@Kelly149
@Kelly149 wrote:
how hard would it be for abb to put out a blip that says something like "consider the market and the host's perspective before asking for a discount. Your host is likely quite serious about their offerings and their pricing. Asking for a discount may create the assumption that you don't have an appropriate budget for travel."
It wouldn't be difficult, but I don't think Airbnb would ever communicate this to a guest. They don't bother to educate guests on much more basic things and they hide our house rules as much as they can. Even the cancellation policy on the listing isn't as clear as it used to be.
I do like the suggestion though of a button for the discount seekers, which would of course be optional for the host to use nor not, kind of how you can list some as a 'buy it now' on Ebay for a fixed price, but also include a 'make an offer' button too if you like.
My only worry is that it would help to create more of a bargain hunting culture on Airbnb. If guests see that as an option on some listings, I bet you they are going to ask hosts of listings where it does not appear regardless. They may start to think it's the norm to get an additional discount. Even on Ebay, where this system seems to work well overall, I've had people message me with ridiculously low offers when I had not selected the 'make an offer' option at all.
I received five enquiries in the past week. Four of them were asking for things that are clearly stated in my listing as not possible, including:
- Booking for a couple when the room states one person only
- Guest wanting boyfriend to stay for part of the trip but didn't want to pay the extra person fee
- Mum trying to do third party booking for her young daughter and asking all sorts of odd questions
- Guest asking if bathrooms were shared, for details of other guests' schedules, if she could install her own lock, if the room was renovated (look at the pictures, please) and if the roof/ceiling was safe as it was an old house.
Really? The only sensible one was someone asking me how long it would take to get to her workplace.
Anyway, you know what I mean. People want what they want (whether that's an additional discount or something else) and somehow convince themselves that there is a chance they will get it, even if your listing already says NOOOO!!!