Increase in host servicing fees

[David14427]

Disappointed by the New Host Fee Structure

I’ve been an Airbnb host for several years and currently operate four vacation rentals. I’ve always preferred to list exclusively with Airbnb because it’s been a great platform, and I’d much rather continue growing my business here than manage multiple booking sites.

That said, I’m disappointed by the new 15.5% host-only service fee.

My biggest concern isn’t simply the percentage—it’s the way the change is being presented. Guests no longer see a separate Airbnb service fee, but hosts still have to recover that cost somehow. For many of us, that means increasing our nightly rates. From the guest’s perspective, it looks like the host raised prices, when in reality we’re covering Airbnb’s increased fee.

I’m also struggling to understand why Airbnb takes a commission on cleaning fees. Those fees aren’t profit—they reimburse the actual cost of preparing the property for the next guest. Airbnb doesn’t provide the cleaning service, yet it now receives a percentage of that expense.

I understand Airbnb is a business and needs to be profitable. I don’t expect the platform to operate for free. But these changes feel like they shift more of the financial burden to hosts while making it appear to guests that hosts are simply charging more.

I want to continue using Airbnb as my exclusive booking platform, but if these changes significantly reduce profitability, I’ll have to consider expanding to other platforms to protect my business.

I’m interested in hearing how other hosts feel. Are you planning to stay exclusively with Airbnb, or are you beginning to diversify?

[Elaine701]

@David14427 

I've been on most other platforms at one time or another. What I found is that for all its faults, the one thing Airbnb does very well is deliver bookings. They essentially run circles around the other platforms.

So, if you're on Airbnb and other platforms at the same time, Airbnb is likely to book up your listing before any of the others get a chance.

Yes, you'll get a few bookings from the others, but overall Airbnb will likely dominate your bookings. Especially if you have a long history with Airbnb, and many good reviews. It can take years to develop that history on other platforms, especially if you only receive scant bookings from them. 

I am still listed on other platforms, but only because it elevates my search rankings in search engines. 

But perhaps the biggest surprise you may discover in other platforms, it's that not only are they equally or more expensive in terms of fees, but they also use the same single fee model that Airbnb is switching all hosts to. And they tend to have many of the same - or different - irritations that Airbnb has. And most of them have equally pathetic host support as Airbnb does. 

I switched to Airbnb single fee years ago because it was more consistent with the way all platforms operate. And so it was easier to maintain consistent pricing amongst them.

What I discovered is that it made no difference to bookings, prices, or payouts. As if nothing happened. Nobody noticed. 

So, yes sign up with other platforms. But don't close your Airbnb listing. You might feel a bit foolish after you discover how bad it wasn't. 

Good luck with everything. 

[Shelley159]

Hi @David14427 

There's no fee increase. The guest portion of the service fee just moves onto the host calendar. Guest prices remain virtually the same.

You say "for many of us, that means increasing our nightly rates".

ALL of us have to increase our nightly rates by running the update tool, otherwise the guest will be in a better position, and the host in a worse position.

The update tool adjusts calendar prices upwards, so that all 3 parties (host, guest and Airbnb) are in very close to the same position as they were before.

[Polly44]

So if I do nothing the guests will pay no more than they have been and I will still receive the same payout I have been receiving? What is all of the fuss about then?

[Shelley159]

No don't do nothing @Polly44 

You need to run the update tool for you and the guest to be in the same position after 15 September (you can do it any time before then).

If 15 September comes and you've done nothing, you'll lose significantly and guests will score.

[Karen296]

The fuss is that you are now paying the fee the guests paid. Your payout is not the same. It's 11.5 % less. You were paying 3% and the guest was paying about 12 .5% So now you absorb that cost meaning if you do not raise your rates by that percentage you are losing it.

[Karen296]

So you used to pay 3 % or there  about as a fee. Now you pay the total 15.5 %. So if you don't increse your rate you lose money. 

[Karen296]

Except you now lose about 12.5 percent so if you don't raise your prices you are indeed losing money. 

[Shelley159]

Yes @Karen296 

Hosts who didn't run the conversion tool to correct the calendar prices in line with the fee structure change, will lose money, because their unadjusted calendar prices will now have to absorb the guest portion of the service fee.

Hosts who did run the conversion tool, have already placed themselves in a position where the host payout and guest-facing price will both remain virtually the same as before. So no need for those hosts to do anything further.

[Greystone0]

@David14427  - since you are exclusive to AIRBNB, it would be great to hear your real world results from this platform change. 

Please report back in on any changes that you see if you don't mind!

[Janet1752]

I agree that guests don’t know there has been a change in the way  Airbnb charges their service fees.   It just looks like we raised our rates. Now Airbnb is charging hosts more than their closest competitor.  I don’t know that anyone really benefits from the changes, certainly not hosts.  

[Elaine701]

@Janet1752 

No, it doesn't "look" anything. 

Before: 100

After: 100

How do you expect guests to react to that?

When I changed, nobody noticed anything. It was as if nothing happened. 

Closest competitor in terms of market reach is probably booking.com. In our region, their booking.com commission is flat 18%. A bit more than Airbnb's 15.5%

Expedia (VRBO et al) in my region Expedia charges 23% (5% host + 3% payment fee, plus 15% from the guest, which as you can see, many hosts don't realise is added to the price). They also toss in other charges like trip insurance and optional fees for search ranking placement. 

Another large booking platform conglomerate that operates a lot of regional platforms (like Expedia), Novasol, charges a flat 20% across the board. 

Note: none of them have guest ratings, so it's very difficult to vet guests. booking.com is all instant book, and requires that you accept all bookings. 

Having said that, I do strongly recommend listing with them all. What you learn from that experience will settle this for you once and for all. 

Good luck and happy hosting. 

[Dinamarta-Jose0]

@David14427 This is exactly the concern I have been raising.

The issue is not simply whether Airbnb’s calculator can adjust our prices so that the guest pays approximately the same total and the host receives approximately the same payout. Mathematically, that can be done.

The bigger issue is what Airbnb has changed underneath that calculation.

A cost that was previously visible as a guest service fee is now being moved into the host-side structure. If we adjust our rates to protect our previous payout, the accommodation price shown under our listing increases. If we don’t adjust enough, we absorb the difference and earn less.

And apparently there is a third option: we can absorb even more of the new cost, reduce our margin and call that a “competitive opportunity.” 🙂

That may sound attractive in theory, but hosts still have mortgages, utilities, cleaning, maintenance, insurance, taxes and all the other costs of operating a property. A fee doesn’t disappear simply because it has been moved from one side of the transaction to the other.

I also think your point about diversification is important. If hosts respond by raising prices, accepting lower margins, changing their rental strategy or looking for other booking channels, those are all market reactions to the change.

So for me, the question has never been whether the calculator works. It is who carries the financial pressure created by the new structure — and how that pressure ultimately affects hosts, guests and the platform itself.

[Dinamarta-Jose0]

@David14427 I think many hosts may be asking themselves exactly the same question.

We use Airbnb because the platform provides a valuable service, and I don’t think anyone reasonably expects that service to be free. But there is a difference between paying for a service and having more and more of the cost shifted to the host while the resulting higher accommodation price appears under our listing.

That is what concerns me most.

If we increase our rates to protect our previous payout, guests may simply see a more expensive property and perceive the host as responsible for that higher price. If we don’t increase enough, then we absorb the additional cost ourselves and accept a smaller margin.

And apparently there is another “solution”: absorb even more of the cost so that we can remain competitive. 🙂 But at some point, being competitive cannot simply mean that hosts keep accepting less while operating costs and platform fees continue to rise.

Your question about other platforms is therefore very relevant. Hosts changing their pricing, reducing their margins, changing their rental strategy or beginning to diversify are all responses to the new structure.

Perhaps many of us are experiencing the same concern but asking the question individually: how much more can be shifted onto hosts before it begins to change the relationship we have with the platform?

And perhaps the bigger question is whether our collective concerns will actually be heard.