I have my space listed on the usual STR platforms in addition to Peerspace. I am getting zero inquiries on Peerspace, but quite a few inquires on Airbnb. I direct them to my listing on Peerspace and…you guessed it, they disappear.
I’m not on AirBnB, but why don’t you engage with them directly instead of sending them to Peerspace and losing 15% of the fees… or, as it seems, all of the fees?
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Hello Geoffrey. Thank you for your response. I’m new to Peerspace and still trying to figure out all of the ins and outs, so again thank you for your suggestion. If I understand you correctly, are you suggesting that I book direct, i.e. off platform?
No, that would be a violation of the Peerspace agreement.
He’s asking why you would use one site to redirect inquiries to another site that charges you more per booking.
If Airbnb charges less per booking than Peerspace, then you lose money if you redirect traffic, and you offered no other reasoning for why you would take this action, so your question is confusing.
However, why they disappear is a different story, and there are two primary reasons:
A: Airbnb is designed to find temporary housing typically in the form of vacation rentals, while Peerspace is designed specifically to find locations for photo and video production, so when they get to Peerspace, they start looking around and find a different location that fits their needs better.
B1: MORE IMPORTANTLY - Scammers. Airbnb is a better platform for certain types of scamming so once they get directed to Peerspace they drop the inquiry. The scam can either be one of many true scams or just someone who was trying to get away with a raging party by calling it a photoshoot as a cover to get a lower price and less oversight from the host, but either way, you’re not really losing anything here.
B2: They are a scam of some sort and they realize they can scam someone bigger once they get to Peerspace.
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Christopher, thank you for your input. I tend to treat others how I like to be treated, thus I am often trying too hard to turn an inquiry into a booking, when really all that is going on is a person is trying to scam me. My Peerspace booking is $125/hour, for a minimum of 8 hours. My STR guest house is about $850/night with all fees. I was thinking that I’m getting photo shoot, event and media requests, because my venue is cheaper to book on Airbnb and when I redirect inquires to Peerspace, they see that it is more expensive.
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Thank you for providing context. While that could be the reason for some of those ghosted inquiries, by the numbers you provided, it appears that your Peerspace booking is only $150 more than your Airbnb listing, and even with the Peerspace guest fees, that only translates to about 20% more in total spend. In contrast, as a guest house, your location is specific and unique - it’s not a white-cyc studio or a generic room with paper backdrops where 20% lower rates would be a good reason to go somewhere else that looks exactly the same and has exactly the same amenities.
Again, not saying the increased rate has no effect, but at our spaces, we routinely have to offer someone our larger studio when the smaller studio is booked and we rarely have to argue about the increased price - and these are relatively generic studios spaces.
One final thought is that you might be turning them off if you are not disclosing your policies effectively, for example:
Do you note prominently at the top of your Airbnb listing and/or description that photo/video/meeting rentals must be booked separately through another platform and cost 20% more
OR
Do you surprise guests with that information when you reply to their initial inquiry?
If you surprise potential guests, while you may not see it as such, most of them will consider the move disingenuous and consider the re-direct as a form of “bait and switch” marketing. Many of them will even assume you are a scammer because you are trying to get them to book offsite.
If you don’t surprise guests with that, I default back to the Scammers and found better options answer.
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I think you just hit on the answer. I have a space that is on the higher end pricewise ($175/hour with a 4 hour minimum) and almost every request I get through this site comes with a plead for some kind of discount (which I rarely give). A lot of music videos, indie films, social media photoshoots, etc don’t have money and are looking for cheap spaces. I can easily see a crew willing to pay $850 for unlimited hours vs $1000 for 8 hours when they might need 12.
So when you redirect them to the more expensive/hourly site, they disappear.
They may also think YOU are a scammer since you have your place listed for one price on one site but you are redirecting them to a more expensive place. There is obviously a reason why that is but less professional crews might not understand those things if it is not clearly disclosed.
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Chris, thank you for your input. My STR vacation listings do not allow events, photo shoots or media productions. People are just curious that perhaps I might allow it, so they ask anyway. I should simply decline their requests on the STR vacation platforms and not redirect them to Peerspace. I just thought that if I booked a couple of 8 hour gigs twice a month, I could fill in the gaps between guests. Peerspace seemed like the platform to do that, with more fitting pricing for a timeframe that is a maximum of 8 hours.
@JAMES_R — Yes, I was suggesting that you engage with them directly off AirBnB rather than sending them to Peerspace. Taking things offline from Peerspace does violate the user agreement.
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Thanks Geoffrey. I have everything set up on Peerspace to rent my space for events, photo shoots and media productions and not on Airbnb. I didn’t want to have an extensive back and forth with someone inquiring on Airbnb about lowering the pricing, what’s allowed and not allowed, etc. given all of that information is already on my listing on Peerspace. Thank you again for your response. I appreciate your input.
Air BnB has an option for events allowed or not. I say yes, then notated that it is an extra fee and need to be booked separately with the host. I charge same fees for the event as I do here and discount the overnight reservation with a new quote.
I have directed people to Peerspace so they understand event pricing.
I don’t book separately because of the damage insurance through the sites. But I just saw that a post on here that Peerspace does not cover damages in their small print??
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Hi Francesca. Thank you for your input to my question. It’s helpful information, especially the damage insurance. That is my biggest worry. Thanks again!