Hi all,
we’ve had an inquiry from a group of students for a three night stay. They were asking for a special offer, and suggested a price of 140 per night. Our listed price is only 129 a night, but when the cleaning fee of 40 and the airbnb service charge of 64 is added it comes to 164 per night. I presume airbnb charge their service fee on top of any special offer I send? How much is the service fee? 16.5% ?
thanks, Barbara
Yeh, I doubt it will work because they will always add their fee. This is the same as asking for a discount. Just tell them it’s being listed at a fair price and you can’t discount it any further.
Discount seekers almost universally turn out to be bad guests.
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I would not give them a discount, your price for three is very reasonable and the air fees are not your concern. Discount seekers are often trouble.
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Just. Say. No…
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Oh, so guests can tell you what they’d like to pay now? Pretty soon you’ll be running a free shelter. I say the same as Kona, it’s listed at a fair price.
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Thanks all, I have taken your advice! Because I didn’t want to decline, I messaged them saying that the service fee was outside my control. Not too keen on hosting students anyway I must say!
That all depends. Be careful not to prejudge. We’ve had some terrific young people stay with us! But I agree with others that them initially asking for a discount is a red flag.
Yes, I agree, it’s important not to prejudge. I was generalizing, which is never a good thing really! The conversation with them is still on-going by the way - they have now said that the original prize is ok, but they want to check in early. I am sitting on the fence for the moment.
One request is one thing, then it’s another and another. No early check in available unless they pay a fee.
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Could also have 3 vacant nights. Need to weigh all outcomes.
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Best thing to do is to open a private/incognito window in your browser and try to book it yourself, so you can see the real price they pay. (I often do this is a guest wants to extend or return, I give them a reduction on their AirBnB rate and still make a bit more profit)
The special offer price is the price the guest will pay, AirBnB will deduct the fees from the price you put in.
But as mentioned by others, consider that people asking for a discount tend to be bad guests.
We never do discounts anymore, we fell for that several times and often ended up having a lot of extra work.
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This has not been my experience. When I have made Special Offers this is the amount that appears in my transaction list, and then they take the 3% host fee. I have no idea what the guest is paying.
There is a feature in your calendar that lets you see what guests pay. Click on any free date and you see a panel on the right which lets you see price tips, an option to change the price and " what do guests pay".
I am still not sure though what happens when you make a special offer. Is that then the total price guests pay?
I never charge a fee for early check in. If we have guests leaving the same day it just isn’t possible, if I can get the place ready the previous day, I’m happy to accommodate people.
No, guest will pay more, you will get paid 3% less of total.
Thank you, I have now found it as well! Very helpful.
Some of my best and favourite guests have been teenagers. I also love the under-25 age group. I know that it’s totally wrong to generalise but the teenagers and the over 65s tend to be the very best. Others won’t agree, I know!
Every once in a while, I lower my price hoping that someone in this age group will book. I love hearing about their colleges, internships, geek-love, and their favorite things about my hometown. In fact, I have a group arriving this weekend who have all just finished nursing school and are taking a celebratory trip to Boston.
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We’ve also had a few groups like this, and no bad experiences with them. But our situation is slightly different I guess, because we don’t live at the house, or even near it. So we don’t get the benefit of youthful exuberance but run the risk of misdemeanors in our absence. I find that families are generally our best guests, especially multi-generation groups.