Oh, I was only volunteering to be fed and watered! 
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Now that Helsi has explained this to you, and you’ve discovered just a little more about us, I think you’ll agree that we are not a community here that is formed by a common technology but formed by the fact that we use the same advertising platform, that’s all.
The diversity is enormous here yet we have no real commonality and certainly not a technical one.
The reason that forums are totally unsuitable for research is simple; researchers have no way of knowing who is and who isn’t genuine, who is and who isn’t experienced, who has one listing and who has twenty, who is telling you the truth and who isn’t.
People who know forums know that it’s not easy to sort the wheat from the chaff without a lot of experience of such matters. Sadly, this isn’t the place for serious research.
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Those who outsource everything aren’t hosts- they’re just home-owners. And the people they outsource to aren’t hosts either- they’re property managers.
As was said before, IT’S NOT OUR JOB to do your research, especially since it won’t benefit us, and even more because there is no such thing as a “typical” AirBnB (or other short term rental) host. There is world of difference between a rural homeowner renting out a couple rooms, an urban condo dweller trying to make monthly mortgage payments, and the godawful corporate “management companies” trying capitalize on a trend while ruining the good names of small proprietors like me.
We’re constantly plagued here by students that want us to do their research for free. NOT MY JOB.
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Thanks everyone who has taken the time to reply. It is useful to hear your thoughts both on outsourcing and the nature of this community- I’m learning quite a bit.
Happy to keep this thread going for more voluntary contributions but in no way do I expect anyone to go out of their way to provide information. Again, thanks again for everyone who’s taken the time to reply.
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of course outsourcing for cleaning and all services >All airbnb is capable of doing is booking and collecting payment, they dont provide cleaning nor discounted purchase for amenities which their clout would make less expensive for hosts and they are abysmal at standing up for a host.They are just a mega huge booking site
Yes they are just a booking site. Did you expect anything else?
No I didn’t but the question I was asked was “DO I USE THEM FOR OTHER SERVICES”
I guess I “outsource” my rental by listing on airbnb. I could try to advertise and find clientele on my own but I have no idea how to do that. I list on airbnb because they have the customer base. I would have NO idea on how to go about finding guests for my rental. Other than that, I do everything myself. I have a guest suite in my home. I always wanted to do a bed and breakfast and airbnb made that possible for me. And I really do the whole deal…I feed my guests and thoroughly enjoy doing it.