This is SO true. Everyone’s time is valuable and we’ve found that there have been no ‘bad’ guests using IB but I’m not constantly answering inquiries.
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The inquiries KILL me. How many beds? How many bathrooms? Do you have pet llamas? KILL ME.
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LOL! So sorry for laughing, but that is just cracking me up. It’s funny because it is so true. i cannot believe the stupidity of some folks’ inquiries. I am comforted knowing that nobody can get past my filter unless they have already been positively reviewed by other hosts. I have my fingers crossed.
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It’s cute that you think ‘experienced’ guest don’t ask stupid questions LMAO:joy:
Call me crazy…but I just declined a very good $$ reservation because the guys asked how many bedrooms/bathrooms I had, I answered, then asked AGAIN! No way, I can just imagine the issues!
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Hey! Just let me live in my dreamworld for a while. 
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Those are great. I just had a guest send an inquiry referencing something not in the listing as a great bonus. I asked where this was in the listing. She responded that she didn’t actually read the listing but just sent out a bunch of requests. At least she was honest!
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We have just gotten to the point, that our listing will be booked during busy season at a premium price, that I’m not going to risk a sht reviews on stupid people. Now if this was January I would be begging them to book 
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I’m still not ready to try instant book. I wish I could apply it to only certain days, or certain weekends.
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I am fortunate to live in a popular vacation town. I have had over 70 bookings and what I have learned: I don’t want to have a group of guests in their 20’s or 30’s who are unrelated. 90% of my guests have been great but the real disasters (puking everywhere, burning a hole in the sofa, cigarettes inside) have happened with these groups. When I search for my area (no date, 1 guest), my place is on top. I’m not sure if that is because now that we have a city short-term license law, there are fewer Airbnb’s in my town. Anyway, my point is – if a 20-something booked with their parents and got a good review, I don’t want to risk renting to him/her if he/she is planning on booking with friends this time around.
sandy,
I feel the same way. I think it really just depends on the market and what kind of groups you can attract at your property. I filter out sooooo many guests just by asking them if there will be any visitors during their stay, and the ages of all children/infants. Then the divulging begins. If I used instant book all the time I would have over occupancy issues. I use instant book with Booking.com since I don’t have another option - but I still screen and if guest has more people than stated, I tell guest to go online and cancel the reservation. They don’t lose any money so no biggie…but just a waste of my time.
Now if I was a hosting a shared space/onsite I think I would be okay using instant book.
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“Now if I was a hosting a shared space/onsite I think I would be okay using instant book.”
I do share a space and that’s the reason I won’t use instant book…I need to do some personalized vetting prior to letting someone in my home.
Lol. I have heard this same thing. I only think I would be okay. Who knows if I actually shared the space…ha!
We are using it and no problems at all.
I decided to turn on instant book based on your positive sentiments. Lately I’ve rarely had to turn anyone away as it is, mostly just accepting the booking so I might as well benefit from the higher search ranking! I’ll update you guys on how it goes!
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When I do a search for my town in Airbnb, not putting in any dates, there are 19 listings. Only a few of them instant book, and they are not near the top. Since I live in such a small town, I’ve donr the same search for a larger town nearby (10 miles) that is a well known tourist destination. That town has banned, and enforces, ABB listings. So what shows up is a grab bag of other listings in no way associated to distance close to that town. But there is also not just a first page of IB listings. Maybe ABB just doesn’t do that in this area?
It’s kinda the same in my area which is why it’s important to check what other hosts are doing regularly in your area. Most hosts in my area don’t have IB on so I don’t know what difference it would make turning it on. One thing is for sure is that I would up my prices if I were too.
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You can pre-approve them if you want to nudge them. Or just wait and they can book on their own.
lol, kinda glad to see that i’m not the only one dealing with idiotic inquiries.
Even worse are the “booking inquiries” that aren’t enquiries at all, just general questions about my type of house. It’s so annoying to know i’ll be penalized in the search ranking for not responding quickly to an inquiry that starts “i’m not asking to book your place, but…”
opposite for me… January is my high season. Now is my dead season!
Nah… I had that backfire on me. [quote=“Karen, post:57, topic:4795, full:true”]
You can pre-approve them if you want to nudge them. Or just wait and they can book on their own.
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