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Airbnb S-1

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Re: Airbnb S-1

#241

Post by wdb »

Personally, I wish AirBNB rules would be stricter in London and that it requires some special licensing from the council were neighbours can easily complain about the person's guests.

I am sick of the random people being rude to me and the constant parties/noise. I can't do much about it. The bylaws of the building doesn't forbid it. I am trying to get elected to be part of the board so I can request these change to the bylaws.

I prefer to know my neighbours, might not be friends, but at least have some relation to them.

Re: Airbnb S-1

#242

Post by b20000 »

since the pandemic started, i've seen airbnb guests constantly showing up for a stay in our apartment building where subletting via airbnb is specifically prohibited. leasing office doesn't care and looks the other way. this has contributed to the spread of covid-19 without doubt. it's infuriating to have total strangers hang around the property while trying to concentrate on work and writing software. these people show up, refuse to wear masks and then get drunk and hang around / go to the beach nearby. airbnb doesn't contribute anything to society and how this company can be profitable at all is a total mystery to me.

Re: Airbnb S-1

#243

Post by Reason077 »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #168
SilasX wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had that exact experience in the famously non-corrupt Netherlands (2017). It’s not a China thing.

Does the Netherlands have a rule that you register with the local public security bureau for wherever you are staying? I really don't see AirBnB working in China because of that.

In the Netherlands, and elsewhere in Europe, it’s not because of any requirement that tourists must register with authorities, but rather that some towns and cities have rules that restrict (or even ban) short-term AirBnB style rentals.

Here in London there is a 90-day rule (a property can’t exceed 90 days total short-term rentals per year), and it’s 60 days in Amsterdam. This is enforced on the AirBnB platform, but landlords will try to get around it by listing on multiple platforms or by having multiple listings for a property.

Re: Airbnb S-1

#244

Post by Reason077 »

khuey wrote: post #227
vailripper wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had the same experience staying at a AirBnB in Vancouver. In that case it was a unit where (unbeknownst to me) the condo board had banned AirBnB, so we were instructed after booking to say we were 'visiting friends'.

In China you are legally required to go register your location with the police though. It's a bit different than lying to the building doorman or whatever.

I don’t see why that’s a hard problem. If hotels can register their guests automatically with the police as required, then why not AirBnB?

Re: Airbnb S-1

#245

Post by lotsofpulp »

treis wrote: post #194
lotsofpulp wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But a new kind of "hotel" that consists of one person running a handful to a couple dozen apartments. The most important part of Airbnb is creating a hotel "chain" or "brand" without having to deal with things like zoning or licensing or insurance for hotels. While Hilton/Marriott/IHG/Hyatt/Accor/Choice/Wyndham/etc collect 10% to 20% in exchange for putting their brand on the line, Airbnb also was able to create a b…

Those chains don't really deal with zoning or licenses. The actual hotels are almost all franchises. The real difference, as you allude to, is centralized reputation. If you stay at a crappy Marriott you blame Marriott. If you stay at a crappy Airbnb you blame the host. It will be interesting what happens in the long run. There's now a proven market for apartment style hotel options. I could see a reputable brand mov…

My point was that the above mentioned brands only offer their product in a properly licensed and insured hotel. They couldn't have came onto the scene and enabled small time owners to flaunt local laws like Airbnb did without great reputational risk.

Re: Airbnb S-1

#246

Post by x87678r »

maltelandwehr wrote: post #43
x87678r wrote: post #29

I wonder about their long term business model. Sure they have opened up the industry, but I'd think its quite easy to copy them. Sure there are a bunch of people that will keep AirBnB their favorite but when I'm looking at places I'll religiously check every site I can. There will be nothing unique about them.

Trust, inventory, and demand are not that easy to copy. Most people probably don’t want to check a dozen different sites (convenience) or don’t know which sites they can trust.

> Trust, inventory, and demand are not that easy to copy.

Maybe that is true right now, but in the future I doubt it. The last place I rented was on both AirBnB and VRBO, VRBO having a slightly lower price.

Re: Airbnb S-1

#247

Post by sjtindell »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #212
carlineng wrote: post #112

A few random observations I found interesting: - Looks like they are significantly leaner now as a result of COVID. Cost of revenue is at an all-time low in Q3 (17% of revenue on p164). There's a lot of focus the drastic cuts to Sales and Marketing, but it looks like there's a fair amount of increased discipline across the board. - It's interesting that Operations and support looks to be very similar in both the firs…

> It's interesting that Operations and support looks to be very similar in both the first 9 months of 2019 and 2020 despite having drastically different revenue numbers. They had to spend roughly the same amount (600 million) to support 30% less revenue That's not surprising to me at all. I'm sure their support and operations teams have been working insane hours during Covid dealing with cancellations, unclear lockdo…

It could have also been a business decision right - let's not layoff all that support staff or spin down all that infrastructure because eventually the business will come back. So costs are mostly the same.

Re: Airbnb S-1

#248

Post by kevindeasis »

mrgordon wrote: post #11
quickthrower2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They need the cash? If they survive through covid they are back to winner takes all.

They don't need the cash necessarily but the early employee options were expiring so they needed to go public

im not familiar with this, i havent read much about early employee stock options, what does this mean?

Re: Airbnb S-1

#249

Post by Reason077 »

elamje wrote: post #136
carlineng wrote: post #112

A few random observations I found interesting: - Looks like they are significantly leaner now as a result of COVID. Cost of revenue is at an all-time low in Q3 (17% of revenue on p164). There's a lot of focus the drastic cuts to Sales and Marketing, but it looks like there's a fair amount of increased discipline across the board. - It's interesting that Operations and support looks to be very similar in both the firs…

A fun anecdote about AirBnB in China: 2 years ago I travelled to Beijing and Shanghai and intended to stay in an AirBnB. AirBnB had tons and tons of listings in both places, all of which had specific instructions to tell the neighbors you were “a friend” and not staying there with AirBnB. At the time, and possibly still so, AirBnB was not operating legally in those particular places, and I presume most of the country…

Curious, what makes these things so hard for westerners? The Didi app (for example) is translated into English, isn’t it? Is it just a matter of incompatible payment systems?

Re: Airbnb S-1

#250

Post by Reason077 »

busterarm wrote: post #239
elamje wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A fun anecdote about AirBnB in China: 2 years ago I travelled to Beijing and Shanghai and intended to stay in an AirBnB. AirBnB had tons and tons of listings in both places, all of which had specific instructions to tell the neighbors you were “a friend” and not staying there with AirBnB. At the time, and possibly still so, AirBnB was not operating legally in those particular places, and I presume most of the country…

This seems incredibly dangerous as visitors on a tourist visa are required to register themselves with the local police within 24 hours of arriving at their destination. Trying to stay under the radar seems like it courts risk of deportation, as I've known _lots_ of folks who got a visit from police at their place of stay who were not aware of this. Virtually all of them settled things fine but it was more headache t…

> ”your hotel registers you online so that you don't have to deal with this”

If a hotel can do it, surely there’s no reason why Airbnb can’t figure it out?

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