Short answer: the headline percentage is the least useful number in an Airbnb management quote. Two providers quoting the same percentage can cost you noticeably different amounts, because they are charging it on different things, adding different extras, and treating pass-through costs differently. Before you compare percentages, make the quotes comparable.
This is a checklist for doing that. It uses Graphite Host's own terms as a worked example, but the framework applies to any provider — and provider models genuinely vary, so the point is to ask, not to assume. The terms quoted throughout are the ones on our Airbnb management in Cardiff page, which sets them out next to the scope of work they buy.
Why two identical percentages are not the same price
A management fee is a percentage of something. The something is where the real difference sits, and it is rarely the first thing on a quote.
Consider the same booking described three ways:
- The total the guest paid. This includes the platform's own service fee, the cleaning fee, any refundable deposit and any taxes. It is the biggest number in the chain, and a percentage charged on it is the most expensive version of the same quoted rate.
- The accommodation element only. Strip out the cleaning fee, the deposit and taxes, because none of those are income you keep.
- The accommodation element after the platform has taken its commission. This is what actually reaches your account, and a percentage charged here is the cheapest version of the same quoted rate.
Nobody is being dishonest by choosing one of these — but a quote that does not say which one it means is not a quote you can compare. Ask the question plainly: what is the percentage calculated on, and can you show me the arithmetic on a sample booking?
For reference, Graphite Host charges 15% of accommodation proceeds after platform commission has been deducted, or after card-processing fees for direct bookings. Cleaning fees, refundable deposits and taxes are excluded from the fee base.
The seven things to check beyond the percentage
1. The fee base
Covered above, and the single biggest variable. Get it in writing, with a worked example on a realistic booking for your property rather than a round number.
2. VAT
A quoted percentage may or may not include VAT, and whether a provider is VAT registered changes what you actually pay for the same headline rate. Ask directly whether VAT is added on top, and get the answer in writing from every provider you speak to.
3. One-off and setup costs
Onboarding, listing creation, account setup, photography, linen packs, smart locks, welcome books. Some providers bundle these, some itemise them, some waive them on signing and some charge them later. What matters is the total cost to get live, and what you still have to pay for separately afterwards.
Graphite Host charges a one-off £149 onboarding fee covering listing creation, account setup, professional editing of the suitable photographs you supply, and a property-readiness audit. Photography shoots and initial deep cleans are not part of it: we do not take the photographs, and if the ones you send are not suitable we will say so and ask for replacements.
4. Recurring fees that are not the percentage
Monthly software or platform fees, account-management retainers, minimum monthly charges. The question to ask is simple: in a month with no bookings at all, what would I owe you? With a pure percentage model the answer is nothing. Graphite Host has no recurring monthly fee.
5. Who pays for cleaning, and whose linen it is
Turnover cleaning is one of the largest running costs in short-term letting, so where it sits changes the picture materially. Some arrangements bill the owner and recover it through the guest cleaning fee; others have the guest pay the cleaner directly.
At Graphite Host, guests pay the turnover cleaning fee and the cleaner receives it, so owners are not charged for normal turnover cleaning. Owners supply the linen and the cleaners launder it; damaged linen is replaced at the exact replacement cost with no markup. An initial deep clean is only recommended if the property-readiness audit shows one is needed, is not included in the £149, is paid separately, and can be declined.
6. How third-party costs are passed on
Maintenance, repairs, safety inspections and certificates are bought from somebody else. The question is whether they reach you at the supplier's price or with something added — a markup, a coordination fee, an administration charge per invoice. Small percentages on frequent small invoices add up quietly.
Graphite Host re-bills third-party maintenance and safety-check costs at the exact supplier cost, with no markup and no admin fee. Repairs above £250 need owner approval; the exception is urgent work where there is a guest-safety or property-damage risk and the owner cannot be reached.
7. Exit terms
The cheapest-looking agreement can become the most expensive if leaving is difficult. Check the minimum term, the notice period, whether there is an exit or cancellation charge, and — the one owners forget — what happens to bookings already on the calendar when you give notice.
Graphite Host has no fixed minimum contract, 30 days' notice, and no exit or cancellation charge. Confirmed bookings cannot be guaranteed cancelled; we will work with guests, and any bookings that remain are managed at the normal 15%.
A comparison worksheet
Put two or three providers in columns and fill in these rows. The exercise usually takes twenty minutes and changes at least one person's shortlist.
- Quoted percentage
- What the percentage is charged on, in the provider's own words
- Is VAT added on top? Yes or no
- Total one-off cost to get live, itemised
- Anything owed in a month with no bookings
- Who pays for turnover cleaning
- Who supplies and replaces linen, and at what price
- Markup or admin fee on third-party invoices
- Spend they can authorise without asking you
- Minimum term, notice period, exit charge
- What happens to existing bookings if you leave
- Which channels the property is actually listed on
- What the guest-communication cover actually is, in hours and in substance
A note on that last row, because it is where wording does the most work. A promise of cover at all hours can mean a monitored inbox, or it can mean a tradesperson turning up at 3am. Those are very different things, and the shorthand hides which one is on offer, so ask.
Graphite Host provides 24/7 human guest communications: a real person reads what a guest sends, whenever they send it. We deliberately do not promise a fixed response time, and what the cover applies to is guest messaging rather than anything beyond it.
Questions worth asking out loud
Beyond the numbers, these tend to separate providers quickly:
- Can you show me the arithmetic on a sample booking for a property like mine?
- What is not included that owners are most often surprised by?
- How often do prices actually change, and who decides?
- What happens when a cleaner cannot make a changeover?
- Who will I speak to when something goes wrong?
- How many properties does one person look after?
- Will you tell me if my property is not suitable?
None of these have one right answer. What matters is whether the answers are specific.
Red flags
- Guaranteed income or occupancy. Demand, nightly rates, competition and rules all move. A guarantee is a pricing decision dressed as a promise, and it is usually funded by taking a lower rate for your property.
- A percentage with no stated base. If nobody will tell you what the fee is charged on, you cannot compare it with anything.
- Vagueness about VAT. It is a yes or no question.
- Everything included, no exceptions. Something is always paid separately. A provider who names those things is being more useful than one who does not.
- A long minimum term for a service you have not tried. Reasonable notice is normal; a long lock-in on an untested arrangement is a risk you are being asked to carry.
Putting it together
The fee that matters is not the percentage on the website. It is the percentage, on a stated base, plus VAT if it applies, plus one-off costs, plus anything recurring, plus the running costs that land on you rather than the guest, plus whatever gets added to third-party invoices — and set against how easily you can leave if it is not working.
Work that out for each provider and the comparison becomes straightforward. Our Cardiff management cost page explains how pricing works locally and what drives it, and the pricing page sets out Graphite Host's own figures in full, including the costs owners meet separately.