losing money becausse of Air B&B and not happy

[Gemma6]

I am finding i am hugely disappointed with Air B&B, my home is being taken advantage of and via my guests I am losing money hand over fist.  anybody else?

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

Sorry you have had a bad experience. We've enjoyed all our guests, and the extra income is nice. No complaints so far.

[Donna15]

@Gemma6, can you be more specific? in what way are you losing money?

I strongly urge you to request a Security Deposit, as well as to change your cancellation policy from flexible to moderate or even strict. I note that your house rules are too few, and are generic. You need to firm them up in terms of the boundaries beyond which your guests cannot pass. These rules will back you up in the event there's any kind of problem regarding rule(s) violation. 

I think that implementing the above suggestions would help filter out some of the problems you feel you might be having. The Security Deposit in particular could be claimed against if any minor damages occur. 

[Gemma6]

yes, I se what you mean.  I have MS and have a disabillity rail going up my stairs which as been damaged by lodgers, and has had to be replaced.  This house is more suited to weekend stays but of late it's been a two week/week long stay this is when then damages have occured.

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Gemma6 If you only want weekend stays, consider setting up your calendar to only allow weekend stays.

[Nelson4]

so someone damaged something in your house?

maybe its time to add to your ad the

security deposit

and then read this:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/264/how-do-i-make-a-claim-on-the-security-deposit

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Exactly the opposite - have been hosting since last June and we really enjoy it and the extra income. How are you losing money? What is happening?

[Nelson4]

be more specific if you want help...

[Dede0]

As @Donna15 suggested, add a Security Deposit and bump your cancellation policy to Moderate. (I find that Strict deters too many guests.) Also, add a cleaning fee. As your rate is already quite low, you can't make the cleaning fee too large, but maybe $5-10. (Our rate is three times yours and we have a $25 or $30 cleaning fee, for work that takes one person about 90 minutes.)

Finally, if your listing is actually costing you money and you can't raise your rate and still stay competitive, maybe AirBnB isn't worth it for you.

[Marcus0]

@Gemma6 i assume you are just blowing off some steam and that is perfectly fine.  At the start running your own `hotel` comes with both good and bad experiences.  But at the end of the day its these experiences that allow you to improve what you are doing.  As others have suggested, updating your rules to suit what suits you, being strict on check-in and check-out times, and if you do not want the hassle of people coming and going so often, increase the minimum nights to 2 or 3, this alone creates more harmony especially if you are renting out a room in your own place.  Hopefully, as you improve your listing you will increase the amount of wonderful experiences you will have.

Another point you may want to consider, increase your rent.  It may attract less enquiries but i find people (in general) that pay more, respect more.  And with the bonus increase in income, it can go towards the maintenance costs.

[Mary-Ann0]

Hi @Gemma,

I'm not real sure what you mean but I think I understand how you feel.  All I can talk about is from my experience so here goes ...

I think Airbnb must have changed in the last 6 months because I have not had a good experience with my first two guests, however my third was wonderful but it was after I raised my prices to almost double what Airbnb suggested I charge at first.

Those of you who have been hosting for years must have started doing it before the word was out that first time hosts had cheap places and were willing to bend over backward trying to please to "get those great reviews".

Both my first couple of guests were entitled, uppity and the second one was horrible - downright rude!  They both had petty grievances and seemed to expect a castle for an unusually small fee. They seemed to have a chip on their shoulder.  Then to boot gave me only 4 stars for unreasonable reasons!   I was not happy at all with my first experiences until my third guest came, who was delightful, appreciative and gave a 5 star review.  Hey the third one’s the charm so I will stick it out a little longer and see what happens – but the jury is still out on this.

I don’t think it is right to have these 1st budget people, that we get in the beginning, judge you and give you stars because at first we are learning and the guests are experienced at using the system to their advantage and know they can get away with being petty and unappreciative.

Now of course not all guests are like this and maybe you and I have just been unlucky but I doubt it.  I have been renting my apartment out for 12 years before Airbnb and I tell you I have never seen such attitudes from guests like this!

And if guests “judge” their hosts and grade them then I feel hosts should “judge” guests and grade them too.  I bet that would clear up a lot of the attitude these entitled arrogant guests have.

I believe Airbnb are creating a groub of abusive monster guests by not having hosts grade guests like they do us.

That's my three cents.

Mary Ann

[Cg0]

I am losing money as well, but for a different reason. Mine is being taken by AirBnB. I have a minimum nightly cost, but when a guest books, the price shown per night is less than my set price. 

For example, my minimum nightly price is $55, plus a $30 cleaning fee. My guest booked for 13 nights. After my discounts for longer stays, this should total $550. My guest is paying $478. I can only assume that AirBnB is taking the money for fees, but why so much?

I now understand why prices are so high in my area. In order to get your minimum price, you have to ask a lot more.

Not happy with AirBnB.