Poll - Do you charge a cleaning fee?

[Kirstie]

Hi all,

We are starting a new type of topic here in the Community Center - polls! It will be a really interesting way to compare your methods of hosting and how you use Airbnb with other hosts. As well as seeing the statistics, you will also be able to discuss your answers and share ideas and experience about each topic here in the thread.

In order to participate in this poll, simply choose 'yes' or 'no' in the box below in answer to the question 'Do you charge a cleaning fee?' and then click 'submit'. Then write a comment below in the thread telling us more about your choice and your experience of the two options - e.g. I charge a cleaning fee to cover the cost of my hired cleaner etc. The answers will be able to help new hosts and more experienced hosts as well!

You can see the current results of the poll here!

Please give any suggestions about topics of polls that you would like to see in the future! We welcome your ideas 🙂

Happy polling!

Kirstie

[Robin4]

@Kirstie, No.......It is already paid for, it's called the listing fee!

From my point of view Airbnb should scrap this 'cleaning fee business' from the platform. A host should set their listing amount to reflect the cost of staging that hosting, not slug guests with extras at every opportunity. If you pay a cleaner to service the listing then allow for that in the listing amount. Once you have a few hostings behind you, you will quickly establish an average cost to service the listing.....allow for it. I have seen one profile where the cleaning fee was set higher than the listing fee....this is just plain dishonest!

I have been strongly opposed to hosts charging extras for bed linens, use of air conditioners, even hot water for goodness sake!

Hosts who do the right thing and charge what it costs to host a guest are being penalised by others who start with a rock bottom price and squeeze the wallet relentlessly from there.

If I was a guest and I came across a cleaning fee on top of the listing amount I would bypass that listing because I would immediately wonder what else I would get screwed on!

Cheers.....Rob

[Louise0]

No, it's not 'dishonest' to charge a cleaning fee, not at all.  It's a transparent approach to pricing that accurately reflects the difference in costs incurred by a host.  

I charge a cleaning fee of $140.  This covers a portion of the cost of preparing the space for each new set of guests.  The amount of work, and therefore the cost to me, is the same; whether the guest stays one day or 7 days.

If I didn't charge a cleaning fee, and instead attempted to recoup this cost by increasing my nightly rate, then guests who stayed 1 night would pay too little and guests who stay 7 nights would pay too much.  It is not economically rational to have zero cleaning fees. 

I assume that the sudden interest by Airbnb in polling hosts about cleaning fees is because they realise that the 'sticker shock' experienced by guests when they realise that the posted price is not in fact the total price, is possibly an impediment to booking.  My guess is that the next step will be to find a way of 'punishing' hosts who wish to include a cleaning fee.  

I have smarter solution that makes everyone happy, one I've posted before - make the pricing options more flexible.  Give hosts the tools to discount stays of any duration [not just a week or a month] and make it known to guests that the rate shown when a guest searches without dates will always be the default rate for a one night stay.

If I could do this, my cleaning fee would be redundant.  My rate for a one night stay would be $520 per night (i.e. I would increase my $380 base rate by $140 to include my cleaning fee), for a two night stay my nightly rate would be $450, three nights $427 etc etc.   Of course, this is what already happens, it's just that the per night discount created by cleaning fee for stays of greater than one night is not explicitly identified.  If I had this flexibility in structuring my prices I could achieve the same result but instead of a guest seeing the nasty, negative 'cleaning fee', they'd see the phrase 'the host offers a per night discount of x% for this stay' or some other equally soothing phrase.

[Andrea9]

I second @Louise0's idea, yet I think that will get knickers in a wad too, because there's no way of showing the price properly if simply searching in general without typing in dates unless they implement showing both minimum/maximum amounts.

[Kirstie]

Hi @Louise0,

You make some interesting points! Perhaps you could share your idea about more flexible pricing options in Host Voice if you haven't already?

In terms of why we started this poll I just wanted to reassure you that there is no ulterior motive behind it - we started it just for interest's sake, to see the proportions that charge/don't charge the cleaning fee and see what discussion unfolds! It's not something Airbnb wanted feedback about particularly at this time. We're going to start another poll about another topic this week!

Kirstie

[Janelle16]

Yes, I do charge a cleaning fee. This is because I offer so much to my guests for the nightly price. When they arrive my home is spotless and I offer lots of extras standard. It also allows me to turn over my property faster. I do pay someone to clean my home because it takes me too long to do it.

I have a minimum length of stay and I also explain what the cleaning fee covers to my guests. Generally, I have large groups so I have not had any complaints regarding the fee.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

I regard the cleaning fee as a way to discount longer stays. 

It takes me min 3,5 h to clean my 2 bedroom apartment and min 1,5 h to clean the studio + loundry service costs +  waiting my guest to come and check in (specially if they are late) + my time and gasoline to come to the property and back.... so it wouldn't be fair to have the same price for 1 night stay and for longer stays.

Hotels operates differently, they change your towels , make beds and clean rooms every day so they can charge the same price to all guests, no metter how long they stay.

[Bruce43]

@Kirstie     i just added the cleaning fee to the price soon we will have the option to charge for suitcases 

[Robin4]

@Bruce43 Love your style Bruce, particularly the milk bit for upcoming guests in the current ones cleaning fee! You're a funny bugger you are. Maybe there will possibly be an option to meter the air breathed at some point. How about say, 50c per cubic metre, after all, the air in my listing is filtered, and it costs to do that, why not charge extra for it! And it's fair because the longer you are there the more you breathe the more you pay!.....boing

Reading the responses here I understand that many wish to do this, but in essence what they are saying is, 'It's not worth it if I don't charge it'!!

If it was not listed as a chargeable feature on Airbnb, then everyone who wished to host would have to charge a figure that WAS worth it, and nobody would get penalised on a price basis the way many hosts are at the moment.

Once again, it is just my personal thought, I am not criticizing those who do, after all, if it's an option, why not! I feel it should not be an option, hey, lets get back to a level playing field here and charge the guest what it costs to host up front without all this 'back door' stuff! A clean well serviced listing for the listed price should be as basic a requirement as a bed to sleep on!

Cheers....Rob

Edit in @Kirstie

[Bruce43]

@Robin4 actually my listing says the bathroom is cleaned by my aunt or my mother.i also offer a 10% discount for readers of franz kafka so far nobody has asked for a discount first of course the test consists of trick answers i just wanted to see if people look at the tags under the pix posted 

[Kieran5]

Which begs the question, should an extra cleaning charge apply in the case a guest metamorphosising overnight into a giant insect?

[Robin4]

@Kieran5 @Bruce43

There you go, I love it. Nothing beats Irish humour! Now that's a bit of irony Kieran, if the guest did turn into a beetle the host would receive a 3 star rating for cleanliness....the issue being....'Bugs' 

Cheers....Rob

[Bruce43]

if you guest wakes up in the morning :The Metamorphosis. A man wakes up to find himself transformed into a vile beast.

@Robin4

@Kirstie

[Bruce43]

@Kieran5 Hahaha just saw this post mate. thanks for a laugh!

[Robin4]

@Bruce43....Quotes, quotes.....I just want to live by one Bruce, and I don't think Kafka had anything to do with it........

"I live my life, I don't want to be one of those 97% of people who tip toe through life hoping to make it safely to death"

Cheers....Rob

[Susan7]

Bruce, I had to translate Die Verwandlung at high school. Scarred for life, I am;-) Does that get me a free stay at your place?