What Every Startup Can Learn From AirBnB | Hacker News Reader

What Every Startup Can Learn From AirBnB

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41 pointssolipsist13 comments

I'm the only one who thinks AirBnB business practices are shady?

To adverise netto price and hide their free until the very end and then smack it to the total just before you book is fucking disgrace, it's unethical, shady and disgusting business practice. Airlines did that all the time and everybody hated that, officials, at least in EU, needed to intervene and to force those bastards to advertise full price only and now some nice startups think that those cheating techniques from past are good to go?

Shady and unethical are strong words that, in my opinion, don't apply here. My girlfriend just booked a 10 week trip to Paris through AirBnb and there was no confusion about the processing fee. It is clearly listed under "More info" in the price segment of the product page. I suppose we could have a conversation about whether the fees should be listed more prominently (e.g. not folded in by default; even though its perfectly obvious as it is now), but not in this tone which such a distasteful choice of words.

I'm not affiliated with AirBnb, but as one of their users I'm very happy with their value proposition and I like their website in general. Even if I wouldn't like the company, however, I'd still consider it bad form to bring their ethics in question without any basis whatsoever.

Even if I wouldn't like the company, however, I'd still consider it bad form to bring their ethics in question without any basis whatsoever.

That's why he explained clearly why is bringing their ethics into question:

To adverise net price and hide their fee until the very end and then smack it to the total just before you book is fucking disgrace, it's unethical, shady and disgusting business practice. (edited for spelling)

So, are you saying it's always out of bounds to question the ethics of a company - or only when you happen to like their business?

The answer to your question is in the line you're already quoting: whether you like them or not shouldn't make a difference. My point is that its bad form to use strong words like shady, unethical, disgusting and "fucking disgrace" this lightly. I'd reserve those for situations where you have a clear reason to believe customers are being purposely misled with (bordering on) criminal intent, which is clearly not the case here. This is rude and doesn't help in regard to fixing the issue (assuming there is one), nor does it facilitate reasonable discussion about the matter.

Could they display their fee more prominently? Sure. Should they? Maybe, but it's not like they are hiding it either. Additional fees that aren't included in the quoted price are pretty common in the travel business, so I'd call their fee structure relatively simple and transparent. Are you going to call budget air travel companies unethical for charging an additional baggage fee, too?

It is a reasonable expectation to be charged a commission by a site like AirBnb. I'm happy with the fact that they display the commission before ordering anything or even starting the order process. I'm also glad that they transparently charge it to the end-user, instead of making it a hidden fee by increasing the price.

Is it ethical for customers to through legislation enforce the business practice of a service provider they simply do not have to deal with and can fully opt out of using?

Oh man some consumers behave like spoiled brats... the word "bastards" is extremely unwarranted. These airbnb folks are putting a massively useful service up and airlines put some serious heavyweights up in the air 1000s of times per day. These facilitators' rewards are miniscule compared to the benefit and achievement their customers enjoy. It should be 100% up to them and only them how they present fees and pricings for their business offering which they created painstakingly in any event. Even before some EU bureaucrats "intervened and forced these bastards" there was good competition among european no-frills airlines that also resulted in some (airberlin I'm sure, easyjet at some point tooI think) proudly proclaiming how they do show the full price, including all fees charges taxes. This simply has to be good enough for customers and they better know their place. If you think airbnb is doing it wrong, you have a massive opportunity at hand. If you think this is not enough differentiation to win big against airbnb, that just proves customers do not really care about that particular aspect. They just like to complain sometimes about minor annoyances equivalent to a mosquito sting, and unfortunately some as you think an initial, quite possibly unfounded expectation was not fulfilled is a reason to keep an ever-growing cancer such as an EU alive. You lose more in ever-growing tax payments overall and in the long run than through (some) web site's or airlines' "shady" practices.

This is such a non-issue. You ALWAYS, everywhere see a TOTAL price before check-out and can still fully cancel by simply doing nothing (ie. not clicking check-out). And you prefer officials whose only activity is stifling other activity, who produce nothing but regulate those that do.

I can see that the days of an innocent, pioneering, unregulated internet of a million colors and 10s of big and millions of small innovations and sure enough just as much silliness -- are soon numbered if this kind of mind-set makes it to Hacker News and gets 5 upvotes. :/

Vent over.

I agree those words were a bit harsh, but come on. All he said is that it is a little shady to hide the total until you've "fallen" for a place. I love Airbnb and use it all the time, but I wish they were a little more transparent with their pricing.

Not to say this is unique. California hotels never disclose the 16% hotel tax until you swipe your card.

A lot of European countries have laws that make companies advertise real prices to make it easier for the consumer to pick the best value. Keeps businesses honest. How is that a bad thing?

Would you rather they bury the fee in the price?

It's not like they're hiding it in fine print, it is right there plain as day during checkout.

I just booked for the first time and thought the process was great, and will use it again.

http://www.airbnb.com/help/topic/traveling# On top of the booking price of a listing, any deposit, tax, or cleaning fee should be listed in the description or details section of the listing -- so you can view them there. You may also message the host directly to ask about any additional fees. You should also remember that Airbnb charges a service fee of 6-12% which will be made clear on the checkout page

For comparison: http://www.ticketmaster.com/h/help.html

I think this is a great interview and story. Regardless of what you think of AirBnB (I happen to love the product and prefer it over booking "normal" hotels where possible), the story of AirBnB's evolution and their contrary nature to SV hype is awesome.

Airbnb is great! not just the perseverance mentioned in the article, but also the attention to design.

It is interesting to note that unlike some other startups in the valley, Airbnb was from the beginning was working to build and support their community and not just expect it to come together on it's own.

what other verticals is airbnb entering?

Going to make a wild guess and say push a focus on vacation rental homes. It's a huge market and the big player is a big slow dinosaur if there ever was one.

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