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Introducing Airbnb Plus

airbnb.com

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Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#71

Post by matte_black »

ghaff wrote: post #57
matte_black wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When a marketing budget that once served a uniform segment splits to serve multiple segments, you must either divide the budget amongst segments or increase the budget to support the previous standard of marketing activity for a segment.

Yes but, if you serve multiple segments vs. just one, you presumably can amortize your marketing dollars over more volume. (And if you're not increasing volume by going after more segments, those new segments obviously aren't working out for you.)

In this case the low end market becomes a drain on AirBnB because the ROI is not nearly as high as their high end market. However the ROI would be acceptable to a smaller player. Is it worth for AirBnB to dilute their brand at this critical juncture just to hold on to as wide a market as possible?

No.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#72

Post by wnissen »

grapehut wrote: post #62

I travel a lot and have stayed at 50+ airbnb places all around the world -- but the biggest problem is that the reviews are always so artificial you honestly have zero idea of what you're getting into. Worst of all is the amenities, which are more often incorrect than not. I generally filter for places with washer + drier, as I'd rather not be looking for laundromats. Probably over 80% of listings that say they have…

And they are only doing this in the big cities where there is plenty of competition. When I've stayed at sketchy AirBnBs, it was not a surprise. The real problem is in the boonies where there might only be a couple places available in an area and there is a shortage of experienced hosts. I recently left a 3* review (only one 4* out of 24 stays) for a place 30 miles outside Cleveland. Place was a dump with an absent host who had me call the cable company to fix the WiFi and then gave me a runaround for weeks when I asked for a discount. Three butter knives in the silverware drawer, bedroom door that had no key so God help you if you locked it. But it had great reviews!

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#73

Post by matte_black »

lazerpants wrote: post #68
matte_black wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not enough to have a slider, you also need to actively market to people looking for cheap places to stay in the first place, or they will never even think to use your precious slider. This splits AirBnBs marketing on two fronts: high end and low end. This either doubles their marketing cost or halves their marketing budget for each audience. Take your pick. A company focused on low cost listings only has to mark…

"Introducing AirBnB: Simplicity. Clean sheets, great hosts, for a fraction of the cost of a hotel." Game over^2.

AirBnB Simplicity, AirBnB, and AirBnB Plus? I don’t think so. I’d give that a D+ on execution.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#74

Post by kelnos »

pjungwir wrote: post #65
grapehut wrote: post #62

I travel a lot and have stayed at 50+ airbnb places all around the world -- but the biggest problem is that the reviews are always so artificial you honestly have zero idea of what you're getting into. Worst of all is the amenities, which are more often incorrect than not. I generally filter for places with washer + drier, as I'd rather not be looking for laundromats. Probably over 80% of listings that say they have…

Hosts (or anyone) can look at your profile to see the reviews about you, but not the reviews you've written. They would have to know the places you've stayed and then search through those reviews to find yours. So I don't think you should be worried about leaving honest reviews.

Does a host (where you've stayed) get to see your review of their place before they post their review of you? If so, I think the fear would be a traveler leaving a negative review, the host seeing it, and then leaving a negative review of the traveler in retaliation.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#75

Post by kelnos »

EdJiang wrote: post #61
vkou wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a reasonable way to do it. Keep the front door unlocked on guest swaps, keep the key inside the house.

No key at all, just “it’s a safe neighborhood so we always leave the door unlocked”

I've never understood that. I grew up in seemingly safe neighborhoods in suburban New Jersey and semi-rural Maryland, but leaving our door unlocked (even while we're at home) was unthinkable.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#76

Post by InitialLastName »

pjungwir wrote: post #65
grapehut wrote: post #62

I travel a lot and have stayed at 50+ airbnb places all around the world -- but the biggest problem is that the reviews are always so artificial you honestly have zero idea of what you're getting into. Worst of all is the amenities, which are more often incorrect than not. I generally filter for places with washer + drier, as I'd rather not be looking for laundromats. Probably over 80% of listings that say they have…

Hosts (or anyone) can look at your profile to see the reviews about you, but not the reviews you've written. They would have to know the places you've stayed and then search through those reviews to find yours. So I don't think you should be worried about leaving honest reviews.

I think the worry is retaliatory reviews. I've been in a situation where if I left my host an honest review, I expected to get a nasty review in return.

It's honestly a problem with all of these bi-directional rating systems. As long as they make it at all possible for the ratings to leak before both parties have rated, there's a strong disincentive for any party to leave an honest rating.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#77

Post by ghaff »

user5994461 wrote: post #69
ghaff wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that businesses initially built around genuinely amateur money-making on the side (Airbnb, eBay, Etsy, I'm sure many others) tend to attract professionals who often push many of the initial users out. And the higher volumes are more attractive for the businesses mediating the service so they don't have much incentive to really stop it. It does open up the opportunity for new entrants to come in that ar…

I'll agree with the previous post that renting a room or a flat on airbnb is a terrible experience. People really have crazy expectations and you need to be a professional hotel to handle it. I'm a firm believer that most hosts will stop renting after a few guests. The turnover must be high, only covered by the new supply of hosts following the hype. It will dry up eventually and mostly professional hotels will remai…

I felt the same way about eBay back in the day. I quickly came to the conclusion that there were very few items I wanted to get rid of that were worth the hassle. The last time I had some camera equipment to get rid of I just sold it to Amazon. I'm sure I could have gotten more $$ through other channels but it was so hassle-free that it was worth it to me.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#78

Post by antognini »

InitialLastName wrote: post #76
pjungwir wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hosts (or anyone) can look at your profile to see the reviews about you, but not the reviews you've written. They would have to know the places you've stayed and then search through those reviews to find yours. So I don't think you should be worried about leaving honest reviews.

I think the worry is retaliatory reviews. I've been in a situation where if I left my host an honest review, I expected to get a nasty review in return. It's honestly a problem with all of these bi-directional rating systems. As long as they make it at all possible for the ratings to leak before both parties have rated, there's a strong disincentive for any party to leave an honest rating.

I thought that you couldn't see what a host or guest wrote about you until you already wrote your review. That's the way it's been for me, anyway.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#79

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

kelnos wrote: post #74
pjungwir wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hosts (or anyone) can look at your profile to see the reviews about you, but not the reviews you've written. They would have to know the places you've stayed and then search through those reviews to find yours. So I don't think you should be worried about leaving honest reviews.

Does a host (where you've stayed) get to see your review of their place before they post their review of you? If so, I think the fear would be a traveler leaving a negative review, the host seeing it, and then leaving a negative review of the traveler in retaliation.

No. You get something like 10 days to complete the review and the host does not see it and you don’t see their review until either the time period expires or you both leave reviews. After the time period expires you can no longer leave a review

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#80

Post by calbear81 »

kelnos wrote: post #74
pjungwir wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hosts (or anyone) can look at your profile to see the reviews about you, but not the reviews you've written. They would have to know the places you've stayed and then search through those reviews to find yours. So I don't think you should be worried about leaving honest reviews.

Does a host (where you've stayed) get to see your review of their place before they post their review of you? If so, I think the fear would be a traveler leaving a negative review, the host seeing it, and then leaving a negative review of the traveler in retaliation.

Airbnb employee here: both parties have to leave a review before you can both see the review posted to prevent retaliatory reviews. Also, you can leave public feedback, private feedback, and feedback to Airbnb if you have specific issues with the guest/host that you want us to address.
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