Special Offers: A Community Help Guide

Dave-and-Deb0
Level 10
Edmonton, Canada

Special Offers: A Community Help Guide

-----------------Updated June 2017--------------------

An updated version of this Community Guide is now available, click here to view.

 

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I see a lot of questions on the Community Center about how to make Special Offers so here is a help guide on how to send them to guests.  

 

There are two times you can make a Special Offer, when someone sends an “Inquiry” and when someone sends a “Reservation Request”.  

 

1. Sending a Special Offer When Receiving an “Inquiry”

 

Step One: Go to your “Inbox” and find the inquiry from the guest.  Your inbox is located at https://airbnb.com/inbox

 

Step Two: Choose “Send Special Offer”

 

SO1.jpeg

 

Step Three: You will now be at the Special Offer screen where you can a) change the listing if you are offering the guest a different listing, b) change the check-in/check-out date, c) change the number of guests, and/or d) change the price.  

 

As you change things, your pricing will be updated BUT when you change the price, you need to add the cleaning fee and taxes (if you charge taxes and Airbnb does not collect them for you) as these are not calculated into the Special Offer price.

SO2 (1).jpeg

 

Step Four: Once you are sure that everything is accurate, you can then choose to “Send Special Offer”.  Once you send the offer, Airbnb will calculate the Guest Service Fees and taxes (if they collect taxes on your behalf) and  then send the total to the guest.  Your guest then has the option to accept/decline the Special Offer.

 

Here is an example of what the guest receives to accept or decline

SO9.png

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 2. Sending a Special Offer When You Receive a “Reservation Request”

 

Step One: Go to your “Inbox” and find the message from the guest which would be marked as “pending” and open it.  Your inbox is located at https://airbnb.com/inbox

SO5.png

 

Step Two: In order to send a Special Offer, you first need to decline the reservation request.  Decline the request by choosing “Decline” and you will then have a popup screen where you need to choose the reason for declining.  You can choose “other” from the list and enter a reason such as you are sending a special offer to the guest.  Ensure that you uncheck the box, “Block my calendar …” or your calendar will be blocked during these dates.  

 

SO6.png

 

Step Three: Go back to your inbox and choose the message from the guest which will now be marked as “Declined” and click on it.  This will once again open the messages for this guest.

SO8.png

 

 

Step Four: You will be taken to the declined reservation request but if you scroll down and look below the pricing you will find a box for sending a special offer.  Choose “Send Special Offer”.

So7.png

 

Step Five: You will now be at the Special Offer screen where you can a) change the listing if you are offering the guest a different listing, b) change the check-in/check-out date, c) change the number of guests, and/or d) change the price.  

 

As you change things, your pricing will be updated BUT when you change the price, you need to add the cleaning fee and taxes (if you charge taxes and Airbnb does not collect them for you) as these are not calculated into the Special Offer price.

SO2.jpeg

 

Step Six: Once you are sure that everything is accurate, you can then choose to “Send Special Offer”.  Once you send the offer, Airbnb will calculate the Guest Service Fees and taxes (if they collect taxes on your behalf) and  then send the total to the guest.  Your guest then has the option to accept/decline the Special Offer.

 

Here is an example of what the guest receives to accept or decline

SO9.png

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 

Here is the Help Article for sending a Special Offer: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/35/how-do-i-send-a-guest-a-special-offer

 

Here are a few things to note about special offers:

- A Special Offer doesn’t block dates on your calendar until after it is accepted by your guest.

- If you don't see the option to send a Special Offer, check that the dates on your calendar aren't blocked or that you don't have any pending reservation requests for the same dates. If you have a pending request from another guest, you'll need to decline it before you can send a Special Offer.

- You can offer multiple guests a Special Offer for the same dates until someone books. We recommend being open and transparent with your potential guests that other guests may be interested in the same dates.

- If you have a security deposit on your listing, it will be handled as normal and you do not need to add it to your Special Offer total.

David

Superhost Ambassador ~ Host Club Community Leader ~ Community Expert ~ Experienced Co-Host

3 Replies 3
Barb6
Level 10
Stevensville, MI

@Dave-and-Deb0 Thanks, this is very informative for me. 

 

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

This is great @Dave-and-Deb0! Thanks so much for creating it - I'm sure it will be really useful for many hosts. We will get it added to the Community Help Guides :)!

 

Kirstie

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello Everyone,

 

Thanks for your participation here. I just wanted to let you know that there is now an updated version of this Community Guide, click here to view.

 

I will now close this topic for new posts. 

 

Thank you,

 

Lizzie


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