Imagine booking a stay on Airbnb.

You spot a gorgeous listing for RM144 per night—not bad, right? You click through, scroll, and get more excited to find out that it’s got:

• A pool
• A nice skyline view of KL
• An LRT station (public transport) nearby

But just as you’re about to click reserve, BAM it hits you! The total price jumped from RM144 to RM768.

Turns out the price offer is for a 5-night stay and the website pre-selected a date range for you. There’s also a cleaning fee that came out of nowhere.

And get this: the total price is before taxes.

You feel tricked. You thought you found a bargain. The website even tells you that “this is a rare find. Lim’s place is usually fully booked”.

Wow thanks, that’s like adding salt to my wounds.

This sudden betrayal you just experienced is what experts call “price shock”.

Why it’s a transparency trap

For context, more and more countries are requiring companies to show the full price upfront.

Here’s what’s happening around the world:

• European Union: The EU passed a law that forces platforms to display the full price (fees + taxes) from the start.
• United States: States like California and New York require clearer pricing for rentals.
• United Kingdom: The Competition and Markets Authority says online platforms need to show the full price upfront.
• Australia: The ACCC has guidelines that force total price display, with penalties for those who don’t comply.
• Canada: Ontario and other provinces have similar laws for price disclosure.

Now here’s the kicker: Airbnb actually can display the total price upfront, but you need to toggle to view it—and it’s off by default.

So if transparency is so important, why is it hidden?

The psychology behind it

This is a textbook example of partitioned pricing—breaking down the total price into little pieces to make the initial price seem smaller and more enticing:

• base price
• fees
• taxes

There are 2 psychological concepts at play here:

1. Framing effect

The initial RM144 price is framed in a way that makes it feel like a good deal. Your brain is drawn to that low number, so you’re primed to click on the listing.

2. Status quo bias

Airbnb’s default setting shows the “sticker price” first, which taps into the natural tendency people have to stick with defaults.

Most users won’t even think to toggle to the “total price” view because the default setup looks fine to them. They’ll just accept the total price and proceed, even if it’s deceptive.

They also did this by pre-selecting the 5-night stay date range to show a cheaper price compared to a 1-night stay.

The hidden cost

All these short-term rental marketplaces like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo argue that lower “sticker prices” boost click-through rates (CTR). The logic is simple: if the price looks good, people click.

But the problem is while clicks may go up, checkout conversions drop. People bail when they see the final price. Studies show that this kind of “bait-and-switch” damages trust, which means fewer people will follow through with bookings.

Once trust is gone, it’s hard to get it back.

How Airbnb could do better

Airbnb has two choices here:

1. Change the default view

Make the total price the default view. Even if it hurts CTRs a bit, the trust they build could boost conversions in the long run.

2. Clearer partitioned pricing

If they must use partitioned pricing, show the total price right under the sticker price from the start. Travelocity does this—it’s simple and honest.

The takeaway

Airbnb’s total price toggle is a step in the right direction, but when transparency is optional, it seems more like selective honesty.

Sure, reducing price shock might lower CTRs, but at the end of the day it builds trust and improves conversions. Long-term trust is worth more than short-term clicks.

So, what do you think? Should Airbnb make total price view the default? Hit reply and let me know 😁