8 ms·

This is completely solved on AirBnB's German website (and I think many others too). If you search for a place on airbnb.de the results page shows "€xx per night

This is completely solved on AirBnB's German website (and I think many others too). If you search for a place on airbnb.de the results page shows "€xx per night, €xxx total", where the total price includes all fees (cleaning fees, service fees, taxes), and the nightly price is just total price divided by the number of nights. When you click through to the listing it shows you a table how this breaks down. Which just shows that using the misleading numbers on the US website is a business decision. Screenshots: https://i.imgur.com/70Mllu8.png https://i.imgur.com/70Mllu8.png https://i.imgur.com/7xBXpMU.png https://i.imgur.com/7xBXpMU.png

mFixman 4y ago
It's the same in the UK, but that still doesn't do what I want: you can only filter by base price, so you'll get some hilariously overpriced apartments even if you search at a low price.
- wongarsu 4y ago
  The German website filters based on total_price/number_of_nights. It will include listings that are up to about €3/night more expensive than your filter setting, but listings that would qualify just on base price but not on total price are filtered out as you would expect.
tayo42 4y ago
Vrbo in the US does this, even let's you filter by total price instead of just nightly
- treeman79 4y ago
  I listed on both. Had six months of back to back bookings with Airbnb. One day a request for info came in on Vbro. I had completely forgotten it was even listed there. Six months and one inquiry. I promptly deleted the listing. Glad to be done with AirBNB, but it really helped out at a bad time.
  - zwirbl 4y ago
    Have you left the business altogether or do you acquire customers a different way/via gmaps and the likes and a website? Asking because we managed to get most of the people to book directly via our homepage, using booking.com and similar only if we have to
  - lxm 4y ago
    I have used both VRBO amd AirBnB for many years now. When COVID-19 travel bans proliferated in early 2020, AirBnB proactively refunded my money for a reservation that was nominally no longer cancellable. VRBO told me to reach out to the host, which turned out to be this apartment rental agency that would ghost my emails for a few days, then offer future credit, then told me to get in line as they have many customers, and eventually processed the refund 3 months or so down the road. Needless to say, I no longer use VRBO.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
dangwhy 4y ago
Every single thread on airbnb seems to be dominated by this comment. I really don't understand the FUD. It is "solved" in usa airbnb too , infact german one seems to have more fees/line items, not less. example: https://imgur.com/a/FJaKHvS https://imgur.com/a/FJaKHvS https://imgur.com/a/1JJLpI0 https://imgur.com/a/1JJLpI0 can someone make a PSA to all the people making this "hosts pulling shit" comment on every single airbnb thread. And yes you can also filter by total price.
- nextaccountic 4y ago
  Does the US version show the total price while browsing search results or only when checking out?
  - dangwhy 4y ago
    yes while searching also https://imgur.com/a/1JJLpI0 https://imgur.com/a/1JJLpI0
    - foo92691 4y ago
      But it's not really the "total price". It doesn't include taxes.
      - dangwhy 4y ago
        which site includes taxes though? I don't see it on amazon.com, even physical stores don't have taxes included. Why do you have such spl expectation for just airbnb?
        toomuchtodo 4y ago
        Airlines are required to do it [1], it's time to force lodging to do it with legislation. These sites will not do it otherwise. "You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried everything else.” -- Winston Churchill [1] https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/buying-ticket https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer...
rqtwteye 4y ago
Same happened to me with a rental cars. When I travelled to Scotland I reserved one from the US. When I picked up the car they added a ton of mandatory fees that almost tripled the price. The person working there told me that they do this only to people from the US. People from Europe get shown the correct price. Same happens with cell phones here. You sign up for a price and the first bill has several fees added making it quite a bit more expensive. I wish there was a law in the US that mandated that the paid price is the advertised price.
- actually_a_dog 4y ago
  > Same happened to me with a rental cars. When I travelled to Scotland I reserved one from the US. When I picked up the car they added a ton of mandatory fees that almost tripled the price. The person working there told me that they do this only to people from the US. People from Europe get shown the correct price. Wow. Somehow, that seems shadier than just showing a misleading price then piling on fees for everyone.
  - rqtwteye 4y ago
    To me it just shows that a lot of companies will use dark patters if there are no regulations that prohibit them.
    - _nalply 4y ago
      If one company doesn't, then the customers will take the cheapest they believe to get. To me it just shows that sometimes strict regulation is the right thing to avoid the tragedy of commons.
- LordDragonfang 4y ago
  >I wish there was a law in the US that mandated that the paid price is the advertised price. Isn't Biden literally asking for congress to make a law to that effect? (Which is a really smart move on his part tbh)
- benhurmarcel 4y ago
rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
High cleaning fees serves three purposes: 1) They artificially lower the listed price per night, causing the home to show up in more searches. This could easily be fixed by Airbnb. 2) It's used as a way to incentivize longer stays. This motivation probably won't go away. Many Airbnbs are empty during the weekdays. 3) It's a way for hosts (and Airbnb) to skirt taxes. This is the real reason Airbnb doesn't want to punish the practice. Many municipalities in the U.S. tax Airbnbs as a percentage of their nightly rate, and cleaning fees aren't included in that calculation. If those savings are passed onto the guest, they would theoretically lower the effective cost per night.
- gnicholas 4y ago
  > 3) It's a way for hosts (and Airbnb) to skirt taxes. This is the real reason Airbnb doesn't want to punish the practice. Why would shifting payment from nightly cost to cleaning fee have an effect on the hosts' tax liability? If they actually pay someone that much to clean the place, they get to deduct it from their business income either way. What you call it doesn't matter. I would be curious if Airbnb takes a cut of the cleaning fees, or only the nightly rate. I could see how that might differ, and if so that it would incentivize hosts to shift toward the cleaning fees.
  - pixl97 4y ago
    You're thinking income tax, some cities have further taxes on short term rentals.
    - gnicholas 4y ago
      And these only include the nightly rate, not the total rental amount?
- londons_explore 4y ago
  > It's used as a way to incentivize longer stays. And for many hosts, the main costs are the checking in/out/cleaning/laundry. So if they could charge $100 check in fee, plus $20/night, they would.

mFixman 4y ago

It's the same in the UK, but that still doesn't do what I want: you can only filter by base price, so you'll get some hilariously overpriced apartments even if you search at a low price.

wongarsu 4y ago
The German website filters based on total_price/number_of_nights. It will include listings that are up to about €3/night more expensive than your filter setting, but listings that would qualify just on base price but not on total price are filtered out as you would expect.

tayo42 4y ago

Vrbo in the US does this, even let's you filter by total price instead of just nightly

treeman79 4y ago
I listed on both. Had six months of back to back bookings with Airbnb. One day a request for info came in on Vbro. I had completely forgotten it was even listed there. Six months and one inquiry. I promptly deleted the listing. Glad to be done with AirBNB, but it really helped out at a bad time.
- zwirbl 4y ago
  Have you left the business altogether or do you acquire customers a different way/via gmaps and the likes and a website? Asking because we managed to get most of the people to book directly via our homepage, using booking.com and similar only if we have to
- lxm 4y ago
  I have used both VRBO amd AirBnB for many years now. When COVID-19 travel bans proliferated in early 2020, AirBnB proactively refunded my money for a reservation that was nominally no longer cancellable. VRBO told me to reach out to the host, which turned out to be this apartment rental agency that would ghost my emails for a few days, then offer future credit, then told me to get in line as they have many customers, and eventually processed the refund 3 months or so down the road. Needless to say, I no longer use VRBO.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

dangwhy 4y ago

Every single thread on airbnb seems to be dominated by this comment. I really don't understand the FUD. It is "solved" in usa airbnb too , infact german one seems to have more fees/line items, not less. example: https://imgur.com/a/FJaKHvS https://imgur.com/a/FJaKHvS https://imgur.com/a/1JJLpI0 https://imgur.com/a/1JJLpI0 can someone make a PSA to all the people making this "hosts pulling shit" comment on every single airbnb thread. And yes you can also filter by total price.

nextaccountic 4y ago
Does the US version show the total price while browsing search results or only when checking out?
- dangwhy 4y ago
  yes while searching also https://imgur.com/a/1JJLpI0 https://imgur.com/a/1JJLpI0
  - foo92691 4y ago
    But it's not really the "total price". It doesn't include taxes.
    - dangwhy 4y ago
      which site includes taxes though? I don't see it on amazon.com, even physical stores don't have taxes included. Why do you have such spl expectation for just airbnb?
      - toomuchtodo 4y ago
        Airlines are required to do it [1], it's time to force lodging to do it with legislation. These sites will not do it otherwise. "You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried everything else.” -- Winston Churchill [1] https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/buying-ticket https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer...

rqtwteye 4y ago

Same happened to me with a rental cars. When I travelled to Scotland I reserved one from the US. When I picked up the car they added a ton of mandatory fees that almost tripled the price. The person working there told me that they do this only to people from the US. People from Europe get shown the correct price. Same happens with cell phones here. You sign up for a price and the first bill has several fees added making it quite a bit more expensive. I wish there was a law in the US that mandated that the paid price is the advertised price.

actually_a_dog 4y ago
> Same happened to me with a rental cars. When I travelled to Scotland I reserved one from the US. When I picked up the car they added a ton of mandatory fees that almost tripled the price. The person working there told me that they do this only to people from the US. People from Europe get shown the correct price. Wow. Somehow, that seems shadier than just showing a misleading price then piling on fees for everyone.
- rqtwteye 4y ago
  To me it just shows that a lot of companies will use dark patters if there are no regulations that prohibit them.
  - _nalply 4y ago
    If one company doesn't, then the customers will take the cheapest they believe to get. To me it just shows that sometimes strict regulation is the right thing to avoid the tragedy of commons.
LordDragonfang 4y ago
>I wish there was a law in the US that mandated that the paid price is the advertised price. Isn't Biden literally asking for congress to make a law to that effect? (Which is a really smart move on his part tbh)
benhurmarcel 4y ago

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago

High cleaning fees serves three purposes: 1) They artificially lower the listed price per night, causing the home to show up in more searches. This could easily be fixed by Airbnb. 2) It's used as a way to incentivize longer stays. This motivation probably won't go away. Many Airbnbs are empty during the weekdays. 3) It's a way for hosts (and Airbnb) to skirt taxes. This is the real reason Airbnb doesn't want to punish the practice. Many municipalities in the U.S. tax Airbnbs as a percentage of their nightly rate, and cleaning fees aren't included in that calculation. If those savings are passed onto the guest, they would theoretically lower the effective cost per night.

gnicholas 4y ago
> 3) It's a way for hosts (and Airbnb) to skirt taxes. This is the real reason Airbnb doesn't want to punish the practice. Why would shifting payment from nightly cost to cleaning fee have an effect on the hosts' tax liability? If they actually pay someone that much to clean the place, they get to deduct it from their business income either way. What you call it doesn't matter. I would be curious if Airbnb takes a cut of the cleaning fees, or only the nightly rate. I could see how that might differ, and if so that it would incentivize hosts to shift toward the cleaning fees.
- pixl97 4y ago
  You're thinking income tax, some cities have further taxes on short term rentals.
  - gnicholas 4y ago
    And these only include the nightly rate, not the total rental amount?
londons_explore 4y ago
> It's used as a way to incentivize longer stays. And for many hosts, the main costs are the checking in/out/cleaning/laundry. So if they could charge $100 check in fee, plus $20/night, they would.