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Don’t people have popup blockers and spam folders in their email boxes? It might be annoying but that’s not being ‘pressured’, is it?
Why do you cave in to what you refer to as ‘pressure’? No-one is forcing you to even read the email or popup, let alone act on it. I don’t know about you but I’m bombarded with marketing many times a day (email, website ads, TV, radio, magazine ads, billboard, direct mail…) but it doesn’t mean that I have to succumb.
It’s human nature to have less concern and respect for things we pay less for. There’s a long thread here somewhere about lower prices attracting less respectful guests.
Advertisers wouldn’t spend millions on advertising if it didn’t work. I know a private room is worth way more than a bed in a backpackers dorm, and how to calculate Return on Investment but clearly dozens of other local hosts don’t. Lower prices affect hosts negatively but Airbnb positively. There is a power imbalance. In the end the race to the bottom means only hobbyist live in hosts will remain. The rest will invest otherwise, and supply will dwindle. Everyone loses apart from Airbnb.
It’s not a paid ride but the guest would sue anyway. Neither the hosts insurance company nor Airbnb would help. Hosts are better off not putting themselves in that risky position. It’s not good for hosts to enable guests’ entitled attitudes.
I’ve been seeing this prediction for 5 years and supply has only increased.
Other than your subjective feelings about this, there is no evidence (yet) that this is true.
I understand you are frustrated but I just don’t see a convenient scapegoat in Airbnb. For tens of thousands of us (or more) Airbnb created a market and a business. Just they created it doesn’t mean it owes us anything.
I’ve already seen a move away from homestays in my city. There are more rooms in cheaper areas, more hands off units and characterless buildings which cost less to run. The guest doesn’t even know they’re getting less for their money. As I’ve said before I am aiming to give less and receive more, a longer term plan obviously.
But guess what? We all have a choice. Just because advertisers spend a fortune on promoting botox, vodka, fast food, designer shoes, a cruise or hundreds of other things we don’t want or need in our lives, it doesn’t mean that we have to buy them. The amount spent by advertisers is hardly a valid reason to ‘cave in’ to them.
You might be ‘racing to the bottom’ but please don’t imply that all hosts are. Most of us know the value of what we offer and charge accordingly. You’re free to voice your opinion, of course, but others have different experiences - to me, it seems that it’s the hobbyists who have been falling by the wayside.
You misread me. I am not racing to the bottom, dozens of hosts local to me are. I am left with pricing my listing as high as I can in the context of the market. If the competition weren’t pricing their rooms at less than they cost to provide (including a share of the capital costs of course) I would be making a decent profit. Many live in host Airbnb rooms have artificially low prices because the cost of providing the room is discounted.
No they are not paying for the ride but a lawyer would construe it as a commercial relationship and the lift part of the commercial service. A host would be mad to risk it, but I understand why hosts might feel that desperate to impress.
I’m glad I kept my boundaries with the guest but it’s awful when you don’t get support. The guest didn’t pay and didn’t stay but has written a revenge review which Airbnb cannot remove the stars from under their current policies. One 1 star overall review takes me out of superhost for months. A pox on both her houses.
I have noticed in Bristol there has been a huge increase in the number of hosts offering accommodation in their homes and whole listings @Jess1 over the last couple of years. Some are pricing at ridiculously low prices.
I have actually increased my prices during this period and although Airbnb tell me that I am in the top quartile of rates for my area, I still get all the bookings I need, so there are guests out there that are happy to pay for what they perceive as a great value.
I think it’s like marketing any service, as hosts we need to help guests understand the value we offer and why its worth them paying a little more to stay at a listing that will give them a great experience.
Yes. I keep my prices as high as I can but context makes that not enough re ROI. Most of the good guest experience (apart from the guests who rave about my hosting, house etc) is from the convenience, village atmosphere and low crime of my prime city location. I can’t sell that any more than I do if local hosts are offering rooms for RIDICULOUS prices. My only option is to invest less money in the deal. Going for cheaper areas in the city is the way.
As I have mentioned to you before, my area is great for hosting and the prices so much lower than yours.
I would have literally paid another £100,000 or more for my place if it was in your area.
We may have slightly higher crime rates, but an easy walk to the centre and great restaurants, cafes and shops, local music scene, lovely open spaces, amazing public transport links, which guests love.
By the way interestingly your area actually has some of the highest crime rates in the city. My mother and sister live there and I when I was checking out local crime rates I had a look and was really surprised. Perhaps because of the strong night time culture?
Because I have investigated moving I have looked closely at the ACTUAL recorded crime figures for various areas of Bristol including my own ward. My area has the lowest in the city, even lower than parts of Clifton (because of the Downs and tree cover I think). Stokes Croft and surrounds is obviously very high. Last few times I visited Stokes Croft there were minor street incidents. I have never had any problems in the East, and it wouldn’t put me off, but crime rates are way higher.
I guess that different people have different ideas of what ‘racing to the bottom’ means precisely but my own interpretation is that of a host who charges a lower fee than they ordinarily would because of cheaper STRs in the area - i.e. what you have described.
So, are you saying that you wouldn’t be able to attract guests if you didn’t compete price-wise with your ‘competition’? Why do you see them as competition? You’d be better advised to see your rental in terms of value for money. I’ve stayed in several Airbnb rentals in our area - for legitimate reasons, not to spy - and I remain convinced that our higher prices remain better vaue. Not everyone buys on price only.
And many of these have come and gone over the years. This type of cheap lodging has always existed and always will as long as there’s room in the market for them. The cheapest motel near to us is about a third of the cost of our rental and has been there for years but it’s not ‘competition’.
No Helsi. February crime figures for Bishopston were 73 and Redland 62. Easton and Redfield 128 and Trinity 158. That’s about twice the crime levels in the east.
