"Hosts" indeed, at least pick one...

pdxfed@lemmy.world to Mildly Infuriating@lemmy.world – 726 points –
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Host fees

They love to make it look like the fees are being charged by anyone except them

Stop using Airbnb FFS

I don't get it. Are you saying these fees are from Airbnb, but made to look like the host? (Apart from the fact this is an obvious bug)

I actually work in this industry, looking after properties for owners when they're not being rented.

I will not work with Airbnb properties.

On every single other property rental site, the fee you see is the fee you pay, it includes everything from the booking agent's percentage to the property owner's cut of the rental

Airbnb try to split it up to make it look less, and they can shove their site up their arse.

Use local rental agencies in the place you're staying. Cheaper for you and more money for the owner.

Stop feeding billionaires!

Can you give some pointers on how to find these agencies? People keep using Airbnb because it's the only one they know (aside from traditional hotels)

They key term you want to Google for is "[city name] vacation rentals". Some alternatives include VRBO, booking.com, FlipKey, HomeStay, 9flats...

Yep, they'll be on the first search page along with Arbnbullshit

Go to the second, third and fourth pages for the actual local agencies. People who live there and know the area.

The days of "If it's not on the first page of Google, I'm not interested" were five years ago. Now the first page or two are paid ads.

Try Kagi search. New but getting there

Also, find the area on Maps and search for rental agencies "in this area"

Yeah, I've got a few different sites that I avoid using that are often high up on searches, but I haven't had issues just scrolling past them.

Going with a top result just means your results will be biased towards sites with good SEO. Bad SEO or ignoring it doesn't mean the product, service, or site will be bad. IMO they could be better because the owner isn't obsessed with doing everything they can to maximise money.

Ah, fair enough. That's actually illegal in many countries because it's considered false or deceptive advertising.