AirBed and Breakfast, an online portal for renting space on a stranger’s airbed or couch, has re-launched its website to AirBnB, an eBay-like marketplace for all accommodations. Now a Y-Combinator start-up (the startup is currently in the winter session of the incubator), AirBnB, which launched as AirBed and Breakfast last August, found that users wanted to use the site for more than just renting space in someone’s house and were actively posting rental listings for apartments, houses and vacation rentals. The founders, San Francisco designers Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky, and software engineer Nathan Blecharczyk, quickly realized that increased and varied choice is more appealing for consumers and are now re-branding their site to incorporate a variety of local accommodation options.
There is also a monetary benefit to opening up the site, says Chesky. For each rental, AirBnB takes a 7 to 10 percent cut of the traveler’s payment (as the rental price of the accommodation goes up, AirBnB will take less of a cut) and also takes a flat 3 percent cut of what the seller receives. With an increase in number of listings and a greater amount of pricier listings, AirBnB has had a jump in the number of transactions and seen a 50 percent jump in revenue plus created a profit. Vacation rentals can be a big business. Recently, HomeAway, a popular vacation rental site, raised $250 million in a venture round and was valued at more than $1 billion.
The site still allows users to post airbed and couch listings, which continues to be popular amongst consumers. But with a wider market, AirBnB has 2500 listings and close to 10,000 registered users. While AirBnB has no plans to follow eBay’s auction site model, the start-up would eventually like to post listings directly from the enterprise world (in this case, hotels and property managers), which eBay has been able to do with its marketplace.
Now that AirBnB is diversifying its accommodations, it will also face a fair amount of competitors in the rental space. Vacationrentals.com and Free-rental.com are just a few of the many short-term rental property listing hubs available for consumers. But AirBnB maintains that the combination of its former business of renting couches and the apartment and vacation rentals, all at relatively inexpensive price points, will make the start-up popular.
With the downturn in the economy wreaking havoc on expensive travel plans, inexpensive home rentals may become more popular amongst consumers. AirBnB provides relatively cost-effective alternatives to staying in a hotel. For example, I saw a listing for a nicely-furnished one bedroom apartment in Midtown for $160 per night. That’s not a bad deal for an entire apartment. And AirBnB offers rooms and couches in cities like Washington D.C. and Paris for under $20 per night.
And for of our readers who are looking for a place to crash or a vacation rental, AirBnB is offering $50 off any trip that is booked from now until Monday, March 9th. All you have to do is type in “TECHCRUNCH” when booking.
sounds good but what if that person you allow to stay in is a total jerk or thief?
http://groups.im
That’s exactly why you want something like AirBnB, not just classified ads. Their reputation system works on both sides. Risk-averse landlords can choose customers with positive reviews.
Dear Tiny Baby Jesus, with your little tiny golden diapers…:
Make Paul “I married the checkout girl at Target” Graham go away.
He’s a predator, whose photo should only be shown at local elementary schools during “Stranger Danger Week.”
Ycombinator = Stranger/Danger for every Startup in America!
Ycombinator = Fruitcakes R Us’
Airbnb make sense to everybody looking for a cheap place to stay, it create a long tail values. Saving $$$ in this economic times is absolutely necessary.
i did not know people were regularly doing this, interesting concept.
uh, nice web 2.0 + flickr color logo.
Yeah they have totally ripped the flickr colour scheme… the buggers (pronounced with a British accent)
I still like the site and though.
Now a Y-Combinator start-up (the startup is currently in the winter session of the incubator), AirBnB, which launched as AirBed and Breakfast last August,
It could have definitely been written in a more simpler way .. especially since the first line already explained the name change.
Has techcrunch started outsourcing blog postings owing to economic downturn
?
lol…
i see listings for these things on craigslist all the time. this feels safer than CL but still… staying with a stranger takes a leap of faith. the site will live or die by reviews.
This seems like this could become a really big market. Especially with the economy the way it is. I had an idea like this, but I think these guys executed it better than I would have.
Airbnb.com is changing travel in profound ways — it’s both an innovative business and an incredible example of solid design execution.
On the business side — they’re opening up basically a whole new way for people to save money AND connect with locals. Hosts often don’t just let someone crash on their floor — they often pick them up from the airport, take people out with them on the weekends to party like a local (anyone who has traveled for business realizes this is AWESOME), and then cook ‘em breakfast in the morning.
On the design/implementation side — they’ve figured out things that kayak, orbitz and the rest of the travel industry *should* have years ago. Earlier when I was booking a house for for SXSW, I almost booked it but then forgot to finish the transaction. I got an email a few hours later giving me a direct link to jump back to the exact place I last left the transaction.
I’m a big fan.
Airbnb looks awesome. I really like the idea, far better than any other site that I have seen that do this.
These guys are going to make some serious money.
i’m never staying in a hotel again!
Great idea, great execution. Used it to book my SXSW accommodation and saved $$$ on conference rates at the hotels.
man i wish i could go to sxsw. airbnb actually still has really nice and affordable offers for austin during sxsw!
When my friend first told me about AirBnB.com I was skeptical. I joined up anyway, thinking that it would be a fun novelty to tell my family about back home in Kansas. Well my second guest was co-founder Brian (he was scoping out DC for the Inauguration) and an instant friend was born! What a great idea and why didn’t anybody else think of it first?!? Over the last 3-4 months I have had about 20 people stay with me for an average of 2 nights each and profited at least $1500 (I bought some new towels/pillows/wifi/etc.) To say the least, it has far surpassed my expectations! Brian, Nate, and Joe couldn’t be better guys and its been a real pleasure getting to know them. I’m so looking forward to the day when I get a chance to travel, everyone I’ve met has been so great and cool. They’ve done something that other social networking sites haven’t been able to do – make platonic real world connections; revolutionary!
Guys keep up the good work! Jeremy – Washington, DC
This is one of the more exciting sites I’ve seen in a while, particularly its potential to make meeting cool new people a more central part of the traveling experience.
Really nicely designed too…. makes me want to go to NY now!
We’re actually reducing our monthly rental costs by AirBnB’ing our spare room. How sweet is that?
This is not only a great idea, these guys are executing it well *and* their timing couldn’t be better. It’s more than just low cost, too. It connects people in a new way.
Although this is a clever idea for monetisation of a spare room, you have been able to do a similar thing for free as a traveller by Couch Surfing which is more of that hippy ideal and they have thousands of places to stay all around the world
http://www.couchsurfing.com/
You do not get entire homes (and very rarely sleep on a bed) on Couchsurfing, hence the name. This is a totally different concept, and a marketplace.
At first glance the couchsurfing site seems a lot less professional, and hence I would trust it less. Just my honest impression on first glance of the site.
Aside: Car sharing was a popular “for free” service in Europe, and then Zip Car came along and made it a profitable business.
Or then there is RoomFit which does a very similar self-room-renting as AirBnB
http://www.roomft.com/
airbnb is a much wider market
AirBnB is brilliant! We have our NYC apt. listed on the site and we’ve met some of the most amazing people from around the world – not to mention, made good money while we were at it. Hats off to the creators of this site. Way to fulfill an underserved market! I wish them nothing but the best.
I’m a really big fan of the site & the founders. I imagine the economic downturn will lead to more and more people not just doing this for fun, but out of necessity.
Congrats guys!
What a great idea this is. You can rent an entire apartment in NYC for practically nothing.
My family had stayed in a NYC hotel a year ago, paid nealy $700/night and the shower was too dirty to take a shower in! I’m done with hotels!!
As a user (host) on the site, I can say it’s been a great experience so far. I’ve hosted a handful of people in the past two months, made some extra cash to pay my rent, and met some cool people. I am surprised that I get many inquiries per week about my place – they seem to have tapped into a market that didn’t exist before. Can’t wait to use it to travel myself.
This site seems to be a good idea but I would never sleep at some person’s house that I didn’t know. I have a feeling that we will see this site on the news because of someone mysteriously disappearing after staying on a strangers house.
This is definitely a game changer for me. Spend a year on the road travelling, staying in hostels,etc. Would loved to have the choice to hang out with locals in their homes and live like a true New Yorker/Dubliner/Bogotán for a few nights!
Congrats guys, I wish you all the best in the VR space, although I think the airbed idea is compelling enough.
For those who think the airbed idea is too radical, how about total home swapping? There are websites devoted to exchanging your home with other vacationers…
http://www.homewelcome.com
Consumer’s are defintely looking for deals below market value. I think this site will rock for the folks open to non-traditional housing.
We’re launching http://www.next...ekvacations.com in april – which is a liquidation marketplace for last minute vacation rentals. The sites up with some listings. Just need to fix some usability issues and hire another engineer! Need some local bay area talent! Moonlighting is cool!
Looks a lot like Flickr.
I work as a freelance travel photographer based out of NYC, and AirBnB is the first place I go for accommodations. No more overpriced tourist trap hotels. No more shady CL deals, going into a home not knowing if the cell phone snapshot I saw online is a fair approximation of where I’ll be resting my head. If you want to travel, if you want to get a true taste of foreign culture, then stay with the locals.
As our technology obsessed society makes the world smaller, in another sense, it is also keeping us at a distance. AirBnB is using online social networking to promote ‘in life’ social networking.
Travel, see the world, make memories, and make friends….
I should list some of the empty homes and condos that have been foreclosed in Florida: just change the lock (nobody’s really watching them) and I’m in the “hotel” business. Nobody would really notice; the few people living in the buildings would be happy to see some warm bodies, even if they are rag-tag hippies.
Months ago my guest room was seldom occupied. An occasional family member from Italy here and there but I soon realized what valuable real estate I had vacant the majority of the time. I’ve only had the most considerate, well educated, well traveled guests in my experience as a host with AirBnB. The added income is a welcomed benefit in dreary economic period. The amazing people I’m meeting from Chicago to Germany also a welcomed benefit that only brings positive energy into my home. I believe this process of opening your home to someone also strengthens community and trust among each other. http://www.airb...rbeds/show/4793
This is a great idea and a huge step up from anonymous listings on Craigslist. We tried this a few weeks ago and the reputation system and reservations gave us a lot more confidence in the transaction.
I was also impressed by the audience the site has been able to reach in such a short time, which is a testament to how great a job they’ve done marketing. For our listing, we probably got just as many requests from international travelers as domestic ones.
From the ashes of this economic slowdown, lean, logical, and efficient firms will appear out of necessity. The fat will be trimmed and consumers will demand value. This is a great service platform with a lot of potential. As of right now there are several new players in the market, I’d check the risks at this* comprehensive digital security site.
I have several apartments posted in Craigslist and I’m already signed up with http://guesthousenetwork.com but this guys where sending spam every day! through both pages. very anoying and violating user terms of use.
Our website: The Room Exchange Network (www.roomexnet.com) offers a similar service. I would invite anyone looking for short term accomodations to see if they can find a suitable match on our website.
i just spent friday night and saturday day, trying to right a mess made by an airbnb scammer. my friends booked a room that they found on airbnb, but since they were coming from mexico, they paid offline via western union. the person had listed an apartment that had a physical address that didn’t exist, as it was right in the middle of penn station! my friends did not know this, but did not ask for my help until they realized they were without a place after arriving on friday night! as soon as i looked at the apartment listing, i knew it was a scam!!! they were ripped off for $1000! don’t use this service unless you are familiar with the city you are visiting! and never pay offline…oh, yes, and they also said it was in walking distance to columbia university…walking distance if you don’t mind walking about 75 blocks! never rent an apartment on 33rd street from Netasha…scam, scam, scam. And, by the way, airbnb, has yet to respond to our emergency calls (when i called, i did not yet know they had paid offline, thus voiding airbnb’s obligation, however, my message did not indicate that!).