Costs for heating, electricity, and water charged as to consumption

[Marianne676]

Hi, 

how can I charge the guest the costs for heating, el, and water consumption - and how can I state it so the guest can see it when making the reservation?

And can I charge a deposit to cover these costs?

Best regards Marianne

[Huma0 · Accepted solution]

@Marianne676 

Technically, Airbnb policy does not allow hosts to collect a deposit (unless you are a 'mega host', but that's a whole other topic). However, I know some hosts do collect a deposit directly from the guest.

In terms of charging for use of utilities, there are already a few recent discussions on this topic. Try doing a search here for them with key words. If you have no luck with that (the search function isn't that great), try searching via google or other engine with the key words and include airbnb community.

[Fred13]

Many things fall under 'the cost of doing business' and maybe charging for them individually may open a Pandora's Box that would be hard to close, like when a guest elects to challenge a specific charge and then the burden of proof falls on the host's shoulder. As to actual deposits, suppose the guest under uses a feature covered by the deposit or for that matter far exceeds the amount of it, then what? No wonder Airbnb wants no part of them, they have great potential for a slew of guest-host conflicts written all over them specially if either party lacks absolute integrity.

My costs are built-in what I charge and if my price is in error I change it.