New host, payout is lower than the set price

[Agnes511]

Hello, I'm new at hosting. I've had my first 2 bookings, and each time the payout was 21% lower than my set price + cleaning fee. I understood that the host fee was 3% so I'm confused, can I fix it ?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Agnes511 you have a 15% weekly discount set and also a 15% special offer. Perhaps look carefully through the pricing tab on your listings to find these and switch them off if you don't want them.

[Agnes511]

@Mike-And-Jane0 I have a weekly offer of 15%, but my booking were of 1 and 2 nights respectively. I looked carefully and couldn't find a special offer in my settings, so you know where it is ?

[Sandra856]

Hi @Agnes511 🙂
Airbnb set a 20% discount for the first 3 bookings. It is set as default and you will have to “untick” the offer.

Instant book is also turned on as default which I think is very risky as new hosts got a wide open calendar and don’t got experience. It means that a guest can instant book a place for 3 month with both the 20% discount plus the monthly discount on top of that. 
If you want guests and not room mates then make sure to customize your calendar 🙂. (my guests can book from 2-5 days). I for instance don’t know if I will be able to host in December so my calendar is closed (you can tick a box in the settings) and then I open up for those days/weeks I know I will be able to host. 
I really love your rooms btw - very cute rooms 🥰 

[Agnes511]

Hi @Sandra856 !

Thank you for your kind message ! I still don't know where to uptick this offer... could you help me on this ?

Thank you so much for your advice ! I only put from now until August in the calendar, because we just want to compensate for half of the rent this summer, as we couldn't find new housemates in time. Since I'm new on airbnb I'm a bit scared I'll do something wrong ! I'll be sure to turn off instant booking, though I had to confirm both of the booking offers I had, so i'm not sure what will be different ?

Thanks for the compliment ! I do love our house 🥰

[Sandra856]

@Agnes511 Your guests probably sent you “an inquiry” meaning they used the “contact host” link to ask you a question - when they do that - you can pre-approve so they can book. 
They could have also just booked - but since you don’t got any reviews yet they probably wanted to message you before booking.
If they are new guests themselves with no reviews they might not be able to instant book (as a host you can choose to only let verified guests with good reviews instant book). So that could also be why 🙂🌸

I have learned so much in this community also about things I didn’t know I needed to know about hosting. So I really recommend it 🥰

[Sandra856]

@Agnes511 Also when you have to set your settings etc. then absolutely use a web browser/computer as the app is very limited🙂. 
The app is good for when you have to answer a request, message a guest etc. but not when you have to set up /customize your listing 🙂.

[Agnes511]

Thanks a lot ! I saw that indeed there was a reduction for the 3 first guests, but I couldn't find the way to turn it off... oh well. I hope we can still make enough money to pay the rent this way too ! 

As for the length of stays, I think we don't mind longer ones. I tried turning off the instant booking setting, but there were like 10 warnings from airbnb, like "do you really wish to turn it off", or "your listings won't be displayed as much on the site" so I got scared and kept it on 😂 I think we'll be fine since we're only free until the end of August. 

You're right, the app is very limited ! I'll be sure to use the website more. 

Thank you for all your advice !

[Agnes511]

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Agnes511 two thoughts

1) look at your listing as if you are a guest and you will see what discounts you are offering (knowingly or unknowingly)

2) a 50% monthly discount means a guest booking approx 17 or 18 nights might as well book for the whole month - It seems awfully high to me.

[Agnes511]

@Mike-And-Jane0 , thank you for the idea, I checked and indeed there is a discount, which I can't seem to turn off. It's for the first 3 guests, so I guess there's only one more and after we'll have the correct payout.

As for the longer stays, we're only doing airbnb until the end of August if everything goes well, we're not looking to make money but to replace 2 roommates and pay their rent for the summer. That 50% off for a month is still higher than our original rent ! We wish we could get someone to stay that long, then all our problems would be fixed !

Thank you for the advice ! Have a lovely day