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

[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.