That’s quite low 
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Thanks all. I really appreciate the advice, and just sent an email through AirBnB services so that they both have a record of what her request was (she asked me in person), and to blame it on their policy.
I’m in the Albuquerque area, which is one reason I wanted good reviews quickly. It doesn’t look like an overwhelmingly strong AirBnB market. However, our most lucrative week of the year is balloon fiesta, which is Oct 7-16. And I’ve seen comparable places are renting for about $250 per night. So I have been upping my fees strategically- by about $10 over the next couple weeks, $150 over balloon fiesta (already have the first weekend booked at this price), and I don’t have any dates open beyond a month from now. Hopefully I can readjust prices/openings as I go forward. There’s all of one or two open days to meddle with, price wise, other than balloon fiesta. So I’m a little trapped till then. But I’ll definitely keep in mind not undercharging going forward. So appreciate all the advice!
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You can block dates. Or set prices for dates that are different than current dates, if you go to the calendar you can select individual days or weeks and set prices.
Good advise coming from others.
I would not give her a refund at this point. Sets the precedent for expectations of future hosts.
But since you are likely to get more than a one night stay, I would suggest upping your price per night by $5-8 and lowering your cleaning fee to 40 until you get some reviews. I think you will be more likely to get more bookings.
When I started hosting a whole house in April, I had my cleaning fee at$80 and my nightly rate low to get bookings and reviews. Now my cleaning fee is back where it should be at $100 for a 1450 SQ home with huge patio and garden and my fee higher. I was booked out solid all summer long and now am recognized as a superhost with solid 5 star reviews. Starting out lower priced helped me get the reviews needed to boost my reviews and also do some nice upgrading of furniture.
Best of luck to you!
I find it quite something to see cleaning rates to the tune of 50 and 100. I mean, this is not in Yen or Lira is it.
I’m used to thinking 5 to 10 to 15 (£) …
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@Astaire - Ha! Guess that’ll guarantee me the WORST guests, then! : 0)
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Astaire, I don’t know where you are but on the west coast of the USA house cleaners charge $25-35 an hour to clean. I have a whole house and I eat it on the cleaning fee because I charge less than my house cleaner charges me. I think it is important to keep things in perspective regarding where you are and what is the norm. Please respect that we live in different countries with different customs.
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Agreed. I live in Seattle and I charge a $20 cleaning fee. I have a listing for each of my rooms and they take me about 15-30 min to clean up per room. I know that if I wanted to hire someone it would be $30 per hour and they ask for a minimum of 2 hours.
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I thought the currency symbol was a clue?
I don’t see why one must get all worked up about my comment. It has nothing to with customs and traditions. Or even countries. It’s just a matter of different costs at different places - besides my point of reference is shared flats. Why get yer knickers in a twist?
Guests can tell what ever they want and try to manipulate you into all kinds of situations. She agreed to cleaning fees and this is how it will be. Don’t give up. And don’t be afraid so much about reviews .
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In the end some guests will always try to negotiate on prices, it’s just a shame she did it after she had agreed to it, if I get a person who asks me for a discount before booking that is unreasonable I will decline them immediately as I know now I have some experience that that they will complain about everything and leave a crap review anyway!!!
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What is the size of your rental?
Airbnb advise lots of things, like their Smart (read dumb) pricing - normally set at 50% or more below market rent, like new hosts using Instant Book - it doesn’t mean we need to follow their advice in a sheep like way.
I would never advise a new host to drop their prices or get rid of their cleaning fee, as I mentioned above Airbnb give you an artificial boost for the first month or so, so this is the time you are likely to get most bookings. Therefore it would be counter intuitive to lower your price at a time of high demand.
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If you want ‘good karma’ just donate the money you would have reduced your rate by to a local homeless shelter.
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Where are you @topcat down our way people regularly charge 40 or 50 squids?
@Helsi,
You’re absolutely right!
What @anomaly14 said. The cleaning fee serves two purposes:
- Pay for cleaning costs
- Encourage/discourage short stays
You might let this one slide, but you’ll have a firm response ready to go moving forward.
Tim
TurnoverBnB
Twisted knickers nor not, it is up to the host to charge whatever they like for their cleaning fee and not get questioned or criticized by forum members for doing so. We all run our Airbnb’s differently. It is your prerogative not to charge and other hosts prerogative to charge what they want. Maybe you should get your panties unbunched and accept that others will charge what they want. 
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If you think you were questioned or criticized for what you charge, you have a serious complex you’re suffering from. If you’re looking to pick a fight, there are probably other forums you can go to instead of this one.
I think you need to compare like with like. The cleaning costs for a 3 bedroom, 1,200 sq foot home is going to be higher than a private room in a flat. Suggesting that hosts who charge more than you are charging is too much is not helpful.
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