Booking Direct with Repeat Guests

[RebeccaF]

Thanks for the clarity!

[KKC]

@WinsomeLoft

I know 100% for sure that Airbnb is collecting and paying taxes on my behalf.

I know they are collecting state tax here (TX) but not local. If you are interested in how this differs in other states you can search “local taxes” in the search bar and you’ll see the threads I’m referring to.

@WinsomeLoft

So you’re saying you’re increasing your revenue by charging the guest more directly (on your side) but it still comes out cheaper for them because of the lack of fees on their side?

Yes. No matter how you slice it Airbnb is getting a nice size chunk for doing nothing (in terms of repeats only, I have no problem paying them to find me guests). At 48 a night my guest is paying 12.5% and I’m paying 3%, so a total of 15.5%. Some hosts report paying even more in fees.

[RebeccaF]

Thanks for the percentages. I was having trouble figuring out what guests pay in fees.

[KKC]

@RebeccaF

I was having trouble figuring out what guests pay in fees.

It’s not a set percentage. It used to be that guests paid a lower percentage on a higher overall booking. But this summer I paid 12.67% on a $5215 booking. I believe the TOS now stipulate fees as high as 20%

[RebeccaF]

That’s good to know.

[RebeccaF]

Holy cow, we have someone interested in a longer term stay (six-seven weeks). Now we definitely need a short-term rental agreement!

[WinsomeLoft]

Thanks @KKC that really helped me understand the percentages. Sorry it took so long to wrap my head around what you were saying.

[Chris]

@CeeBee

No one has yet mentioned requiring a rental agreement. In my situation (entire apartment rental, I’m not on site), I would never rent without one.

You do not need a rental agreement.
When did you last sign a rental agreement when staying in a hotel?

[RebeccaF]

I do need a rental agreement if the stay is for more than 29 days. And this would be for six weeks.

[CeeBee]

Every time I’ve checked in. It’s the fine print on the receipt when you fork over your credit card.

[georgiahost]

@CeeBee

Every time I’ve checked in. It’s the fine print

The last time I stayed at a Disney hotel in the fine print you agreed that you had no intention of establishing residency at the hotel.

[CeeBee]

@Chris

You do not need a rental agreement.

Until you do need one, of course. But by then it’s too late.

[KKC]

One other thing to remind everyone of. Airbnb is experimenting with a system where all the service fees are paid by the host. So on these listings there it a notification at the bottom that says “No service fees” and when you reserve there is a zero under service fees. Of course the host is paying these and has to reflect that in the price. If they end up adopting this site wide and hosts are seeing that 15% deduction staring them in the face with each booking payout maybe they will quit saying they are happy with Airbnb because they only pay 3%.

What Airbnb's New Fee Structure Could Mean for Travelers

[cabinhost]

Yes, I encourage ALL guests to book direct. I direct all of them to my Houfy listing where they don’t have to pay any traveler fees and it is open communication.

You said you already have Square…well my Houfy listing “connects” with Square and Stripe. I have both set up. You can select them on and off as often as you like. So for book direct, Houfy works perfectly for me. My guests can book me online just like they would with ABB and Vrbo.

I tried the “cash” thing a couple of times. I don’t advise it but some are fine with it. Depending on your type of rental, I have no desire to close off my calendar in the “hopes” that someone will show up at my door with cash.

Do I collect taxes for the rental in book direct? Absolutely! Book direct just means they are booking directly with the business instead of a 3rd party.

Do I communicate off platform? Absolutely! I would advise getting guest phone number and collecting it at time of reservation. Also, many owners need an actual rental agreement signed. So they will need to collect that email address anywhere. While many of the OTA platforms don’t encourage this, many owners require it.

[Militaryhorsegal]

@TamiS

I charge him my nightly fee + cleaning + taxes. I essentially make the same amount, but he saves in Airbnb fees. Making the same amount is fine by me because it’s a stress free booking.

So guest saves about 20% and you save about 3%.

I take that total 23% (or whatever it is…I think it’s often higher as I have fairly low prices) then split it 50/50 with the guest. Therefore: guest saves 11.5% and so do I! After all, I’m the one taking the time to figure it out for them, and gracious enough to offer it.

[LCL]

1. Repeat Guests.
   Yes - With our repeat guests, we met thru a platform (and not only ABB) and now go direct thru my website or direct contact
2. Communication.
   We have a FB page and a website. Guests - both repeat and new - have found me thru both of those before.
3. Payment.
   Square or PayPal are where I am setup but I have used Square predominantly.
4. Pricing.
   I have charged nearly the same off platform. Yes, I know I can go for more but I haven’t.
5. Taxes.
   We collect and remit.
6. Anything else I should know about direct booking?

• Commercial insurance is hard to locate in our state, but I have it, thankfully.
• Have a good support system in place, and treat them well.
• I LOVE the repeat guests we have had!

[TamiS]

This seems like a good idea. So far, I only have one direct booking customer, but for any future guests I will implement this pricing structure. Thanks!

[RiverRock]

@RebeccaF

• Repeat Guests. I understand that many hosts direct-book with repeat guests. The first booking goes through Airbnb, where the contact with that guest originated. After that, the host encourages booking direct, especially if it’s a trusted guest. Is that what you do?

Yes, I leave cards out that have my direct book website.

• Communication. Hosts generally seem to use texting (off the Airbnb platform) for booking direct. Is that what you do?

Text email and phone works fine for me

• Payment. I assume that means those hosts can process a credit card (such as through Square), or they accept checks or cash. All good. We have a Square. What do you do?

If they go to my direct book website they can pay there, if not I send them a link to book or an invoice direct from square. Cash is fine too.

• Pricing. I’m curious about the pricing hosts use for direct booking. Let’s say the room/house/apartment rate is $100/night through Airbnb. Then Air gets their fee from the guest and fee from the host. Just for round numbers, let’s say the Airbnb transaction is something like this: $100 for space, $20 for guest fee (I don’t know the actual percentage), $3 for host fee. So the guest would pay $120, and the host would actually receive $97 in this example.

What would you charge the guest for direct booking?
The same as my highest priced OTA, so whatever I am charging on VRBO

• Taxes. I assume the host would collect any required taxes. We have no taxes to collect, so I’ve left that out of my equation, but others might be interested. What do you do about taxes?

I collect and pay taxes.

• Anything else I should know about direct booking?

I have commercial insurance

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[pleasantforestshores]

I may be a non-typical Airbnb host since I inherited in 2002 the family summer weekly rental cottage colony that my parents built in the 50’s so it’s been operating for decades without ABB. And the vast majority of my customers are repeats and I have used ABB simply to fill in leftover gaps. I have a website, am a member of my local chamber of commerce, but don’t pay for any advertising due to how few openings I have per season (usually maybe a half-dozen).
So - to your questions:

1. yes, I have converted a few of my ABB guests to direct for repeats. But the majority of my ABB’s have been one time only folks.
2. i use email, phone, SMS, FB PM’s, etc and actually have only in two cases that I recall not spoken to guests prior to booking even with ABB. I want them to be 100% sure of what they are getting or not. With some of my direct/repeat guests, the ‘booking’ is somewhat informal: a simple email or FB PM is enough to make the deal. I don’t have rental contracts and haven’t had any real issues. Some minor damage, like broken coffeepot or dish or glass or such but most of those have been willingly paid for by them. Actually, my problem sometimes is that people buy a replacement that I don’t WANT!
3. I take personal checks or money orders or bank checks or if I have to: cash. Have used PayPal a couple of times to expedite payment but don’t use any credit/debit card payment.
4. My pricing on ABB is 3% more than my direct price because i’m forcing the guest to pay that CC fee so i net very close to what a direct guest would have paid.
5. State of MA now has a STR tax which I’ve had to collect and remit for most of my direct customers this past summer. There was a one-time exception which some were able to use by booking in 2018.
6. I have only gotten a couple of reviews from my direct customers via Google/Yelp/etc so actually use ABB reviews to help my direct bookings. That’s one disadvantage that you can’t get good reviews but also keeps you from getting misleading/negative ones which somewhat offsets it.

[KarenWV]

I book direct for guests who have been outstanding. We just finished our 2nd full year with this STR and I have 4 repeat guests who have stayed at least 3 times. I started last year when one of my repeats booked through Airbnb, then queried as to how the charge on her CC was so much higher than the nightly quote.

I accept a personal check upon check-in and if it’s their first direct book I take a $100 deposit. I keep track of what they paid the last time and give them some discount. I already have my tax payments set up and the checks run through my LLC, so I add those revenues to my monthly tax payments.

For some reason January/Feb seem to be the preferred months for several of my recurring guests. When one reached out to me recently to reserve a January date I proactively reached out to my other return guests and secured 2 other bookings.

I am just completing my website, FB page and business cards. I use my VRBO site as my master calendar. I can add private bookings and they show up as VRBO bookings on my Airbnb calendar.

I communicate via email or text.