Airbnb cleaning fees: 2 foolproof ways to increase your bookings using them

Did you know that you can dramatically increase your bookings if you use Airbnb cleaning fees intelligently? The first-time host usually sets this cleaning commission as a way to pass on their costs to guests, although there are more intelligent ways to use them. Today you're going to discover these techniques that will increase the profitability of your tourist accommodation.

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What are Airbnb cleaning fees?

If the cleaning service costs me €25 per tourist apartment, then I will set this same price in my Airbnb panel settings. However, you can use this little number to optimize the profitability of your apartment.

Today we see some cases of how we can use Airbnb cleaning fees to increase your bookings. You can consult more about this in the Airbnb help center by clicking here.

How do cleaning costs influence the profitability of my tourist accommodation?

This is the key: cleaning expenses influence the average daily price of your tourist apartment. Regardless of whether you do the cleaning of the tourist apartment yourself or hire someone. And you should take them into account when pricing your accommodation! Imagine you have a property that you rent for 50€ per night and you have cleaning expenses of another 50€.

Let's assume that two potential guests make two different searches: guest A wants to book two nights, while guest B wants to book 7 nights. Let's see the prices per night that they would see in their searches:

Column 1 Your price per night Cleaning costs Average price per night Guest A (2 nights) 50€ 50€ 75€ Guest B (7 nights) 50€ 50€ 57€

A difference of €18 per night! What happens if we include our costs? Don't forget this if you want to know your profitability. We will assume, to simplify, that you only have cleaning costs - around €25 for our example.

Let's see:

Column 1Your price per nightCleaning feesCleaning costAverage price per nightYour profitability per nightGuest A(2 nights)50€50€25€75€62.5€Guest B(7 nights)50€50€25€57€53.6€

In conclusion, Airbnb cleaning fees influence the average price of your apartment, boosting or detracting from long or short stays.

And with this, you influence not only the number of bookings you receive but also the profitability of your tourist apartment.

Next, we'll talk about what happens when you set low or high Airbnb cleaning fees.

Are you losing too much time cleaning your accommodation? Take a look at our definitive guide to cleaning tourist apartments.

When should I set low Airbnb cleaning fees?

Let's refresh our memory. In our example, we have two guests: guest A, who is thinking of booking two nights; and guest B, who wants to book seven nights.

Some hosts use cleaning fees below the actual costs. Thus, they get more competitive average prices per night for both short and long stays. But what are the implications of doing so?

Let's update the table:

Column 1Your price per nightCleaning costsCleaning costAverage price per nightYour profitability per nightGuest A(2 nights)50€10€25€55€42.5€Guest B(7 nights)50€10€25€51.4€47.8€

The first one seems clear: the average price per night is very similar in both cases. That is, you are not penalizing shorter stays –or rewarding longer ones–. Moreover, the difference in your profitability per night of a long stay (guest B) compared to that of a short stay (guest A) is practically the same.

Now it's up to you to decide if, as a host, it's worth setting low Airbnb cleaning fees.

What if I don't have cleaning costs?

Finally, what happens in the most extreme case? Not charging for your Airbnb cleaning fees. In this situation, the average price per night for both types of stays is identical and your profitability is slightly higher for guest B (remember, the one with the longer stay).

Column 1Your price per nightCleaning feesCleaning costAverage price per nightYour profitability per nightGuest A(2 nights)50€0€25€50€37.5€Guest B(7 nights)50€0€25€50€46.4€

In conclusion, if you set low or zero Airbnb cleaning costs, you are promoting short bookings over long ones. This technique can be useful if you are looking for a higher number of bookings and reviews.

Although remember that you will be sacrificing time: long stays require less work from the host!

As we have seen, cleaning fees influence the average price and profitability of your bookings. Low Airbnb cleaning fees favor short stays over long ones. But, what happens with high cleaning fees?

Effects of high Airbnb cleaning fees

Before resuming our table, let's recall: we have two guests: A, whose stay is 2 nights and B, whose stay is 7 nights. The price per night is the same in both cases, but now let's assume that the Airbnb cleaning fees are €100.

As you can see in the table below, the average price per night (remember that it is the value that your potential guests see) is 100€ for short stays but… only 64€ for long stays! Depending on the tourist apartment area, the average price for short stays may be out of the market, right?

Column 1Your price per nightCleaning costsCleaning costAverage price per nightYour profitability per nightGuest A(2 nights)50€100€25100€87.5€Guest B(7 nights)50€100€2564.3€60.71€

That is, with high Airbnb cleaning costs, you are rewarding longer stays: it is clear that you get less profitability per night, but you ensure longer occupations of your tourist apartment.

Conclusion

In short, you can use Airbnb cleaning fees to increase the bookings you receive in your tourist apartment:

• Low cleaning fees will attract guests with shorter stays –which ensures a higher number of impressions of your ad, more bookings, and more reviews.
• While if you set high cleaning costs, you will penalize short stays and attract guests with longer and more profitable stays.