Even after staying in Airbnb for years, not many know that when you find the price of a particular place out of your budget, you can contact the host and negotiate about the prices. Some people who know are just reluctant, and others just don’t know how to do it.
The question that lingers in everyone’s mind before booking an Airbnb is ‘can you negotiate Airbnb? ‘and the answer is yes!
Airbnb offers you to stay at all the amazing places all over the world like castles, treehouses, beach houses, etc., but pricing for such a unique experience can be a bit pricey. You may also think that some general rentals like apartments and bungalows have high staying costs. For all those times when you feel you like the place but can’t afford the price, you can try negotiating with the host.
Are you confused and have no idea as to how you can negotiate? Then, let us tell you how:
How Can You Negotiate Airbnb and Get A Better Price?
Once you decide the place, you want to stay in, enter your dates and check out the final prices with all the fees and tax included.
Airbnb also charges a sum from you apart from the original cost, and sometimes the hosts also charge a little extra for additional pr complimentary services like cleaning, etc. Therefore, make sure you know the final price offered by the host before you negotiate and ask for a discount.
Book Close To the Date When You Want To Stay
While many Airbnb rentals get booked months in advance, sometimes these rentals have gaps between the stays, even to the current day.
The host might want to fill in these gaps to generate as much revenue as they can and would likely accept a lower offer just so no day goes to waste.
If you want to know, can you negotiate Airbnb rental to fill in the available gaps? All you got to do is to send them a message asking them if they are offering any discounts for booking the same week or the same day of your stay?
Sometimes host offer discounts and lower their prices significantly to attract more bookings. So, before asking for a discount, look out and compare prices with other dates in the future.
Stay Longer
Every host has so much on their plate every time a guest arrives or leaves; they have so many things to sort like cleaning, organize the whole place (some guests can be really messy), stock supplies, and make sure everything looks perfect before a guest arrives.
When the hosts have short stays, keeping up with all the things gets hectic because they have to put in the cleaning cost every other day and have to put their own effort too to welcome the guests after every day or two.
Therefore, to cut the cleaning cost and incur other bills like laundry, stacking of essentials, etc., the host offers discounted costs to the guests willing to stay longer.
In this way, you can prolong your vacation for few extra days and on discount while the hosts have the break they needed.
Plan Your Vacation in the Off-Season
Most of the tourist destinations are jam-packed during summers, especially in Europe and the US. It’s because summers are the peak hours.
Why would a host want to negotiate when others are willing to rent at their offered price? In fact, some hosts even increase their rates when the peak season arrives.
In the off-season, there are not many bookings happening in the Airbnb rentals. Hosts will lower the prices themselves and if they haven’t you can always ask them for a discount.
They would not say no to something that’s coming in off-season.Also, imagine you’ll have the place less crowded, and you can explore with all the peace of mind.
Talk Sweetly
At the end of the day, hosts are people, too. They are happy to give their place to someone who is genuinely excited to stay.
Tell them how pumped you are for this trip and how you have planned to stay your days in their rental. Show all your enthusiasm and convince them. Thank them for having their quality place available.
One simple way to know the answer to your question ‘can you negotiate Airbnb’ is just simply to ask. Being nice can help you in convincing the host to negotiate.
Offer Your Services
Are you a gardener? A cleaner? A photographer? Whatever skill you’ve got, offer your services to the hosts in exchange for a discount.
For instance, your professional photography service will be valuable to the host as they may require these professionally clicked pictures to show to the potential guests and upload them on their profile.
They would be happy to offer you a discount in exchange for some pretty pictures.
If you are cleaner, then offer your host to leave the place squeaky clean when you leave. The host will not have to incur the cleaning cost and will be glad to give you a discount instead.
Make An Impressive Profile
If you want to have the best chance of a discount, let your profile be a way to sell yourself.
Sometimes guests can be such a nuisance; therefore, hosts are reluctant to hand over their property to someone who looks not-so-trustworthy. Hosts even give their bookings to ones who are trusted more than those who look a little shabby.
Having an impressive profile builds your reputation, and the host can trust you easily with their property.
Hold back on your party pictures, and these will give an idea to the host that you’re going to held parties and would damage their property.
Build your profile to look decent. Upload your picture in nice clothes and make your description seems like you’re a stress-free guest and is an educated professional who knows how to respect someone else’s property.
Reviews Matter
Reviews are essential for you and for the hosts as well.
Hosts write a review on your profile that how as a guest you were. Naturally, the more positive reviews, the more trustworthy your profile will be. Therefore, after every visit, ask your hosts to give you reviews.
Also, be generous in giving reviews; this will increase your credibility as a guest.
Forgoing Airbnb Amenities
Some hosts provide their guests some additional services but also incur costs in the main booking price.
You can politely ask your hosts that you don’t want any such additional services like complimentary breakfast, parking, room cleaning services, and transportation.
Instead, provide them some special offers like a social media post, leaving a stellar review.
The Bottom Line
If you are going on a vacation but want to remain within your budget, then hit the ‘contact your host’ option instead of ‘book now’ to save your few bucks.
Can you negotiate Airbnb? Yes, it’s possible.
However, there are numerous factors that you should consider before going for the negotiation talk.
Establish yourself as a reliable Airbnb guest by garnering good reviews; the hosts will be ready to negotiate with the trusted guest.
The biggest rule of thumb is to think after putting yourself in the shoes of the host. Ask yourself why they would be interested in negotiating with you and lowering down the price.
Be clear with your intentions and tactfully contact the host. Keep the conversation light and never use any harsh words even if the host isn’t willing to negotiate.
