Instant Book or Request to Book: Which Suits Hosts?

With instant book, a guest’s paid booking is confirmed straight away. With request to book, the guest pays first, and then you have a set time to accept or decline. Instant book fills dates with less work. Request to book gives you a say over every stay.

On Cabans, request to book is the starting point, and instant book is one tick away. This guide explains how each works for your shortlet, what happens if you miss a request, and how to protect yourself whichever you choose.

How each works

Both start the same way: the guest picks dates, sees the full price and pays online. What happens next is different.

You find the setting on your listing’s edit page, in “Availability, prices and booking rules”. The box is called “Instant book”. When it is ticked, the page says “Paid bookings are confirmed straight away, without waiting for you.” When it is not, it says you accept or decline each paid request, and that requests you do not answer in time are declined and refunded.

Either way, a guest only reaches you after paying. Guests who are still choosing, or whose payment has not gone through, never appear in your lists.

To see it from the guest’s side, read what the badges mean for guests.

Answer time and what happens if you miss it

With request to book, you choose how long you have to answer. The setting is “Time to accept a request”, and the choices are 2, 6, 12, 24, 48 or 72 hours, or 7 days. The standard is 24 hours. Once they have paid, guests are told the time by which you must answer.

When a request arrives:

1. You get an email, and the “Bookings” item in your seller menu shows an amber number.
2. Open “Bookings” and the “Requests” tab. The request says “Needs your answer”, with the time left, such as “Answer within 21 hours”.
3. Open it to see the guest’s name, the dates, the number of nights and guests, and the total. If a business booked, it says “Booked by a business”.
4. Press “Accept booking”, or press “Decline” and add a reason for the guest if you like.

If you decline, the guest is refunded in full and the nights open up again. You cannot undo a decline. If the time runs out, the page says “Answer time has passed”, the request is declined for you, and the guest is refunded. You get an email that the request lapsed.

Think about the guest here. They have paid and are waiting. Their refund reaches them within 14 days at most, usually in about 5 days, and the dates they wanted may be gone elsewhere. A short answer time, or instant book, is kinder to them. Step-by-step help is in how to accept or decline a booking request.

When instant book makes sense

Instant book is usually the better choice when:

• Your calendar is always up to date. Every open night can be booked without you, so block the dates you cannot host.
• Your rules already say what you would check. Minimum stay, maximum guests and your cut-off do the screening for you.
• You cannot always answer fast. A day job, travel or poor network can make you miss a request.
• Your guests book late. Someone who needs a bed tonight may not wait hours for a reply.
• You run several homes. Checking every request by hand takes time.

It also helps guests. The “Instant booking” badge tells them they will know straight away. At checkout they read “Instant booking: your stay is confirmed as soon as you pay.”

When to check each request

Request to book is often better when:

• The home is part of your own house or compound, and you want to know who is coming.
• It is a large home, such as a duplex, where a party would be a real risk.
• Your estate has strict rules about visitors or events.
• You are new to hosting and want to learn how guests book before you let it run by itself.

Before you press “Accept booking”, check three things:

• the dates do not clash with repairs, cleaning or your own use of the home;
• the number of guests suits the home;
• you can be there, or send someone, to hand over the keys on the day.

Keep your answers quick and fair. Every decline sends a guest away after they have already paid. If a request looks wrong for your home, a clear reason helps the guest book somewhere that suits them better.

You do not have to answer alone. Booking emails go to your store’s email, the store owner, and up to 10 team members who can process orders. So a manager or co-host can answer while you are busy. The Host Academy lesson answer fast, or use instant book covers this with a short quiz.

Protecting yourself either way

The same settings protect you with both choices. Set them first, then decide on instant book.

The ID step works well with instant book. You ask for ID in “Stay information”. The guest uploads it after booking, and you can open it before you approve their check-in. The door code and Wi-Fi password only appear to the guest once you press “Approve check-in”. You can open a guest’s ID until 30 days after check-out. Guest ID documents are kept securely for up to 6 years, as data laws require, and then deleted. Our guide to asking shortlet guests for ID covers doing it fairly.

Put your most important house rules, such as “no parties”, in your listing description too. Guests read that before they book. Help with every setting is in how to set your booking rules and instant book.

Switching later

You can change your mind at any time:

1. Open your listing’s edit page and go to “Availability, prices and booking rules”.
2. Tick or untick “Instant book”.
3. Press “Review and save calendar”, then “Save and publish calendar”.

This section goes live as soon as you save. It does not wait for approval. Guests who book after you save see the new setting. To stop new bookings for a while, untick “Take bookings online”; the bookings you already have are kept.

A simple plan: start with request to book and a short answer time. Once your calendar and rules feel right, try instant book and see how it goes.

How the money works

With both choices, the guest pays online through Paystack when they book. Paystack’s processing fee is paid by the guest, and they see it before they pay. It is not refunded. Cabans charges you a 5% commission. You are paid within 7 days after the guest’s stay, and sooner when the guest approves the payment after their trip.

See how it all fits together in take shortlet bookings online. Not listed yet? List your short let first. To see listings the way guests do, browse shortlets across Nigeria or shortlets in Lekki.

Frequently asked questions

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Shortlet cancellation policy · Shortlet listing tips · Shortlet agreement: what to include · How to list a shortlet in Nigeria