Lots of hesitation and no bookings

[Inna22]

I get a majority of my reservations through IB, no questions asked before booking. I have a pretty detailed description. Those who start asking questions are the type I probably do not want anyway. Lately I get a lot of window shopping.

So glad we found your place! Can we check in late? Our flight gets in really late. Yes, self check in with door code. Nothing after.

Your place seems perfect! Does the fireplace work? We are specifically looking for a place with a fireplace. Yes, it does. Northing after.

Your house is in perfect location! Just want to double check if a dog is allowed. Yes, dogs are welcome. Nothing after.

I pre approve all these people and follow up with me asking if they have any other questions. They do not.

So lots of questions already answered in the listing and no bookings. 

Is anyone else seeing the same pattern?

[Mike1034]

@Inna22  Yes, I did get those inquiries. Roughly near 50% of inquiries were not converted as real bookings. 

[Amanda660]

I’ve had quite a few of these recently, I respond with a friendly, chatty message and pre-approve.  A few days later I follow up with a ‘are you still intetested’ type message but they never reply.  😞

[Anonymous]

The ones that use "Contact Host" (inquiry) instead of "Request to Book" are usually either contacting multiple hosts, or are undecided about their travel plans. There's no need to pre-approve or decline them, as they're unlikely to be serious bookings. Perhaps some of them will save you to their WIsh List or whatever it's called now, and request when they're actually ready.

If it seems like too much of your time is being wasted on fruitless inquiries, you do find that they drop off steeply when you narrow the range of dates available in your calendar. 

[Harold75]

@Anonymous   I agree with him.  I a get lots of the Contact Host ... asking  questions that are totally unrelated to what I offer.   

I started a template to handle these Contact Host questions  

@Anonymous  is correct, otherwise you waste time on responding to particulars.  

[Kelly149]

Yes. These happen. 

No. They aren’t worth dealing with. 

I do do have a saved message that addresses the most common nonsense questions I get that I can send them. 

Can i I break a rule? No. 

Is there a This? Please review the listing on a computer, not your phone. 

We love it. Great, thanks; have a lovely trip

are they indecisive, are they discount shopping, are they competitors??? Who knows. If they were going to book they probably would have done it. I don’t pre-approve. Just answer and archive out of my inbox

[Wendy497]

I thought by not approving or approving an iquiry goes against our response rate?? That we had to choose or the other so it's not a ding against us. Is this not true? That would be awesome if this is the case!

[Inna22]

@Wendy497 I don’t think we must approve but I am thinking Airbnb algorithm takes that in consideration 

[Sarah977]

@Wendy497  Inquiries don't need to be either pre-approved or declined. It's stupid that those buttons exist on an Inquiry anyway. All you need to do is to message back within the 24 hours. You'll get annoying messages from Airbnb prodding you to pre-approve, but you can safely ignore those, it won't be marked against you as long as you reply to the guest's Inquiry. And those messages will go away after 24 hours if you clear your cache.

If it's a Booking Request, you definitely do have to either Accept or Decline within 24 hours.

[Emilia42]

@Inna22 

I hate, hate, hate these 'inquiries.' I almost get the impression that these people just need an excuse to contact you and what they are really hoping for is a reply from you that says "Please, oh please book with me! Here is a special offer of $500 off so we can confirm right now." Do you think I'm far off?

[Zacharias0]

I had an inquiry on Sep 27 for a move in of Oct 1. I answered a series of questions quickly and they responded quickly and most answers are in the listing. She wanted to know if she could receive a discount. Well you're paying $30/day and no there are no further discounts especially since you're a couple and only one of you seems to be working. What will the other person be doing all day? Not sure, but it didn't turn into a booking.  She was very nice and the rate was reasonable not sure why she didn't book but everything happens for a reason.  I never beat myself up about it. Most of us are trying to make sense out of chaos thinking of other people.

[Harold75]

A tip I learned in these forum discussions ...

Do they address you by your name?   If not, the odds greatly increase you will never hear from them again.  

@Kelly149   I also have two sets of templates, ready to send, or sometimes a mix of both. 

 a) Re-read the listing because it will answer everything  you need to know and then some;

b)  No discounts,  no early check in,   no baggage drop offs, and no late check in. 

[Inna22]

I pre-approve. My thinking is: they now feel welcome- I want them to book with me; Airbnb will start nudging them; when pre approval expires it is a reminder to me to check in with them. It only takes a few seconds. There is really not a way to ever tell if it has ever done anything for me

[Mike1034]

@Inna22  I also pre-approve if they have most of profile filled. eg the phone number, email, and verified government ID.

otherwise, if they proceed book, it will be auto approved because I have instant booking turned on.

[Heather133]

@Inna22 I've had more of these than usual lately and have wondered whether it might have to do with an economic slow down. I do the same thing you do (pre-approve) for the same reason as long as they are verified with government ID and have previous positive reviews. @Emilia42 I have wondered the same thing about whether they are trolling Airbnb for a special offer.

I sometimes think we could collectively write a book on human behavior. (-;