Special Offers - Security Deposits & Cleaning fees

[Lawson0]

Please help clarify something for me. 

I don't normally charge a deposit for short visits, but I have a long reservation that I want to charge a deposit for. We worked out a special rate and I sent them an offer. I included the deposit amount and a special cleaning fee in the total. I think I should have done this differently. I told them to wait to accept the special offer to give me a window to do this properly. 

Should I withdraw the offer, go into my prices and add the deposit amount for damages, and the special cleaning fee, and then send them a special offer with just the pricing for the house? 

Or, if they take the offer before I make changes, how can I refund their money back to them. I think that the way I have it now they are being charged taxes and fees on monies that aren't the actual reservation, but instead a deposit and cleaning fee. 

I might add that the person is new and not verified yet. I'm not sure if this is relevant, but part of the equation. As I understand security deposits, as the host I would file a claim within 48 hours of the tenants exit to collect the damages. I presume in the verification process they put a credit card on file for such occurances. 

What is my best path forward? Any thoughts would be appreciated. This is a short notice reservation. Thank you. 

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Lawson0

~You are not allowed to take a deposit as part of the booking and then return it - that is aganist AirBnBs policy. You set your deposit on the site BEFORE someone books and it then becomes an agreement for the guest to pay up to that amount iif there iis any damage (not wear and tear of minor inicidental accidents). By charging a deposit in the way you have done so, both you and the guest are now paying an addiitional fee to AirBnB. As you are also operating outside their policy, you will not be protected by AirBNB if something major goes wrong with the stay.

~Your best approach, if I understand where you are in the process, is to decline the booking, explaining that you want to add on the requirment for a deposit, and then ask them to request the dates again. The nightly rates should stay the same and there will a hold on their card for the deposit.

[Lawson0]

Here is what I found out. I withdrew the offer and started over. The guest did not need to do anything. 

I went to pricing on the property and changed my deposit amount to the required amount. 

I then sent a new special offer to the guest. 

I added the cleaning fee on the special offer as that is different than a deposit. 

If I wanted a pet deposit, there is no special pet deposit, I would just change my security deposit amount in pricing. 

If I wanted to add a fee for having a pet, I would just add that to my special offer, much like you do with the cleaning fee. 

If my security deposit is at zero when I send the offer, then there is no security deposit on the stay. 

If I set my security deposit for $1,000 and then send the offer, I can immediately change it to something else and send another offer with a different amount. Each offer will have its own different security deposit. 

And yes, by adding the security deposit to the special offer the guest would have to pay fees on a deposit that isn't right. That is what caught my eye from the beginning, that and that I didn't have an option to break down the special offer in the first place. I still think it is strange that there are taxes charged on cleaning fees, but I guess that is part of the process. 

Thank you for your response. I thought I would jot down what they told me before I forget it. 

[Cristina106]

How do I add a security deposit when giving a Special Offer?  I already have a security deposit on my regular listing, but I have someone renting just for an event, in which case there is no overnight and I'm giving them a different price. I don't see a place to add a security deposit or cleaning fee within the Special Offer area.  Is it automatically included in my listing, regardless if I've given a special offer or not? 

Thanks

[Lawson0]

Set your security deposit in pricing, send your offer, and then you can change the deposit. Whatever your security deposit setting when you sent the offer will apply. Any other fees, like pet fees or cleaning fees are to be included in the special offer, but they are also taxed like the rent is, or that's the way it is in Kansas.  The pet fee I'm referring to is not a deposit, it's at fee you expect to be paid. A deposit is something you claim after the fact to repair damage. 

[Leonard36]

This was not super 100% clear to me, but it did actually work and was confirmed by Airbnb customer service on the phone.  The "Security Deposit" isn't even charged up front.  It's basically just there for you to "make a claim against" if something goes wrong.  Thanks for the help.