Don’t Get Scammed On Airbnb- Find Out The Ugly Truth And Save Big Money

The cat is out of the bag… Vacation rental hosts really hate Airbnb… Well, some of them do.

And, if more Airbnb guests knew what was going on, they would pay a lot more attention before hitting the pink Book Now button.

But before I move on to the why’s and wherefore’s, here’s a very short video that shows the pitfalls of booking on Airbnb without doing a little research first…
Don’t Get Scammed On Airbnb…

So, what’s the reason for this type of massive price differential and why do some hosts hate Airbnb?

Before I qualify that bold Vacation rental hosts really hate Airbnb opening, I should add that I have been helping vacation rental hosts market their properties since 2003. That’s 5 years before Airbnb even existed.

Back then, hosts were called owners, because they owned the property. Hence, VRBO or Vacation Rental By Owner.
In most cases, owners rented out their second homes when they weren’t using them themselves. In a lot of cases, these homes were worth an awful lot of money.

Then along came Airbnb with their blow-up mattresses, sofa beds in spare rooms, and couch surfing options.
To be honest, vacation rental owners just ignored Airbnb for the first 5 years or so. They looked at them as chalk and cheese. They were in a different marketplace.

But, as the years passed, Airbnb grew from market disrupter to market force majeure.

They became a verb.
People Airbnb’d.
They became a marketing force to be reconned with. Something that couldn’t be ignored.
Airbnb ripped the heart out of VRBO, HomeAway, Owners Direct, and many other companies.

The old school property owners had no choice but to join the spare room renting hosts because that’s where the bookings were to be had. Airbnb was THE brand. They had THE traffic.

And there, the trouble began…

When it comes to hosts, Airbnb has a one size fits all outlook.
They see no difference between a host renting a sofa bed in a single room in a shared house and the owner of a multi-million Dollar mansion on the beach in Malibu.

And, when it comes to guests, Airbnb has a similar outlook.
They see no difference between a stag party of 10, 18 to 20-year-olds and a couple in their 50’s taking a city break.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for equality but we all need to look at things from both sides of the fence.

Imagine that I own a high-end, million-dollar property on the beach in Malibu, (I don’t, in case you’re wondering).
Let’s say that it comes complete with white carpets, white sofas, white bedding, designer fittings, and expensive artwork.

I really don’t want to be playing host to stag parties, spring break groups or under 25’s in general.

I’m going to be laying awake at night worried about my lovely home and my precious possessions. I’m going to be concerned that if someone holds a party at my place, things could get out of hand, my neighbors may get upset, and things could get damaged, stained or broken.

I may have to cancel the next group of guests if things need to be replaced or repaired.
It’s all a bit of a potential nightmare.

So, what do I do?

Well, I stick with VRBO because I can refuse to rent to under 25-year-olds on their platform and their guest demographic is, in general, targeted at family-oriented and older audiences.

In order to hedge my bets, I’ll advertise on Airbnb because they can help with my occupancy rate due to their popularity.
But I’ll do so at a heavy premium.

Now, this may all sound a bit far-fetched but this is exactly what’s happening.
It’s not uncommon to see properties listed on Airbnb, priced at double, to five times the price of the same property on VRBO.

But, 67% of travelers think it’s cheaper and easier to book on a brand website rather than a third-party website

Owners don’t want the Airbnb bookings and the risks that go with them unless they load the price in order to cover the risks involved.

Until recently, it was almost impossible to unearth these massive price differences.
If you use Airbnb to book your vacation accommodation, you may well have paid the price (literally) of this inflated rental fee method of working.

But now, by using HiChee’s vacation rental price comparison website you can easily identify these price loading examples and be assured of getting the best price.

You can see another example of price loading here…
And how to use HiChee to make certain that you get the best price.

If you are an owner or host, you may want to verify your listing on HiChee.com
It’s free to verify, it will bring you more direct bookings, and potential guests can communicate directly with you via email. No strings.
Just watch this short video for more details