I have a guest who asked if he could have a package delivered to my home address. Is there any reason this would NOT be a good idea to allow it? He is an Indian man from Hong Kong and he says it is just a computer sim card.
CS, it seems like I just saw this situation posted by someone and it strikes me as extremely odd. I would not allow a stranger to send something to your home address. Especially someone from out of the country. If it is a SIM card why can’t he carry it? I would say no to this odd request. If they want to mail something, have them send it to general delivery at the nearest post office.
Think of how you would regret saying yes if this package were stopped at customs and it turned out to be drugs and the shipment was tied to your address. Because you OKd it you could be implicated. Disagree with BB, just say NO. Handing out your home address to strangers so they can receive shipments of unknown content is NOT part of the AirBnB deal. I’d be suspicious of it, especially small packages coming from places like India. Just say NO.
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I did tell him No. I had one guest who claimed he was from Korea (but didn’t look or sound like it, and also acted like he was drugged on pills most of the time), who ended up staying at my house for just 3 days. 8 months later, I’m still getting mail for him at my house. Apparently he went around applying to every local technical/vocational college he could find using my home address as his address while here. Not particularly harmful, but very very strange. Also I had my first credit card fraud occur a few months ago - a charge on an unactivated Amex credit card (easily reversed). The charge, oddly enough, was for a donation to an ESL school in Texas. I also had a spoofer call me with my own name and number on the phone as the caller ID. I spend a lot of time wondering if this is just ordinary pranking or tied to AirBnB guests. Lol.
Someone here had recently posted similar…a woman from India requesting a package be sent the AirBnB address. I would not ask that of a host but then again some people are pushy. I guess you can take it on a case by case basis. If you feel like you can really trust the guest and they seem sincere then maybe. I can understand the SIM card need but why not do like the rest of us traveling abroad, just use your phone in a wi fi spot and talk via Skype.
I just think some guests really take advantage of the fact that they are staying in someone’s home. Asking for a small package to be received at your home when you don’t know the contents just seems unsafe and foolish.
I’ve never had a guest ask to do this. But then I don’t get guests from India ever.
I would never allow this, for reasons already mentioned. Unfortunately guests from India and China are two of the worst areas for the possibilities of customs fraud, due to both countries being responsible for producing the most amounts of generic and copy cat drugs and pharmaceuticals. Just, no way. If someone seemed totally legit, such as a surfer from Australia wanting to send a board (although that would make no sense why they wouldn’t just bring it), and I lived right on the beach in Cali, sure. But, I don’t. It would have to be a good tale!
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Question. I said No, but what if the package arrives at my house anyway? I can’t imagine confiscating it…
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Personally I would be very polite in my declining to accept the postage, and if possible recommend a different way, such as to a local depot for pick up. If a guest broke my explicit rules and sent something before arrival, I would call airbnb showing where you had asked them not to use your home address for posting personal items, and ask they help find the guest somewhere else to stay. My experience is that if a guest shows disrespect for your requests from the beginning, it will often get worse from there. If you permit something like this, they will see that they have gotten away with doing something against your wishes without repercussions, and this can be a bad situation. Anyone that would do something they know a host would be unhappy about a while staying in their home, is no kind of guest you’d want!
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Agree with Sandy., should he do it anyway, please refuse the package! And contact Air. She is right about the respect thing too. Probably it is perfectly legit (SIM card) but even if it IS legit… Unless you want to make extra work for yourself in receiving a parcel like a surfboard or golf clubs, receiving shipments of unknown content are just not part of the deal. Honestly I think I have never had this request before and I would be suspicious of it. What a great way to get drugs overseas with no risk to them! The only thing they pay for is a stay at your place. The only person tied to such a parcel is YOU… Think about it. They need to get drugs to the States. They don’t want to carry it. They book a kindly, non suspecting AirBnb host such as yourself… Have their merchandise sent, receive it and carry on. The perfect way to get drugs here with no risk to them!
As for other stuff, no.
I once managed a vacation rental here at the beach for a dear friend. Frequently guests would want to send parcels ahead of their arrival. I did it for a while and then I just said no. It’s making me responsible for your stuff, storing your stuff, etc… All more work for the same pay. So no! No benefit at all to you and everything to lose!
While I’d still take things on a case by case basis, I do believe SE Asia, to be a trouble zone for customs issues. Most hotels will accept packages for a specified time period before arrival (not too early before you get there), and limited to a certain number of packages without prior arrangements, and many have fees, and have a page that says they are not responsible for loss, or you getting it. It would not be great to be blamed for someone not receiving something, and also not fun being left with an object that was not claimed or that you had to take care of forwarding. That’s why it is a good idea to have a rapport with whoever it is that might be coming and whatever the specific request is. I wouldn’t say no to every request, because someone might have something reasonable, but you do put yourself at risk for getting that persons junk mail just from them using your address once. It happened when my brother stayed here once. We are still getting junk.
We just added a term to our house rules saying packages won’t be accepted. We tell guests they can send their packages to an Amazon Locker near us or a UPS/FedEx/USPS office.
There was a story back in the summer where a host in NYC (where we are) received a package for a guest. He opened it and it was suspicious. He called the police, they came and decided it was bomb making supplies. They arrested the guest upon arrival and found he was planning some kind of terrorist attack. So, NO! We won’t do it anymore - especially since we’re in the Terrorist Target Capital of the US!
If a guest asks us about it though - and if everything seems legit with them - we might tell them it’s okay - but we will also tell them we will open the package upon arrival.
omg! that is very scary! I just think its a bit odd that a guest would want stuff delivered to your place in the first place
I ask hosts if I can use their address fairly consistently, but I generally rent full places.
I have a mailing center in two countries, but it isn’t always possible for me to go to it.
Generally it hasn’t been a problem as it’s usually amazon or ebay.
I know hosts who have an issue with it, but it’s something I very much appreciate.
My two cents.
That said, I also don’t expect them to deal with it on their time, either. And the last time I did it on a shared property (unusual) host went through my things and then retaped the box, which was pretty uncomfortable.
How do you normally receive your mail?
@cabinhost It goes to my mail management and storage center, in the UK and across 3 states in the US.
I then have it sent on to me when I’m in country.
Everything that can be paperless is, but I’m generally happy to offer an additional fee to receive items at my air address.
Still not following…are you talking clothes shopping and travel items you want during your travels, instead of sent to a central center in the U.S. or UK? Do you travel with all this stuff or just stuff you want to enjoy during your stay and then leave it behind?
I might be open if I knew the reason but I have known too many drug addicts and for me it would be no unless there is an explicit reason. I have never ever had a guest ask me to have things shipped to my rental. That is why I am curious
Clothes, shoe replacements (I walk those down with regularity), amazon tech replacements.
The reason, primarily, is that I might not be in the state my mail centers are in.
If I’m in the right area, I just go and collect from them myself.
If not, many hosts have been kind enough to allow it.
I don’t have a central, residential address I return to with any regularity, so otherwise there may not be a way for me to get my purchases.
Sometimes you can do things like rent lockers, but in some places, like Germany, that requires local ID, which I don’t have.
For obvious reasons, I don’t want to post restante $400 shoes!
I always do explain the above when I ask 
I think the point I’m trying to make is that it isn’t always an inconvenience, and can quite often be for a perfectly explainable reason.
It’s something I very much appreciate when I rent.
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If someone fully explained the reason then I may oblige. However I have no mailbox at my rental. So how does that work out? There is a rental but no mailbox because there is not a full time resident. I guess UPS and FEDEX pull in to the house. I found out my guests left a day early…went over just now and found Jehovah Witnesses squeezed their brochure through the door! I am in the country…sorry but no church people should be parking their car and coming into a private secluded driveway, and walking right up to the door of a private residence. Unreal! I used to hide from them back in the 80s by crawling on my hands and knees. But I was in the city then with neighbors - my rental is not seen by neighbors!
I think it’s something most people wouldn’t even think of asking a host. I would say no as a general policy, and also as I don’t want to be responsible for their items. When I once managed a friend’s beach house here, guests wanted me to jump through hoops for them, just because they are too cheap to pay for an extra checked bag. Receive, store and deliver their packages? JUST NO.
Send it to the nearest PO via General Delivery. Pick it up when you get here. That’s how. Even if it’s something innocent, it’'s just one more thing that takes time and burdens the host. Remember, time is money… You aren’t charging extra to handle items for people, right? So you are working for free. And I think we already do enough of that!
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My guests don’t even ask. I am still getting bank statements from the first guest I have ever hosted… Another time, I had a collection agency for a car rental company. I guess they damaged the car and never paid up. To date, I am getting mail from about 5 guests out of maybe 200 guests I hosted. Small percentage, but it does happen.
I’m from Indonesia and when I was in the US, I asked the same question to my host.
The reason is that the price for certain items are way more cheaper in the US compared if I ship it to the country. For example I bought a watch from Ebay and it costs me approx. USD 400 and if I want to ship it to Indonesia, the shipping cost is around USD 150. Therefore while I’m in the US it would save lot of money to send it to local address.
However I do inform my host what kind of item, the invoice and other additiomal information of the stuff that I bought.
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