Price now automatically includes all fees, anyway to avoid this?

[Greystone0]

Hi Hosts,

I am now seeing my listing pricing showing "Price includes all fees". This used to be an option to choose as a host for each listing, but now it is automatic, or so it appears to me. Anyone else seeing this in their market or listing? I cannot find a way to remove nor can I conduct a general search without the fees being included.

In our case the AIRBNB fees are quite high per reservation and so having it separate added a layer of transparency and honesty to the pricing system. I realize that AIRBNB has been suggesting and pushing hosts to include the fees in an 'all in one' but the result is that it hides the AIRBNB fee.

Curious what you are experiencing? ANd if there is a way to remove this?

Thanks for any insight.

[Joelle43 · Accepted solution]

Hello @Greystone0 

According to the link below, there should be an option to show prices all inclusive or not:

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/3365

This may have changed so it would be great to let us know!

Here in Europe, it's been mandatory for a while now to show the total price when searching which is a good thing I think - saves a lot of wasted time for guests as I would hate to see a price per night that fits my budget only to discover that when I click on the listing, there are huge cleaning costs to factor in, plus the Airbnb commission plus all the city taxes!  

The breakdown of the costs is totally transparent and the guests see exactly how much the host charges per night of course but also sees all the other costs clearly listed.

[Greystone0]

Hi @Joelle43 ,

Thanks for weighing in.

The option to turn on or off display pricing is not available on my searches. I am in the US using various browsers to try and see a way around it.

I can only see a total and that total no longer has a break down of the underlying information (nightly rate, tax, cleaning fee, AIRBNB fee, whatever-else-is-included).  Once you click on a listing, then on "reserve" you do see this: taxes & airbnb fee broken out, however it is hidden under a link. It is less transparent than the prior method. Obviously, the total is highly relevant but understanding what goes into the total is important as well.

[Joan2709]

@Greystone0 

No way around this.

Airbnb has been slowly transferring all the US listings to a "show all fees" price format. And yes, it is a bit deceptive in my opinion. Many guests will not know they need to click the price breakdown link on the Reserve page to see Airbnb's fees.

I think Airbnb should have left this as an optional choice for guests to decide, but they didn't.

[Greystone0]

Hi @Joan2709 ,

Thanks for weighing in!

Great information and glad to know I am not alone in this viewpoint as it really isn't a transparent method of conveying pricing.  I have a feeling that at least in the short term it will repel a guest from booking a listing where the AIRBNB fee is above say, $400 range, which is where we are.

I think guests are reasonable but when the rate is portrayed this way it comes across as unrealistically inflated, unless you realize that the underlying fee for AIRBNB is a substantial part of the overall total.

[Joan2709]

@Greystone0 

Agree. Just make sure your nightly rate and cleaning fee is in line with other comparable listings. If you are, the Airbnb fee should be approximately the same for your listing and others that are comparable (#bedrooms/baths/#guests/amenities).

Part of the issue is your 6night min stay. Are other comparable listings showing the same min stay of 6nights?

[Greystone0]

Hi @Joan2709 ,

For that particular week,  6 nights makes sense - there is a large annual event that is driving pricing and minimum night stays in general. We just had a cancellation and so decided to open on this platform too, which we wouldn't normally do. Outside of high season or special events, our minimum night is 3 nights.

I don't often open up these weeks on AIRBNB as the cancellation period doesn't' t suit me, until closer to the dates if it hasn't rented yet. 

I'll also change the minimum stay as things progress, if it doesn't rent. Good to be reminded though.

[Helen3]

Im rather confused I don't understand what your issue is @Greystone0  it's a much more transparent way for guests to compare pricing when they see the total price.

in Europe our consumer legislation means guests have  been able to see total prices for at least four years or so when they look at listings  when comparing pricing .

when they go to actually book they see a breakdown of all the separate fees . 

[Joan2709]

@Helen3 

In the US, the guest would have to click a further link to see the breakdown of all the separate fees, it doesn't automatically display:

[Kimberly879]

Came here looking to see if anyone was having this problem. This is a terrible change in my opinion. The price breakdown on the reservation pages doesn't show how much is your cleaning fee either.

I just had someone send a reservation request and it's not showing my price breakdown to me either, as in what the price is per night, and once a reservation is on your calendar you can't see your price on each day either. I keep a spreadsheet to track what someone pays per night, so if that has gone away, that is going to be even worse. Hopefully that is just a glitch.

[Joan2709]

@Kimberly879 

Not a glitch I’m afraid. Airbnb has been planning this for a while. Makes it difficult for guests to see what their service fee is, which is what they want.

[Kimberly879]

I hate this change. I will be listing on other platforms and trying to move away from Airbnb. They already make it hard to see your own notes (you can't after a reservation), and other unfriendly things for hosts to keep track of their data. I like to compare year over year, etc and they make me have to duplicate my workload b/c I have to track everything in a separate spreadsheet. If I change a price, I have to change it in two places.
Not happy at all.

[Joan2709]

@Kimberly879 

Agree. Airbnb received alot of negative press about fees, but some of that was due to greedy hosts who had a low nightly rate, but added a high cleaning fee. 

I do think other platforms will move in this direction as well. I'm fine with the guest initial search showing total price, but for heavens sake, show the breakdown as separate line items before the guest books and show the Host the nightly rate by night. 

[Joelle43]

Hello @Joan2709 @Greystone0 @Kimberly879 

They have a perfectly good format/model that they are using for Europe and Oz that is fully transparent for both guests and hosts - one click and the guests see exactly how that total price is made up - no in-bedded link.  What is that??  

I can't understand that they would choose to go with such an opaque way of showing guests the total price?  This is a major change I imagine to the way the platform is set up for US guests and hosts alike so it would seem really important to make that change as seamless and as transparent as possible.  Not showing the service fee as a different line to guests?? I hope the local taxes are shown separately at least otherwise it's going to be an accounting nightmare!!  

[Joan2709]

@Joelle43 

Toggle Option is now gone. Guests only see "prices includes all fees". I feel the toggle option should remain and not be removed by Airbnb. 

Here is how the sequence of screens appears now. Guests only see the Airbnb Service Fee if they click "Price Breakdown". Cleaning fee is NOT shown. This is deceptive in IMHO.