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With lodging, they have the risk of people finding a listing off-platform and paying cash, but because lodging is such a key aspect of a trip, people are often willing to pay the premium to have everything vetted/supported by Airbnb.

With personal services, they're risking having that problem at a lot bigger scale: are you willing to pay your barber or masseuse 18% extra to cover Airbnb's commission? I suspect a lot of people would use Airbnb to find a reputable provider, and then make contact off-platform.




People said the same thing about Wag. Ultimately if the platform acts as good lead gen and offers other protections and benefits it will work out!


Didn't Homejoy fall victim to this? People would just contract directly with any cleaners cutting them out completely.


Yeah we do the same with Airbnb if the place is legit we book direct next time. The site offers no protection for the renter so they can suck it.


FWIW, I had a place in Vietnam that was gross. I complained to Airbnb: they cancelled the rest of my stay, and put me in a hotel.


Risk is lower for a second stay for both landlords and tenant so it makes sense to bypass abb




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