Live Q&A: Airbnb Host-Only Fee (Monday, Oct 27)

Essentially a surprise bonus Town Hall! 🙌🏻 See you there 😄

Isn’t this the day it goes LIVE on Airbnb….why are we waiting until Monday 😕

It is the same day ​@MoniqueD - we’re hoping to answer as many questions as possible that come up as hosts see the changes and our tool take effect. We’ve attempted to address many of the pre-event questions here on the Hospitable Hosts Community and via email communication already.

Will this include the new tool so that we can control each guest fee percentage separately. Right now your markup tool works just by adjusting the Nightly Rate only and my understanding is that come Monday it will adjust ALL guest fees including cleaning fee, additional guest fee, pet fee etc. This new functionality of the Markup tool in Hospitable was not clearly stated and I need to adjust some things if you are not allowing us to say which fees we want marked up and changing the functionality of the markup tool without properly notifying us is not what I would expect from a service provider.

Many ideas floated, many conversations about it. We will still collect feedback on this Q&A session.

Our original stance, which remains 101% valid is that we want to make sure self-managers are paid the same. I don’t think we have heard any pushback from owners about this decision. 

It’s a bit more complicated for property managers, where this solution would have (inadvertenly) push their revenue up. 

As long as they are on Mogul where we have an understanding of the arrangement between managers and their owners, we can just as well bring a solution to ensure there is zero extra work, and no change in the agreement between owners and managers. That is because we are involved in the creation of the owner statements. 

There are solutions that do exist today on the “messy middle”. Those may require some additional configuration. 

I think with the tool doing the right thing for fees, it’d be nice to see a “previous fee” and “current fee” just so we have a baseline prior to 10/27. 

Is it still possible to access the markup tool? I don’t see a link to it anymore.

Hi PC, 

My comment and concern has ZERO to do with being a PM. In fact I own 2 properties of my own and it is with those properties that I wish my Pet Fee, Additional Guest Fees and Cleaning Fee to stay the same amount. I understand clearly that my payout would not be the same since Airbnb has raised their fees from 3% to 15.5% but I can choose to increase my Nightly Rate as much as I would like still leaving ALL my GUEST FEES to accurattely represent what I charge and also to keep my fees aligned to the same amount on all platforms regardless of the platform fees. This is how the Markup Tool used to work for Hosts before you guys adjusted it for Airbnb only. And, really….I love Hospitable and you PC but this is not the time to pitch Mogul as an upsell ;)

hi - will this be recorded to view later? Thanks!

Hey ​@arthur, it is not possible to access the markup tool anymore. You can always adjust your markup here: https://my.hospitable.com/settings/properties

Hi ​@frank russ, of course! It will be available on our Youtube channel, on this link: 

Please explain if the fee hospitable users had typed into the “platform markup” previously was factored into the new automatic 18.34% markup in order to keep final price the same? If not what percent does the new markup assume was typed into platform markup previously? 

Hi Regal - I’ll let ​@Marina Coimbra be the official source for this answer, but I know from OUR case - YES if you had a markup previously for Airbnb they’ve INCREASED it accordingly (meaning you’d have previous markup + the gap coverage of the new 15.5% fee). 

If you had NO markup for Airbnb previously, you’ll see 18.34% as your “new” markup. 

Mathematically,

Why you’re seeing 18.34%

• 18.34% is what you use if you want to fully pass through the new 15.5% fee so your payout ≈ your old listed price (you’re no longer absorbing platform fees).

• If you only want to keep the same take-home as before (when fees were 3%), the math says +14.79% is enough.

Hi Hospitable Team,

First off, thank you for everything you’re doing to support us through this transition. We’re incredibly grateful to have Hospitable as such a proactive and thoughtful partner — especially when it comes to big platform changes like Airbnb’s move to host-only pricing.

The fact that you’ve already rolled out pricing automation and clear guidance has made this process so much more manageable. It’s been a huge help, and we truly appreciate how you’re leading the way for hosts.

That said, I wasn’t able to ask this during the recent town hall, so I’m hoping you can help clarify a few key questions that are still top of mind:

1️⃣ Will the 18.24% markup need to be maintained indefinitely?

As dynamic pricing tools (e.g., PriceLabs, Beyond, etc.) begin factoring post-markup rates into their market data, do you anticipate that:

• The 18.24% markup should remain permanently in place,

• Or will there come a point where it must be reduced/removed to avoid double inflation of nightly rates?

• Or is this something hosts will need to monitor manually?

Additionally — as different platforms require different markup strategies (Airbnb: +18.24%, VRBO: +X%, Booking.com: +Y%) — do you foresee dynamic pricing tools eventually returning pre-markup “base” rates, i.e., raw recommendations that are intentionally priced below market and designed to be adjusted by the PMS per platform via markup rules?

2️⃣ Competitive Pricing Data — Is It Reliable?

Many of us use competitor pricing data to help set our min/max boundaries in tools like PriceLabs. However, now that some listings reflect host-only fees (and others still show split-fee pricing), is there currently any way to:

• Determine whether a competitor’s pricing includes or excludes the 15.5% fee?

• Know if platforms like PriceLabs are normalizing this data behind the scenes?

We’re wondering if this inconsistency introduces risk when using comp-based boundaries — especially during this transition period.

3️⃣ Guest-Facing Messaging — Any Best Practices?

Do you recommend that we address these fee changes directly with guests — either in listing descriptions or pre-booking messages — to help manage expectations and avoid confusion around higher nightly rates, cleaning fees, or value-related reviews?

Thanks again for everything your team is doing — this clarity will help a lot of us set up long-term pricing rules and communications strategies correctly.

Warmly,

Colin 

The Riverfront Chalet
📍Leavenworth, WA

Thanks to everyone that was able to make the live Q&A earlier today. If you missed it, you can check out the recording on YouTube below, and check out our summary of the event and top questions (also below).

Summary

Instead of waiting for Airbnb to roll out the change, we took a proactive approach - updating markup rates early to make sure hosts’ payouts remain stable and predictable.

Our priority was to protect your revenue and prevent disruption. Airbnb’s shift means the entire service fee is now charged to the host instead of being split with the guest, raising the effective commission to around 15.5%. To offset that, we automatically applied markups across all Airbnb listings so that the total amount guests see stays the same, and your earnings don’t take a hit.

Our approach has always been to handle complexity on your behalf - and this was no exception. While Airbnb’s switch introduces new rules, Hospitable’s goal remains the same: protect your income and keep hosting simple.

Top questions asked and answered!

Q: Why did Hospitable apply changes early instead of waiting for Airbnb’s migration?

Answer (Marina): Hospitable didn’t receive a precise timeline from Airbnb. Since migrating ~17,000 hosts takes 8 hours, Hospitable started early to ensure all prices were updated before Airbnb’s switch.

Q: Why do my Hospitable calendar rates look unchanged?

Answer (Andrew): Hospitable’s calendar shows base rates before markups. To verify the new prices, hosts should check directly on Airbnb, Booking.com, or their direct listing.

Q: How does this affect dynamic pricing tools (PriceLabs, Beyond, Wheelhouse)?

Answer (Andrew & PC): Dynamic pricing engines send base rates to Hospitable. Hospitable then applies the markup before pushing to Airbnb.

• No host action is needed; markups don’t interfere with dynamic pricing.
• Price models will auto-adjust as they observe new final prices.

Q: What happens to Airbnb promotions after migration?

Answer (Marina & Andrew): Promotions rely on the past 60-day median price. Since prices just increased due to the markup, Airbnb won’t display slashed discounts for 60 days until new median prices stabilize.

Q: Why were my cleaning fees marked up?

Answer (PC, Andrew): Previously, Airbnb’s 3% host fee was negligible on cleaning fees. Now at 15.5%, cleaning fees need a markup to ensure hosts still receive the same net payout.

Q: Will the migration impact property managers’ owner statements?

Answer (Emily): Yes, for users on the Mogul plan:

• Owner statements will now report fees net of Airbnb’s service fees.
• This ensures managers aren’t overpaid due to higher fees meant only to offset Airbnb’s new commission.
• Applies to Airbnb, Booking.com, and Direct (not Vrbo).

Q: Can I opt out of Hospitable’s automatic 18% markup?

Asked by Chris B. Answer (Andrew): Yes. Hospitable applied markups automatically to protect revenue, but hosts can override them anytime in property pricing settings - either globally or per listing.

Q: Do I need to make any adjustments if I use dynamic pricing?

Asked by Gertrude. Answer (PC): No action required. Hospitable adds the markup after dynamic pricing tools send the base rate.

Q: Can I remove markups entirely and just raise my base price in PriceLabs?

Asked by Geng. Answer (PC): Possible, but not recommended - markups are essential for managing multi-channel distribution consistently.

Q: How do we explain this to property owners who think we’re getting a raise?

Asked by Danielle. Answer (PC): Hospitable’s markup ensures revenue neutrality, not profit increase. Co-hosts can now manually adjust fees per listing or revert to previous values. New reservations will reflect the updated fee breakdown; old ones remain on the split model.

Q: Do I need to do anything right now, or has Hospitable handled it all?

Asked by Ursula. Answer (PC): You’re all set! Hospitable handled the migration and markups automatically. Dynamic pricing will continue syncing normally. Hosts can relax—no manual action required.

Even more questions?

Check out our Airbnb Service Fees help article for more details.

Follow-up event

Join us at our Wednesday, October 29 Town Hall at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm CET, for further updates and exciting news about our new listing creation and management tools.

Add Town Halls to calendar >

Anthony,

My prices in PriceLabs were the base for Airbnb i.e. there was no markup before. Does that mean, I should use 14.79% instead of 18.34%?

​@Marina Coimbra  Do you recommend removing all promotions at this point? 

My prices in PriceLabs were the base for Airbnb i.e. there was no markup before. Does that mean, I should use 14.79% instead of 18.34%?

​@Amit Shukla - if you had NO markup for Airbnb previously, 18.34% is the correct markup to maintain the same payout after the switch to host-only fee.

​@Elena AD - until Airbnb resolve how promotions will be effected, it may make sense to remove for now. We haven’t had confirmation but promotions rely on the past 60-day median price; since prices just increased due to the markup, we don’t believe Airbnb will display slashed discounts for 60 days until new median prices stabilize.

​@TheRiverfrontChalet - Hi Colin, I missed your questions yesterday when posting my event summary!
I think the majority can be answered with the fact that the end price that guests will see will only be marginally different. Who is paying the fee has shifted, but the markup of 18.34% ensures you still get the same payout and the price on Airbnb is only marginally different.

The only way that dynamic pricing software and their data would be dramatically impacted would be if a large portion of the market did not markup their pricing on Airbnb to account for the drop in revenue they would see.

Any hosts doing this will be dropping their average daily rate, which may increase occupancy, but likely at a lower overall revenue per available room.
RevPAR = Average Daily Rate (ADR) x Occupancy Rate

You can of course drop your rates in a similar fashion at any time should you wish to boost occupancy at the expense of ADR.

Your dynamic pricing software should adjust for any changes in your comp set as usual, if your competition does decide to go in such a direction.

And potential guests should not see too dramatic of a change in your pricing (as mentioned above), so we’ve put no recommendation out in regards to adjusting messaging.

​@Elena AD We did out of precaution until Hospitable gets a real understanding from Airbnb how this affects things. Seems like Airbnb didn’t think about it at all…..

​@Marina Coimbra Is that the same for discounts? Or discounts are safe? 

They are both safe, the only issue is that the strikethrough won't appear!

Airbnb failed to switch 2 of my 22 co-hosted properties to host-only fee (in the US).

They are essentially false advertising by stating on the listing page “All Fees Included!” and then adding the “Airbnb service fee” after clicking Reserve. Clicking through today, 10/31, as a guest on a different browser I can verify the added service fee.

Airbnb suggests I disconnect/reconnect to Hospitable. If that’s easiest, I’m happy to, but I can’t think through all the ramifications of that, if any.

On the Airbnb side, I’m not sure if the option still exists to manually switch to host-only. I’d rather not bother these two owners with the technical stuff.

As it stands, the markup is effectively doubling the service fee total, but if I remove the markup, I risk Airbnb making the change at some point without my knowledge and undercharging.

Just a warning to hosts to double check all your listings! Hospitable’s markup solution is enormously helpful but relies on certain assumptions. 

Sam, question for you. Are these 2 owner accounts connected to your Hospitable under Connected Accounts? Like you see the Owners Email address and name listed there on your account under Connected Accounts section with word   PMS   lit up in green next to their email address?

And, secondly. Can you share the listing link so we can see how the Airbnb service fees are showing on the listing still. I think that Airbnb does show the TOTAL PRICE in search/map but then when you toggle over to the book the service fee is broken out but if you add the rate + service fee it matches TOTAL PRICE. So Airbnb should not be false advertising but it may seem that way if you don’t look closely at the 2 numbers and how they are displayed. Paste your listing and I will show you easier.