Airbnb vs * | Hacker News Reader

Airbnb vs *

blog.ianthiel.com

17 pointsianthiel9 comments

Is this a risk waiting to explode? I mean at some point someone will have a IMF chief type incident at a Airbnb booked type service right? Will the startup survive the resulting lawsuit and media flairup? I wish them all the best but personally I would not use nor invest in this service. Think PG's initial gut instinct was right.

I am sorry but I can't get your point. Is the hotel of the DSK incident fame, out of business? Who would sue, who?

Maybe my mis-understanding on how service works. Happy to learn:

+ So basically I go to airbnb + Book a room at that someone has put up. + This is a private residence, where they have a air-mattress

Does air-bnb do any screening of people putting up rooms or is it purely reputation based system? If the latter surely it is a ticking timebomb?

Say the worst case happens (touch wood it never does). Someone gets killed, raped, kidnapped staying at a air-bnb booked place. Any civil liablity for air-bnb? Any duty of care? Publicity fallout?

I think your understanding of how the service works is spot on. There's reputation system of sorts since you can comment on people you've stayed with. If anyone ever got a single bad review, I imagine no one would ever stay there again. Airbnb themselves don't do any of the screening.

There is a certain market for CouchSurfing like websites. Think imdb. These sites are like the ghetto shops of Delhi or Cairo. Sure you can have all the shiny showrooms, but people will still want to buy from these.

EDIT: I meant it in the context of the UI and design of the websites.

This is a very fair point, I think in some cases people are primarily interested in functionality as opposed to design.

vs CouchSurfing, a totally free service. But there are good reasons AirBnb is in no way threatened by CouchSurfing. For a start it is contractual, and that matters when it comes to accommodation because people want security.

People want certainty, which is what I suppose you meant. That being said, I'd say that there is a significant market for the kind of travelers that couchSurfing offers. You can't beat free and there is something about travelling to a country, meeting with the locals and contributing something back, other than money.

Personally I have found craigslist the best way to find non-hotel accomidations.

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