I’m new to Airbnb hosting and was wondering whether guests would be happy to pay for food/wine/drinks/products (locally made)? If yes, what’s the best way to receive payment? Thank you!
The answer is some guests may be prepared to pay depending on your target market, location, type of food. price point, what else is available locally.
Some hosts have a price list of local gifts/foods and you can arrange for guests to pay you directly. @Alwaizhappyy
If you want to sell wine you will probably need an alcohol license. (and for fresh food too). Check with food and alcohol regulations in your location.
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I was an Air guest at a farm last year not far from Asheville, NC. The farmer offered homemade raw sausage, homemade pancake mix, maple syrup, butter and had left some homemade tea cakes in the kitchen.
The location was remote enough and the idea of homemade food so tempting that I bought it. Anything less and I would not have.
I think she charged $18. Before I arrived we messaged to set it up and I paid via the AirBnB platform. The food was waiting in the kitchen. She also had a drop box inside the cabin to collect cash, and a sign if you wanted to call her to order breakfast.
The sausage was divine (I’ve since gone vegetarian), but I don’t think preparing foods like this and selling them to guests is a good idea.
When I was applying for insurance for my rental cottage the underwriter saw that my listing says breakfast provided and he wanted details. I quickly shifted to a different insurance carrier for other reasons so I don’t know what the outcome would have been.
I provide hot and cold cereal, milks, juice, coffee, tea, hot cocoa and fresh pastry, and condiments, complimentary to my guests, enough to last for their whole stay. Everything but the coffee in new sealed packaging, but even for that I have premium instant coffee for anyone who is worried.
Most of the time only the pastry and coffee are consumed. Some guests don’t touch a thing. My nightly room rate is now quite high for my market so I don’t even care about the cost of breakfast, which is trivial.
----If you don’t have a food prep license I think you might want to be careful; and
----If your place is in a great food town as mine is, realize guests are mostly going to go out, order delivery or get carry away/take out.
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As @Helsi says, it depends.
We have a three-bedroom home in a rural area in a Caribbean country. Getting from our home to restaurants is rather time-consuming and the roads are quite rough. No food delivery services, either (other than hiring a taxi driver to do it at a cost of about $40 US).
Our housekeeper offers both cooking services and meal services (where she provides the groceries). Her prices are very reasonable and many of our guests hire her for several meals during their stay.
They pay her in cash, or they pay me with a credit card and I wire the money to her (a fee applies to cover my costs). I’ve had a couple of guests leave without paying her, and I used the AirBnB resolution center to get paid for those.
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The advice to check local regulations is a must. Depending on where you are, there are often several layers - country, state/province, municipality, etc. To make it more confusing different departments within each handle different aspects - beer and wine, hard liquor, food, dairy, tax and building requirements. In addition to the written laws and regs, you have to deal with whoever is interpreting them which can vary wildly. Then you have the wonderful topic of insurance. If you are lucky all are minimal and you can proceed happily. I am in a heavily regulated U.S. state so I only offer “complimentary” prepackaged items and the coffee that I make. Additional regulations and insurance would put me out of business.
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I agree.
If you want to provide food like this you should clear it with your insurer, who I think will likely say ‘No’ if you’re in the U.S.
Regardless, in the U.S. the legality depends on state law.
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How does car leasing work in the UK?
I’m in the U.S., so I don’t know. But could you please how this questions relates to operating a short-term rental business?
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