Single fee structure impact

[Aaron1508]

Hello,

i would like to discuss the new and surprise single fee structure. I would love to talk off channel with an Air B and B corporate member. Unfortunately, the call centers cannot go above and beyond script. 

I could not attend the only webinar. Any advise on how to reach out to one of these team members?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Aaron1508 I doubt there is anything you can tell Airbnb that it doesn't already know.

The effect on a US host is near zero so its not worth worrying about.

[Aaron1508]

Thank you 

[Meral238]

I think the main problem with the new pricing system is that the cleaning fee included within the 15.5% cut from us which is unfair. And I must say my August is totally empty due to these changes.
 
1. Airbnb are not the one doing the cleaning or paying for cleaning materials etc. They forced us to increase the cleaning fee along with nightly price do to the changes.
 
2. Because of 15.5 % cut from the final price, our take home gradually reducing. In the past we could adjust the cleaning fee and receive take home money around the amount we need. Now it is gradually reducing so either we won't accept long stays or increase our price as high as possible and avoid short stay. In both scenarios, we lose some potential guests. Let's say our nightly charge 40 pounds and we increased the cleaning fee to 40 pounds too (it used to be lower), with 10 night stay, our take home will drop to 37 pounds..longer will be less...and if someone pay tax on it, if they are hosting more than the tax free allowance, then they don't earn anything...as there are always empty nights and nightly take home on the booked nights are reducing a lot..


Some people says people were abusing it. Showing like 25 per night but charging 200 for cleaning. Who would book your place if they see 200 for cleaning fee! That is why the cleaning fees were less than current rates in the past. I totally disagree! If there were those charging like that they could limit cleaning fees at certain amount.

Now I have been told that I need to increase my cleaning fees. Then I lose short stay people, like for 5 night and 10 nights if I adjust my price for 30 nights..

Don't know if I need to target long stay people or short stay people...either way, I am losing some potential guests... it is all because of the cleaning fee included and there aren't other bands, no way to earn good money...you end up earning peanuts...
 
I think, they need to exclude the cleaning fee from Airbnb cut as before..In the long run it is harmful for both hosts and Airbnb itself as we are losing some potential guests...short or long stay guests depending in whether you are increasing the price and cleaning fee...
 
And we need more cleaning fee bands. There is 2 band now but it is not enough as there are longer stay guests. Like less than 5 nights, less than 10 nights and less then 30 nights, 30+...

[Aaron1508]

I do feel it was a bad overall decision for Air B and B. It has not been host friendly as of the past year or two. They didn’t have to burden the hosts so heavily for transparency. They could have given an immediate breakdown showing their exact fee in %. I had to raise my cleaning fee by 15% because I was already paying over 25% more than collected for cleaning. It would help if they left this part out but I think it will take a partial

collapse of this business model for them to change. Otherwise the hosts won’t be leaving as many amenities and the quality will go down as well. It is hitting hard in the US as well and I don’t agree with the other persons response to my question. 

my bookings thru Air B and B went down significantly once I made the change. I guess we will see if it normalizes when everyone is onboard next month. 

[Vanessa2864]

@Aaron1508  

I keep seeing the same argument repeated in this forum: "Just increase your price by 15.5%."

The discussion focuses almost entirely on the mathematical neutrality of the fee: if a host can increase their price by exactly the amount needed, their gross earnings after fees remain roughly the same.

That is absolutely true.

What is often overlooked, however, is the economic neutrality of the fee: whether the market will actually accept that price increase without reducing bookings or occupancy.

The first is a simple, cold equation. The second depends on demand elasticity, competition, and the availability of alternatives.

Math explains how fees work. The market determines whether that math actually holds true in practice.

If you're operating in a highly competitive market with many similar listings, in an area with weak or seasonal demand, or where guests are very price-sensitive and compare total costs carefully, raising your price by 15.5% may simply not be an option. The same is true in markets where guests can easily book directly with hosts or choose hotels or other accommodation instead.

Airbnb's reasoning only holds in markets where hosts have enough pricing power to pass the entire fee increase on to guests. In many markets, that simply isn't the case. The market will ultimately test these new prices.

In less competitive markets, higher prices may stick. In highly competitive markets, however, some hosts will eventually lower their prices again in order to remain competitive.

That's why there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer.

The slogan, "Just raise your price by 15.5%," ignores a fundamental reality: once everyone is moved to the host-only fee model, listing prices are no longer determined solely by hosts. They are determined by supply, demand, and competition. Whether that 15.5% increase is sustainable will be decided by the market, not by Airbnb.

If the market fully accepts a 15.5% price increase, then switching to the host-only fee model may leave a host's earnings largely unchanged, assuming the host operates in a tax system that taxes net income rather than gross revenue.

If the market only accepts part of the increase, the host recovers only part of the additional fee, and profit margins shrink.

The worst-case scenario is when raising prices makes a listing uncompetitive. In that case, the host has to keep prices where they are to remain in the market while absorbing the entire additional fee, resulting in lower net earnings.

For many hosts, the second scenario is the most realistic. The market doesn't have to reject a 15.5% increase outright. Even if it only supports a partial increase, the host's margins will still decline.

In highly competitive markets, being able to raise prices by only 5–8% instead of 15.5% can make a significant difference to profitability.

[Emily352]

@Vanessa2864 

What do you think will happen in the months after the change?

[Vanessa2864]

That’s exactly what I said above would happen.

If all hosts raise their prices by the same amount, as Airbnb seems to assume, the overall effect could be largely neutral: the final price remains roughly the same, and the competitive landscape doesn’t really change.

But that’s not necessarily what will happen.

If some hosts lower their prices after the automatic increase in order to stay competitive, then the hosts who pass the full increase on to guests simply become more expensive relative to the alternatives. Not necessarily because the guest is paying dramatically more than before, but because they’re now comparing that listing against cheaper options.

Hosts can try to protect their net income by raising their price, but they don’t get to decide whether the market will accept that higher price. The market does.

[Elaine701]

@Vanessa2864 

What you said there would be valid if there were any tangible increase in price to the guest. 

Luckily, there isn't.

Unless of course you choose to significantly increase your price above what it was in the split fee model. But that would be your choice.