

Airbnb waives fees for Hurricane Sandy affected area - alexshye
http://blog.airbnb.com/waiving-fees-for-hurricane-sandyaffected-area

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paulgb
Because they're still insuring the rentals, they're presumably taking a loss
to do this, not to mention leaving a lot of money on the table due to
increased demand. Very cool of them.

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pedalpete
You're right about it being very cool of them, but I also suspect that the
brand recognition and coverage they'll get from doing this will more than make
up for any loss.

Not that I'm saying that is why they are doing it, it's the right thing to do,
it's a great thing to do.

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juneyham
I work for Airbnb and was involved in the discussions leading up to our
decision to waive fees and generally reach out to our community to help those
affected and displaced by Sandy.

This was 100% due to our concern for the community and the stories coming out
of the East Coast about all those impacted. We all came together--multiple
departments across the company--and rallied quickly to make this happen.

It was very, very cool to witness.

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bitcartel
Based on figures from your website, the service fee for hosts is 3%, while the
fee for guests is between 6 to 12%. Do you have a projection of how much money
your customers will save?

Also why waive fees rather than make a donation to the Red Cross or other
relief organisations?

Crunchbase puts Airbnb funding at $220 million (with $100 million raised this
September) so there seems to be a fair bit of cash floating around.

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colmvp
"Also why waive fees rather than make a donation to the Red Cross or other
relief organisations?"

I'm not sure what is the point of asking this is. Lessening the cost of
accommodations for people in these areas can sometimes have just as much of a
direct influence as donating to a relief organization. Airbnb could've easily
taken this opportunity to raise the fee due to say, rising demands (ahem...
Uber) or done nothing at all (because they have no obligation) but instead
opted to make it slightly easier financially.

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bitcartel
Regarding the Uber comparison:

Is there anything to stop Airbnb hosts from raising prices?

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bitcartel
The fee waiver does not include Port-au-Prince and other affected areas in the
Carribean.

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/29/caribbean-
nation...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/29/caribbean-nations-
hurricane-sandy)

~~~
3JPLW
For their... two listings I see in Port. Granted, the do have quite a few more
in Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. But the latter two weren't hit
nearly as badly.

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colmvp
What a contrast from Uber.

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kyro
Yeah, decided to try Uber to get to the airport today, even with the $40
discount for first-time users, I ended up paying $75 for a 20-minute ride.
Last time I'm using them.

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easytiger
I had a look at Uber, and the only thing i can think of is they are basing
their entire model on the assumption that every customer is expensing each
journey.

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bgallegos
So smart. I received so many emails from NY-based tech companies over the last
few days. While I feel bad for them, I'm also in NY and in the same situation.
But they insist on my attention. I love what Airbnb did here. Give give give
give ... then ask. It actually feels authentic probably because it's a truly
authentic gesture from them. Great way to do business.

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pbiggar
I wonder if Uber had waived their fees at the start, would they have ridden
this out in style like AirBnb?

