AirBNB stealing money from Hosts via the exchange rate? You decide:-

[Michael-And-Mariluz0]

7 May 2021

**[Conversation with CS removed in line with Community Center Guidelines]

[Elaine701]

Everybody does this. PayPal, credit cards, etc... 

Like "commission free" currency exchanges. You just get a horrible exchange rate instead of paying "commission".

Luckily, the vast majority of our guests are Europeans, using the Euro. No exchange rate nonsense. 

But then... I've never seen this... when guests pay in other currencies. We still get the same amount in euros. We don't even know what currency they've paid with. Here in Europe, Airbnb must charge the guests the exchange rate, not the hosts. 

?? 

[Michael-And-Mariluz0]

Most transactions i have with Airbnb have been reasonable. Lately, all around  1.38 usd/£, but two have been 1.54 or 1.6USD/£. That's disproportionate, £300 difference to what it should be for the 1.6/£ transaction. I make transactions with banks where they might take a small percentage but 1.6 compared to 1.39 on a large sum of money is wrong.

[Cave0]

I may be mistaken, but this situation can arise where the listing currency and the payout currency chosen by the host are different. 

So, if the listing currency is USD but the payout currency is, for example, GBP a conversion takes place at the point of payout. 

Where the listing currency is the same as the payout currency, I am not aware that there's ever any difference between the "guest paid" amount and the "Host payout" 

It is possible to change the payout after the booking is taken and get paid in a different currency to that in which the reservation was made, this too will clearly involve a conversion at the point of payout.

[Michael-And-Mariluz0]

You are not mistaken, my listing is in USD and payout in GBP, but the excuse is that the exchange rate fluctuates, but from the time the guest booked and the time the payout was made the rate didn't fluctuate by my than 0.01USD. The rate was consistently 1.38-1.39 usd/£. Yet for this transaction the rate was 1.6USD/£ 

All other recent transactions we've had with airbnb have been circa 1.38

[Angelica-Y-Jorge0]

@Michael-And-Mariluz0 I think I'm missing something. If you change your payout to GBP you will not have this problem. Why do you leave it in USD?

I send money via XE all the time and they post the exchange rate but when you send money they provide a lower rate and take their cut. Any service that provides money exchange does this to make money and protect itself from fluctuation. I would not call this theft it is simply a universal business practice. Why would Airbnb be any different?

[Michael-And-Mariluz0]

Jorge, 

We list our property in USD because most of our customers are from North America, we live in the UK so it makes sense to get paid out in GBP.

If you use XE to send money i expect you probably have to pay about 3% commission. In the case i mention above we're being charged about 15% on a considerable amount of money, ie Air BNB are taking £300 or 417 USD from us

So tell me, why should AirBNB be any different?

[Michael-And-Mariluz0]

I’m sorry I thought the purpose of this forum was for hosts and clients to air genuine grievances so that they could get useful advice about how to resolve a problem, but it appears to me to be just for respondent sycophants to lick airbnb’s council gritter

[Angelica-Y-Jorge0]

@Michael-And-Mariluz0 You are creating your own problem then complaining to everyone about it. You are getting mad when people don't agree with your incorrect assumption. Airbnb has provided a solution and you want to come on here and complain.

Your answer makes no sense simply list your property and payout in GPB if an American guest views it from the US Airbnb converts it for them to USD, If I view it in Canada is shows in CAD. Basically, Airbnb does the work to list it in the local currency the guest has their profile set up in, Airbnb will bill that guest in their currency and will pay you the amount you have advertised in GPB. The solution is that simple.

Please keep an open mind and do your research prior to insulting the community trying to help you.

[Sarah977]

@Michael-And-Mariluz0  I agree that Airbnb's currency conversions are often suspect, although I couldn't say what exactly is happening in your case.

I had a guest who had had a hassle previously with Airbnb regarding this. She was American, paying in US dollars, the host was American, getting paid out in US dollars. So there was zero need for any money to be converted. Yet they had charged the guest a currency conversion fee, and told her it was because the listing's location was in Mexico, and they wouldn't back down. That's absurd- no funds were "converted".

I would suggest that you change the currency you are listing in- there is no need whatsover to list in the currency of most of your guests. As @Angelica-Y-Jorge0 have pointed out, guests see the pricing on their end in whatever currency jives with their account.

And just because you don't like all the answers you are given, doesn't mean anyone here is some Airbnb shill- just other hosts trying to help you out. No need to be insulting to those who have taken the time to do that.

[Michael-And-Mariluz0]

Thanks for your comments Sarah.

If i change my listing to GBP then it appears in the USA in USD then Airbnb has to do the conversion. If they use 1.6usd/£ then my customer is being charged for the disproportionate exchange rate or my customer decides not to book because it’s too expensive?

[Sarah977]

@Michael-And-Mariluz0  Yes, I guess so. Either the guest gets charged the conversion or you do.

But here's something I don't understand- why they claim everything has to be converted to US dollars and then into another currency. They have millions of dollars at any given time being paid by guests in Euros, as well as hosts who get paid in Euros. So why wouldn't they have accounts in all the currencies they deal in? If an American guest pays in US dollars to stay somewhere the host gets paid in Euros, why can't the dollars go into Airbnb's dollar account, and the host get paid the equivalent in Euros from a Euro account that all the Euros guests pay for somewhere they booked where the host gets paid in dollars? Or pesos, or bhat, or whatever.

I don't know if I'm being clear, but it just seems like they shouldn't have to be "converting" money all the time, unless because they are a US company, everything has to be converted back and forth in US currency. But I can't believe it does.

[Michael-And-Mariluz0]

Thank you very much Sarah. You’ve restored my faith in humanity.

i understand there needs to be commission for a conversion, 3% is reasonable but not 15%.

[Sarah977]

@Michael-And-Mariluz0  Okay, now I'm confused. 

Whenever currency is exchanged, you never get the mid-market rate. There is a buy/ sell rate than is several percentage points different. If I change US dollars to Mexican pesos and the mid market rate that day is 20 pesos to the dollar, the bank will exchange it at 19.5, for instance. 

[Michael-And-Mariluz0]

it's quite simple.

When they sell usd/£ they reduce the mid market rate by 3% say, ie 0.97 x 1.389 USD/£ = 1.347 USD/£. When they buy USD/£ they increase the rate by 3% say, ie 1.03 x 1.389 USD/£ = 1.431 USD/£. In my case they increased the rate by 15% ie 1.15 x 1.389 USD/£ = 1.600 (NB this is just to illustrate the point, these are not the exact figures, i'm not looking them up because life is too short, but it's close enough). 

Hence my opening statement "The payout was 3213.36 USD and yet i received £1946.45 that's an exchange rate of 1.6046". Had a reasonable rate been applied of 3% i would have received £2245.53. A difference of £299.