New fee structure

[Carolyn-And-Stephen0]

This is absolutely a horrible decision on AirBnN’s part. It completely penalizes the host.  We have been hosting for over 10 years and a Superhost for the entire time.  I will be thinking hard about staying on with AirBnB bead on this policy change. It adversely affects the host too much.  Especially on the Income tax and Rooms& Meal Tax

[Elaine701]

@Vanessa2864 

Platform commissions are indeed an operating cost in terms of accounting. Ask your accountant about that. 

I've yet to meet a guest who knows or cares what I pay Airbnb. They're more interested in where the nearest supermarket is. Or a good seafood restaurant. 

Ok, yes, feel free to tell them about the Airbnb commission, if it makes you feel better, but they might think it's a bit odd.

"That's nice. How late is the supermarket open?". 

[Emily352]

Yet another way to squeeze a little more out of small hosts. Accordind to my accountant, I'll have to increase my prices by 26%. If that's the case, Airbnb will end up making even more money, despite saying these changes are meant to make things easier for hosts. Some host, including those in Milan host community that I regularly exchange ideas with, recommend mentioning this in the listing. It helps reduce questions in the chat and avoids guests assuming that the higher price is the host's decision. Booking price information. Some guests have asked why the total price of their reservation is higher than the accomodation price alone. We'd like to clarify that the total shown may include a service fee charged directly by Airbnb.This fee is set and collected by Airbnb, not by the host. For this reason,the final amount may be higher than the accomodation price itself. If you have any questions about the price breakdown, we're always happy to help explain it.

[Shelley159]

Hi @Emily352 

I think you may have understood the fee structure change to be the opposite way around?

The move by Airbnb is to scrap the split fee system and to use the single fee system, not the other way around.

If you write the following in your listing ...

Some guests have asked why the total price of their reservation is higher than the accommodation price alone. We'd like to clarify that the total shown may include a service fee charged directly by Airbnb.

... that paragraph describes how it used to be under the split fee system. Under the single fee system, guests pay the calendar price (there is no service fee added when they check out) and Airbnb doesn't collect any fee directly from the guest.

[Shelley159]

Hi @Vanessa2864 

I just want to clarify something so people don't misinterpret the situation. Where you talk about possibly adding a service fee explanation to the listing, you mention:

Some hosts have chosen to do this because they started receiving questions about price increases and want to avoid a possible misunderstanding. 

There are no actual increases in guest prices on Airbnb due to the fee structure change, which is why many of us keep saying to hosts that it's not necessary to mention anything about the fee structure change in the listing (it would be weird, as there's no increase but for some reason the host is explaining the non-increase).

In your case, I know from previous posts that you'd like to increase your calendar prices by more than what the update tool does, because you're in a specific position as a host in Italy who isn't registered as a professional host. That causes you to be taxed on gross income, which means you'll be worse off after the Airbnb fee structure change when you pay taxes on the higher gross income.

I want to stress that yours is a valid, but very specific Italian income tax position that doesn't affect many of the hosts reading here.

We have a problem in these threads that many hosts think either their Airbnb payouts, and/or their guests' payments, will be significantly negatively impacted by Airbnb's fee structure change. That is objectively and verifiably (with very little effort!) just simply not true.

[Vanessa2864]

Some guests have already heard about the simplified pricing model and have been asking Italian hosts whether they'll be raising their rates.

That's why, starting October 13, some hosts will mention in their listings that any price increase is due to Airbnb changing its fee structure and shifting the entire service fee onto hosts—not because hosts are making any extra money.

Airbnb's pricing adjustment tool won't be much help for most Italian hosts. If you're renting as a private individual, you'll likely need to increase your rates by at least 25% on your first property under Italy's flat-tax regime, and by at least 37% from the second property onward—not just 15.5%.

And once again, Airbnb is trying to present this as a positive change for hosts.

This isn't a new pricing model in Italy – Booking  has worked this way for years. Unfortunately, by adopting the same approach, Airbnb is giving up one of the key advantages that set it apart, and I think it'll end up paying the price for that.

[Elaine701]

@Vanessa2864 

It seems to me that Italian hosts (and other businesses) need to form a group that not only protests, but takes the Italian tax authorities to court for its unfair and unethical tax policies. 

You are being taxed on others' incomes, for which they also pay tax on. Your businesses suffer for this, and may eventually make it impossible for you to operate at all. 

If it weren't for that absurd tax policy, this normalising of Airbnb business would have no impact on you whatsoever, as is the case in the rest of the world. 

It's absolutely unfair and I would think you could make a very compelling case to the Italian courts. 

If there are any Italian law firms reading this, you might want to consider some sort of class action lawsuit, and solicit participation from those businesses affected by this ridiculous Italian tax law. 

[Shelley159]

Hi @Vincent236 

Write down or screenshot some prices in guest view before you run the update tool, then you can compare those same prices afterwards.

You'll see that the prices don't stay 100% identical, but they are very close to the same. The difference (up or down) won't be big enough to need an explanation - if you write one, you may just confuse your guests and give them the impression that there's been some increase that they should worry about.

[Amy2949]

I agree!  We were thinking of selling our property and this outrageous raise in percentage to hosts has practically made our decision!  

The fake thing about raising your nightly or prices to accommodate for this phenomenal host hike is ludicrous because the market remains the same in pricing and won’t tolerate that kind of hike. 

We also do a lot of Airbnb travel and I don’t understand why they couldn’t just reduce the renters service fees by 5% and added that to hosts - still wouldn’t be happy but much more liveable for hosts and happier renters. Poor business decision at best. 

[Shelley159]

Hi @Amy2949 

Have you been able to read some of the other posts since you posted this?

Let us know if you're still not convinced that your guests will pay the same after the fee structure change, or if you have something else that worries you about it.

[Nigel316]

I agree. What a bunch of a-holes. With almost no warning, robbed us of nearly 9%! We're booked out for months, and now, apparently, we just have to eat the fees? Dirty pool Airbnb, dirty pool.

[Shelley159]

How is the 9% calculated @Nigel316 ? Host payouts should stay the same.

[Nigel316]

Well, I didn't do the exact math, but my payout used to be $81, now it is $72 and some change. You're welcome to do the math and question all you want, but that is the reality for me, for the next few months of prebookings. Going to be difficult to eat. 

[Elaine701]

@Nigel316 

There's something wrong there Nigel. Others aren't experiencing this.

Did you set your prices manually?

Maybe New York is taking a tourist tax or something that that you didn't previously know about? 

You need to find out what that's about. 

Open a browser, go to Airbnb and check the price of your listing (as a guest). Is it the same as before? Or is it less? Maybe you just need to raise your prices to the same amount it was before. 

Otherwise, unfortunately, you may have to deal with obtuse Airbnb support bots to get any answers (if you ever do). 

Good luck with that.

[Shell1094]

I am new to hosting (one year) but I am thinking about lowering my prices on VRBO and Booking.com so that I get more business on those platforms. I don't like non transparency; it is just the suspicious me that needs to know where my money is going. I don't mind if the cost is small or hidden so that several clicks are needed to find it but it seems remiss to remove it altogether. I travel and I really want to know the costs --- especially how much my host is making. Thanks for the discussion about this... I would like to feel better about it before Sept 15. Thanks!