Every booking through Airbnb or Booking.com costs you a slice of the money. Here is what the platforms actually take, what it adds up to, and how to win more bookings direct without walking away from the platforms.
What the platforms take
On a typical UK booking, the rough numbers are:
- Airbnb: around 15% from the host on most listings.
- Booking.com: commonly 15% or more, before card fees, and higher again on their preferred programme.
- Vrbo: around 8% all in.
A direct booking, on your own site, costs you close to nothing by comparison.
What that costs you over a year
Say a property earns in the region of £25,000 a year. If you shifted even a third of those bookings off a 15% to 20% platform fee and onto your own site, you would keep roughly £750 to £1,300 more a year, from that one property. Run a few units and it is the price of a very good website, back in your pocket, every year.
Direct works with the platforms, not instead of them
This is not about deleting your Airbnb. The platforms are brilliant at one thing, being found by people who have never heard of you. The trick is to use them for discovery, then win the repeat stay and the direct booking, which is where the commission really adds up. Guests who book direct also tend to stay longer and book further ahead, so they are worth more than a one-off platform booking.
How to actually win direct bookings
- Have your own website. This is the foundation. Guests cannot book direct if there is nowhere to do it.
- Get your Google Business Profile sorted, so you show up when people search for your property or your area.
- Capture guest emails, at booking and after the stay, so you can invite them back directly next time.
- Offer a small direct incentive, a better rate or a little extra, so booking direct is the obvious choice.
- Ask happy guests for a review, which builds the trust that makes a direct booking feel safe.
The one thing you need first
All of it starts with a website of your own that guests can actually book on. That is what we build for Scottish short-term lets: a direct-booking website that pays for itself.
Common questions
Will taking direct bookings get me banned from Airbnb?
No. You are simply giving guests another way to book. Keep your listings as they are and use your own site for the repeat and direct bookings.
How much can I really save?
It depends on your bookings, but moving even a third of them to direct typically saves in the region of £750 to £1,300 a year per property.
Do I need special software to take direct bookings?
You need a website with a booking route and a way to take payment. We can build that, and connect it to a channel manager if you use one.
How long before direct bookings pick up?
It builds over time as your own audience and reviews grow. The operators who get there fastest make it easy and give guests a reason to book direct.
