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Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

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Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#221

Post by smueller1234 »

rifung wrote: post #74
aboutruby wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Booking is at 78.68B. From first hand experience I think Airbnb's technology is at least 10x better than Booking's (I visited and talked to both Airbnb and Booking.com employees in their respective offices).

> I think Airbnb's technology is at least 10x better than Booking's Perhaps a cynical or unpopular point of view but until the technology becomes a hindrance, does that really matter? Its not as though people are going to these sites because they have great technology. They go to them because the prices are good and they have good UX I assume?

I don't think that's cynical at all, just pragmatic.

I used to run infrastructure for Booking until a couple of years ago. I'll honestly admit that there's lots of tech debt. AMA - but I'll say that I'll provide no response time SLO due to work travel.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#222

Post by [deleted] »

baddox wrote: post #182
yarone wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My (newly substantiated) reason for choosing a hotel room: - Security Just stayed in an AirBnb that was broken-into during our stay. Window smashed, laptops stolen when we were gone for a couple hours. It feels like we were watched when we arrived, were observed to leave, and then robbed. We were shaken and ran-off to a hotel. Really appreciated the hotel staff, secured elevator, anonymity of it all (lots of undiffer…

That sounds like an awful experience, but I would guess that you’re much likelier to be a victim of theft at a hotel than at a residential home.

[deleted]

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#223

Post by vizzah »

Most properties you can book on Airbnb are also available on Expedia's HomeAway. And it's already publicly traded. Also many of the same apartments are advertised on Booking.com. Both of those services were running before AirBnb came. So Airbnb's main advantage is that it made short-term rentals more consumer friendly and populated the idea to hosts, who might not have done it professionally before (which, if you ask me is a bad thing, as I've checked in into so many properties run by hosts who have no clue how to provide B&B services).. anyway.. Airbnb IPO? Yawn.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#224

Post by jimbokun »

dajohnson89 wrote: post #83
jimbokun wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm assuming "technology" means the UX in this case, and it is absolutely a big part of the reason I keep coming back to AirBNB while I plan an upcoming vacation with multiple stays. I can find places with the constraints I'm looking for quickly, and conveniently see them laid out on a map. The UX on other sites I've tried make it more difficult to find places where I want to stay.

AirBnb's excellent UX wins me over. What pushes me away, is the hidden fees (service, cleaning, extra $ for 2+ guests, etc).

Agreed, you can't trust the price listed on the search page, need to visit each listing to get the actual price for the stay.

It is very cell phone and cable billing, there is only a very loose relationship between the advertised price and what you will actually pay.

I think HomeAway was a little bit better about this, amortizing the fees over the length of the stay and including in the listed per night price.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#225

Post by paulddraper »

puranjay wrote: post #178
paulddraper wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. AirBnB has renters and listings. Uber has riders and drivers. As long as you have enough of the two sides, you can have a rival.

But as a customer, your approach to both marketplaces is very different. With Airbnb, I'm far more discerning because a bad host can ruin a long planned vacation. With Uber, a bad driver means an uncomfortable 45 minutes. Uber can tolerate bad actors more than Airbnb

That's true, but that just means you the consumer can be more discriminating on other factors, like price.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#226

Post by matchbok »

briandear wrote: post #180
matchbok wrote: post #61

Amazing what a company can do when they ignore regulations and simply extract wealth out of our communities. 80% of their profit comes from huge corporate listings yet they advertise themselves as a "home-sharing" site. Nonsense.

They aren’t “extracting wealth” from communities any more than Booking.com does. In fact, AirBnB creates wealth. A person renting out a room on AirBnB is economically better off than if they didn’t.

Incorrect. They are removing apartments from the supply, thus raising rents. A couple airbnbs in a huge apartment building have many external costs that are carried by the other tenants.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#227

Post by jhall1468 »

ric2b wrote: post #220
jhall1468 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not Airbnb's responsibility to enforce the law. Full stop.

So ebay doesn't have to prevent people from selling illegal guns? YouTube doesn't have to prevent people from illegally distributing copyrighted material?

Both of those exist because regulators forced them to. The suggestion here, apparently, is that Airbnb should just do it out of the kindness of their heart. If the government wants more oversight, regulate them.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#228

Post by jhall1468 »

mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #144
jhall1468 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not Airbnb's responsibility to enforce the law. Full stop.

Demonstrating compliance with the law can be and often is a legal requirement itself.

There aren't any laws here for Airbnb to comply with. That's my point: the regulations are on the hosts. If the Government wants to regulate Airbnb, they need to pass legislation that requires Airbnb to do something. Exactly as they did with YouTube via DMCA.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#229

Post by jhall1468 »

parent5446 wrote: post #159
jhall1468 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not Airbnb's responsibility to enforce the law. Full stop.

It's not a murderer's responsibility to stop themselves from murdering people. Full stop.

What a dumb response. Airbnb isn't going to do something it's not required to. Suggesting that they have a moral responsibility to enforce the law on hosts is silly. If you want them to build a system that assists law enforcement, pass legislation that requires they do.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#230

Post by jhall1468 »

throwawayjava wrote: post #153
jhall1468 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not Airbnb's responsibility to enforce the law. Full stop.

There are many jurisdictions where this is an extremely dangerous assumption. Knowingly facilitating illegal transactions is often a crime.

Do you have a case where Airbnb is being charged with doing that?
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