What is the percentage of the guest service fee? What is the percentage of the host service fee?

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Sandy33
Level 3
Brookhaven, GA

What is the percentage of the guest service fee? What is the percentage of the host service fee?

What is the percentage (or $ amount) of the guest service fee?  What is the percentage (or $ amount) of the host service fee? Are these service fees a percentage of the monthly rate set by the host?  

 

I charge $1650 per month plus a $120 cleaning fee for the entire stay.  I am renting a fully furnished 1200 s.f., 1-bedroom, 1-bath apartment with a dedicated laundry room for the apartment only, an office with a wireless inkjet printer/scanner/copier (paper and ink supplied) and office furniture and a furnished, covered brick terrace overlooking a ravine -- all of this in a close-in location in Atlanta, GA.  

 

A potential guest (referred by a previous guest which is why she has my contact information) just wrote me and told me that Airbnb is quoting her $1903 per month for a stay of May 14 -- July 30. That is way out of line!  Her friend (the one who referred her to me) was here last summer for the same amount of time and she paid $1737 per month. As I was looking up these transactions I noticed that a guest who was here last summer for a month and a day paid $1829.  Meanwhile, my current guest who arrived February 1 and will be here through March 31 is paying $1690 per month.  None of this makes any sense.

 

I do not allow my rates to float (as Airbnb wants me to do).  My rates are always the same.  I rent exclusively through Airbnb, to business travellers who will be here for 30 days or more.  Looking at this wide variance I may have to re-think my loyalty to Airbnb.  But what do a tell the potential guest who is being way overcharged, I think -- and as a result may not stay with me?

 

Sandy

1 Best Answer
Jd23
Level 2
Las Vegas, NV

I really don't understand what's so hard to understand.

 

Say you're a farmer selling eggs. I'm an egg broker. You tell me what cost you want for your eggs. You apply whatever value you think is fair.

 

I then buy your eggs at your price, go out and build a market that didn't exist for your eggs prior, add 18%, 20%, or even 30% markup, find customers who are willing to pay that cost consistently -- creating sustainable revenue streams for us both -- and you cry foul, suddenly feeling like you deserve more of the cut??? Who's the real greedy one here hmmmm. 

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124 Replies 124

Thank you for sharing that info and trying to chase down some info from them. It's a shame, but AirBnb may go by the wayside out of greed. It is customary to charge one party a fee or commission, not both. Airbnb are not only charging both but are doing so excessively. I used to book via Airbnb, but when I returned to do so after a couple years away, I found their unreasonable "fees" and obvious padding unacceptable. I also used to rent property and will again soon. I cannot list on Airbnb without complete control over my rates - nevermind the shoddy customer service (or lack thereof).
Susan17
Level 10
Dublin, Ireland

Shannon124
Level 2
California

It is unreasonable price gouging. What was once a good thing now bites the dust out of greed. 

Has been the same for at least 2 years I have been using ABB.

David
David126
Level 10
Como, CO

@Shannon124

 

How have the fees changed?

 

Who is cheaper?

David

Airbnb's service fees seem to be based on a percentage of the total plus they pad the owners rates in, it would seem, a rather covert way. 

When I rented properties, I used VRBO. They charged a yearly rate - no additional fees or percentages. They also had good customer service. I will use them again. 

Douglas68
Level 2
Mundelein, IL

Home Escape has no mandatory fees

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

What Airbnb charges is based on two realities: what they need to charge for their model to make economic sense and what the competition is doing. The higher their base cost (i.e. customer service), the higher they will need to charge, meaning the more their hosts and guest 'demand' the more they will raise their fees OR the less they will offer. IF I was them I would eliminate many of the services and involvements they are now doing or getting into, their model is way too time consuming and risky in many societies; i.e. the US. Sometimes less is more.

 

Having run my own business, including but not limited to owning vacation rentals, they are price gouging in my opinion. Of course, they have every right to make as much profit as they wish, but their greed is losing customers. Also, as we have seen from other posts, their justification of higher customer service is pretty much nil - at least for property owners. These things tend to happen when a company brings in outside investors. 

Alistair21
Level 2
Loughborough, United Kingdom

I'd just like to chip in as a guest who is on a budget, but often stays long term on Airbnb (28 days+). The guest fees I'm charged for good value places in Europe are typically 13-15% (and the higher boundary of 15% is now recorded in the official blurb). 

 

What is frustrating for me is that a surprising number of hosts seem totally unaware of this, I'm assuming because Airbnb buries it away hiding it from their interface. So if I try to negotiate (because it's low season perhaps, or whatever), and say "the price is this", then they say "no, it's not this, it's x -15%", which makes it very awkward of course.

 

It is gouging, but what sticks with me is that it's totally opaque from a host perspective. 

Sandy,

I just had a long conversation about this issue with an Air BnB rep who was unable to send me a pdf or link explaining the Guest Service Fee % calculation and how they arrive at it.  She told me it's about listing location and demand, etc. and that the info before her is the same info I can see on the Air BnB help section on the website.   I was surprised to find out that one of my potential guests, who was a freind - new to Air bnb with a new profile, was quoted a price with a 15% service charge.  I wasn't aware my guests were being charged that much.

A)  my beef isn't that we hosts pay 3% and the guests pay a service charge as well.  Air bnb is a business that has a lot to offer, and should make a profit like any business.  But it's about the usuriousness of charging 15%.  I have always thought the guest side charge was around 6%.  

B)  Hi guest service fees like 15 **bleep** percent effect hosts livelihoods heavily by putting downward pressure on what we are able to charge, in terms of the market.  The guest pays a TOTAL CHARGE, as far as they are concerned.  And if that seems exhorbitant, they will move on.  WE as HOSTS are the ones that have to make a downward price adjustment to get people interested again.  Air BnB does not take on this downward market pressure as we do.   They might adjust down from 15% a bit when demand is low, but ultimately, we suffer economically as host because of the prices we are able to collect due to Air BnB's usurious 15% Guest Fee.

 

Peter B

Hi Peter,

Your message about airbnb fees is spot on.  I would like to add that I suspect Airbnb is getting ready for an IPO that profits are an important factor in order to drive up gthe value of their IPO (Initial Puplic Offering).  Also, Airbnb books hotels.  Fastcompany.com did an article on Airbnb titled:  "To fill Rooms, Hotels Are Turning to Airbnb".  I don't think it matters to Airbnb how their fees are generated. 

 

I've recently noticed a major push by Airbnb encouraging me to lower my rates.  My rates have been fairly stable for more than 2 years with seasonal adjustments and up until recently I had good occupancy.   I had several guest that return frequently but in late November 2017 they approached me about the cost through Airbnb.  I looked into the pricing and realized there had been an increase in Airbnb's service fees which was making my listing less attractive.  

 

Once my return guests voiced their dismay at the increase in Airbnb service fees combined with Airbnb's continous encouragement to lower my rates I realized I was being squeezed by Airbnb to lower my rates to satisfy unhappy guests and by my guests wanting the same rates they had before. 

 

I do not know what I can do about the situation.  Airbnb is in the business of making money and their product is travel accommodations.  As hosts we either fit into their scenario or find other ways to deal with the situation.  I would certainly be open and happy to entertain any suggestions. 

 

Please, if your role in the Community Forum is that of a Reputation Management Consultant, do not attempt to minimize or negate this conversation.  You are blantantly obvious to those that are aware of Repuation Management policies and the fact that you are paid by companies to keep down or block honest comments and concerns in an effort to maintain a pristine image for your employer.  

Wenwen0
Level 1
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

"I do not know what I can do about the situation."

 

Craigslist is free to use. So is the facebook marketplace.  List your places there.  Handle the bookings yourself.  Charge no service fees at all. 

Hi Peter,

 

I did a little research and I think the following information may shed some light on the situation.

( I am not a reputation management consultant, or high level host paid by Airbnb to squash discontent or honest communications about the problems Host's encounter, or to make the host wrong because they are a less experienced level.)

One does not need to be on the Airbnb platform long before one becomes aware of various difficulties.

 

1. I think Airbnb is working towards their IPO (initial public offering) and the higher their profits the higher their valuation.

 

2. Airbnb is in the business of making money and their "product" is travel accommodations.

 

3. FastCompany.com wrote an article titled "To Fill Rooms, Hotels Are Turning to Airbnb".  Services fees are revenue whether generated from hosts of hotels.  

 

4. As recent as late November 2017 I lost return guests that complained about the cost.  When I looked further into their complaint I realized that the service fee increased their cost while my rates had not changed.   

 

It makes sense now why I've received multiple suggestions from Airbnb to lower my rates.   I'm being squeezed by Airbnb and by my guests.  I suspect Airbnb needs to drive down the prices of hosted properties in order to maintain a differentiation between hotel rates and hosted property property rates.  Hotels of course, receiving higher rates.

 

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

 

EcoBuilt0
Level 3
Pennsylvania, United States

For many months I have received messages from Airbnb urging to drop my listing rates which I have done only selectively and by small amounts.  I have been hosting for two plus years.  To my recollection, when I first became a host the service fee was slight shy of 10%.  When I just checked today, 12/5/2017 I found that Airbnb has moved their service fee up to slightly over 12.5%.  No wonder booking are down.  With a hefty price tag for service fees Airbnb is squeezing their hosts to lower their rates to compensate for their service fees.  Not going to happen, I'll find other ways outside of Airbnb to fill my space.

 

Also, last week, the week of Nov 27, 2018 Airbnb has techincal difficulties, they've had many recently, and they arbitrarily cancelled a confirmed reservation.  When I asked what happend they merely said something happened on the platform and they decided they had to cancel the reservation and other reservations as well.  Asked how they would compensate me for the $180+ loss they wouldn't commit other than to say they hoped the person would rebook.  They were suppose to reach out to the guest which they did not.  Eventually I contacted the guest and learned that he had booked the reservation with a code offered by Airbnb, the reservation with code was accepted and then Airbnb decided to cancel the reservation because they did not want to honor the code or make good on their mistake.  The responsibility for the mistake was placed on the host and the guest. 

 

What is going on with their platform?   Are they just plain greedy?