- Where is AirBnb headed?

Green-Area-Apartments0
Level 7
London, United Kingdom

- Where is AirBnb headed?

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3) Payout onto direct GBP account takes a whole week since September

I am renting large apartments and the whole logistics to get them ready often tallies costs of about 50 EUR or 40 GBP. Nowadays or more precisely since September (i don't know if it's Brexit related or not), we started receiving payments from an Irish bank instead of an English local one. Those take approximately one week to be realized.

 

It is contentious from the start that as hosts we get paid the full amount only ONE DAY after guest's check-in with the grain of suspicion it induces, knowing AirBnb keeps millions in upfront paid booking with all the interest it has. But one week has become too much and if talking of several hundred Pounds that is basically 'borrowed' for a week to the banks or AirBnb while the guests complete their stay which may induce even additional expenses. Most other channels pay the hosts either upfront or at the moment the guests check-in. 

4) Ever increasing fees faced by the guests (20% now in most cases) making them look for alternative platforms making us uncompetitive


...while at the same time:

5) Ever more stringent requirements for hosts fueling guests unrealistic expectations at a constantly lower price

 

The last has little to be discussed since we've all experienced it. A constant push towards bottom level pricing coupled with unrealistic expectations the failure of which falls entirely on the host's behalf.


All taken together it leaves little to motivate us to keep doing the great job that most of us have been doing and which transformed this platform in what it is today. We don't feel rewarded for turning AirBnb into a billion-dollar business but reprimanded every step of the way by letting into our expensive properties people who are not taught to respect but to expect

 

1 Reply 1
Rebecca181
Level 10
Florence, OR

Based on what I read here in the hosting forum, it seems many hosts here are noticing a fast-spiraling of deteriorating service and an emphasis on guest-centric policies. Many long-term hosts, including successful super-hosts, have shared they plan to exit the platform. 

 

I control my listing carefully. If I lose the ability to do so, I will also be gone. And that says a lot, given I average 2 - 4K a month when open.