The Cost of Listing on Booking.com
As we’ve covered so far, Booking.com has made easy work of listing rental properties on their platform and have streamlined their systems so that updating availability, changing rates, or adding in perks and promotions can all be done with little time and effort. All of that comes at a fee, however: while listing your property on Booking.com is free, you will need to pay a set percentage on each reservation made through the Booking.com platform.
How Much Does it Cost to List on Booking.com?
On average, Booking.com takes 15% off of the top of your charged rent for all confirmed bookings and all non-refundable reservations. That means for each apartment you rent for $100 per night, you will owe Booking.com $15. That percentage might seem high – for some perspective, Airbnb’s percentage varies depending on the fee structure hosts have chosen but the host-only fee ranges from 14% to 20%, while Vrbo charges roughly 5% – but it covers an exceptional support network with resources for both renters and property owners. It also gives you access to some amazing data and analytics options so that you can track your rental’s performance.
It is also helpful to know that this commission percentage adjusts depending on the part of the world in which you are offering rentals (Booking.com offers a handy calculator within their extranet so you can know how much you will owe). In addition, Booking.com will not levy a commission on reservations for which the renter did not arrive (unless that reservation was a non-refundable booking, in which case the commission would still be applicable).
Also, keep in mind that Booking.com does not automatically deduct this commission fee at the time of booking; rather, they send an invoice to you at the beginning of each month for the total commission owed from the prior month (that way you do not have to deal with reimbursement for canceled reservations). Want to keep track of these funds coming in and going out? Users of the Booking.com extranet can visit the “Finance” tab to review their monthly rental revenue and commission cut. Here they can also download their statements to keep their personal records up to date.
How Do Hosts Get Paid on Booking.com?
Perhaps the most important question to ask when listing a property: how do I get paid on Booking.com? The manner of payment received by a Booking.com host depends on the accepted forms of payments that can be selected by the property owner or host. Many Booking.com hosts accept credit card payments, particularly if they offer promotions like the last-minute deal or non-refundable rate noted earlier. If a guest books with a credit card, this will be noted in their reservation information (listed under the associated tab within the Booking.com extranet). When the payment is ready to be processed, you as the host can log in to the virtual credit card (VCC) system and charge the card for the amount owed.
Lodgify customers won’t have to worry about this section as this is fully integrated with our property management system.
Some Booking.com hosts prefer to use other methods, for example, bank transfers or cash transactions. If you choose the bank transfer route, you’ll need to make sure your bank account information is on file under the “Finance” tab so that these. If you choose cash only, you’ll want to make sure that this is clearly stated on your listing page so that guests are not blindsided for a request for large sums of money after longer stays.
Regardless of payment method (and beyond in-hand cash payments), you should receive gross payments at the frequency you’ve selected (either weekly or monthly). Keep in mind that these payment options are not necessarily available for all properties, and the steps to achieve them can vary depending on where your property is located (North America and Brazil, for example, have their own specific instructions as to how payments are processed) so it is best to be aware of your specific region’s regulations.