Airbnb

Airbnb is established in 2008 in the Silicon Valley Community marketplace for worldwide booking and rental of accommodation. Private landlords can rent their home to people who are looking for a hotel away from the mass tourism. From its foundation in 2008 until June 2012, more than ten million overnight stays were booked on Airbnb according to the company.

Concept

Airbnb was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk in San Francisco. The original name Airbedandbreakfast (English: air mattress and breakfast) was shortened to Airbnb 2009. The company offers accommodations in 192 countries and more than 26,000 cities. Airbnb is an online platform the contact between host and guest and is responsible for processing the reservation. The transaction takes place here exclusively on the platform. The customer pays the cost of their booking by credit card on Airbnb. The host will only be paid 24 hours after arrival to ensure that the guest accommodation such finds, as it was offered to him the amount. From the price of accommodation Airbnb calculated 6-12 % extra from the guest, depending on the amount of the accommodation price and the host reserves Airbnb directly in the payment an additional 3% of the accommodation price a.

Each user, so the host and guest, is presented at Airbnb on a profile page, it must upload a picture and a contact telephone number. Hosts describe their accommodation based on a predetermined form and using photos. A search function is the possibility of specific requirements in the search to include, for example, cost, size, facilities, presence of the host, Family Friendly, Breakfast, existing connections to the host. In addition, Airbnb has compiled accommodation on specific subjects ( wine, honeymoon, popular cities, tree houses, winter). Guest and host can rate each other. A vote can only be made if a booking via the website was actually settled. With a calculator function you can calculate what income can be achieved with one's own property.

The services provided by Airbnb can be used (since January 2012) using the mobile site or the free app for Apple iOS and Android.

Financing and investors

The first funding the company received from the counterparties located in the Silicon Valley business incubator Y Combinator. Other investors were the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst, which are dedicated to the promotion of start- ups, as well as the investment company DST Global.

After taking over the German competitor Accoleo Airbnb opened in June 2011 with an office in Hamburg, the first place of business outside the United States. As of 31 December 2013, the Service in Europe was centrally relocated to Ireland. With the relocation of customer service, almost all European offices were closed and terminated a majority of the employees for operational reasons. In Germany Airbnb is still maintained an office in Berlin.

Tax Treatment

Make Airbnb provider with its hotels and pensions offer competition. The latter have their guests in many countries charge VAT ( in some places a local tax ). Some Airbnb landlord declare their income from rents and leases not in their tax return.

In the U.S. state of New York determined in the fall of 2013, the Attorney General against Airbnb. Approximately 15,000 people rented apartments on Airbnb; he assumed that taxes in the tens of millions would the State of New York owed. He - the Attorney General - will intensify its efforts to ensure that for Airbnb same rules apply as for everyone.