Karsten Silz How to save commission on holiday apartment rentals
Booking.com, Airbnb and others take 15–20% commission. Here is how to keep more of your earnings.
Most holiday apartment hosts start with Booking.com or Airbnb. That is understandable: quick to set up, immediate visibility, and the first bookings arrive fast. But at some point it becomes clear just how much the platforms take.
Booking.com takes between 15 and 20 percent commission depending on the category. Airbnb is similar. That might not sound like much at first — but the numbers tell a different story.
A worked example
Say you rent your apartment for €80 per night and are fully booked for 180 nights per year:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual revenue (€80 × 180 nights) | €14,400 |
| Booking.com commission (15%) | €2,160 |
| What you actually receive | €12,240 |
€2,160 — gone. Every year. To a platform that your guests trust, but that doesn't belong to you.
Why platforms remain popular
Platforms have real advantages. They are quick to set up, have enormous reach, and guests trust the reviews on those platforms. For getting started they are ideal.
But: you become dependent. If Booking.com changes its commission rates or ranking rules, you feel it immediately. Your guests know the platform — not you. And all data belongs to the platform.
The alternative: your own website with direct bookings
Your own website with a booking form solves these problems. Guests book directly with you — no platform, no commission.
- No commission — every booking reaches you in full.
- Build your own brand — guests remember you, not Booking.com.
- Better contact with guests — you communicate directly, without an intermediary.
- All data belongs to you — email addresses, booking history, preferences.
Start in parallel — zero risk
You don't have to cancel all platforms immediately. The smart approach: run both in parallel.
- Calendar sync with Airbnb and Booking.com — no double bookings.
- Point existing guests to your own website (at check-out, by email).
- Gradually win more bookings through your own site.
This reduces the risk to zero. Once your own website is running and the first direct bookings arrive, you can gradually reduce the share from platforms.
What this means over a year
| Booking.com only | Own website | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual revenue | €14,400 | €14,400 |
| Commission (15%) | €2,160 | €0 |
| Annual website costs | €0 | €240 |
| Net to you | €12,240 | €14,160 |
Saving: €1,920 per year — in this example alone. With higher prices or more bookings the saving is correspondingly larger.
Summary
Your own website pays off from just a few direct bookings per month. The investment is manageable, the savings are real.
MeineFeWoSeite creates your website including a booking form — professional, GDPR-compliant, with calendar sync for Airbnb and Booking.com. Try it for free.