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Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

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Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#201

Post by abandonliberty »

whack wrote: post #195
jliptzin wrote: post #159

I used to use airbnb quite often (as a traveler), but I have to say it's lost its appeal for me. First, it's really not much cheaper than a hotel in most cases (some cases more expensive). Second, it's a hassle when you're on vacation to have to arrange in advance a specific time to pick up the keys to the place. Then, what happens if you happen to lose the keys (happened to me once)? What happens if it's in the midd…

Keep in mind that even though you may not like AirBNB, you're still benefiting from their service. AirBNB has greatly increased the supply of housing in each city, thus causing price drops and forcing hotels to drop their prices in order to remain competitive. If AirBNB really is overpriced for the hassles involved, then no one would use it, and AirBNB hosts would be forced to lower their prices until they find someo…

Unless you live in a city and pay rent or property tax.

In which case you're now funding AirBNB as residential units are converted to commercial.

Enjoy.

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#202

Post by abandonliberty »

jliptzin wrote: post #159

I used to use airbnb quite often (as a traveler), but I have to say it's lost its appeal for me. First, it's really not much cheaper than a hotel in most cases (some cases more expensive). Second, it's a hassle when you're on vacation to have to arrange in advance a specific time to pick up the keys to the place. Then, what happens if you happen to lose the keys (happened to me once)? What happens if it's in the midd…

AirBnB is a now usually a terrible deal for guests and increases resident rental shortages/costs by illegally converting residential units into commercial rentals.

When they started, they were great for guests. Now there's an abundance of guests and a shortage of hosts, so the system is strongly tilted in favor of hosts.

- Hosts always get rebuttals on reviews

- Guests cannot comment when their stay is cancelled before arrival

- Guest reviews are public which discourages honest feedback

- Dealing with a problem is nearly impossible (how do I take a picture of the fact that my 'apartment' is a hotel room? And why can't I talk to anyone?)

- AirBnB's compensation for a failed stay is a 10% re-booking bonus which doesn't begin to cover the additional cost, time, and stress of having to find a new place at the last minute at 10pm because your flight was 6 hours delayed and the one you booked with great reviews was misrepresented

In some markets AirBnB can be the last/best option, but I do my best to avoid financially supporting them if there is a reasonable alternative.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=airbnb+isn't+worth+it+anymore

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#203

Post by tafda »

Tloewald wrote: post #33
dragonwriter wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unless, they fix this and get more people to review honestly. I think they're going to run into a lot of problems. I don't airBnB, but a friend who does was recently berated by a host after leaving a 4-star review; that host claimed (don't know how true this is) that many hosts will refuse to rent to you again if you leave anything but a 5-star review. That and other things I've seen and heard about airBnB reviews…

The whole system of review curation that infests online markets is a problem waiting to be solved. Right now we basically have to parse reviews on the 4.4-5.0 scale because anything outside that is meaningless. It's amazing to go read a novel rated 3 stars (because it operates outside this loop) and find it transcendently good.

This doesn't seem to be as big of a problem in Japan.

On the popular restaurant review site Tabelog, a 3.6 (out of 5) is a very good ranking; there's more 3-star Michelin restaurants in Tokyo than restaurants above 4.5.

https://tabelog.com/en

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#204

Post by jimmywanger »

whack wrote: post #195
jliptzin wrote: post #159

I used to use airbnb quite often (as a traveler), but I have to say it's lost its appeal for me. First, it's really not much cheaper than a hotel in most cases (some cases more expensive). Second, it's a hassle when you're on vacation to have to arrange in advance a specific time to pick up the keys to the place. Then, what happens if you happen to lose the keys (happened to me once)? What happens if it's in the midd…

Keep in mind that even though you may not like AirBNB, you're still benefiting from their service. AirBNB has greatly increased the supply of housing in each city, thus causing price drops and forcing hotels to drop their prices in order to remain competitive. If AirBNB really is overpriced for the hassles involved, then no one would use it, and AirBNB hosts would be forced to lower their prices until they find someo…

> AirBNB has greatly increased the supply of housing in each city

Technically, it's increased the supply of short term lodging. Housing supply would have to be increased by construction or subdivision of units.

> If you're seeing that AirBNB is just as expensive as hotels

It's not an entirely fluid market, and some AirBnb hosts have wildly inflated ideas of what their unit is worth. A lot of AirBnbs (in my searches) sit mostly empty except for during events, during which they overcharge greatly. The vacancy rate acceptable for an AirBnb is much higher than the acceptable vacancy rate for a hotel.

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#206

Post by nocoder »

Tloewald wrote: post #33
dragonwriter wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unless, they fix this and get more people to review honestly. I think they're going to run into a lot of problems. I don't airBnB, but a friend who does was recently berated by a host after leaving a 4-star review; that host claimed (don't know how true this is) that many hosts will refuse to rent to you again if you leave anything but a 5-star review. That and other things I've seen and heard about airBnB reviews…

The whole system of review curation that infests online markets is a problem waiting to be solved. Right now we basically have to parse reviews on the 4.4-5.0 scale because anything outside that is meaningless. It's amazing to go read a novel rated 3 stars (because it operates outside this loop) and find it transcendently good.

Fundamental challenge with star rating system is your perception of what counts as 5 star & my perception of what counts as 5 can be very different. It basically comes down to what your personal standards of something 5 star are. I am generally a very adjusting person, so minor glitches might not lead me to move from 5 to 2 star but someone could be more particular than me in which case his 5 star will move to 1 star at slightest issue.

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#207

Post by xbeta »

My experience tells me Airbnb is in big trouble.

Last year around Nov, I tried to book a Lake Tahoe cabin for 2 families (1 is mine, another is a friend's) for a simple trip for our young children.

I booked via Airbnb few days in advanced. The day before driving to Tahoe, we even called Airbnb to confirm that the listing is OK. The host accepted, but didn't answer to any of our questions.

The next morning when we woke up, we packed everything, then out of bad habit, I opened up the app and checked again. I was caught on surprised that the host cancelled, just 4 hrs before our suppose arrival time. We were very shocked and pissed. I was booking for a friend's family and it was very embarrassed. I immediately contacted Airbnb support, and all they call do for me was to give me $100 back for my NEXT reservation. And they couldn't do anything about my existing. I thought they would put a penalty on Airbnb's host who cancelled on us in less than 24 hrs, but they said they don't have such policy. I was upset because I knew they had such policy for the renter. They also mentioned the best they can do is to find me the next 10 houses to book in the similar location, but cost 3x more as it is bit last minute. They did not anything else to help me.

I was very upset and went to Homeaway.com and found something immediately, even cheaper than the original reservation I had with Airbnb.

My story was a clear first-hand witness on how I believed Airbnb failed at customer service, and will be very difficult to become a successfully company.

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#208

Post by nostrademons »

jimmywanger wrote: post #204
whack wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keep in mind that even though you may not like AirBNB, you're still benefiting from their service. AirBNB has greatly increased the supply of housing in each city, thus causing price drops and forcing hotels to drop their prices in order to remain competitive. If AirBNB really is overpriced for the hassles involved, then no one would use it, and AirBNB hosts would be forced to lower their prices until they find someo…

> AirBNB has greatly increased the supply of housing in each city Technically, it's increased the supply of short term lodging. Housing supply would have to be increased by construction or subdivision of units. > If you're seeing that AirBNB is just as expensive as hotels It's not an entirely fluid market, and some AirBnb hosts have wildly inflated ideas of what their unit is worth. A lot of AirBnbs (in my searches)…

Many AirBnB hosts rent out their primary residence. We rented one for our wedding where the family that lived there just decided to go camping that weekend; if you're income-poor but house-rich, getting paid a couple grand for a camping trip ain't a bad deal. Similarly, we stayed at an AirBnB for our honeymoon in Sarajevo; the place was our host's actual apartment, hand-decorated by her. She stayed with her parents for the weekend; we were paying her about 2 weeks salary in Bosnia for 2 nights there, so it was well worth her time.

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#209

Post by jonknee »

hkmurakami wrote: post #144
frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that bad for employees with stock options though? The market could tell them how much those options are really worth.

Palantir will regularly buy its employees' equity fwiw.

But without the market you could easily be getting ripped off selling your shares back... They're not doing it out of the goodness of their heart.

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#210

Post by nvarsj »

untog wrote: post #170
jliptzin wrote: post #159

I used to use airbnb quite often (as a traveler), but I have to say it's lost its appeal for me. First, it's really not much cheaper than a hotel in most cases (some cases more expensive). Second, it's a hassle when you're on vacation to have to arrange in advance a specific time to pick up the keys to the place. Then, what happens if you happen to lose the keys (happened to me once)? What happens if it's in the midd…

There's an area Airbnb clearly fails for me, and it's the one your describe: short stays in populated areas. It's slightly cheaper than a hotel, but a hotel has a front desk that's staffed 24 hours a day to solve any problem you have, and you can usually cancel at no charge up to 24 hours before arriving. It's worth the small extra every night. That said , I've had good experiences with Airbnb for a very vacation-y v…

I always found VRBO much better for vacation rentals.
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