Increase in host service fees

[Alison24]

I've been renting out a room at £40 a night and have been charged a £1 host service fee per night, so I get £39 per night, which is fine by me. 

Now when I look at potential bookings, it says I will receive £38 per night. I can't see any information telling me that the host service fee has increased by 100%

When I look at the airbnb site it says it charges hosts 3%, which would be £1.20, so by these terms I should be getting £38.80 per night? 

Thanks for your help

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi @Alison24,

Airbnb does not handle cents and from what I have noticed, they usually round up.

[Dede0]

AirBnB used to say (somewhere) that they rounded up or down following standard practices. They may have changed that recently and may now only round up. Wouldn't surprise me!

[Alison24]

Thank you for your reply. 

I've seen their payment terms and conditions that say that they will round up or down to the closest full number, but £38.80 would then be rounded up to £39, rather than rounded down to £38. Also it seems strange that they've just suddenly changed the amount without any notification, even though my listing price is the same. 

[Dede0]

So, either AirBnB isn't following their own stated rounding policy (which is the same in the new Terms of Service), or they're making a math error, or... here's a weak theory, starting with a question to @Alison24;

Are the guests for whom you're seeing the apparent rounding error from outside the UK? The reason I ask is that, if I read AirBnB's currency-related legalese correctly, the amount that a guest sees in a listing's calendar and is charged is in their home currency (if that currency is supported by AirBnB; not all are). Then the payout to the host is made in the host's local currency (with the same caveat as just mentioned). If the two are different, AirBnB adds in a currency conversion fee. (And I can't tell if they list that separately in the host's accounting or just fold it into the regular fee. Perhaps you've experienced this and know that they do or don't list it separately. ) So, I'm wondering if some of your recent guests fit this criteria and the small currency conversion fee might've pushed your total fee just high enough to cause AirBnB to then legitimately round their total fee up to 2 pounds. Just a weak theory...