When a request is not right for your space, you can turn it down from the request itself. Here is how to do it, and what it changes for you and for the renter.
Declining a request
Open the request from your inbox.
Under Actions:, select Decline inquiry.
In the window that opens, Decline this inquiry, choose a reason under Reason for declining. A reason is required.
Add a note under Comment (optional) if you want to explain. Your note goes to the renter as a message once it has passed our message review.
Select Decline to confirm, or Keep inquiry to go back without changing anything.
The button is not shown once there is a payment on the request, whether it is still going through or has already completed, and it is not shown on listings Storefront manages on your behalf.
What happens to the request
This is what a decline does to a request that is still open and that you have not already answered with an invitation to book.
The request is marked Refused. The progress bar at the top of the request reads “Request Declined by Space Representative”. That line is written in English only, whatever language you use the site in.
The reason you chose is shown on the request under Cancellation Reason. That heading is used for declined requests as well as cancelled ones.
Your note, if you wrote one, is added to the conversation before it closes.
The conversation closes. Neither of you can send a new message on it, and it shows “This inquiry has been rejected”. Everything already written stays readable, and you can both still contact Storefront support about the request.
Nothing changes on your calendar. A request never holds your dates, so there is nothing to release, and no payment is taken or refunded.
If you had already invited the renter to book, or the request had gone inactive
Those two cases end differently. The button is the same, but the request is marked Cancelled rather than Refused, the closed conversation reads “This inquiry has been canceled”, we email the renter about it, and Storefront records you as the person who ended the request. A request goes inactive after 7 days without activity, so an older request will often take this path.
Cancelling a booking that has already been confirmed and paid for is a separate matter, covered by our cancellation policy — see Listing Owner Cancellations. The decline button cannot take you there: it is gone by the time a payment has completed.
Can I undo it?
You cannot reopen a request yourself once you have declined it. The only requests you can put back in play are those that went quiet and became inactive. If you change your mind, ask the renter to send a new inquiry for the space.
Does declining count against me?
Declining is a proper answer. The Platform Guidelines in your account ask you to “Reply positively or negatively to every inquiry, even if your space is unavailable.” Three things are worth knowing:
Your response rate counts an inquiry as answered when you reply to the renter within 24 hours of receiving it, across the last 90 days. Inviting the renter to book, or accepting their request to book, counts on its own. A decline does not, unless you write something: the reason you pick is not a message — only the comment is. So write a short comment when you decline.
That comment is checked before it reaches the renter, and it counts as your reply only once it has passed that review. Keep phone numbers and email addresses out of it: a note carrying them is held back for a person to look at and may be turned down, and you cannot send a replacement, because the conversation is already closed. The figure is also recalculated once a day, so it will not move the moment you decline.
Your booking rate is the bookings you accept divided by the requests you received over the same 90 days, so a request you declined still counts in that total. See How to improve your Booking Rate.
The Platform Guidelines ask you to keep a response rate above 90% and a booking rate above 10% to keep your listings live.
What the renter does next
Renters are told to look for other spaces that fit their project. See What to do if your booking request is declined.
For the other ways to answer a request, see How do I manage my requests?