IS LOW BALL PRICING THE SAME AS BAIT AND SWITCH

[Maria-and-Jean0]

Why are some Host allowed to deceptively price their units with the low ball price during peak season?  Is this not dishonesty?  What do you think about this type of promotion being unfair to Host that are not deceptively advertising?  Is honesty not the basis of Airbnb's standards?   Does Airbnb promote deceptive pricing?  Jean

[Maria-and-Jean0]

Im sorry they dont listen to you 

[Sandra126]

I wish it would say ''FROM...'' It did, briefly, and then it dissappeared again. Was good though, as prices will differ weekends, midweek, peak etc. But we have no control, as @Lisa723 said.

[Maria-and-Jean0]

yes you do.. and how about writing airbnb and insisting that if you advertise a price; that you actually have that price avail for at least a quarter of that season, may 15-sep 15 in the northern hemisphere.. sep 15-Jan 15, Jan 15 - May 15.  Not one day in the middle of winter during the darkest and drearist time of the year.

Check out who else is upset about this deceptivness.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/16/airbnb-eu-pricing-accommodation-fees-charges

[Andreas-and-Anna0]

@Maria-and-Jean0,

Im sorry to change the subject but did you ever know about the butcher baker in Anchorage? ive read so much about him..... sorry if this is waaaayyyy off

[Maria-and-Jean0]

after what I have been through here your post is the least of way off.. Robert Hanson I believe you are speaking of..  that was back in the pipeline construction days.. there is a movie if you want to watch the hollywood version.. frozen ground.. why the big interest in him.. 

[Kalin-And-Marquis0]

I think setting the price of the room very low and the cleaning fee very high is deceptive as ever and a clear bait and switch. They bait you in with low prices only to be bopped over the head with an insanely high cleaning fee. 

[Lisa723]

@Kalin-And-Marquis0

Why? You clearly see the cleaning fee before booking and are free to decline.  Also, if you enter dates for your search you will see the total price of every listing. You are saying that if I pay my cleaner a living wage, and it costs $XX for every cleaning, therefore my cleaning fee is $XX, there is something wrong with offering a nightly rental rate less than $XX, even if that is what the market will bear and it is worth it for me to do so?

The problem here is that Airbnb doesn't always show the cleaning fee plainly, not that the cleaning fee exists or what it is. Don't blame that on hosts who have no control over it.

[Kalin-And-Marquis0]

@Lisa723 You are free to pay your cleaner a living wage. What I am saying is people are charging insane amounts for cleaning fees just to pocket more money. And you didnt always see the total before clicking (that is relatively new). People would set the price low to bait people in, and have the cleaning fee really high, which you wouldnt know until they already baited you in.  That is why I call it a bait and switch. 

The cleaning fee should only cover the actual cost of cleaning, but you know, as well as I do, that people charge far more than what it actually takes to clean their place. 

[Lisa723]

@Kalin-And-Marquis0 no, it's not relatively new to know how much you are going to be charged before you pay. Anything else would be illegal. By "bait people in," do you mean get them to click on a listing? Where they then may see the cleaning fee and decide not to book because of it? Or where they will then be compelled by some mysterious power to book even though they don't want to? A host really has no incentive to annoy prospective bookers who will then turn away from the listing. Each host's fee structure is completely up to them, there is no right or wrong about any particular structure. If you don't like an "insane" cleaning fee, don't book there. Personally I make no judgments about a listing's fee structure. If I like the total price, I book, and if I don't like the total price, I don't book. I don't care about the breakdown.

If your beef is that Airbnb doesn't disclose the range of fees at the first level of search, then we are on the same page-- it's annoying and inefficient. But again, that is not under hosts' control.

[Maria-and-Jean0]

You live with this deceptive practise in your everyday life so you join them in their deception.  No problem.. Your business your soul.. My Guest tell me they appreciate the honesty and hate the practise.  Of course I get what  ask for because I give more than I get.

[Kalin-And-Marquis0]

Of course you can structure your fees anyway you see fit. That is totally up to the host. I am also free to believe that setting low nightly prices to bait customers in only to recoup the cost with the cleaning fee is deceptive. 

[Ned-And-Laura0]

@Kalin-And-Marquis0 are you saying that at some point in the recent past a guest would book a place for a nightly rate and not be made aware of the cleaning fee until after they booked the space and they were charged a cleaning fee without their knowledge??  I have been a host for less than a year but I was a guest for a number of years on this platform as well as others.  I always remember seeing the cleaning fee for every space before I booked.  I do remember the first couple times being annoyed when I saw that the space was $100 more then I thought it would be but I was always given notification of the fees before actually booking the space.  It was always plainly listed before the check out process as soon as I entered in the dates of my stay.  It listed nightly rate x number of nights + airbnb fees + cleaning fees = The total for the entire stay.  I could then confirm and move into the check out process or keep looking.  So I don't understand what the problem is.  Yes it's slightly deceptive from a marketing stand point in that they get you to enter the dates and then lower the boom on the fees, but so long as it's clear before you actually make your selection and pay I see no ethical problem with it.  

[Kalin-And-Marquis0]

@Ned-And-Laura0 No, I am not saying they didnt know until that actually booked. I am saying they didn't know until after clicking on the listing and seeing the total price with fees included. For example, you would see a listing cost $70 per night and the guest would see that as amazing deal and go running to the listing. Then when they click the total would see the cleaning fee was $150, and thus no longer making it an amazing deal. 

They were baited in with a low nightly price, only to be hit with large fees (bait and switch). I think that is deceptive. 

[Ned-And-Laura0]

In my view it is only deceptive if there are in fact no nights available for $70 and that advertisement was an outright lie. But if the potential guests has not entered in any dates we have no idea when they are looking to book. So if there are in fact dates available at $70 a night I see no reason why that should not be advertised. Now perhaps it would be better if Airbnb put the words starting at or available from before the $70 price but that is not something that we the host have any control over and it would not change the basic intent of showing the best price of spaces available at when no dates are given. The potential guests can easily avoid this problem by simply entering in the dates they are looking to book. But the fact is some potential guests are open to multiple dates and are looking for the best price and are willing to schedule their trip around the better price

[Maria-and-Jean0]

i do not care what you charge for your unit, cleaning or doing laundry.. what i care about is if you are being deceptive or not.. 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/16/airbnb-eu-pricing-accommodation-fees-charges

it has become common practise to deceive.. i get it.. i choose to follow a different path.. i hold myself to a higher standard when dealing with future Guest... to each their own..  but when it comes to being in business with someone.. i expect them to have higher standards than this.. thas all..