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Oh? And how exactly am I “misconstruing” you?
Quote: Of course it’s a coersion technique to try to force all hosts to use IB. Resist!
Did you mean something other than what you wrote? I’m pretty sure that each of us can determine if IB is in our best interests without a blithe “resist”.
My comment was in response to Hampton’s post right above mine:
So if you had read through the thread and noticed that, rather than jumping on my post and taking it out of context, you would have known that I was speaking to the coersion that is used to try to force hosts to use IB when they don’t want to. We can’t see the star ratings, we can’t require govt. ID or a certain number of good reviews, we are lowered in search ranking, even if we are Superhosts with 5* reviews.
You simply assumed that I was saying that IB is some evil thing that no one should use, when I never expressed anything like that. I said to resist the coersion techniques, not to refuse to use IB if you want to.
@Hampton was asking about discounts for 2 day days on IB. And got a perfect response on how to do it.
Your circumstance allows you to maintain full control over each and every booking. FYI you most certainly can “force guests to provide ID”, especially if required by insurance which is common.
If some visibility isn’t provided in a mere inquiry so be it. We can ask questions and then take whatever action we wish.
In our case, if we “resisted” IB, we would miss out on thousands of dollars of bookings. Not in our interest. We’re running a business, not playing some game of “resist the man”.
I simply reacted to what you originally wrote, not “some abstract potential of what you might have actually meant by the same blithe comment”.
No, you are the one who abstracted my statement. I said exactly what I meant- to resist coersion. That isn’t in any way the same as saying that hosts should resist using Instant Book. It seems to work for the majority of hosts, so of course it’s great that they can choose that feature. Not giving in to the coersion tactics to use IB, when IB isn’t what a host wants, isn’t “resisting the man” and it isn’t some game. It’s expecting to not be “punished” simply because we have decided that we would like to be able to communicate with a guest before accepting their booking. It’s a matter of respect for our choice.
We don’t have those options available to us under pricing - at least i don’t know how to access them if we do. Here’s a screenshot of what we have available
try enabling professional hosting tools. then it might be there
The host in question isn’t “resisting IB at all”. He asked about a discount structure. He is already USING IB and simply wanted to customize it. No big deal.
No one is forcing anyone to use IB. And no one is being “punished”. Respect for our choice? We make whatever choices we want. What drama?
he or she states here:
I read that as Hampton doesn’t use IB and wonders if it’s just an option made available to those who do use it. Muddy is simply agreeing/commiserating and stating her opinion that Airbnb gives IB hosts options that it doesn’t give non-IB hosts in an effort to “coerce” them to sign on to using IB.
Hope this helps.
Non IB hosts:
Can’t see guest’s star ratings.
Can’t state that guests must have good reviews, recommendations from other hosts or verified ID in order to put in a request.
Are put lower in search rankings than IB hosts who may have lower ratings and worse reviews.
If the tables were turned and those restrictions were put on IB hosts instead of Request to Book hosts, I think you might consider it to be punishment and coersion.
We only see guest info after they have already booked. Big difference. You get to chat back and forth with every potential guest until you decide if they get to book with you.
We don’t get to choose between “new guests” and “guests with only positive reviews”.
IMO, IB hosts deserve a visibility edge to compensate for the lack of control over bookings. It suits our needs, as well as air’s. A logical business decision.
It’s a booking platform. It has features and policies. If you actually feel they are “punishing you” or don’t like their polices, you have choices …
It is what it is. No one is forcing you to use it.
Yes, actually you do. Many IB hosts have a requirement that only guests with at least 2 good reviews can book. Guests who don’t meet the requirements the host has set for IB have to send a request.
Non IB hosts don’t get to chat back and forth with potential guests “until you decide if they can book with you.” We have 24 hours to decide. If the guest lives in a vastly different time zone, or doesn’t reply to messages in a timely fashion, we are often left with little or nothing to go on, yet have to click on accept or decline before that 24 hour clock runs out. Just giving you the facts.
I don’t see why IB hosts need a visibilty edge- Guests can filter for IB properties only and those are the only ones they will be shown.
Airbnb doesn’t give these features to IB hosts because they are concerned for the fact that you have less control, they do it because IB brings in bookings faster than if guests have to send a request. Which puts service fees in Airbnb’s bank account. That is the only thing they care about and the only reason why they implement these policies.
I don’t need to be continually told that I have a choice. I know that and I made the choice that works for me, just as every host does.
I simply object to coersion tactics. Whether they concern IB or anything else.
No, this is not correct.
I never said they were concerned. Yes it is a logical business decision. It suits us and them.
So a minor visibility advantage is a nice incentive / benefit. You can call it coercion if you like. No one is twisting my arm.
Yes, we do get to choose only guests with a history of positive recommendations from hosts. New guests with no history, as well as those who have been given a thumbs down cannot IB my place. If you choose not to use this feature, that’s your choice, but @muddy is correct.
I understand perfectly what that switch does which is not what @muddy wrote: Many IB hosts have a requirement that only guests with at least 2 good reviews can book.
A guest merely needs:
So, a guest with a 3.5 average could still IB, provided that no prior host hit “would not host again”.
I would prefer that they separate new guests out from this and provide more control in that area. But, I do not expect it to change, so we keep our IB settings wide open and that has worked out rather well for us.
I see what you are saying. The guest with the 3.5 ‘should have’ been given a thumbs down and if he can still IB that would be the fault of the idiotic host who gave a guest a bad rating yet would still be willing to host again. I can’t disagree that the rating system will fail if hosts don’t do their part. For all of its shortcomings, we can try to protect each other with it if we all do our part.
Just turn on IB…
@Jefferson is correct. The professional tools enable to ability to add more discounts.
I do not have IB
I use professional tools
I can discount stays of more than 1 night
Air also messages me all the time about my rates–just ignore them.
I suspect the message is computer generated and never seems to be reasonable. I rent an entire apartment with kitchen, living room and a master bedroom. It is very clean and nice. AirBnB often suggests I should reduce my rates 40 or more percent–absurd. My place is usually 99 percent rented at the rate AirBnB says is too high.
@kaiserdr I also get these notices on a regular basis. When I tried smart pricing I set my lowest rates in the $170 range, but Airbnb would often recommend $70. You can’t even get a hotel room here for $70. I ignore and move on.
I know that seems like such a simple solution, but it isn’t that simple for some (maybe even a very few of us) As i have outlined before, IB just wouldn’t work for us. Not all listings are the same, and one size does not always fit all.
