How do hosts approach charging for items?

[Eric712]

Our area is dense with bars and restaurants,but not with retail opportunities to buy food and drinks. 

We provide free coffee/tea/toiletries, but it seems like a good idea to make beer, soda, chips, salsa, pizza and ice cream available to guests like a better version of a minibar at a hotel and less expensive. 

Wondering if there are other hosts who charge for things and how they go about accepting payment. Thanks in advance. 

[Rebecca181]

@Eric712 Not sure where your listing is, but if it is in the U.S., be careful about providing 'special services' (like selling food) as you will then be required to file a Schedule C versus a Schedule E come tax time, and you will have to pay quarterly taxes as well. 

[Letti0]

@Eric712 Unless you're planning on becoming a licensed commercial B&B you can not sell these items to guests. Also you can not sell liquor without a liquor license in any state in the US. Both of these require all kinds of additional things like inspections, occupany permit, fire codes for commercial use, huge commercial insurance coverage, establishing yourself as a company and large fees. It can take many months to over 1 year to get occupany permit, septic inspection for capacity, flood zone inspection, fire inspection, push handles on all doors, emergency lighting, etc. I had to have a 30,000 gallon rain tank for the fire department to use exclusively for fire because I'm rural with no hydrants available, think over $30K+ just for this. I do weddings and rentals it a 6+ acre property with 3 homes, the largest was converted into an event venue. For me the expense was warranted, but not for just rentals. 

[Eric712]

Thanks for your thoughts Leticia. 

The premise I have in mind isn't "selling alcohol" as much as it would be letting people use the items I already have e in my place and using the honor system to have them pay me back for the cost of the items and a little on top for my time in having to go to the store to replace it. 

An example would be a list of what's there and then an approximate cost if they find they've checked in late and no food or drinks can be bought from the convenience store that closes at 9pm. So if a 6-pack of beer cost me $11, I could possibly charge $2-3 for a beer and similarly charge for frozen pizzas, chips and salsa, etc.

Definitely don't want 5o spend $20K on a liquor license,and probably can't get one for a condo anyways, but it seems like such a better level of hosting if you can anticipate your guest's needs and have solutions for them .

Any thoughts on the model I've described of being paid back for my things versus selling food and drinks?

[Cesar196]

Well, to be honest, no one needs a 30,000 gallon rain tank in the city for the fire department. That should not be a consideration for selling food and drinks. The other stuff, yes, you are switching from an air bnb to a full blow hospitality service... Can't do in residential zones... Must be a commercial zone

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Eric712

Personally, I'd just charge $5 more and include a welcome basket with extra drinks+snacks for all guests.

[Rory36]

Eric, 

I've been using Hostry the past couple weeks and it's worked out pretty well. They're still in beta and currently only in The US but you can apply on their website. And it's basically free. 

www.hostry.co

It's not refrigerated, so no pizza or ice cream, but my guests haven't had any issue with that yet. I stock lots of other snacks and drinks in there. 

Cheers,

Rory

[Cathie19]

Hi @Eric0.

I’m with @Jessica-and-Henry0; increase your listing price and add some basic extras in a welcome pack. If people are after some staples, make it cracker biscuits, cheese, bread some fruit. They can always get by on a sandwich cold or toasted. Or the crackers offer them some choice of nibbles. It also doesn’t have to be a banquet amount, just a starter pack depending on the number of guests.

🙂

Cathie

[Trude0]

I had the same idea as you, and just recently added a ”mini-bar with supermarket prices”. I don’t plan to make any money, just have it as a service. It’s a basket with a mix of healthy and less healthy snacks, and some sodas. I made a price list, inform that these are cost prices, and ask that the guests kindly let me know if they’ve taken anything, so I can ”charge” via Airbnb - or theycan pay cash, if they prefer. Didn’t think to check if there are any rules/regularities concerning this... I’m in Sweden though, not the US.

[Dyvia0]

I was thinking of doing the same thing. I'll have a little grocery basket with a price list. It will include things like a few snacks, drinks, etc. This could be helpful for guest arriving late or just in for a couple of days.