Just started out - pricing strategy

I’ve recently started out with Air in May and I am aiming to achieve superhost by July 1. I only have 2 reviews so far and only 1 out of 2 reviews has achieved 5 stars.

Should I opt to use revenue mgmt software like pricelab to help me increase my revenue & booking? Or should i hold off the greed and obtain the superhost status first before opting to use revenue management strategies?

Thanks

So… 50% of your reviews are 5 star… and you expect superhost status by 1 July. Based on…? Shouldn’t your question be something like… how can I consistently get 5 star reviews?

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The complaint was about cleaniness in the bathroom, which I have put much more attention to it since my first guest. As I didn’t know what to watch out for, that was my first lesson on Air.

I am pretty confident I can obtain 3 more 5-star reviews by end of May - that’s why I have asked the question.

Just to confirm, you have more than 10 reservations that will be completed by June 30th?

You need a total of 10 reviews with an average of 80%. Unless things have changed ?

sigh, i understand i’m a newbie… but my question was on pricing strategy - the discussion has shifted to focus on whether i will be a superhost or not…

I am hoping I will have 4-5 short bookings in june to make it to a total of 10 reservations by june 30th.

Revenue management software could help, but it would be better for you to “do thing by hand” for a year or so until you really become familiar with how things work around AirBnb.

Getting to be a Superhost is more about how much you care about your guests, than how worried you are about maximizing revenue income. Being “mercenary” is not a good strategy if you want to make a career (ie make a living) in the hospitality industry.

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Okay. Price. It depends. Where are you located? How desirable is your area to tourist and/or business travelers? What type of guests do you think your property will attract? Which type of guests do you want to attract?

Until you reach 5 reviews, you listing has no stars, just the raw reviews. Potential guests have to take a leap of faith in order to book you. You don’t have a track record yet. For my first months, I priced my house at a point that was viable for me but not quite as much as I believed that I could get. I was lucky in that I opened my listing at the start of the tourist season. A combination of having a nice place to offer and a very competitive price, and I was fully booked for four months almost immediately.

And then I delivered exactly what my listing promised. Consistently. I offer tips, and directions, and kindness, and compassion and the reviews “wrote themselves.” For me, the goal was not being a Superhost but to offer a safe, warm, comfortable, and calm place for people to land at the end of their days.

There are a lot of services to offer you price guidance. I would suggest that you don’t go for the top number until your reviews support your price point.

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Thanks for the great, constructive insights.

I am located close to a business/commercial area, hence I had 2 of my first 5 guests who are business travelers.

I have 2 close-by neighbours offering 1 bedrooms (vs my private studio), but they were undercutting my listing by 50% less than my price, while allowing the same number of guests in the space. Hence I wanted more exposure on Air’s search results by achieving superhost status.

@donduck
You do realize that after your 2 close-by neighbors book a date at 1/2 your price, the only close-by place available for that date is you. Let them work twice as hard for 1/2 the money. Cut your expenses where you can, and keep your prices reasonable for the guests and for you. Right off the bat I’m not sure you should be concerned with superhost.

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If you’re taking hosting seriously, then you’ll need to do more than rely on Airbnb’s search facility. And it takes more than being a Superhost to be successful. It seems that you put the cart before the horse a little by opening before you were ready (the bathroom issue).

There are many facets and subtleties to being successful on Airbnb. Only you know what is a good price for the accommodation you offer - every place is different. We have plenty of neighbours with much cheaper prices than we do and they are never factored into our calculations. Concentrate on offering great service at a price that offers good value yet makes enough margin for you.

I’m going to be slammed for this: the sole reason why I wanted the superhost status was purely because I wanted to achieve higher search results when a guest searches the area.

At the moment, regardless of date availability, I am placed #22 (2nd page) and I couldn’t find a better way to get my listing place higher using other means.

Would much appreciate if anyone can share their experiences to attain higher spots in search rankings.

It’s as good a reason as any because Superhost means little. :slight_smile:

There are plenty of other ways to improve your visibility. There are loads of posts here about it - just use the search function and you’ll find a lot of info.

I agree with @jaquo (as usual!). Don’t bother chasing after Superhost status as it doesn’t necessarily rank you higher in search results. Sounds to me that your edge over your local competition is that you can get the ‘Business ready’ badge because yours is a private studio and their listings are rooms only. I would focus on that aspect (ie. make your listing super business-friendly) and target that market rather than chasing superhost status.

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If you are concerned with search ranking I suggest this thread
http://www.airhostsforum.com/t/what-do-we-know-about-search-ranking/11330?u=k9karmacasa

As a super host, I’m not sure our super host status has helped much in search ranking.
As someone has said, look at the other thread!

As far as search ranking, if you just started in May you should still be enjoying the “newbie bump”. Once that wears off your ranking will go down even more. I personally would keep my pricing pretty low until I had amassed more reviews. You can try to look at one of the pricing services as a guide, but you still need to come up with a base price.

You mentioned the “newbie bump”, does anyone know how much time does the newbie get this bump?

No. If we knew then boy could we take advantage. The newbie bump is why some of us think you’re better off pricing a bit higher in the beginning…

I don’t think that Superhost status is something you have to worry about right now. You will get there eventually. But now you should better take care of your listing, Airbnb SEO and pricing strategy.

  • Make sure you update prices regularly, it helps to get you up on the Airbnb list.
  • Use Airbnb filters to make your bookings efficient. Set 3 days’ minimum stay so that you don’t get into a situation when someone books only one Saturday leaving no chance for Friday and Sunday to be booked. Usually, guests plan their visit 3 weeks in advance. Set 5 days’ minimum stay starting from the 4th week from now and change your settings every week.
  • Make sure your listing is perfect (all amenities listed, pictures look great etc.).

As for pricing strategy, here is a blog post that might help you.
Hope it helps.