Listing problem .....

[Liz6854]

I have been in touch with some ambassadors over my listing price.  It's been £85 ever since I started and now, for over a month, the price is showing as £100 and as a result my bookings are really down.   

I have asked continuously for it to be changed back to £85 as it must be a technical issue.  I've been onto my pricing, doubled checked everything and made sure I don't have any discounts, or specialist pricing issues which could be affecting it from my end.

Can anyone help here?  I've checked with other listings and many of them seem to have the same issue - the prices in bold are the uplifted price, including airbnb's charges but are always slightly more than they should be.  Eg:  My uplift price with 14% should be £97 but I'm listed as £100.  The second figure, the nightly charge multiplied by number of nights is correct.  

Thanks in advance.

Liz

[Liz6854]

No cleaning fee.  I have a double room + own shower room within my house.  It's not a separate unit.  

The one price of £85 covers everything - no additional fees or discounts given - couldn't be simpler!

If there's a cleaning fee it should go to me as I clean the room and not airbnb!

[Joan2709]

@Liz6854 

The Host decides if they want to charge a cleaning fee or not. It's under Additional Fees on your calendar. The Host always receives the cleaning fee.

Below is a screen shot of another listing in London that does charge a cleaning fee and it is appearing as a separate line item still?

Your situation definitely sounds like a bug to me. 

[Liz6854]

I don't have any other fees listed because I don't have any other fees.  Simply my price and then airbnb's service charge.   That's all.

[Liz6854]

On the example you sent above, airbnb are charging fees on both accommodation and cleaning fees but again, they are more than 14%. 

A 14% uplift would only be $23.80 - rounded up to $24 and not $26.00.

If you're getting this from Canada then it must be across the board on any booking .....

[Joan2709]

@Liz6854 

The screen shot was from another London listing. Generally the Airbnb Service Fee is 14.2%. I am viewing from U.S. so they would also add a cross-currency fee to the Airbnb Service Fee?

Here an Airbnb article that talks about Service Fees, VAT charges and the addl cross currency fees:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1857

That said, none of this should affect your base price of $85.

[Liz6854]

Helpful, thank you.

[Liz6854 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Joan2709 and anyone else following this thread.  I finally have the answer from support after six weeks of trying!

Accommodation in the UK is not usually subject to VAT at 20%.

However Airbnb business here is considered as 'holiday accommodation' which is not exempt.  Therefore the 14.2% guest service charge and host 3% charge are both subject to VAT at 20%.  This now makes the sums correct as in effect the service charge on £85 is 14.2% x 20% = 17.4% which gives a total of £99.79 rounded up to £100.   

I have pointed out that the statement 'Airbnb Service Charge' should also state 'inclusive of taxes' or even more specifically there should be a separate line for the VAT element.

It's a shame for me as a two figure price is always more attractive than a three figure price and my reservations are way down on last year.  I'm keeping fingers crossed that they will pick up.

Thanks so much for all your help - its been much appreciated.

Best

Liz

[Joan2709]

@Liz6854 

Thank you so much for passing that along! 

I'm not in the UK so was not knowlegable about how the VAT charges work. In the US Taxes are not shown in the thumbnail price but are displayed as "Occupancy Taxes" as a separate line item on the Reservation details. Taxes are not applied to the Airbnb Service Fee in the US (only nightly rate & cleaning fee). I agree that it would be helpful if Airbnb would note that on the listing thumbnail, so guests are aware. I suppose you can note it somewhere in your listing description, but many guests won't see that. I guess you could lower your price by $1 so it shows as $99 instead of $100?

I finally found the Airbnb Help article that mentions what you did; that VAT is charged on the Airbnb Service Fee in some countries:

VAT

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/481#section-heading-0-1:

"Additionally, Airbnb is required to collect VAT on its service fees in countries that tax electronically supplied services. Currently, that includes all countries in the EU, Albania, Chile, Colombia, Iceland, Mexico, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, and Uruguay.'

[Paula]

Thank you so much for the update @Liz6854 😊