Short-term rental management price list: commissions, fees and what actually remains

Short-term rental operators in Poland usually take between 15 and 30 percent. That range says less than it seems, because two companies quoting the same number can leave the owner with completely different amounts. What decides it is the base they charge the commission on and what they add on top of it.

Below is a rental management price list broken down into parts: what the commission is calculated from, which fees appear alongside it, which two taxes are always in the bill, how to work out what actually remains, and what to ask before you sign a contract. At the end we give our own terms, so there is something to compare against.

Commission on revenue or on income? That is the main question

A commission on revenue is calculated on everything the guest paid. A commission on income is calculated on what remains after booking costs, meaning the platform commission, payment fees and similar items. The same 20 percent therefore means something different in each model.

The figures are illustrative, rounded to whole złoty, and serve to show the mechanics rather than to forecast revenue. They leave out smaller items, such as VAT on the platform commission. At the same percentage rate the difference here is 448 PLN a month. Over a year that is more than 5,000 PLN.

The question to put to every operator is: what amount do you calculate your commission on? On what the guest paid, or on what is left after VAT and the platform commission. These are two different things, even though both price lists call it „20 percent”.

Two taxes that are in the bill whoever runs the flat

Before you compare commissions, it is worth knowing two items that are not a cost of working with a company but a cost of short-term rental itself. They are paid the same way when an operator runs the flat and when the owner rents it out by the night alone. The difference is that with an operator they are counted from day one and visible in the statement.

VAT at 8 percent. Short-term accommodation is a service covered by this rate. When the sale goes through an operator, every guest payment contains the tax, the operator pays it to the tax office, and only the net amount is split between the owner and the company. In the example above, 741 PLN out of the 10,000 PLN payment goes to the tax office. The tax is included in the price the guest pays. All accommodation providers quote prices with the tax, so the guest compares offers on the same terms and your flat does not come out more expensive because of it. Renting on your own, a subject exemption applies up to 240,000 PLN of annual sales, but then there is no operator either and you handle everything yourself.

Property tax at the business activity rate. A flat rented by the night pays property tax as premises connected with business activity, not as a home. In Gdańsk for 2026 that is 35.53 PLN per square metre a year instead of 1.25 PLN. For a 50-square-metre apartment the difference is around 1,700 PLN a year, roughly 140 PLN a month. The matter was settled by a resolution of seven judges of the Supreme Administrative Court of 21 October 2024 (III FPS 2/24): repeated short-term rental is in essence a service close to hotel services. You pay the tax to the city, usually in four instalments, and it belongs in the fixed costs of the flat.

We covered both topics in more detail, together with the flat-rate tax, the tourist tax and property registration, in our article on taxes and the legality of short-term rentals in Gdańsk.

Rental management price list: fees beyond the commission

The commission alone is rarely the whole cost. Price lists and contracts contain items that are easy to miss when comparing offers:

• Onboarding or setup fee. A one-off amount for taking the flat on, preparing the listings and measuring up.
• Monthly subscription. A fixed fee regardless of whether the flat was rented.
• Photo session. Sometimes included, sometimes invoiced separately.
• Bed linen and towels. Purchase, replacement and laundry are sometimes billed separately from cleaning.
• Cleaning products. Added on top or included.
• Minor repairs. Labour included in the commission or charged by the hour.
• Termination fee. A contractual penalty or a notice period counted in months.

None of these items is unfair. The problem starts when you compare a 15 percent offer with a subscription and add-ons against a 20 percent offer with none, and conclude that the first is cheaper.

How to work out what actually remains

To compare two offers you need one number: the amount that reaches your account over a year. Work it out like this:

1. Take the assumed annual rental revenue at guest prices, the same for both offers.
2. Subtract VAT at 8 percent, because it goes to the tax office before any split.
3. Subtract the booking platform commissions.
4. Subtract the operator’s commission, watching which base it is calculated on.
5. Subtract the subscription times twelve, the onboarding fee and every item from the list above.
6. Subtract the fixed costs of the flat: the building fee, utilities, internet and property tax at the business activity rate.

Only that amount is fit for comparison. The percentage rate on its own is fit for nothing.

If you want to check what revenue is realistic for your address and floor area at all, we have a separate article: how much you can earn from an apartment in central Gdańsk.

The contract: four things to check

Notice period. Three months means that if the arrangement fails you lose a quarter. One month means the operator has to keep trying for as long as the contract runs.

Exclusivity. Whether you can block dates for yourself and whether there is a fee for it.

Settlement. When you get the money and whether you get a booking-by-booking statement or one figure with no breakdown.

Who bears the cost of damage. Guest deposits, insurance, and the threshold above which a repair falls on the owner.

We wrote more about the selection criteria in the guide how to choose a rental management company in Gdańsk, and we compared guest ratings of individual operators in our ranking of rental management companies in the Tri-City.

Our rental management price list

We take 20 percent of income, not of revenue. Income is the amount after VAT has been paid and after platform commissions. That is the entire cost of the service. What you get for it is described on the page short-term rental management in Gdańsk.

That amount covers booking handling and guest contact, cleaning, laundry and linen changes, cleaning products, minor repairs, a photo session of the flat, running the listings on the platforms and setting prices. There is no onboarding fee, no subscription and no surcharges for the photo session or the linen.

The contract runs for an indefinite period, with a thirty-day notice period and no penalties for ending it. We run over 150 apartments in the very centre of Gdańsk. Among our current partners the return falls between 6 and 10 percent a year, depending on location, standard and floor area.

We do not quote a specific figure without photos and an address. The valuation is free and without obligation: on the basis of photos, a floor plan, the address and the floor area we compare the flat with similar ones in our portfolio and give a revenue range together with what will remain after costs. We prepare it for flats within the area we cover.

Frequently asked questions about rental management costs

Free property valuation

Send photos of the flat, a floor plan or a design, and give the address and the floor area. On that basis we give a revenue range together with what will remain after costs. No obligation and no fee. One condition: the flat has to lie within the area we cover. Write through the cooperation form and we will get back to you.