Enrico Schaefer, an attorney for Airbnb hosts, breaks down Morgan Stanley's stock downgrade tied to slowing new listings. He argues Airbnb's model exploits hosts to fuel growth, and that hosts have real leverage by listing on competing platforms like VRBO if they organize and push back.
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Check this out. So my name's Enrico. I'm an attorney specializing in Airbnb host representation, property managers, and the like. But I'm also an Airbnb host with 3 properties and have been for a long time. This is interesting here because, uh, what Morgan Stanley is saying is that Airbnb's stock is being downgraded that is sell, because of slowing listing growth. Now, you've heard me talk so many times before about Airbnb's business model. I have tremendous insight into that model because I have tremendous insight into Airbnb as an attorney who litigates against Airbnb. And what I've been telling you for a long time is that Airbnb's dependent on adding more hosts to the platform. That means building trust, telling hosts that, oh, we're your partner, But I also show you how Airbnb screws you in the terms of service, and they're not really your partner, and they're using your money to build their business. This is something that's important because if their listing growth slows, that means that they have fewer properties to offer, that there could be more demand than there is supply. And when the market comes back in summer, seasonally or otherwise, There's not enough properties to be able to host all the different people that are looking for Airbnb. So what do they do? They go to VRBO because maybe VRBO's got some properties that are listed. This is the leverage that we as hosts have. Airbnb needs hosts, but it doesn't respect hosts. It uses hosts, and we've got to change that dynamic. And if you've Followed me, and please do follow me because we have a lot of content all about these and other really relevant issues: how to build the host community, how to fight back against Airbnb because together we as hosts are bigger than Airbnb. So stay tuned. Definitely check out this article, Seeking Alpha. Check out the article; it's got some great information in it about how this slow listing growth is impacting Airbnb and its stock value.
