What do the Airbnb alternative got to provide/offer in order for you to list your home on a airbnb alternative?
I like to be diversified. Some people have been burned as guests on Air, and I don’t want to miss out on them.
Other site offer things that Air doesn’t offer: (for me) pet fees, rental fees, etc. Some people like to upload their own contracts. Some places have an annual listing fee and then unlimited free bookings.
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Guests who want to book my place.
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Same, guests that are booking my price. I am adapting of course my price so I get the same net.
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Do you as a host prefer to get direct payments when the guest books? Is that important or less important?
For me I don’t care. Both works
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This is one thing that bothers me on a site like HomeAway for example. I set when a guest pays, but I still don’t see any of that money until they arrive. So I set it so they have a smaller percentage to pay when they book and they pay the balance just a few days before they arrive. I’m tired of booking sites charging 15% of my rents and then also holding that money for months and profiting on that too. Also drives me bonkers on that site because your first booking’s money gets held until 30 days after your first booking. I have expenses for each guest and I actually had my first guests on that site contact me directly and stay again before I ever got the money from their first stay!
That said, I don’t think it really matters as long as fees are up front and easy to calculate (again, HomeAways figures are always wrong!!), and yet my best guests come through that site and I make slightly more since I can easily add in fees and other costs. So I’ll keep listed there.
To the point of preferring direct payment at booking vs. when guests arrive, I think it depends on your cancellation policy. It would be a pain to pay the 3% credit card fee and receive money from a guest, and then they cancel and you have to return that money. The nice thing about not getting money until they arrive is if they cancel I have less work on my end. But it would be nice to have the X% deposit that I would get whether they cancel or not within a week or so of booking or based upon my said terms.
As I am on Instant Book; I don’t list on other platforms. I’ve heard too many horror stories about hosts accidentally double booking.
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At the moment I don’t wish to list with anyone else. That’s simply because Airbnb is the brand leader in the industry.
Airbnb is rarely out of the news. Sometimes this is negative news but it all adds up to brand awareness.
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Frankly, I love VRBO/Homeaway. I get better paying, longer staying and slightly older guests. My Airbnb people are young creatives looking for a weekend away. Not older professionals on vacations. My summer is almost booked solid with week-long VRBO/HA folks. And folks are getting hip to the fact that Airbnb makes you pay it all up front. There is more flexibility with VRBO/HA.
But, honestly, this subject has been discussed TO DEATH. You can search the forum and find many, many, many threads on the subject.
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Yeah haha, while some of my issues seem like I don’t like it, I actually love (most) of my HomeAway guests and I know they appreciate not having to pay it all up front.