[gggggg5]

Such as what other merchant? You're probably thinking of businesses which are not really comparable.

[vinaypai]

Literally no other merchant does this. That includes VRBO which is pretty directly comparable.

[gggggg5]

VRBO isn't directly comparable because it doesn't compete with AirBnB for hosts. Nobody lists only on VRBO, unless they've been banned from AirBnB.

VRBO doesn't do this, and has way harsher payout policies for new hosts than AirBnB. VRBO can do this because VRBO is not trying to attract new hosts (new to hosting, not new to VRBO) in the first place.

AirBnB can't do the VRBO thing and escrow payments to new hosts for 30 days, that would be super discouraging for newcomers trying to list their flat for the first time.

[vinaypai]

I don't think you understand what the word "comparable" means.

[hn92726819]

Hotels don't request this

[everforward]

Hotels don't have to because there's no route to pay with a stolen credit card and then get that money into an account you use.

I could set up a fake AirBnB, steal credit cards, book my own fake AirBnB, and then run off with the cash. There's no equivalent workflow for hotels.

It's mostly a problem for "platform" style apps that have both ways to send money and ways to withdraw money. Turo and Ebay are probably better comparisons here, and may have similar issues.

[gggggg5]

Ebay has it easier because they can treat their sellers way worse than Airbnb can treat their hosts.

Paypal is kind of universally reviled over their security measures.