hours a day, actually going out and bringing  back  bags of laundry (in other words, he was running a commercial laundry busines) -  the guest then tried to call airbnb and claim that he was never able to check in and demanded a full refund.    a total scam .

But my local laundrette charges £4/load for a wash and about £2-£3/load for dry (depending on how wet and what type of cloth)  - say £7 for a load to wash and dry.  Now, if you had about 4 or 5 loads of wash to do, that's £35 -  or you could find a £30/night airbnb that lets you use their washing machine, and do as many loads as you can in that one night.

I'm quite lucky, because I don't have a tumble drier, it would be difficult for people to do that.  I have a small washing machine, and a drying rack.   However, I decided that It could easily come off the list.  If I have guests staying for more than 4 or 5 days, I'll offer it to them free of charge for a few loads.   Anybody else is directed to the local laundrette, which is only about 80m from my front door.

L.