Trusts: Your Reputation Can Arrive Before You Do

Think back to your first exchange. No feedback yet, no history on your profile — just you, hoping someone would take a chance on you.

Most of us don't think about that moment much once it's behind us. But for every new member joining the Community right now, it's exactly where they are. Until today, there wasn't a way to bring the trust you'd built elsewhere in your life along with you.

That's what Trusts is for.

The idea

A Trust is a personal reference from a member who knows you. Not a star rating from a stranger, not an algorithm's best guess, but a few honest words, with someone's name and face behind them, saying I know this person, and I'd hand them my keys.

It's a different kind of trust to the feedback you leave after an exchange. Feedback tells other members how a particular stay went. A Trust says something broader: I trust this person. You don't need to have exchanged with someone to trust them, you just need to know them. Maybe they're the friend you told about PLU over dinner two years ago. Maybe they're someone you met at a meetup. Maybe they're a neighbour who joined last month. That's exactly who Trusts is for.

We're called People Like Us for a reason — the Community has always run on member-to-member trust. Trusts just means that trust can now show up on a profile before someone's first exchange, not only after it.

How it works

You'll find a Trust button on a member's profile, or right alongside a friend's name in your Invite a Friend list.

Write a few words about why you trust them. They'll get notified, and your words will appear on their profile under a new Trusted By tab, the people who've given them a Trust. 

If you and another member trust each other, you'll both wear a mutual badge on your profiles.

And here's the part we're particularly pleased with: if you've invited a friend who hasn't joined yet, you can give them a Trust right now. Your reference will be waiting for them the moment they list their home, so their very first impression on other members is already a warm one.

A few safeguards, stated plainly

• You can edit or withdraw a Trust you've given at any time.
• Recipients can remove a Trust if they'd rather it wasn't there.
• Our team moderates everything, as always.
• Each member can only trust another person once, so every Trust on a profile means something.

Our ask

If someone you know is new to the Community — the friend you brought in, the person you met at a meetup, the neighbour who just joined — give them their first Trust. It takes thirty seconds, and it might be the difference between their profile looking bare and looking like they belong here, because they do.

And if you're the one who's new: ask the friend who brought you here to do this for you today. It's a lovely thing to receive, and an even lovelier thing to give.

One practical note

Giving Trusts is part of Premium membership. Any member — Premium or not — can receive one.

Here's to a Community where nobody has to start from zero. 🏡