Making a little extra cash from your visiting guests

I am very personal /relaxed. The clients will tell everything they need to know. :slight_smile:

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Oh yeah! Ride to or from the airportā€¦ I charge $20-$25 depending on the time of day. Any other transportation needs the have I give the a little bit less than Uber.
Also, since my neighborhood is part of a community pool and gym I charge $15 for up 4 hours use either or both. This is mostly because I must attend with them as I pay dues and they attend as my guest.
:slight_smile:

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A ride to the Airport is good. We stayed at an AirBnB in Rafina, Attica, Greece, which is the ferry port for the Cycladic Islands. The host offered us a lift to Athens Airport, undercutting the normal taxi fare by 50% - we gratefully accepted!

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In 1998 I went to Europe and a standard routine in Salzberg for budget accomodations was to book a B and B and the host would come pick you up at the train station on arrival. Many hosts are too nervous to do that kind of thing but Iā€™ve given a couple of guests rides for a nominal fee and would definitely do it again in the right situation.

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Someone with an Airbnb very close to me is a qualified masseuse and aromatherapist and advertises this as something extra for guests. Iā€™ve checked her reviews and a few guests do seem to take her up on this. She is also a fluent French speaker and offers conversational classes.

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I am planning to offer a furniture painting workshops as an experience and will have painted items around my home with price tags on, almost like a living showroom.

Iā€™ve given a few music lessons to guests but never chargedā€¦ perhaps I should be more entrepreneurial!

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This could work well: Iā€™ve seen people doing something similar as here ā€¦
[https://happyinteriorblog.com/airbnb-for-design-lovers/]

Not my style as I was around for the original 60s tat, but design-loving Millennials would love it ā€¦

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For those who are offended that you are thinking of an ā€œupsellā€ may I offer my opinion? That is why we got into business is to make money and supplement our income.

I am not offended when I check out at Target and they have candy, gum and National Enquirers for sale. If I am not interested, I donā€™t buy them. However, they make it easy for me to be interested.

One of the things I have thought of was having brochures from various guides and expeditions. I would mark the brochures with our name and they would give us a commission for anyone we sent their way.

Best of luck in this exciting adventure.

Judy Helm Wrightā€“Author/Publisher/Intuitive Wise Woman

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Just last week I picked up 5 things (chocolate/fancy popcorn/chips etc) while grocery shopping that I put in a box with a tin. I wrote $5 finds on it with the subheading ā€˜leave $5 in the tin for any item you would like from hereā€™ and put it in the linen cupboard. It is by no means going to pay for the deck Iā€™d like to put on, but it makes a couple of dollars a piece and gives people the thrill of finding something the can munch without going out.

What are other peopleā€™s thoughts?

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That is how all the hotels, hostels and B&B her in Costa Rica and other touristy place turn extra bucks $$$ - every tour that someone from a hotel sets up for guest has a pay back.

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That sounds fine.

There is a line between tacky and convenient. I donā€™t want to stay in an airbnb where everything has a pricetag on it or that feels like a gallery. Someone telling me at every turn that something is for sale would be a turn off. But if I go to a hotel and they offered a minibar, Iā€™m not offended. If there is a tag on the robe saying ā€œbuy me for $100,ā€ and a tag or the water, and the mini bar and the soap and the guidebookā€¦then itā€™s too much.

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I agree. That and signs. I donā€™t want to stay anywhere that has so many signs around the place telling me to ā€˜do thisā€™ and ā€˜not to do thatā€™ and to ā€˜remember to do so-and-soā€™. I"ve stayed in too many backpackers like that. I really wonder if it helps. I go with people loving feeling trusted and being more likely to do it out of their heart than because I laminated a sheet of something typed in CAPS. lol

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I agree about the signs. Hosts like to feel like they are in control and all those signs help them feel that. Typically something happens that a host doesnā€™t like and they put a sign. Now 100% of the guests get a sign in their face for something that only 5% of guest do. Some things are serious of course like things put in 100 year old sewage systems that canā€™t handle it. A plumberā€™s fee in the hundreds is not just an inconvenience, so a sign is in order. But if posts here are any indication some hosts go overboard.

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Good point about 100% of guests getting signs for things 5% of guests do. Skewed.

Font style/size/presentation of the sign for things like the sewer issue can make significant difference to glaring accusatory and polite insistence

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This may be true but one of the most commented on things in my reviews is the ā€œlove notesā€ I leave around my place.

I use post its everywhere guiding people to fun finds in my condo. Telling them where they can find the coffeeā€¦draw a card for good vibes, light a candle, spray some lavender water on their face or pull a personal note from the fortune cookie jar.

This has helped people navigate my space and feel more at home and since it isnā€™t a piece of laminated paper but little post it notes everywhere it feels very welcoming.

Also, Iā€™m particularly careful with my language using words that invite rather than command or request people to do things. Itā€™s been highly helpful in my reviews and maintaining a 5 star rating. No one has ever said something negative about all the little ā€œbread crumbsā€ I leave around the space either.

That sounds cool and not like typical signage at all. I wouldnā€™t have candles but the concept is great.

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A ā€˜love noteā€™ really isnā€™t the type of sign that we were talking about though.

People also regularly comment on the little cards I leave around the place next to things too saying things like - "Iā€™m your heatpack - 3 mins in the microwave next to a mug of water and Iā€™ll help you drift off into blissful slumber if you would likeā€™.

Itā€™s fun, isnā€™t it?

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You all have inspired me. Iā€™ve picked up some cans of gourmet Virginia peanuts (they are a steal at my local grocery ā€“ cheaper than Amazon or the company website). Three will be stacked in a little pyramid on the desktop with a sign (yes, another sign, Iā€™m afraid!) ā€œNeed a souvenir or gift? Take home some Virginia peanuts! Just drop $x in the box or send $x.50 through PayPal to [my paypal ID] per can.ā€
I will report back . . .

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There is a website called guest check. I think its just in the Us, but you get paid for inspecting places. I reckon many hosts would have a good eye

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