Including fees in host asking price.

[Karen4881]

If I am asking $100 and receiving $97, I prefer the guest to know that I am receiving only that.  By including Airbnb fees in my asking price, the guest may think I am asking more than $100. I believe Airbnb should be clear that the fees go to them.

[Hubert--J0]

Hello @Karen4881 
I totally agree. Let your guests and other property guests see where the fees and increase costs are going. 

[Elaine701]

@Karen4881 

Well, in fact we should also start demanding this from hotels. And airlines. And car dealers, supermarkets and other shops. Online retailers (Amazon are you listening?) and other platforms...

We want a full breakdown of your costs of delivering this product to us, and how much you're making and how much everybody else is making. Or else we go elsewhere. 

But then, using the same logic, one could argue that Airbnb just outwitted the few other platforms that still have split fee (e.g., Expedia) since the guest can easily see that they are charging a hefty commission, while Airbnb, Booking, Novasol, and all the others charge nothing. Better to book with them instead? 

[Jeanne1018]

Yes, I have a problem with this new fee structure too. It's quite exploitative of the host. It makes AirBnB look better to guest, but it sucks for for the host. We are getting short changed instead of 3% coming out of our net income. It is now 15.5% and if all the host in one's surrounding area don't increase  there prices also, those who do are gonna find themselves getting a lot fewer bookings because we would look like we are price gouging. I have been hosting for going on seven years now. AirBnB has really taken the screws to the host community. Or how do you all see it?

[Elaine701]

@Jeanne1018 

For me, it's a wash. 

Airbnb previously charged the host 3%, and the guest 14-16% (depending on region). That's 17%-19% fees.

In my case, it was 15% from the guest. You may not realise it, but that was always added to your price. That's the price the guest sees and pays. 

In the industry standard single fee model they're switching to, they have eliminated those fees and replaced it with a 15.5% flat fee, which the host pays, and the guest pays nothing (this is amongst the lowest commissions in the industry, by the way). 

So, if you adjust your prices to compensate, the price that the guest sees is pretty much the same, and your payout is also pretty much the same.

Airbnb provides a tool for this, and it considers everything, cleaning fees, taxes, etc. so its pretty good at equalising everything. And it's easy.

If you're concerned about the $2 or so difference, you can always tweak your prices manually.

So, you can fret about it, or just fix it and move on. In my case nobody noticed. It's like nothing happened.

I hope that helps. 

[Greystone0]

@Jeanne1018  - agree with you that this isn't great from a host perspective. We aren't happy about it either. 

Previously, the 3% to host was a benefit for hosting here, versus other platforms, and now that has been removed.

yes, the guest has no realistic change in costs, but to the host it is a meaningful change.

We think things will probably normalize once the whole system is based on the same field but in the meantime its a bit chaotic.

thanks for the perspective and post.

[Greystone0]

Hi @Karen4881  - agree!

thanks for posting.