Yes, I think this illustrates the point that bargain hunters will not act grateful, they will act entitled. The funny thing is that my husband is also a teacher. It says so in our profile.
Iāve never personally experienced it but I know some members here have said they have given discounts to bargain hunters only to still be marked down on value ā¦that would bite!
I would have been tempted to tell that guy he should look into couch surfing dot com, LOL!
Dodged a bullet, indeed! YOUR price is fair but he doesnāt like the taxes and fees? Soā¦ because he doesnāt want to pay them youāre supposed to, in effect, pay them on HIS behalf? Sheesh!
I encountered the worst enquiry today, my place is $180 AUD for three persons, and Iām willing to give the guest a discounted price of $150 because he wanted ālong term cooperationā. That is a lot of discount to me and not much profit left. He dared to tell me he only wanted to pay $100 a night and wanted to avoid Airbnb as well. I was furiousā¦he could only get a room for two people at a low end motel for that price and he wanted my nice house (comparatively speaking it is an basic house but so much better than a motel room in terms of size, bathrooms, all the free amentities/services and location!) Even the closest motel to my place sells at $120 a night. If I put my place in long term rental market, it rents at $520 a week and I donāt have to pay utilities and internet, nor do I need to provide any furnitures. I just want to say what the heck is wrong with this guy?
Well he is a chancerā¦All you have to do is say no.
In your situation I wouldnāt want him to stay at any price.
I have a regular who stayed last week and was hounding me to lower my price to $40.00 per night and add cable television. I pointed out that the nearby motels that have Yelp reviews mentioning how skanky they are cost more than we charge. She told me that she uses Priceline to book motels and gets good prices.
I would flag someone that hostile, plus he attempted to book outside the system. Why on earth would anyone think they could do that to a host. This is not a Moroccan bazaar.
My experience seems to be similar to many hosts , which is to avoid the bargain hunters. In my experience they ask loads of nit-picking questions and take up a lot of my time and then donāt often book even if you offer a discount.
I also find that the bargain hunters do not restock the kitchen and tend to be much messier and show no respect for the home.
I am politely refusing them now. Having said that, I had one enquiry over the weekend who has messaged me 8 times asking for a reduction or to go outside AirBNB. I reported him but he is still contacting me. I am not replying anymore after declining twice. Unfortunately declining does not stop them trying again.
Wow, so it sounds like reporting/flaging/declining do not work. I am very sorry they can keep harassing you. If you have time, maybe call Airbnb and let them know this has to stop.
No declinng does not work at all. He is still continuing to hassle me and using very hostile language. Then what I believe are his friends, tried to make the same booking-but always as an enquiry not a firm booking. I contacted airbnb again and they said they had reached out to educate him about the platform and suggested not replying to him.
Today he sent me a specific request to accept his booking outside Airbnb ( before it was veiled). So I sent that to Airbnb and they say they are going to deal with it as itās a clear violation of their termsā¦ watch this space .
I have had to block the availability for the two days he wants - otherwise I think he will continue to pester me with messages through the night, like last night.
Hit the Flag this user button!
Iām looking forward to hearing about the resolution of this. Itās a shame you had to block off the days. Hopefully you can open them back up and get a good booking.
Iād never noticed that button before. Thanks for pointing it out
Best,
Lynda
I had a guy ask me "What is the price for 10 days?"
Would you consider that bargain hunting?
What would you have answered? Please give me tips.
I told him I donāt know what AirBnB is charging, but that the price is what is showing on the screen, which is the price per night x10, with a discount of 5% because he would be staying for more than a week.
I never heard back from him.
I would have answered my nightly rate is x - 5% for stays of a week or longer. Airbnb will also add a service fee typically between 6 and 12%.
That is short and straight to the point. Just what I needed. Iām going to use it exactly like that. I myself elaborate too much most of the time.
THANKS !
If you also have a cleaning fee donāt forget to add it
When guests ask the price I always tell them that hosts donāt see the Airbnb fees or the taxes if any are charged, therefore we have no way of knowing the full amount they will pay. It doesnāt sound to me like the potential guest was bargain hunting as Iāve had many guests ask how much they will pay.
As I was reading this thread a request came in for a 30% discount for a 2 night stay from a fellow host. He mentioned requesting the price break as a āprofessional courtesy,ā and went on to say āitās not like your place is in NYC.ā Huh? Thatās a new one on me. I agree with all of the folks above who have said that the guests who ask for discounts tend to be less-than-great guests. And I have often heard that hosts can be problematic, too, although that has not been my experience so far. So I was glad to avoid this double whammy from the NYC host. Sheesh. It seems like this has been a 24 hour period of odd/out of line requests.
Yes, people are getting cabin fever maybe!