A guest cracks the TV. You file a damage claim. Airbnb asks for a number. You guess high to leave room for negotiation, the guest counters with a screenshot of the model on Amazon at 40% off, and the resolution agent takes the lower number because you didn’t bring a receipt. You eat the difference.
The hosts who get reimbursed don’t argue better. They show up with a number that looks like it came from a desk, not a feeling.
What Airbnb is actually measuring
Airbnb’s resolution policy doesn’t reimburse “what you paid.” It reimburses reasonable replacement cost, less depreciation. Three numbers matter:
- Replacement cost — what it costs to buy the same or equivalent item today.
- Useful life — how many years that item is expected to last in a rental.
- Age at time of damage — how long it’s been in service.
Reimbursement is roughly:
Reimbursable = Replacement cost × (1 − age / useful life)A 2-year-old TV with a 6-year useful life: you get 2/3 of replacement cost. Not retail. Not what you paid. Replacement cost today.
The host who walks in with a Best Buy listing for the same TV (or comparable spec) gets the 2/3. The host who walks in with “I think it was around $800” gets whatever the agent estimates, which is always lower.
What “reasonable replacement” means
The single biggest pitfall: you can’t claim upgrade cost. If the broken TV was a 55” basic LED and you want a 65” OLED, the claim is for “55” basic LED replacement cost,” not the new one. Same logic for mattresses, appliances, furniture.
Match the spec, not the upgrade. Then the claim survives review.
The line items hosts undervalue
A few categories hosts routinely under-claim:
- Mattresses. Replacement cost on a quality queen mattress is $600–$1,200, not $300. Hosts remember the Black Friday deal they got and claim that, instead of current replacement.
- Sofas. A real-leather or quality fabric sofa is $1,500–$3,000 to replace. Most hosts claim $500 because that’s what was left of the receipt energy.
- Cookware. A complete cookware set (skillet, two pots, lids, sauté pan) is $250–$500 if you’re buying decent. Replacing one missing pan with a Walmart $20 special isn’t equivalent.
- Smart locks. $200–$400 for the lock alone, before installation. Hosts often quote the cheap-keypad price.
- Window blinds and curtain rods. Usually a 1–2 hour install plus $80–$300 in materials. Easy to omit the labor.
The opposite mistake — over-claiming — gets caught by the resolution agent and erodes your credibility on the next claim. The number has to look right.
What “useful life” actually is
The IRS publishes useful-life guidance for residential rental property. Operations is messier than tax depreciation, but the ranges hold up:
| Item | Useful life (years) |
|---|---|
| Mattress | 7–10 |
| Sofa | 5–8 |
| TV | 5–7 |
| Smart lock | 5–7 |
| Microwave | 5–8 |
| Coffee maker | 3–5 |
| Cookware (skillet, pots) | 5–7 |
| Bath towels | 2–3 |
| Sheets | 2–3 |
| Pillows | 1–2 |
| Vacuum | 4–6 |
Soft goods have shorter lives because guests destroy them faster than you’d expect. A 3-year-old set of bath towels with stain damage may have 0% reimbursable value — which is why the supply par-level sheet treats towel replacement as a quarterly line item, not a damage claim.
What to keep, what to throw away
Two operational habits change your reimbursement rate dramatically:
- Photo every major item the day it arrives. Mattress, sofa, TV, appliances, smart lock. One photo with the box and receipt, one photo installed. That’s your proof of age and condition.
- Annual photo audit. Walk the property, photograph the big-ticket items, save to a folder named with the year. When a damage claim comes in 18 months later, you have a “before” photo from 6 months ago.
The first habit is 5 minutes per item, once. The second is 30 minutes once a year. Both pay for themselves the first claim that survives review.
Run the lookup
The damage cost lookup is a searchable table — common rental items, current replacement cost ranges, useful-life ranges, the math worked out for the most common ages. Use it during the claim, not after. Pair it with the maintenance schedule so the photo audit lives somewhere other than your good intentions.
The next claim is going to happen. Whether you eat it or not is a paperwork decision, made before the damage.