Ask HN: Will this be the end of Airbnb? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Will this be the end of Airbnb?

#41

Post by typon » Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 3:05 PM UTC

akirakurusu wrote: post #34

cameronfraser wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, AirBnB is an unsustainable business and I would also like to see it regulated out of existence. It is extremely classist. Only something that middle class or higher can use while reducing housing availability which primarily impacts lower classes.

How is it something only classists can use? I use Airbnb _because_ it is cheap, usually significantly cheaper than hotels when visiting cities. I use it to save money because I am cost conscious. A lot of lower-income friends also use Airbnb because of this very reason. It has been a lifesaver for us.

You're a tourist going to another city on vacation or other reasons. You're middle class and thus part of the problem for the lower class people of that city.

Re: Ask HN: Will this be the end of Airbnb?

#42

Post by thaumasiotes » Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 3:07 PM UTC

fennecfoxen wrote: post #21

mylons wrote: post #15

airbnb has no serious liabilities, in terms of real estate, on their balance sheets. if they can go cockroach mode, and reduce spending (should be easy with discipline and layoffs), they’ll still be a multi billion dollar company in 2021-2022. and i say this thinking they’re ultimately a cancer on society.

Contrast this with WeWork, where people have been raising concerns about its business model (short-term revenues and long-term lease liabilities) from its inception. WeWork is dead . The main question now is what specific necromancy the venture capitalists will be performing on its corpse.

There's nothing wrong with, or unusual about, the business model. Short-term revenues and long-term liabilities is how every other real estate company operates. It's also how every bank operates.

Re: Ask HN: Will this be the end of Airbnb?

#43

Post by CocaKoala » Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 3:08 PM UTC

fennecfoxen wrote: post #21

mylons wrote: post #15

airbnb has no serious liabilities, in terms of real estate, on their balance sheets. if they can go cockroach mode, and reduce spending (should be easy with discipline and layoffs), they’ll still be a multi billion dollar company in 2021-2022. and i say this thinking they’re ultimately a cancer on society.

Contrast this with WeWork, where people have been raising concerns about its business model (short-term revenues and long-term lease liabilities) from its inception. WeWork is dead . The main question now is what specific necromancy the venture capitalists will be performing on its corpse.

Now I find myself wishing Max Gladstone would feature venture capitalism in his next Craft Sequence book.

Re: Ask HN: Will this be the end of Airbnb?

#44

Post by timwaagh » Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 3:10 PM UTC

I hope not and if it does, I hope Kamernet goes down with it. Your company is taxing students for essentially nothing but an introduction. And it has been doing that for decades. Not that I would normally mind your existence, but I do now I hear what you are hoping and likely lobbying for.

Re: Ask HN: Will this be the end of Airbnb?

#45

Post by scurvy » Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 3:11 PM UTC

chadmeister wrote: post #29

They're included in the bailout package that just passed [1] so no they're not going anywhere. 1. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-27/a-guide-t...

Only for temporary worker benefits. That's not much for Airbnb like, say Uber.

Re: Ask HN: Will this be the end of Airbnb?

#46

Post by pheme1 » Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 3:12 PM UTC

Just sharing my friend experience, she had to end her exchange study early from Europe (due to recent escalation) and back to Taiwan. My friend however, wasn't a Taiwanese and require a place for her 14 days self isolation. She ended up finding an Airbnb willing to host her during the self isolation period (hotel usually have a central ventilation which isn't optimal for self isolation).

Re: Ask HN: Will this be the end of Airbnb?

#47

Post by vladvasiliu » Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 3:13 PM UTC

wyager wrote: post #25

cameronfraser wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, AirBnB is an unsustainable business and I would also like to see it regulated out of existence. It is extremely classist. Only something that middle class or higher can use while reducing housing availability which primarily impacts lower classes.

If you think it needs to be "regulated out of existence", it sounds like you think it actually is sustainable; you just don't like it. > It is extremely classist. Only something that middle class or higher can use So you think any business which isn't affordable to everyone should be shut down?

I think the part of the sentence missing in your quote ("while reducing housing availability which primarily impacts lower classes") explains his stance.

Usually businesses catering to the upper classes don't usually do so at the detriment of "the poor". For example Ferrari selling 100k+ cars doesn't prevent me from buying a cheap car. Homeowners renting to "rich people" prevents a poor person from renting the same apartment.

This could of course happen with regular rentals, but the difference is that nobody would pay above market rates for a long-term rental, which is what basically happens with Airbnb.

Re: Ask HN: Will this be the end of Airbnb?

#48

Post by hn_throwaway_99 » Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 3:15 PM UTC

I think a lot of these answers are missing the point. I agree, AirBnB won't die, and they'll be able to grow back into a solid business when this all over.

However, AirBnB's original plan was to explode into cities before governments had a chance to react, and that once governments reacted they would have an entrenched, powerful constituency (landlords) who would help fight for them at the local level.

That advantage is now gone. All cities now have a strong opinion over whether they think AirBnB is a good thing, so as this pandemic nears completion there will be plenty of cities who will outright ban AirBnB, and any disruption that may have previously been caused by this action before coronavirus is now a moot point.

Re: Ask HN: Will this be the end of Airbnb?

#49

Post by Kye » Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 3:17 PM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #42

fennecfoxen wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Contrast this with WeWork, where people have been raising concerns about its business model (short-term revenues and long-term lease liabilities) from its inception. WeWork is dead . The main question now is what specific necromancy the venture capitalists will be performing on its corpse.

There's nothing wrong with, or unusual about, the business model. Short-term revenues and long-term liabilities is how every other real estate company operates. It's also how every bank operates.

Banks are required to keep 10% of deposits in reserve and pay into a deposit insurance system. The FDIC can shut banks down or put them under control of another in a crisis.

Re: Ask HN: Will this be the end of Airbnb?

#50

Post by heavenlyblue » Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 3:17 PM UTC

akirakurusu wrote: post #34

cameronfraser wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, AirBnB is an unsustainable business and I would also like to see it regulated out of existence. It is extremely classist. Only something that middle class or higher can use while reducing housing availability which primarily impacts lower classes.

How is it something only classists can use? I use Airbnb _because_ it is cheap, usually significantly cheaper than hotels when visiting cities. I use it to save money because I am cost conscious. A lot of lower-income friends also use Airbnb because of this very reason. It has been a lifesaver for us.

Here’s an alternative point of view: If you’re cosy-conscious; then don’t travel. Many places would be much better without a constant onslaught of poor tourists.