My Instant Book Experiment

[Huma0]

I have always been one of those hosts that has a deep fear of Instant Booking. I am a single woman and host in my own home (although I do currenty have a male housemate). I also have a busy work schedule and travel frequently for work, so managing my calendar can be an issue. More importantly, I'm just worried about the can of worms it might open given that, in my experience, most guests do not read the listing nor the house rules properly and often don't even really know what they are booking (e.g. think they are getting the whole house and not just a room, assume they will have an en suite, are highly allergic to cats and I have three...)

When I first listed a room on Airbnb, I DEFINITELY deselected Instant Booking. Imagine my surprise then when I found out the next morning that people had instant booked my room and at half the price Airbnb told me I was going to get! One of the guests had only booked for one night so I honoured that booking and got my first review. The other guest wanted to book for two people for two months and it worked out to around £15 a night. Please tell me what you can find for £15 a night for two people in London. Certainly not this, which is the room that was on offer!

However, after a year and a half of hosting and being almost fully booked every month, my views and bookings have all but ground to a halt. What's going on? I have tried EVERYTHING to try to push my listings up in the search results, but it is just not happening. So, I am biting the bullet and have put one of my listings on IB. I will keep you updated on how it goes. I only did it today and then received one enquiry with a question. I answered the question within minutes and then, silence...

Would love to hear from other "IB fearful" hosts who have tried it and what your experiences were.

[David126]

I actually moved to IB to avoid all the time spent dealing with inquiries, I was non IB for a couple of months.

Now I do have a AirBnB compliant assistance animal, but I have not noticed any difference between IB and non IB, Guests still have to contact me for same day bookings. Now of course YMMV.

Are there other systems you could look at, perhaps ABB is overloaded with Hosts in your area?

[Huma0]

@David126

Your doggie looks very lovely 🙂

I have asked around (to friends who are hosting) to get recommendations for other systems, but haven't heard of anything that would work for me that is any different to Airbnb IB.

By the way, I didn't see any option when I switch to IB about not allowing guests to book the same day, but my settings before only allowed guests to book up until the day before, so do those still stand? I can very rarely accommodate same day bookings, so that is a worry if it is the IB default.

[Amy38]

@Huma0 Twice in the last 2 years, my listing has just inexplicably disappeared from the accomodations offered in a search.

This was quickly rectified by a tweet to Abnb.

To check this, you must search on a computer not your own.  You will always show up when you are using the computer known to Abnb.

I regularly do a mapsearch to be sure I am there.  Right now the issue is that the map is only showing a handfull of listings in a wideish area, leaving me and other nearby places out.  I have to practically zoom in on my block to find myself.  I also look at the competition and check their availibility  which lets me think about pricing.  Oh and I do have instant book with 0 problems.

[Huma0]

@David126

PS your place looks fascinating. So much history! Shame the bar's not operational though 🙂

[Vanessa137]

Hello,

Great suggestion. I seem to be having a similar problem with fewer bookings than usual. Is there a good indicator to see whether new hosts are bombarding our region?

Thanks.

[Huma0]

@Vanessa137

I think listings that are flagged as 'New' in the search results for the first month, but I'm not sure if there's a way to tell how new a listing is after that.

[Lawrene0]

I was terrified of it, @Huma0, absolutely convinced that I would be stuck with the "inquiry" crowd - the people who made it clear in their requests/inquiries that they hadn't read even a word and must have missed all the pictures. 

They were going to trash the place, torment the wildlife, and scream in their one-star reviews about no wifi and having had to camp. 

But...

Mine is the only place in my village, the only place in my township. Zero Airbnb competition, and yet I disappeared from the map. There were enough forum posts about the subject that I didn't need to ask what the trouble was. When I hit the Instant Book button, I'm not exaggerating when I say it made me sick. I very nearly de-listed.

The bright spot was the pre-booking message. I have been assured since, in this forum, that no one reads those either, but I needed something to make it possible to sleep and that was it. 

I keep up the conversations. I do ask questions, and my flexible cancellation policy makes it easy for them to cancel if we determine the place isn't the 'Swiss Family Robinson meets the Hilton' that they were thinking when they hit BOOK.

I had the best guests ever before IB, and I have the best guests ever after IB. I'm lucky to have very, very few unsuitable guests, and there have been as many before as after. Basically, I am saying that I am no better at vetting people than the system is. I only thought I was. 

I really feel for you on this. I hope the positive story helps, but I really wish it wasn't necessary. I wish IB was there for those who love it, but that it wasn't pushed upon single home-sharers like you and oddballs  like me. 

I will look forward to your update.

[Huma0]

@Lawrene0

Thanks for the encouragement. The deluge of bookings hasn't come in, but I only switched earlier today and it is low season, so let's see! 

Unlike you, I am in a city with many thousands of listings so it's very easy to get lost in the searches. What worried me though was that my listings were not even appearing when I clicked within my immediate area.

I couldn't see what advantage the other listings that showed up had over mine in terms of price, reviews, number of bookings etc. etc. In fact, there was nothing as nice as mine in the same price range. I found a couple of lovely Airbnbs with Superhosts near me, but they were quite a lot more expensive for a single, not double, room. 

When I clicked on my block, one of my listings showed up. I had to almost click on my own house for the other to appear! Surely that is not right. If I'm that invisible, obviously I'm not going to get bookings. Instant Book is a last resort for me. Let's hope it works. Otherwise, it's Adios Airbnb...

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Huma0 to set booking in advance and not the same day go to edit listing / availability / advance notice... and set it to at least 1 day's notice

we have instant booking enabled at least 1 year and we ask our guests just few questions: the exact time of arrival, bed arrangement and if they need a parking place. We look at their past reviews if they have them and that's it. We are off site hosts with max stay 15 days. 

[Huma0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

Thank you! I believe I already had that selected in my settings. I was just worried that switching to IB might override existing settings, but can I be safe in assuming other than allowing gets to book instantly, everything else will remain the same?

[Huma0]

So, I got my first instant booking already (for June) and so far so good. The guest has several glowing reviews, all five star ratings and responded properly to all of the questions in my booking message. To be honest, this is the kind of guest I would have happily accepted on request. I know it is only one booking, but that gives me a bit more confidence in the process.

[Huma0]

Also, I just noticed my pricing has changed. I use Smart Pricing, but set a minimum that I'm comfortable with rather than the silly bargain basement minimum AIRBNB suggests. For some time, I have noticed the prices never go above the minimum unless I increase them manually.

Having switched to IB, my prices are all of a sudden fluctuating and rising several pounds above the minimum more often than not. I find it odd that an IB property should be priced higher when the offering is otherwise exactly the same. Has anyone else noticed this?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Huma0 I don't use smart pricing . It doesn't recognize any hollidays or season or major events and price tips I see are ridiculous, but if it works for you then great 🙂

The good thing with IB is that you can cancel the reservations if you feel uncomfortable with the guest or he intend to break your house rules etc... but you already know that

Just one tip... instant bookers will sometimes book way in advance and then you will not hear from them until a day or few before arrival. They will forget to tell you the time of arrival , bed arrangement and other important questions you asked in your prebooking message. Don't panic 😉

[Amy38]

@Huma0 smart pricing takes you to the cost of the lowest price room on offer.

The other day I saw that Abnb, while wanting me to use SP. noted that my price was 23% higher than nearby and that I was booked 18% more for the month.  My base price is 140 and nice places nearby were 95-125$.

Yet I had more bookings in the slow season.