Feedback from posting my couch for rent:<p>#Street: Just the street or the number and the street? I'm guessing you want number and street because you ask for apartment number. (Added upon completion: The listing doesn't display number, but the map has the point correct. I like the choices you make on what to display and how; I didn't like being confused on what to enter.)<p>#City and ZIP: Just ZIP and lookup City/State or ask for all three: City, State, and ZIP. Don't do things that are different just to be different.<p>#Room Type: Is my Living Room a Shared Room? Probably, but don't make me think, I'm drinking. Perhaps add a few options to the drop down.<p>#Name of Space: Why only 15 characters? I can't fit "Pull-Out Sofabed" there.<p>#Availability: The calendars are confusing. I wanted to test by just listing it for the weekend. Perhaps your default should be "never available" instead of "always available", then have me chose days. To make the weekend the availability takes three time frames.<p>Here's my listing: <a href="http://airbnb.com/airbeds/show/5703" rel="nofollow">http://airbnb.com/airbeds/show/5703</a><p>I know you ABNB people are here on HN and I want to talk to you. E-mail me or I'll get the TicketStumbler guys to stab you. That is all.
"Recently, HomeAway, a popular vacation rental site, raised $250 million in a venture round and was valued at more than $1 billion."<p>$250 million for a similar site? What am I missing? It's just so hard to fathom why a web startup would need so much money.
Here's my take: AirBnB isn't just casting a wider net. They're changing their entire business model because the original one is <i>severely flawed</i>.<p>I've said this before: renting a room/bed out of your home like a hotel most likely violates multiple tax and business laws in just about every US city ... LET ALONE the severe liability someone faces should a guest in your home slip in the shower and break their collar bone.<p>I've worked at a resort hotel. Cities have specific bed taxes. Hotels have to be inspected. They have liability insurance. Vacation rental owners pay taxes. Some cities <i>don't even allow</i> short-term vacation rentals.<p>We've already seen the ride-sharing website ruled illegal in some cities. I predict the same thing will happen here.<p>If AirBnB wants to go the legitimate route and compete with VRBO, HomeAway, etc. ... great. But I've honestly been stumped by this site since it's inception. I have nothing but respect for YC/PG, but I honestly can't understand what they saw in the original business plan/model. If I was a VC, I wouldn't touch this site.
I really like the idea and the execution :)
I don't like the large middle-men cut :-/<p><pre><code> > 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.</code></pre>