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Was Airbnb ever really subsidized the way that Uber was (i.e. the host gets more than you paid?)

Yes. I was a large host in 2012, and whenever someone would cause trouble, AirBnB would pay for a Palo Alto hotel room to get them out of there. People would go full psycho just to get a free hotel room. I tried hosting again recently; it was an expensive nightmare, but probably better for their margins. Too bad because I had really enjoyed the community in those places.

I'm a host now and roughly 30% goes to AirBnB. There is both a Host Service Fee and a Guest Service Fee. They also take out taxes

And as a guest, they do jack shit when things go wrong. The best you can hope after spending hours on the phone explaining your case over and over with each new person you’re getting is that they’ll refund your money with a “good luck finding another place to sleep for tonight, you’re on your own”

Airbnb ruined so many of our vacations in the last few years that we’ve sworn to never ever use them again. It’s not worth the trouble.

And the prices are completely ridiculous now, on par or more expensive than a bona fide hotel.

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