What happens to your hosting fees

[Airbnb]

At a recent Host Q&A event in Sydney, Ben, a Superhost from Brisbane, Australia, asked a great question: What happens to the money Airbnb collects from hosts and guests as service fees? We thought it was such a fantastic question, we wanted to share a few behind-the-scenes details with you here.

You probably know that as a host you’re charged a service fee whenever a booking or Experience is confirmed. For home hosts, the fee amount is usually 3%*, and for Experience hosts, it’s 20%. In most cases, guests are also charged a service fee when they book on Airbnb. A full breakdown of the fee model, can be found in our Help Center. 

So what exactly happens to the money that’s collected? We redeploy it into three big categories that help support you as a host and an entrepreneur: community support, marketing, and product development. Here’s a closer look at how your fees are deployed to help power Airbnb:

Community Support

One of our top priorities is making sure we can support you if you have questions or need support.  As we mentioned at our last Host Q&A event, we're investing a substantial amount of resources into our Community Support team to ensure we’re there when you need us, and that we can help you with your question or concern smoothly and efficiently. In the past year, for instance:

• In the last few years, we’ve tripled the size of the Community Support team to help you get answers more quickly, in your preferred language. (And it’s helped: over our peak holiday season this past year, for instance, 80% of calls were answered in less than one minute; and this year, we’re committed to improve this even more.)
• We built a new process online to make it easier to connect with us—via phone or our online chat system—and help you get to the right person, right away. Now you can find the phone number you need and access the chat system almost immediately.
• And finally, we launched new tools so our agents can easily understand a hosts’ issue and can respond efficiently and consistently.

We will continue to make improvements and invest in our Community Support team. In fact, one improvement that’s happening right now is that we’re splitting the team into areas of expertise. This will help us connect you more quickly with the right person to address your particular concern. We’ll be using an intelligent routing system to direct your question to a Community Support agent who is specially trained to address your question. We’ll be introducing this program globally in the next few months.

What other ideas do you have for improving the Community Support experience? We’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments section, below.

Marketing

Another topic we know hosts care a lot about is getting enough bookings to meet their individual goals. We help to drive that through significant investments in marketing to guests. Through our marketing teams, we ensure that guests around the world think about Airbnb first when they’re making their vacation plans. We focus mainly on three types of marketing:

• Marketing to guests in the ‘real world’, through traditional advertising channels (think TV ads, billboards). These are typically tailored to specific local markets. Already this year, for instance, we’ve had major ad campaigns in Mexico and Brazil, and there are more that will roll out around the world later this year.
• Marketing to guests in the ‘digital world.’ We also have close partnerships with Facebook, Google, the iTunes app store, and other digital platforms to ensure that Airbnb has a strong presence in the places where our guests and other travelers are spending time online. It’s crucial that Airbnb—and your listings—show up high in search results when travelers are looking to book trips and that’s why we spend meaningful money here on your behalf.
• Marketing to guests through Airbnb-specific channels. The Airbnb website and app and email are the other channels we use to help drive guest demand and additional bookings to you. On the website and in the app, we create travel-inspiration articles and collections of listings travelers search for frequently, such as beachfront properties. We also send booking reminder emails when guests have been searching for a place to stay but haven’t booked yet.

Product development

Finally, our last significant bucket of spend is around product development. Airbnb employs thousands of engineers, designers, and product leaders who build the tools and infrastructure that power your business. They focus on keeping Airbnb up and running (ensuring our technology platform is strong, fixing issues that arise), and they develop products specifically designed to make it easier for you to host and succeed.

Recent examples include tools to make reviews more fair for hosts and the newly redesigned Guidebooks feature. The latter helps hosts give guests local recommendations and create a more welcoming, memorable experience overall. (It’s also a lot of fun to use!)

Let us know if you have any other questions about fees and how Airbnb spends them in the comments section, below. We love to get your feedback.

*The Airbnb host service fee may be different in certain cases, and is typically higher for hosts in Italy and for hosts who have a Super Strict Cancellation Policy.

[Jori7]

Not to mention the worst customer service  I have ever experienced. The way their customer service treat their host is absurd. Makes me wonder how they are still in business. 

[Denise413]

I think you are being unreasonable the amount they take is not that much, and we get a very good service for it I have had no problems at all, always supported when ever a problem arises.

[Susan17]

@Denise413 

Please see the screenshots I posted further down for proof that the amount they take is indeed up to 25% per booking. 

[Ann72]

@Denise413 3% from the host is indeed modest.  But what they take from guests is rapacious.

Guests have pushed back on this, and Airbnb is planning to dump the whole 20%+ on the host.

Thats a very high commission.  

[Esther-Rose0]

I agree. AirBnb is a buisness and they are entitled to make profit.   I deal with other sites that their fees are highter and the service is not half as good.  Now, if anyone is ot happy with the service or service fres, they are entitled to their opinion and all they have to do is not deal with this company.   The work behind Airbnb and customer service is excellent.  I am a co-hose to  properties and one of the properties had a bad experience with damage to the apartment.   The company dealt wit the compalint in an efficient and timely manner, so part of the service fees go thowards this as well and other expenses.   

[Alex972]

There are always those who complain about everything. 

[Alex972]

There are always those who complain about everything!

[Kathryn125]

Then do your own marketing if you feel you are not getting a good deal with Airbnb.

[Susan17]

As per my response to Tony above..  not quite as simple as that @Kathryn125 , particularly in cities that have been long since over-saturated with Airbnbs, driving prices down to unsustainable levels. Besides, after almost a decade of exemplary service to Airbnb, one should reasonably expect to be getting enough business from their platform, not to be forced by them to go elsewhere, don't you think? 

[Penelope68]

You could just do ordinary B&B. It is a different price bracket and attracts a different type of guest and your money is your own, once you have met the requirements to be registered as such. You have plenty of experience. Why not use it? 

[Manasui0]

they do upgrades and develoment on communication and upgrading our quality to make a better community as a whole, then just putting those money to just their pocket needs.. I mean every body works for some value.. money is the most common value as why people works.. but they did their part, although imperfect they are getting better.. compare to others that has stood so long and does bully their host, to protect their interest.. is not like their holding a gun to our head a ask us to go only with Airbnb. we still have choice, don't we? 

how many percent should airbnb charge us then? so is considered fare..

[Denise801]

As of now, I know they charge up to 23%! Is that fair? NO!!!

[Guillem2]

What an uninformed comment to make. I don't always agree with various systems that Airbnb has in place, but I never think the fees that both Hosts And Guests pay is too much... In fact, I am in wonder at how the company supports so many people who are always available to help.

[Susan17]

@Guillem2 

One thing I'm not, is uninformed. So you don't think Airbnb taking between 20% - 25% from each booking (host and guest fees) is too much? Or aren't you aware of that? 

[Guillem2]

Review your numbers, you aren't as well informed as you think.

Or maybe you would like to start up a complex online company such as Airbnb.

Everything can be improved in any system, but you somehow sound like a disgruntled Host. If so, don't take advantage any longer of the benefits that you receive from Airbnb.