I always told my son “if you don’t ask, you won’t get”. Some hosts think every discount-seeker is going to be a jerk. I don’t agree - a polite request for a reasonable discount is not a red flag for me.
But the ones that act like they are doing me a favor (“we want your house at 25% of your nightly rate. It will just sit empty otherwise, so you’ll at least get something”) can go stay elsewhere.
2 Likes
I don’t discount for last minute bookings- in my area budget spots go very quickly and it’s quite tricky to find a last minute place. It also takes some scrambling for me to make sure everything is good to go (I always do a last walk through before guests arrive).
Generally I don’t appreciate discount seekers. If I was going to give a new guest a lower rate or discount for last minute or longer stays- well I’d just set the rate lower or adjust my settings…
1 Like
I’ve run discount rates in our dead months but - I don’t let guests ask for a lower rate. I simply reduce my rates for slow seasons - or I may lower the rate for an upcoming weekend if it’s not booked by the wednesday but only in a dead season. For us - discount is $200-$250 a night and minimum 2 nights so it’s still decent enough that people aren’t getting in for nothing.
1 Like
My most memorable discount seeker asked for a 30% discount on a stay shorter than our minimum and it was in high season and nine months prior to arrival date! Out of curiosity I looked him up - he was a used-car salesman. 
4 Likes
Who moonlighted as a lawyer 
JF
3 Likes
My worst one was a couple wanting to stay in my 3 bed, 2 bath home that would normally be $525 for 2 nights. They offered me $100 for a single night and that they were really clean.
It take 4 hours to clean at $25 an hour, thank you but no thank you.
3 Likes
I agree.
I have sold used cars. I have sold antiques. I have sold property. In those and many other professions, haggling is perfectly normal. It comes as second nature to me - although I rein it in as much as possible in situations where it’s not the norm.
I don’t give discounts because I know what my rentals are worth but people are welcome to ask and I see no red flags. Mostly, once I’ve told them that I can’t give discounts they book anyway.
You’re running a business. If your accountant tells you that your costs (including your labour) are x per annum therefore you should divide that figure by 360 (or whatever occupancy you have) and charge that sum per night, adjusting it upwards for dates that are in demand. Easy.
1 Like
Egads, I hope you can charge more than just breakeven!
1 Like
Absolutely. My accountant adds my cut to the annual costs figure. 
1 Like
I try to make half the mortgage, which is quite hefty. I inherited this property, and the mortgage, at a pretty bad time, so I’ve been struggling to keep it. I’m about to give up and sell, now that I’ve paid off enough of the mortgage to get something back. But doing this has made it possible to stay in the house and out of foreclosure. I am very thankful for AirBnB!
2 Likes
I’m in a popular tourist market so there is always another guest around the corner who will book without making such requests. So I try not to encourage such guests to book by raising rates after their inquiry.
I say no discounts but some people book before I can take the time to raise the rates. They continue their polite requests for things that are not offered: requests for early check-in AFTER I send them instructions that early check in is not possible. Their attitude about “let’s just ask” is tiresome to me. And more than once I have been given a less than five-star review for declining all their unreasonable requests.
So I’d rather not take a chance on such people.
I love messing with these people. I tell them I will give them a discount tomorrow. And then the same message the next day .
2 Likes
Great idea! I’ll try that next time…
2 Likes
All very professional, not.
JF
3 Likes
You’re…you’re joking, right?
I suspect one is, one isn’t.
JF
1 Like
No. It’s just a bit of harmless fun. The person inquiring eventually gets the joke.
1 Like
What is short term rental to you? A competition? A game?
I understand that on a micro level, it’s none of my business and if you act like a child with guests who are also playing like a middle schooler, it’s all harmless fun.
But on a larger scale, hosts who aren’t good at this reflect poorly on all of us. I’ve seen plenty of twitter threads from alleged guests talking about how they won’t use Airbnb due to bad experiences with hosts.
It’s fine to stand up for yourself, and you have to because Airbnb is iffy, but really? Grow up.
3 Likes
From this forum, I know that there is a host’s side to the story, and some of these people are horrible guests.
Most people know that people go to social media primarily to complain. If travelers paid attention to these whiners Airbnb wouldn’t be getting billions in bookings.
I’m sure there are some horrible hosts but guests can be avoid them with simple due diligence. Many articles on the web recommend booking with a superhost with a lot of reviews. If they book with a superhost with hundreds of reviews (like me for example ), the chance that they will have a bad experience is very low.
On a platform of Airbnb’s size, some problems are bound to happen. I am personally not worried about the people posting on twitter impacting my business.
We all differ in how we stand up for ourselves.
1 Like