Of course it matters and A LOT! … If the system is counting backwards my average star rating will stop being 5 stars at some point.
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Absolutely - I think that roughly 50% of my guests are repeats or word-of-mouth guests. Luckily I’ve never been used to relying on Airbnb because I’ve been hosting since before it was invented. In fact, before the internet even 
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So true. We each have a unique niche and attract guests who seek us out for various reasons. For me it’s solo travelers, which are a breed unto themselves 
I hardly ever get this. Maybe once or twice. But because I am in a holiday destination, I get those who want to do a circle island trip. Three, Four days this side, four the other side… Cheaper than a hotel and then having to drive long distances to see things.
I think that the reason we get so many repeats is because they are usually over 55s who are set in their ways 
You know the sort of thing ‘We always go to Florida for two weeks in February’.
Plus, we’re easy to get to flightwise from New York, Atlanta etc.
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I’m don’t see this being feasible for me as I’m not a holiday destination. About 65% of my guests reserve day before or day of their arrival. Another 30% are within a few days or two weeks at most. Right now I have a reservation for next weekend and a reservation for the first weekend in Oct. That’s it. But I’m typically booked 10-12 days a month.
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I’m afraid I am dependent. I don’t mind it though because to me paying 3% for everything they give you is not at all a bad deal for me. Of course, I do NOT want Airbnb to disappear! Or raise their rates to something completely unfeasible.
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I’m sadly dependent too but just be aware you are paying 15% to them from the price your guests pay. 3% comes from you and 12% from your guests.
Right… yes. Aware of this… But obviously the guests see a value in forking out 12-15% to stay at your place by booking through Airbnb. That might not be the case if you were trying to get all your bookings direct.
Honestly, with all the new products out there (wordpress, wix, lodgify, myvr) you can easily make your vacation rental website and even nicer than AIrbnb but the problem for me is that I’m not sure how many people will feel safe on using their credit card on my website for a place they haven’t seen yet. The power of Airbnb is that it provides you a layer of trust where you (guest) can feel safe on making a money transaction with your host. Remember that Airbnb holds the guest payment until 24hs they check-in into your place so they act as a third party player to regulate transparency between you and your guest. With your own website how could you achieve the same?
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Weebly is another good tool.
Yes, it is tricky at first, but perhaps people are seeing the listing on Airbnb (and read positive) reviews and then search the web, and if/when they find you direct, perhaps they then will have the confidence to book direct. If you have a web site already done, with a reliable pay option (i.e. PayPal) you may slowly develop your own clientele. Nothing to loose.
At 3% perhaps is not worth it, but no guarantee that will stay forever’ I guess is up to potential guests to be willing to pay the ~10%~.
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Exactly my point… and this is why it is valuable. Also… let’s not forget search. Air’s searchability ensures that anyone anywhere would find you, and while you could do this with a website, I would imagine it would take some time to achieve.
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I’m going to test this theory. When I book a weekend ski trip in Vail, I go to Airbnb. I will try searching for a private web page for a ski condo and get back to you.
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And this is the question at hand… would you, as a user, be willing to pay 12% for convenience, trust and efficiency of booking, use a name, website and financial set up that is known and trusted worldwide… or would you prefer to save that percentage, try to find it yourself on an owner direct website and deal owner direct with a check, deposit, etc. ? Perhaps subject yourself to policies that aren’t as guest friendly as Air…
Well I would say a good percentage of us are willing to pay their commission in return for these perks. These are the marketing intangibles that are SO valuable and part of why Air is a multibillion dollar company.
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Bear in mind you can always give your guest the option on your (possibly hypothetical) website to book direct with you or via Airbnb. Though some people choose not to do that.
I just did it for Bird Island. On Google, the first two sends you via Airbnb, the third is my own web site, then 4th is VRBO, 5th Flip Key, and then assorted sources, articles, etc. I stopped at 10 pages. Interesting stuff.
/Evening Sandy
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I googled, “private ski condo Vail” – I went through page 7 and no private websites. I found one website where owners are booking and it had a calendar but no prices – I guess you have to contact the host. Not for me! I don’t want to spend time emailing hosts just to find out that their price is $850/night. I did see Craigslist and will check that out, next. How do you find a private website if you don’t have a specific property in mind – just an area? I’ll try googling, “private island for rent belize” and see if you show up, Fred (hi to you, too!).
There are certain very techhy types here who may better be able to answer about searches, rankings, etc. I have a feeling it’s not the territory of amateurs.
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Fred, I did not find your own website through page 7 but a pic of your island comes up on the first page under “images”, between the listings. All were third party web sites.
When I put in Bird Island Belize, my website is #3. Yes, it appears one has to know the name, for starters. Interesting discussion.
Addendum: It does matter how the search is done, because when you type ‘private island for rent’ the spiders pick up on that wording that is the one used in most articles about the island…not on the web site. Gives me ideas as to what meta tabs to do use…hmm…
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