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Airbnb is slowly removing cleaning fees in an effort to achieve more transparent pricing.
Since early last year, when the company began offering guests all-inclusive rates when booking a property, nearly 300,000 listings have waived or reduced cleaning fees, Airbnb said in its report. earnings report today. Now, nearly 40% of active listings no longer charge cleaning fees.
On the customer side, these cleaning fees had been a long-standing frustration. You might spot a good deal on a vacation rental on Airbnb, only to check out and see hundreds of dollars in cleaning fees pile up at the last second. As cleaning fees increased, so did platform costs. average rental pricewhich makes Airbnb a less appealing choice when booking a getaway.
Lower cleaning fees beg the question: Are Airbnb hosts no longer paying for housekeepers? Or do they simply incorporate the costs of cleaning their properties into the list prices? When Airbnb first launched what it calls its “total price display,” it seemed determined to find a happy medium.
“Guests should not have to complete unreasonable payment tasks, such as removing beds, doing laundry or vacuuming when they leave their home. Airbnb, Airbnb said at the time. “But we think it’s reasonable to ask customers to turn off the lights, throw food in the trash, And lock the doors, as they would when leaving their own home.
It’s hard to believe that simply reminding guests to turn off the lights can make such a financial difference. Still, according to Airbnb, the average nightly price for a one-bedroom unit was $114, down 2 percent from last year, while the company says hotel prices increased by $7 % to reach an average of $149 per night during this period.
Overall, Airbnb grew its quarterly revenue by 17%, to $2.2 billion, year over year. But due to a one-time billion-dollar tax cost, the company lost $349 million for the quarter.
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