booking.com

​@Stay Salty these exact questions and issues is why we tried listing on booking for all of two days and immediately delisted…. we had major weekends booked for pennies on the dollar (like $1500/night for $99) and booking “support” was no help. kudos to you if you can make it work. 

These are completely dependent on where your listings are located. I couldn’t locate any precise documentation on their fee other than it being variable. But for my listings, it has been 15%. And I assume you have set it up with Payments by Booking?

Hi,

I can help with most of these. I am assuming you are in the US?

will they collect payment and remit?

Yes if you are on their "payments by booking"

will they remit the VAT or I have to remit after they collect?

That varies depending on where you are. Make sure taxes are being added onto the price in booking - under vat and taxes

what is their commission fee?

Generally 15% plus Payments by booking fee 3% - they waive thay fee Generally for the first 12 months

how does their cancellation policy work?

I advise a fairly strict policy eg at least non refundable 14 days before arrival - their guests cancel a lot as they advertise free cancellation. 

Beware of derived rate plans eg non refundable- they do not pick up the min night stays from your std rate plan, or bookable x days before arrival, so add to rate plan 

what about any guest damages?

Booking have an option where you can add a security deposit under policies. Beware of the option for them doing it- they do not take it from guest,  and if you need to claim, they ask thr guest to pay. If guest refuses or does not respond, they do nothing. Therefore, I suggest taking this yourself via Hospitable.

If you need any help let me know - if have been on booking for over 12 years, and help other hosts set up on there

Alison

The other thing I would add to that is that is seems that, rather annoyingly, in order to set your tax rate under the VAT and Taxes, you may need to call in to Booking.com to do that. That has been the case in both of my jurisdictions.

Yes, the taxes i send a message through the inbox section and ask them to add them - takes them up to 2 days to add.

In some countries you can now add vat status under finance settings section eg UK 

Thank you everyone for the information. How are you collecting payment from the guest? I talked to booking and they will not collect the payment. That seems so strange to me. 

Which country are your listings in? 

USVI

Ah yes that is correct - they do not take payment yet for hosts there.

This is a bit of an issue as they also do not offer a virtual credit card (which can be used as an alternative).  You have to take payment yourself for listings in USVI, and initally they do not allow you to take payments up front - they only allow payments on arrival until you are a “verified” listing (generally at least 3 good reviews).
I have to say, I would not risk listing on there with those terms, as the guest can cancel at any time and you may not get paid.

If anyone else knows a way around this, or if anyone knows if this has changed recently this would be great. 
I had a client with a listing in USVI and she had to remove the listing as the guests would not pay upfront, and it was too much risk to wait until arrival.

Thank you so much Alison for your help! I have everything set up for booking and unless Hostpitable can manage payment for me I’ve decided it’s best not to list on the site if an auto draft for guests payment cannot be made. I really appreciate your insights. 🌴

I hope they change this - hopefully sooner rather than later - an opportunity missed all around 😞