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Beta - Terms, Guide, FAQ
Beta - Terms, Guide, FAQ

This is your handbook for all things Hostshare Beta!

Kennedy wilkinson avatar
Written by Kennedy wilkinson
Updated over a week ago

Beta Program Guide

Welcome to the Hostshare Beta Program!

This guide will help you get started and make the most out of your beta testing experience.

Our platform is exclusive to hosts of short term vacation rentals, and each person who joins must add their property in order to join. Travelers must book on short notice (the stay must be within the next 5 days), this eliminates the likelihood of lost revenue from a paying traveler. The cost to a host is then most likely nothing (cleaning fees are charged to the traveler), and they are then provided access to other hosts' homes as well.


Getting Started:

Can I Hostshare?

We're committed to providing a quality experience for all members, which is why we carefully vet hosts and their properties.

We accept only quality properties, with highly-positively rated listings (4.7 stars and higher) and a history at least 5 reviews. We expect our members to treat the sharing experience as if it was their own property, and we believe this value will enable our members lives to experience real freedom.

Why Beta?

  • Access the beta product using the provided login credentials or access links.

  • Explore the features and functionalities available in the beta version like uploading your listing, syncing your calendar, etc.

Being in betas allows us to open up the platform to users to use. While users are working through the features of the platform and testing new features, they can communicate bugs and features to fix or update. Being in beta means you are an early adopter and we are big fans of early adopters! :D

Upload Your Listing:

  • Once you are logged into Hostshare, click on "Create Listing" or "Add Your Listing"

  • Copy and paste your Airbnb listing link.

  • Make sure the address for your Airbnb listing is correct.

  • Submit for approval. Our team will be in contact if we need additional information.

Approving Your Listing:

To ensure that there are no fake listings on the platform since we are giving out free travel nights instantly, this is required...

  1. ID Verification

  2. Email Verification

  3. Hosting Documentation (Right to Host Documentation) - This can be a simple utility or internet bill with your name and home (airbnb listing) address on it.

  4. Calendar Sync

ID Verification:

Once you create your listing in Hostshare, click ”Identification Verification” banner at the top of your screen like below:

Follow the prompts on the pop-up window.

Ownership Verification:

Verifying you are the primary owner of your short term rental is quite easy. All you need to do is submit a utility or internet bill. Please make sure the address of your STR is present on the bill along with your first and last name, matching your ID.

Importing your Airbnb Calendar:

To see the entire help article, click here:

1. Log in to your Airbnb account:

- Visit the Airbnb website and log in using your credentials.

2. Go to your Listings:

- Once logged in, go to the "Host" or "Host Dashboard" section. You should find a menu where you can access your listings.

3. Select the Listing:

- Choose the property for which you want to get the calendar link.

4. Navigate to Calendar:

- Look for the calendar or availability section for your chosen listing. This is where you can manage and view your property's availability.

5. On the Right-Hand Side Click "Availability"

- Scroll down to Calendar Sync, and click "Airbnb Calendar Export".

6. Generate the Link and copy it.

- Click on the export calendar option, and Airbnb should provide you with a link to your calendar.

7. In your new listings on Hostshare, navigate to "Pricing and Availability"

Scroll down to Calendar Sync and click "Import Calendar".

8. Paste the link from Airbnb and click submit.

Once the link is submitted we will review to insure calendar accuracy before the listing is able to go live.

Syncing your Hosthshare calendar with other calendars:

See the full article here

Importing calendars

Your Hostshare calendar automatically resyncs every 3 hours to update availability from calendars that you imported (ex: Airbnb, VRBO, etc). You can also manually refresh each imported calendar to display the latest availability on your Airbnb calendar.

Learn how to import a calendar from Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, and Tripadvisor.

To import a calendar:

  1. Go to Host Home Page and select the listing you want to sync the calendar for

  2. Choose the Pricing & Availability tab to find your pricing and availability settings

  3. Scroll down to Calendar Availability > Calendar sync

  4. Click Import calendar

  5. Copy the URL from your external calendar (ex: Airbnb, VRBO) into the calendar address field. Make sure your external calendar address URL (iCal links) ends in.ICS

  6. Name the calendar you want to import

  7. Click Import calendar

Export Calendar (.ics) from other platforms:

Each booking site has its own process for retrieving the iCal link you need to import a calendar. This information is available online.

When exporting a calendar from a third-party site, be sure to use the iCal link and not the site URL. The site URL will not work to import the calendar. The correct link will include “icalendar” in the URL.


Learn how to import a calendar from Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, and Tripadvisor:

Airbnb

  1. Select Calendar.

  2. Select the listing you want to export.

  3. Find your pricing and availability settings in the side panel.

  4. Select Availability.

  5. Select Calendar Sync.

  6. Select Export calendar.

  7. Copy the iCal URL that appears in the pop-up window.

VRBO

  1. Log in to your account.

  2. Select the listing if you have more than one rental property.

  3. Select Calendar.

  4. Select Import & export.

  5. Select Export calendar.

  6. Select Copy URL and follow the instructions on your external calendar to import.

Booking.com

  1. Log in to the Extranet.

  2. Select Rates & Availability then Calendar.

    • Depending on your view, you may see Calendar & Pricing instead.

  3. Select Sync calendars.

  4. Copy the calendar link by selecting Copy link

To export your Hostshare calendar:

  1. Go to Host Home Page and select the listing you want to sync the calendar for

  2. Choose the Pricing & Availability tab to find your pricing and availability settings

  3. Scroll down to Calendar Availability > Calendar sync

  4. Click Export calendar

  5. In the Export calendar window, copy the link, then paste it into your other iCal-based calendar

  6. Exit the Export calendar window

Going Live With Your Listing:

Congratulations on getting your listing approved! You're just one step away from unlocking the magic.

What's in it for you?

Once you're LIVE on the Hostshare network:

  • 🌙 Dive into your 21 nights of free stays. Being a part of our beta phase not only lets you enjoy our platform's features but also places you in the front row to claim your free nights.

  • 🌐 You'll play an instrumental role in showcasing Hostshare's offerings as travelers search for their next destination.

Going Live During Beta: What's Next?

While you're settling in, our team is tirelessly working behind the scenes to roll out more features. The ability to search for and book stays is on the horizon. Rest assured, we'll keep you in the loop every step of the way.

So, gear up and let the Hostshare journey begin!

Average Nightly Rate

Your property's availability will be capped at a maximum number of nights, determined by your average nightly rate. In return for this availability, you'll gain access to 21 nights of free travel, instantly. Use the Hostshare calculator here: https://www.hostshare.co/how-it-works#hostshare-calculator

How it's calculated:

We calculate how many shared nights you would be sharing in exchange for the 21 days of travel per year. The formula is established so that the higher value properties share less nights, and the lower value properties share more. For instance, if someone has an average nightly rate of $500, they would be sharing approximately 15 nights per year. Whereas if the property was valued at $100 per night, there would be closer to 45 nights shared.

How it can be changed:

See entire help article here

Is your average nightly rate different from what is shown on Hostshare? If so, no problem! We will just need some information from your Airbnb listing and we can update that for you.


If you are copying your listing from Airbnb with a link, we are simply grabbing the base price that is shown on the screen. We realize this is not a foolproof method and the pricing may be off due to seasonality, so if you would like to update your price - please contact support with the information below:

How To Update Your Nightly Rate In Airbnb

  1. Go to Airbnb and switch to hosting. From here, click on the 'Insights' tab

  2. On the left side of the page you'll see a 'Performance' menu. Under this there is a dropdown tab called 'Occupancy and Rates'. Select this and choose 'Nightly Rate' from the dropdown menu.

  3. Select your date range to be at least an 8-month+ span, then scroll down to the bottom of the page. Here you will see your listings with their average rate.

  4. The Last step is to simply screenshot this and send it to our support! From here we will update your listing with the correct average!

Cleaning Fees

How it's calculated:

We can't import the cleaning fee from Airbnb, as often this is inaccurate due to how people present the expense (some make a "MGMT fee" which is really cleaning etc). So we take a formula approach and allow cleaning to be a certain percentage of the nightly rate. If you need adjusted just let the Hostshare team know at [email protected].

Multiple Listings:

Why add more listings?

More listings = more travel nights!

With every approved listing, you receive 21 nights of free travel. (Example: 3 listings = 63 travel nights)

Coming soon, Co-host Feature: You will be able to add a co-host to your account, who you will be able to share travel nights with for a small additional fee.

Booking:

Why only instant book?

FAQ'S

1. How do I travel for free?

Our platform is exclusive to hosts of short term vacation rentals, and each person who joins must add their property in order to join. Travelers must book on short notice (the stay must be within the next 5 days), this eliminates the likelihood of lost revenue from a paying traveler. The cost to a host is then most likely nothing (cleaning fees are charged to the traveler), and they are then provided access to other hosts' homes as well.

2. How do you normalize the values across different properties?

We calculate how many shared nights you would be sharing in exchange for the 21 days of travel per year. The formula is established so that the higher value properties share less nights, and the lower value properties share more. For instance, if someone has an average nightly rate of $500, they would be sharing approximately 15 nights per year. Whereas if the property was valued at $100 per night, there would be closer to 45 nights shared.

3. What if I am usually fully booked?

Our platform is designed off statical probabilities. As such, if you typically experience higher than 50% occupancy then you would be the exception. Most homes experience about 40-50% vacancy which is a lot of empty nights. Having no nights available to share would not impact your ability to travel and use other homes on the platform.

4. Can I join Hostshare without sharing a vacation rental?

Our platform is only possible through the shared trust and contribution of a hosts-only network. We accept only quality properties, with highly-positively rated listings, and a history at least 5 reviews. We expect our members to treat the sharing experience as if it was their own property, and we believe this value will enable our members lives to experience real freedom.

5. Can I sign up my owners, as a management company, to receive free travel?

Absolutely! As a management company, you have a fantastic opportunity to benefit both your owners and yourself. By signing up your owners for free travel, you'll not only bring them immense value but also elevate your business. Download the management company partnership PDF to explore the compelling reasons why this offering will be a game-changer for you and your owners.

6. What if I have a management company managing my property?

If your property is currently being managed by a short-term rental (STR) management company, we recommend seeking their permission to explore supporting Hostshare. To assist you, we have prepared a prewritten email below. It's a convenient way for you to reach out to your management company and inquire about utilizing Hostshare. We're confident they'll be excited about the possibilities it offers.

7. As a host can we limit the days we share to certain times of the year? For example exclude summer months.

Your calendar will be based off of your Airbnb calendar that is synced to the platform. If they are available on Airbnb, they will be available on Hostshare 0-5 days out.

8. Does the host have the ability to accept and deny a reservation from another host?

As long as the dates were available on Airbnb, it is an expectation that every request is accepted as long as the house has more nights to share, which will be calculated automatically in the app. Technically, they can cancel the reservation, but in the same way a cancellation is is viewed negatively on Airbnb, there is a small limit of cancellations allowed before membership is revoked.

9. On your site it refers to "last minute bookings" what are the perimeters around when our property can be booked? 7 days out, 14 days out?

Last minute booking are at most 5 days so that there is little to no lost revenue. However, if there are still nights available to share, the guest host can extend their stay as long as the nights aren't booked and as long as they still have travel nights to use.

10. Will there be calendar integration with the platforms so the property will not get double booked?

Yes, there is current integration with Airbnb. When uploading your listing, you copy and paste the URL, and everything transfers. We are currently working on VRBO/manual integration

11. How does the cost of a week traveling with Hostshare compare to week with a typical STR (Vrbo, Airbnb, etc)?

12. So I am curious about the model that you would pay to list your property on the platform? If one of my properties is average $800 - $1,000 per a night, this means I will provide 5 nights to the platform. However, if someone has $200 night property, then they have to put up 21 nights. Where are you finding the additional 16 nights that would be available to the 2nd host?

Host 1: Share 5 Nights, available 21 Nights

Host 2: Share 21 Nights, available 5 Nights

Here is how the math works.. When someone new signs up, we take the average daily rate across the whole platform and multiply it by 21. Right now $200 is about the average (but can change with each sign up), and multiply that by 21. That gives us a value of $4,200.

From here, if 3 people sign up on this day; one with a nightly rate of $1000/ night, one with a rate $200/ night and the other with a rate of $100. The first person provides 4 nights to the platform ($4200/$1000) and gets 21, the second would provide 21 nights to the platform ($4200/$200) and gets 21. and the other person provides 42 nights ($4200/$100) and gets 21. Because we are always calculating the average across the platform, the math stays almost exactly in balance for 21 nights for each host on the platform


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