Lowering the price I have found (and/or giving discounts) is counter productive, as to the type of guests one gets and the feel that you are working much harder for less. My new motto is, subject to review of course: work less for more and enjoy the hosting experience better. It is understandable AirBnB wants the most bookings to materialize (fees).
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Yana, very impressive analysis of your market and niche. And very interesting that the new Air users donāt understand they are renting a room in someoneās house. Home sharing is really what itās all about!
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Plain and simpleā¦ In most cases, lowering the price attracts the riff raff. 
The bargain hunters who will even try to avoid paying cleaning fees and get you to lower the price even more. You donāt want that kind of guest. They wonāt be happy, thinking they are paying too much for your place.
I am priced fairly, I charge a cleaning and security, and if they donāt like it go elsewhere. My pluses are, I have full cooking facilities and their own private space, plus outdoor patio and BBQ right by a secluded rural beach. I generally get good guests.
Itās called premium pricing for a reason.
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I have strict cancellation on Wimdu and the price I want to have. They are in Germany and have always sent quiet solo travelers. I just got a booking in my low season at high season rates for 17 nights. Another single solo traveler. Also they let hosts keep 100%! I donāt see that I am charged a fee, ever!
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Yes, the minute I have made the mistake of giving a āspecial offerā or discount, sure enough tire kickers will arrive and it is never smooth. Gone a bit further, I rather have AirBnB to handle ALL bookings with all the money up front, eliminating the need to even discuss it and by virtue of their strong position in the market place now AirBnB has, they can get a higher price and everyone is happy. 
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Hi Konacocnutz
So you would recommend Wimdu? I just had a quick look and it seems in set up similar to airbnb. I also use Stayz but find it clunky.
I like it. Just set your policy on strict and pay no attention to their recommendations of lower price. They are not as polished as Air in terms of the platform, but you get to keep your whole booking amount. Iāve always had good guests from them. 99% have been quiet solo travelers.
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Carmen , itās all under categories,not separate
Wimdu have been trying hard to match Airbnb, yet they are still some way off. Far less professional. I do offer my room on both Airbnb and Wimdu (and on other sites, too), and Wimdu are fine, too. Still, Airbnb offer much better service to hosts.
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Wimdu does collect a cleaning for you but not a security. Itās a headache to arrange it in person, but I tend to get better guests and keep more of the earnings on Wimdu.
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Based on folkās suggestions here, Iāve listed on Wimdu as well. Thereās one thing that I havenāt figured out about their search tool that troubles me. My house is in a suburb of a major city. Itās not a town that someone from not around here would think to search for. When I search by putting in the big city name only one listing shows up, being the only listing actually in that city. The only way to find other properties in the suburbs is to click on the map and scroll out to search a wider area. Do Wimdu travelers regularly know to do this or is the property actually in the city limits getting the biggest chance of booking because itās the only one that shows up? I found someone elseās place thatās in my zip code and theyāve listed their city as the big city, not where it actually is, but the same thing happens to them as well. Until you scroll way out, you only see one listing that happens to be downtown. Anyone experience this and how did you handle it? Is there a radius setting that I just havenāt found yet?
Nope. Itās funky. they have me listed in Kamuela, which is on the other side of the island. Iāve asked them to fix and get no response. So in my first line of copy, I explain where I am. As we mentioned you cannot expect ANY sort of sophistication technically. Also, the booking I just made is not blocked off on my Air calendar, so that is another thing you have to do manually. This is how Air USED to be when I first started with them! Wimdu is a poor cousin so you canāt expect much. Iām just happy that they pay.
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I sent Wimdu an email suggesting that they look at adding that feature. Iām sure that others have had the same experience and that it cuts into their market share. I did the same as my neighbor, I put both cities in my address, hoping that Iāll pick up somethingā¦
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Itās always interesting when they suggest a price of 35 dollars for a 3br luxury apartment when hotels are going for 200/nt even on priceline right down the street a bit.
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I agree with you - I think Air is trying to promote hosts to lower prices -
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A competitive price isnāt bad, but an artificially low price is bad for all of the hosts in the market especially when the deals are already better than the hotel competition.
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I absolutely ignore what AirBnB suggests, totally. I put what I do need to get and go with that.
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yeah, i do tooā¦ when hotels are $200 in town they are suggesting i list for $38ā¦ ha haā¦
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It seems to be calculated as percentages above and below your base price as opposed to an actual valuation assessment of your offering.
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There is a point where weāre paying guests to stay with us.
There is a place where people give away free accommodations, but not with the same level of professionalism, and thatās called Couchsurfing.
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