Use of professional photos

[Lynette92]

hi just like to know if its good value to pay for a professional photogaphers with airbnb

[Paul1255]

Hi @Lynette92 it really depends how much a photographer charges for shooting your home, and the state of your current photos as well as any potential uplift in views/bookings as to if it might be good value.

Certainly photos are the single most important part of a listing from a guest perspective so it's important to get them right.

The photos you have on your profile look really well-shot, and very well-staged, and give a great impression of your space!

One of your reviews says your photos don't do your space justice- and I think this probably is a good situation to be in- photos that are great enough to secure bookings but not so great that they give an overblown impression of what a guest will actually get when they arrive.

If you are going to go with a professional photographer, make sure that you pick someone who specialises in interior photography, and I wouldn't use the photography option through Airbnb (if it is available in your area) as the photos will be taken and uploaded to your listing without you really having a say in which ones are used, or how they are shot (you will be able to re-order them one they have been uploaded though).

Using a photographer you source yourself will give you much more control over how your photos are shot and the finished look, you'll be able to pick a photographer based on their previous work and go with someone who you feel will make the best of your space.

Best wishes

Paul 🙂

[Tracey207]

Your photos look great! The only thing that jumps out is the bedrooms...a photo of the whole room would be nice.

I just had Airbnb do my photos...you can go take a look...

The photos are not terrible, but not even close to what I wanted/needed. Nor what they could have been with a talented photographer. The photographer is instructed to shoot what ‘Airbnb wants’ not the customer.

You don’t get to choose or screen the photographer. Airbnb does not provide previous photos taken by the photographer they assign to you. You get zero information. You get whomever is available, whether they specialize in photographing your property type or not. Whether their photography style suits you or not.

I paid over $200 for photos that I do not own and cannot use elsewhere.

You never receive copies of the photos you paid for...other than them being uploaded to your account. And you can’t save them either. They exist only in the Airbnb account.

Here is the process...

1. You make a request

2. A day or two later, a photographer contacts you

3. You schedule an appointment for the photo session

4. The photos are taken ( approx 1 hr-ish)

5. The photographer lets you know how many days they will take to edit the photos

6. Photographer send pics to Airbnb for review

7. Airbnb reviews your photos and chooses the ones they like.

8. Within a few WEEKS Airbnb will notify you that they uploaded your photos

It’s a long process for photos you never own and don’t get to choose yourself. Having Airbnb do my photos is a mistake I’ll never make again.

[Yvonne230]

I totally agree with you. I had professional photos done through Airbnb  and I'm generally very pleased with them  But I can't use them on the other sites I advertise on. So now I'm going to have to get new photos done so I'm paying twice. 

I strongly advise everyone to get your own photographer and not go through Airbnb. 

[Ben551]

I found it great value and our bookings shot up through the ceiling.

The only issue we had (and still have) is that the Airbnb photographer focused entirely on inside shots, no outside shots. Our selling feature is about the view of the harbour and the NZ forest, but he wouldn’t do any of it. So we’ve had to mix blurry iPhone pictures in with the professional ones... not great. Also... too many bed shots. I mean he took 8 photos of one bed lol. Weird bed fettish man...

We now have a private “outside” photographer coming this weekend to sort it out for us...