
What Every Startup Can Learn From AirBnB - solipsist
http://gigaom.com/2011/02/22/airbnb/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OmMalik+%28GigaOM%3A+Tech%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
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atirip
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?

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dualogy
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.

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dot
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?

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alexophile
<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>

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rexreed
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.

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m0hit
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.

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pekinb
what other verticals is airbnb entering?

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jswinghammer
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.

