Cleaning Fees Including in Price on Search Results

[Linda100]

Has anyone else noticed that on the mobile version search results our listings show our basic nightly rate as expected but on the desktop version it's showing the basic nightly rate PLUS the cleaning fee?   So in my case, the nightly rate is $128.  I charge a $32 cleaning fee (no matter how many days people stay) but on the desktop search results my listing show as $160 per night (on the map and on the thumbnail) until you drill into it to see the breakdown.  This is misleading since the cleaning fee is one time, per stay, not per night.  It makes our listings appear more expensive per night than what they actually are which is most likely causing people to not even click on our listings (if you have a separate cleaning fee which is being automatically bundled on top of your nightly rate) on the desktop version, thus everyone loses.  Can this be fixed?  Maybe they are running tests in different markets.  I find this scenario on the San Diego listings and the regular results on listings I know in Long Beach.  smh

[Todd-and-Reese0]

If they are doing that, that's messed up. We charge a one time cleaning fee as well. Tacked on as part of the nightly rate would be outrageous.

[Ange2]

@Todd-and-Reese0  @Linda100    It would be off-putting if all you saw was price+cleaning and thought that was a nightly rate, I can imagine it may lose a few guests if they haven't put the dates and seen the breakdown and realized that the cleaning was a one-time fee and the nightly fee was in fact less what was shown for two days or more.  I  absorb the averaged out cleaning cost into my nightly fee so there is no confusion.

[Clare0]

@Ange2 Actually it is not.  The one time cleaning fee is divided by the number of nights so Airbnb does not just add the cleaning fee to the base rate, unless the stay is for one night.  Did you see the example I gave previously on how Airbnb calculates the true nightly rate in search results?  

[Ange2]

@Clare0  Yes, thank you. My post was about people who do not put in any dates (re: Airbnb message, see below, that @Linda100 quoted) these guests would see the total as the (price+cleaning fee) - which, may deter them from putting in any dates because it's outside their budget.

Linda Post -  Airbnb said:

There are only two circumstances under which a guest will see the price of $160  (nightly price of $128 plus the cleaning fee of $32.)

1) when a guest does not input the number of nights they are booking for, 

[Clare0]

@Ange2. I got ya.  But without dates, guests don't ever get the correct picture.  Many hosts have seasonal, weekend, holiday as well as special event pricing.  So if I were just window shopping for listings, say, in Paris, the rates for Bastille Day (July)

would likely be much higher than if I were searching without dates in January. Not only that, but many hosts offer weekly, monthly discounts which aren't calculated unless the guest enters a check in and check out date.  

Guest who have real travel plans select dates.  If a guest window shops, they will not get the true cost of the stay.  

Regarding cleaning fees, I don't have one on my listing.  I don't have extra guest charges either.  My base price is the highest nightly rate I offer during the period that my calendar is available.  So my guests always have a pleasant surprise when they enter dates for their stay and find out my rate is less.   So, for example, my base rate is $250 per night which is displayed with no dates.  When a guest enters dates they may see $215 or $245 depending whether their stay is over a weekend or during the week. 

[Kathryn131]

Hey Todd & Reese - how is that style of pricing working out for you?  I'm wondering if there is any research done by ABnB of guests interests...ie., how does a guest prefer to see the pricing, a flat rate that includes the cleaning(like a hotel) or do they feel they've got a better deal by seeing a slightly lower nightly rate with added cleaning fee on top...??  I like the idea of bottomline being what is shown, but does a higher nightly price become offputting if the searcher can't clearly see it's included...??

[Marzena4]

@Linda100 I can see each of your listings at $128 on a laptop from my place.

Btw, Linda, it seems to me that your listings are a bit confusing: both are "3 Private Rooms w/Live In Host." According to my common sense, two independent parties cannot rent the same 3 bedrooms at the same time. What is more, if the host lives in, you do not offer the intire house...

 

[Linda100]

Marzena, While I appreciate your commentary, I'm trying to get to the root of the technical issues that may be effecting many hosts.  It could be market based, browser based, etc.  My two listings are linked so they can't be double booked.  This is a basic feature most/all hosts should be aware of.  Quite often I'm not at home so yes, I can rent the whole house out.  And even when I am home my apt is attached to the back of the house, so guests still have their own private space.  Not sure why you had to go to critique land on a technical question, but ok.

[Linda100]

I had messaged Airbnb about this last night as well, here is their response.  This is a thing.

"When guests view your listing they see the price including both the nightly price and the cleaning fee.

Airbnb did not always do this but we found that some guests became turned off because when they viewed the listing they saw one price but then when they went to book the price increased. Guests felt that they were being mislead at the first step and it prevented some guests from taking any further steps and therefore not booking with hosts.

So when a guest views a listing they see the nightly price with the cleaning fee incorporated. In the case of your listing that would be a nightly price of $128 plus the cleaning fee of $32 for a total of $160.

There are only two circumstances under which a guest will see the price of $160. 1) when a guest does not input the number of nights they are booking for, or 2) when they only want to book for one night.

What you will find is when most guests are looking for a listing they input the location, number of nights and number of guests. So if a guest was to search for a listing for 3 nights and your listing fit their criteria they would see your nightly price of $128 plus your cleaning fee divided by the number of nights. So $32 divided by 3 equals $10.67. So if the guest was looking at your listing under these conditions they would see a nightly price of $138.67.

If a guest booked for 10 nights, the cleaning fee would be divided by 10 and added to your nightly price, $3.20. So on and so forth depending on the number of nights the guest wants to book for.

If a guest does not input a number of nights they will see all hosts nightly prices plus full cleaning fee included. All hosts will be shown the same, so as most hosts include a cleaning fee it should not affect any potential bookings.

If you want to test this out yourself this is the best way to do it.

1) Open Google Chrome
2) Open an incognito window, Ctrl + shift + N will open an incognito window. The reason why I suggest an incognito window is because repeatedly visiting the same page on a website like Airbnb, that updates so frequently, can cause issues. Incognito window will prevent any issues
3) Search for a listing that would fit your listings details
4) Change the number of nights and you will see that the price changes in line with your cleaning fee being divided by the number of nights

So I hope that I have been able to make clear how this system benefits both hosts and guests."

Linda

[Clare0]

@Linda100 Airbnb has been doing this for quite some time now.  Not only is the cleaning fee factored into the nightly rate calculation in search results, but additional guest fees will too.   This assists guests who enter a price range when they search.  Also, it thwarts hosts who think they can advertise a low base rate and then hike up the cleaning fee and charge exorbitant additional guest fees.  

Here's how is works for a two night stay for 4 guests where the base rate is $100, $25 cleaning fee and a $10 additional guest fee after two guests:

$100 x 2.     = $200

Cleaning.             25

Xtra Guest.          40

Total before Airbnb's fee / taxes = $265 which divided by 2 equals $132.50.  This is the true nightly cost for the reservation so a guest who's price range is up to $100 will not see this listing in their search results.  

Does this make sense?

[Linda100]

Yes, makes sense.  Thank you!  

[Christina328]

Hi Linda,

Thanks so much for this post. We started hosting last May and were very busy until late fall when bookings abruptly ended. I was busy with the holidays and family and assumed that people just weren't travelling to Boston because of the cold and the holiday season. Still I did anticipate that we would begin to see bookings again after the holidays. When that didn't happen I looked at my listing and discovered, as you and many others did earlier I now see, that the price I thought I was advertising, which is selected to be below a threshold, is indeed showing above that threshold because my modest cleaning fee was factored in. So frustrating! I understand why AirBnB did it, I just don't understand why we weren't informed! I have dropped my cleaning fee to remain competitive, and now will pay the cleaners out of the nightly rate until it gets busy around here again. As soon as I did that I got a booking. Again, I understand the rationale of including the fee to be transparent to guests, I just don't understand the lack of transparency to hosts. In addition the AirBnB fees went up, so the guest now pays what they would have previously with the cleaning fee, but those dollars go to AirBnB rather than to us! Maddening.

Anyway, thanks for the post. It was illuminating! I, like many others, thought there was an error in my listing, but nope!  Just those tricky AirBnB masterminds changing things without letting us know!

best,

Christie and Tom

Boston, MA

[Christina328]

And if Airbnb really wanted transparency for guests perhaps their fees should be rolled into the nightly rate when you search with dates as well as the cleaning fee....

Christie from Boston

[Willow3]

I actually LIKE this - as a traveler.  If a traveler does NOT include a date range in their search, only the base rate is shown.  But once the dates are selected, then the total price per night is shown.  Except that it's not.  Fees and taxes are not averaged in.  I wish they would be.  I LIKE to see a final price.  

As a host - I'm ambivilent.  I do charge a small cleaning fee, but even with the fee I'm still very competive so I'm not personally worried.  But for those who have a larger property and a thus a larger fee, I can see how it might become an obstacle for guests who only wish to book for a couple of nights.  They may choose to book a different property.