I totally AGREE - I could reduce my prices to something between $50 - $70 per night and be GUARANTEED to be TOTALLY BOOKED OUT....probably, year round
BUT WHO would pay to replace the bed linen after 6 - 8 such visits for (as oft suggested) just a single night stay - AND at THAT price WHO could POSSIBLY afford even their OWN time to simply CLEAN 128m^2 of fully carpeted floor space?
The recommended price MIGHT work for Airbnb but THEY have a near ZERO cost platform from which to run THEIR business, the impracticality of those recommendations is purely INSULTING - unless you have a masochistic tendency, IGNORE, or better still, RIDICULE the INANITY of it all....
When AIrbnb pays YOU for the swapped out towels, that missing spoon, broken dish, or dirty finger smudge on that wall or TV (which only your NEXT guest would ever notice) and then allows a truly open and FRANK converation re: reviews - THEN and only THEN will this business start to become VIABLE for anyone bold enough to offer up THEIR PROPERTY for Airbnb to exploit!
This comment should only be interpreted to pertain to Airbnb insofar as ONLY they push riduculously unviable price recommendations - I SPIT on them for that.
When I first listed MY property on Airbnb, mine was the 65th property listed in the STATE of NSW, some of the features which originally attracted to me to this site, have been gradually eroded away - an interesting phenomena for an INDOOR business