Help with first-time listing

[Tara125]

Hello,

I just listed our house for the first time on the site for a 2-4 day time period. I received a message from someone hoping to rent it for 2. I'm wanting to hold out to see if I can get 3 or 4 days (it's in Mpls over the Superbowl), but I'm not sure how to repond to the request. Do I decline and then send him a message saying that I'll let him know in a few days if it's stillavailable?? Thanks for the help!

[Kimberly54]

Hi @Tara125,

No.  You put out a contract and someone accepted.  If you back out, you will be in for some pretty serious sanctions.

Enjoy the Superbowl and be grateful that you got a 2-day booking!

Best,

[Matthew285]

@Kimberly54, based on her description, doesn't it sound like @Tara125 just received an Inquiry or a Booking Request, rather than a confirmed (Instant) booking?

The penalty for just Declining an Inquiry or Booking Request is not nearly as serious are cancelling a confirmed booking.

[Tara125]

You're right, Matthew - it was not an instant booking, just an Inquiry. What would the penalty be for declining? I understand that I shouldn't have put 2-4 days if I was really hoping for 3-4, but I'm learning as I go. If it's poor airbnb etiquette to decline, I'll just accept it - just thought I would reach out to the community for some info.

Thanks!

[Marzena4]

It's not that bad to cancel an inquiry - just choose the reason from the menu carefully, @Tara125. And you might set a minimum stay for that period in the Availability settings - 3 nights?

[Matthew285]

@Tara125, if it is just an Inquiry (and not even a Booking Request), you don't even have to decline it. (If it is an Inquiry, the buttons will say "Pre-Approve" and "Decline", as opposed to "Accept" and "Decline" for a Booking Request). For Booking Requests, you *do* have to Accept or Decline within 24 hours to keep your response rate high.

For Inquiries, just make sure you respond to the traveler with a message and you have fulfilled your obligation as a host. The notification that you should Pre-Approve or Decline the Inquiry will stick around for about a week, but you can just ignore it.

The "penalty" for declining Inquiries and Booking Requests are that if your rate of Declining is higher than your nearby hosts, it somewhat lowers your ranking in the search results.

[Tara125]

Very helpful - thank you!

[Gillian19]

@Tara125 Hi Tara, what I do in similar situations is to set the minimum booking period to say 4 nights. If I haven't had a booking say 4 weeks out, I would change it to 3 nights. If with 2 weeks to go, still no booking, then I would reduce to 2 nights. At least then I know I have got the best I could and didn't take a shorter booking when there was still time to hold out for a longer one. I prefer not to recline requests as I think that is a bad experience for guests and would be frustrating - if you advertise it then you should take the booking is my feeling.