Earnings Page is Shrinking

[Ann72]

It's now just a bare-bones transaction history.  And it no longer allows you to give feedback.

I always used the data on booked earnings for the year.  Now, that's the one report you can't run.  You have to run a report showing what has been paid out thus far, then run another report showing what is expected, and then combine the two reports.

In addition, the old graph, showing booked earnings for the year, was satisfying.  Until recently, however, it only showed booked earnings for the month.  Now, the graph is gone, too.

I've tried to understand why Airbnb would want to remove easy access to data we use to run our businesses.  Anyone have any insights, so to speak?  🙂

[Jon233]

This is super annoying. Recently they removed the year over year comparison and now they removed this. I want it back and the year over year comparison. 

Even before that i was asking them to do the graphs and comparisons for just the single listings not the whole portfolio. 

[Ann72]

Totally agree @Jon233.  I look at all my numbers from many different angles.  That's how running a business works!

[Kia272]

@Ann72  I think the insight is that AirBnB makes random changes to the website without host input or beta testing. That's my take. 

A thing as necessary and simple as running earnings for the year- WHY mess with that??!! Makes absolutely no sense. I saw that too and was so annoyed that I didn't have the inclination to post anything. I don't think we are listened to anyway. 

Gotta go buy some tape for my calculator so I can add up last year's earnings. I'm having the horses harnessed to the carriage right now. 

[Ann72]

@Kia272  You might want to pick up some kerosene for your desk lamp while you’re down to the General Store.

I feel Airbnb simultaneously embraces big management operators and discourages hosts from approaching hosting in a businesslike fashion.  But that would mean someone sat down and thought it through, rather than, as you note, just responding to a dictum about a page being too cluttered or some such.  As we say in these parts, Oy!

[Kia272]

Oh my gosh, @Ann72 I can always rely on you for a good laugh! I'll be picking up some kerosene down at the mercantile soon as I finish churnin' the butter. 

I'm still shaking my head over the subject at hand. There's no rhyme or reason.  Oy indeed! 

[Ann72]

@Kia272  None!  🤗

[Ruth413]

@Ann72   I can't even get into my earnings page ! 

When I want to see upcoming earnings, they want to send me a code by text or phone and it never arrives.  I have tried 10 times this morning.   I can't see a graph or anything apart from past payments, so now I have to go through every booking on the calendar page and work out the payouts from there.

What a nightmare !

[Ann72]

@Ruth413  You have to be kidding!  What a complete disaster.  Perhaps @Bhumika or one of her colleagues could get this into the hands of the right support person?  It's unconscionable to prevent a host from accessing this vital information.

So, let me see here:  if a host wants complete financial data for the fiscal year, they have to draw from several sources:

Completed payouts

Upcoming payouts (if they're not blocked from seeing this without getting a code every single time)

Reservations

Each calendar booking

Meanwhile, Airbnb wants us to lower prices and remove fees.  Do they think that if we can't easily see our earnings, we won't mind the impact of lower prices on our businesses?

[Janet455]

My cynical guess is that the removal of these very useful charts is not an accident or oversight, but a product decision to bury data that enables year-over-year comparisons, at least in geos where it's clear that earnings have been decreasing over the last few years. It may be that adding a bit of friction to that insight prevents too many hosts from freaking out, or it may be that it makes it harder for third parties to scrape the data and share it.