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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

#211

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#212

Post by [deleted] »

kilroy123 wrote: post #15

I'm not surprised to see Airbnb became profitable. They've expanded everywhere. I nomad around and always use Airbnb, I've booked places on several continents. However, I'm definitely feeling the effects of their growing pains. For example, many people have bought places to only rent on Airbnb full-time. Most of these people suck at being an hotelier. It's clear people get lazy and are just trying to make money. Thin…

[deleted]

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

#213

Post by jeremyis »

xbeta wrote: post #207

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 wok…

this is for a vacation rental. Most of Airbnbs listings are not that (Homeaway or VRBO is the leader)...

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

#214

Post by TheGRS »

ghaff wrote: post #30
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…

I haven't done eBay in ages but rating inflation used to be a big deal there when the relationship between buyers and sellers was more symmetrical (among other differences from today). People took anything other than a positive with an "A+++++++++++++++++++++ seller" as meaning that the seller had shipped you a brick and then burned down your house. People got really pissed off if someone left a neutral because, say,…

That episode of Black Mirror is coming to mind for me with this discussion. Once the currency of your profile rating points affects your livelihood all sorts of bizarre social ramifications start to rear their heads. The difference between a 4.5 out of 5 and a 5 out of 5 becomes huge.

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

#215

Post by trymas »

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…

Yup, I do not know what's the appeal of airbnb.

Little disclaimer, that I am not rich and travel on cheap, so it's from cheapskates point of view.

Airbnbs are neither cheaper, nor more convenient than a hotel/hostel/ etc. When you go to a ho(s)tel - they are licensed, they are cleaned everyday, they give [0] you towels, clean sheets, etc. And many hostels are cheap, have personal rooms, have full kitchen, wifi, etc.

With airbnb, I had experience of cleaning a dirty kitchen, fridge full of mold, from some leftovers, buy cleaning utensils for kitchen and bathroom, slept in a bed full of cat hair, etc. It's like couchsurfing, just without all the couch surfing benefits for a price of extremely expensive rent. Airbnbs are not regulated, they do not account for nothing, etc., personally it's horrible.

So I better travel to hotels/hostels, through booking.com (or similar). I do not pay more than on Airbnb and I get much better service on average (e.g. 24h reception, cleaning, consistency [1], easier to deal with etc.).

All in all, personally for me Airbnb is extremely expensive and unregulated rent with poor service, which does only economical harm for local economy for both - hotels/hostels and long-term rents.

[0] probably more correct way to say that it's included in the price.

[1] 'consistency' - I mean that I know (or at least easily imagine) what a hotel/hostel for XX dollars in YY country should feel like. Whereas with airbnb it's a cat in a box, with some extra surprises/rules on arrival.

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

#216

Post by ryhamz »

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, thus causing price drops and forcing hotels to drop their prices in order to remain competitive.

That's 2-3 major claims that I just can't believe at face value. I'd like to, but you'll have to convince me.

People are converting rental properties to AirBnBs, which actually could mean less supply of rental properties and the same amount of people looking for them.

Is AirBnB leading to development of new housing to offset this? Maybe. idk

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

#217

Post by ricardobeat »

jeremyis wrote: post #213
xbeta wrote: post #207

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 wok…

this is for a vacation rental. Most of Airbnbs listings are not that (Homeaway or VRBO is the leader)...

What are they?

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

#218

Post by aninhumer »

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

They've created some supply by opening up some empty rooms and temporarily unused housing to short term renters. But a significant proportion of AirBnB's listings aren't new supply, they're just reallocated from long term rental properties. This will likely have caused hotel prices to drop, but it also causes long term rental prices to rise.

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

#219

Post by FanaHOVA »

abandonliberty wrote: post #202
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 befo…

> Guests cannot comment when their stay is cancelled before arrival

It's automatically posted as a review on your behalf.

> 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?)

By taking a picture with your phone and contacting support?

There's reasons to dislike Airbnb, but these surely aren't some of them. I've had ~20 stays at Airbnb and never had any of these issues.

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

#220

Post by knn »

xbeta wrote: post #207

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 wok…

Sorry you had that bad experience (I would be pissed too), but the logic of (you having a singular bad experience therefore company will likely die) is next to baseless.
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