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Comment by gamblor956 | Hacker News Reader

1) Why should we help a company valued at over $1 billion dig itself out of a hole of its own making?

2) The primary complaint is that Verified ID reduces the number of bookings. This is only a concern to people who are using AirBnB illegally-i.e., as an unregistered hotel--and thus depend on volume. The people using AirBnB for its proper purpose--occasional temporary "guests"--are largely unaffected by this.

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>The primary complaint is that Verified ID reduces the number of bookings. No. One out of the eight comments quoted mentions it, and the author does not.

I like the tone of Doc's post. Very positive and solution focused.

As for #2, it remains to be seen I guess how much % drop in AirBNB bookings are caused by this. It will be some number, but obviously I think they're prepared for it. I don't think this has anything to do with "unregistered hotels".

I like the tone of Doc's post as well, however, as a consumer, I don't think it's my problem to help a company out if they suck at serving their customer.....and if I don my entrepreneurial hat, the more AirBNB annoy people, the bigger the opportunity for a good competitor to pick up the pieces.

I disagree with your 2nd point. This seems like over generalizing. You're saying that every Airbnb host that is upset about this change is suddenly using Airbnb illegally? Definitely not true.

It sounds like the verification flow has some serious design/flow problems. If I'm an Airbnb host in a major city and I have an affordable and highly rated place, I'm likely to attract all kinds of guests: both sophisticated and unsophisticated. For example, the most frequented place on Airbnb in San Francisco has probably seen hundreds of guests from around the world: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/33577

Different people are different. Not everyone actually has a government issued ID. This does not mean they are necessarily illegal or untrustworthy. I think many people are going to freak out about these requirements... not just people without IDs, but average people who find the process intrusive. Do I have to answer security questions and upload my ID when booking a hotel? No.

However, maybe Airbnb has already tested this on a smaller random set of their listings and proven it doesn't reduce bookings.

Don't hotels usually take your ID at the front desk when you check in?

No. They are more interested in your money. You can even pay cash with a deposit.

Actually, hotels don't require your actual identity. Many people like celebrities, public figures, some business travellers routinely provide fake information to hotels.

That depends on the jurisdiction. In some countries hotels will actually insist on keeping your passport until checkout, and in others some have genuinely considered turning me away when all I had was a photocopy of a lost passport and a police report.

Right - but I'm unaware of any hotel who requires you to upload your license online before booking a hotel. It's done in person at the time of checkin.

Clearly you can figure out why Airbnb, unlike a hotel, can't station an employee at every property a customer could possibly stay at.

"Why can't the property owner check your ID?" Some Airbnb spaces don't have anyone physically present at the property when guests arrive. As for the others, it's not just the property owners who have to bear the risks involved, but also Airbnb. If you book a hotel on Priceline, rape the maid, and trash the room, Priceline gets zero blame. If you book an Airbnb, rape your host, and trash their house, Airbnb gets all the blame. Especially when it turns out you did all these things anonymously.

That's a good point. Airbnb is asking people to do this online. This is likely the first time they have ever had to upload their license or passport online. I voluntarily did it, just because I stumbled on it in the settings of the site last week, and it was the first time I ever scanned in my license online. I think one time I sent in my college ID online one time, but I've never uploaded my scanned license online. Showing an ID in person is pretty different from uploading a photo of your ID online.

I was thinking more about this today... maybe it is just that Airbnb has such insane supply and demand that they can afford to make this move and still be massively successful. If they're able to have a network of all verified and trusted people, the implications are huge.

> The primary complaint is that Verified ID reduces the number of bookings. This is only a concern to people who are using AirBnB illegally-i.e., as an unregistered hotel--and thus depend on volume. The people using AirBnB for its proper purpose--occasional temporary "guests"--are largely unaffected by this.

You incorrectly assume here that the only people who rely on a high volume of guests are those who do so illegally. Many Airbnb hosts operate a vacation rental property that they own. And they often rely on the income that property generates. These people – the ones that often maintain the best vacation rentals Airbnb offers – face the most damage from a drop in bookings. And Airbnb should be very concerned about that.

Luckily Airbnb's success is based off revenue share. So if there is actually a drop in bookings, Airbnb has an interest in killing this feature.

My guess? They already tested it on a small subset of their users and it's working well. Furthermore, if they have a network of all verified and trusted users, the network is going to be incredibly strong.

edit: sp error

Volume bookings via AirBnB are only illegal in some particularly authoritarian jurisdictions. Most places, those are within its "proper purpose".

From the news that I've been following, those "particularly authoritarian jurisdictions" include about every country with some level of regulations for the hotel industry - which basically includes each and every european country and the USA.

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