QZ: Airbnb is no longer the nice guy of the sharing economy
Dec 5, 2016, 3:45 pm
#1
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QZ: Airbnb is no longer the nice guy of the sharing economy
Airbnb began in San Francisco in 2007 as three guys with a couple of air mattresses and an empty loft, trying to scrape together rent. Like any good origin story, Airbnb’s came to epitomize its business: helping people earn a little extra money and providing more lodging options for tourists. It was a potent concept back then, as millions of people were losing their jobs, homes, and life savings to the recession. Airbnb and another young startup, Uber, promised a reimagining of the American dream when the country needed it most.
After years of playing the nice guy, Airbnb now finds itself on the defensive in some of its biggest markets, and the pressure doesn’t suit. The company has unleashed lawsuits, held rallies, and spent millions on lobbying campaigns. It has decried political adversaries and brandished opposition research on hotels. The clashes lay bare an ugly truth: Under fire, Airbnb is a corporation like any other. It’s not that nice at all.
http://qz.com/842996/what-happens-wh...ts-being-real/
After years of playing the nice guy, Airbnb now finds itself on the defensive in some of its biggest markets, and the pressure doesn’t suit. The company has unleashed lawsuits, held rallies, and spent millions on lobbying campaigns. It has decried political adversaries and brandished opposition research on hotels. The clashes lay bare an ugly truth: Under fire, Airbnb is a corporation like any other. It’s not that nice at all.
http://qz.com/842996/what-happens-wh...ts-being-real/
Dec 13, 2016, 3:52 am
#2
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Interesting article but, in the end, rather trivial. First of all, the "unfortunate innocent" in the piece was neither unfortunate or innocent. He knew what he was doing was wrong and his mistake was to underestimate the penalties when he was caught.
And this is the real point with AirBnB: it doesn't distinguish between hosts who follow the law and those who don't - further, it actually makes it impossible in certain areas to follow the law to the letter.
And, anyone who thinks it's a charity is whistling in the wind: it's competing against, and putting out of business, traditional holiday letting agencies around the world - just because it's bankrupting small guys who are generally below the radar doesn't make it any better.
My own personal experience of AirBnB might put this into context. I started doing whole home vacation rentals five years ago, before AirBnB was really in this market. I ensured that I had all the appropriate permits and went with a traditional full-service letting agent. But their market was collapsing, so after a year I switched to VRBO. At that time, I looked at AirBnB but their operating procedures effectively made it impossible to use them if you were an absentee owner, and they provided no means by which you could collect the local Transient Occupancy Tax.
After three good years with VRBO, their traffic dropped off massively (because of competition from AirBnB) so I had to sign up also with AirBnB who had changed their rules to make possible whole house rentals with absentee owners. But you still cannot account for tax within the letter of the law - I have to fudge the calculations (I still pay the correct tax, but it makes for an unnecessarily complicated calculation and it becomes extremely opaque). This would be easy for AirBnB to address (I rent a property in California Wine Country so it's not too obscure a location for them) but they choose not to.
So, I conclude that:
1) AirBnB is a ruthless competitor; and
2) It is cavalier in the extreme with the law.
And this is the real point with AirBnB: it doesn't distinguish between hosts who follow the law and those who don't - further, it actually makes it impossible in certain areas to follow the law to the letter.
And, anyone who thinks it's a charity is whistling in the wind: it's competing against, and putting out of business, traditional holiday letting agencies around the world - just because it's bankrupting small guys who are generally below the radar doesn't make it any better.
My own personal experience of AirBnB might put this into context. I started doing whole home vacation rentals five years ago, before AirBnB was really in this market. I ensured that I had all the appropriate permits and went with a traditional full-service letting agent. But their market was collapsing, so after a year I switched to VRBO. At that time, I looked at AirBnB but their operating procedures effectively made it impossible to use them if you were an absentee owner, and they provided no means by which you could collect the local Transient Occupancy Tax.
After three good years with VRBO, their traffic dropped off massively (because of competition from AirBnB) so I had to sign up also with AirBnB who had changed their rules to make possible whole house rentals with absentee owners. But you still cannot account for tax within the letter of the law - I have to fudge the calculations (I still pay the correct tax, but it makes for an unnecessarily complicated calculation and it becomes extremely opaque). This would be easy for AirBnB to address (I rent a property in California Wine Country so it's not too obscure a location for them) but they choose not to.
So, I conclude that:
1) AirBnB is a ruthless competitor; and
2) It is cavalier in the extreme with the law.