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:
- At least one review with any star rating
- Can NOT have a “would not host again” entered as the last part of the review
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.
Could you turn on IB, set the two day discount, then turn off IB? Would that work or would the discounts be removed when you turn IB off?
Considering that not using IB puts hosts lower in search ranking, that they generally get fewer bookings because of it, and that it requres more of the host’s time to communicate with guests, I can assure you that hosts who opt not to use IB have quite good reasons for doing so. As Hampton said, there are many properties and hosting situations that don’t lend themselves to IB bookings, because many guests who IB have failed to read the listing info thoroughly. That can be disastrous when a property is unique, remote or rustic. Single females who host a private room in their home often don’t feel comfortable with someone simply being able to book without having some communication with them first. There are hosts who were using IB and had a lot of problems with the guests who were booking, turned it off, and have had much better guests since they have control over whether to approve a guest or not. Just because this isn’t the experience of you or most hosts who use IB, doesn’t mean the experience is universal.
“Just turn on IB” is pretty flippant and shows a lack of understanding and respect for various host’s situations.
Feeling very preachy today …
Oh c’mon now, flippant maybe but not disrespectful. That would be personal.
RR
I suppose that it isn’t flippant or disrespectful for @muddy to feign expertise (i.e.: Inquiries Expiring, IB operations, etc.)?
Perhaps not the best adjective? How about irresponsible? Yeah, that seems to fit better …
Why are you hounding her? You’ve been on this forum since October, and suddenly you’re an “expert”. Lighten up.
No. I am not claiming to be an expert. I have an issue with her so boldly asserting how things work and being totally off base about it - then berating hosts for not listening to her.
Try private messaging? You’re really coming across as a “bro”.
Just stop. It does not need to get personal.
RR
We all disagree at times. There are people on this forum whose posts drive me batty and I’ve pissed off plenty of people as well. But I’d like to think that what we share is greater than what we differ on and at a stressful time it would be great if this was a little corner of the internet where we could be supportive or at least stay quiet if being supportive is too big a reach.