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I know not everyone is a fan, but having Instant Booking prevents this problem altogether. There’s no haggling or requesting special provisions.
When guests do say, ‘I can see by your calendar that the night before/after isn’t booked, so can I have a late check-out/early check in?’ it’s easy for me to reply. 'I have instant book, so that night may well get booked in the meantime. Of course if you arrive early in the morning and there’s no one in the room, by all means you can have the room early, however I do accept same day Instant bookings up until 3pm in the afternoon, so can only offer to mind your bags at the house.
I agree with everyone else here - asking for reductions is a red flag to me.
That’s a very good way of putting it James. I’m using that one of yours as well, if you don’t mind. Love it, partic. the part ‘…for economic reasons, I require the rate posted on my listing.’ So well put.
I was thinking of going with something more like, “Because of heavy competition in our area, our prices are already lower than we’d prefer, but we enjoy hosting so we open our home regardless.” The last phrase needs work, but so far this hasn’t been a big deal for us.
I used to have a phrase that said, “it’s already budget priced so please don’t attempt to negotiate.” But I thought that sounded a little snippy so I removed it.
Now if they send an inquiry trying to bargain me down I answer “Sorry, it’s priced fairly for the area, the time of year and the amenities I offer. I don’t do discounts.”
Lol, it does sound snippy. I remember once a, bartender told me that when I asked him about happy hours special : everything is priced very cheap here, madam!! pointing to 16$ martinies:).
There’s another reason to not allow long term stays. Anyone staying beyond 28 days falls under long term tenant laws and good luck kicking someone out after that. Even if they stop paying. Even squatters would be a problem.
The way I see it is that it doesn’t make a difference to me whether someone stays three weeks in one booking or separate guests book three separate and distinct weeks. I’m setup with the cleaners to handle the change-overs and there’s a charge for it anyways. That’s the business that we’re in (short term and hotel-like changeovers between guests).
Longer term guests also try to negotiate down a lot.
So if your place books up and you’re confident of it then there’s no reason to negotiate down for long term stays. And if you’re worried about booking up then think about the worry you’ll experience once they warp into long term tenants.
It’s not fear mongering. I actually know of someone that actually had that problem and they couldn’t kick them out. Not even the police would help them. They had to go through the eviction process associated with long term tenancy laws and it took multiple months and lots of losses to solve the issue.
Beware of long term tenants unless that’s the business direction that you want to take. If it is then don’t charge per night and have them sign a one year lease ;).
People ask that with some regularity…It is not my problem if they cannot afford what they want…I have run a jewelry store for $30 years so I am inurred to folks crying poor. Sorry you can’t afford this, let me refer you to the guy down the street with half the room and no extras.
We only ‘negotiate’ in low season or weekdays. However, I make them start the ‘negotiation’ and I generally never go lower than what we consider our ‘base’ price. For example someone wanted to stay Mon-Thurs in off season in Barcelona, and they wanted a ‘deal’. Since we were dead I gave them the flat for our lowest base price, just to have some income.
So true! I’m kicking myself now, because price hagglers are generally an automatic decline from me. A couple weeks ago I was in the car and distracted and pre-approved a girl who sounded great. But I failed to see her second paragraph in which she asked about a discount because she’s on a budget
Sure! I wanted to say. While I’m at it, why don’t I call your airline and every restaurant in Hollywood and ask them to lower their prices for you because you’re ‘on a budget’?
But, I didn’t I did the standard professional 'springtime is very popular in LA, and we already offer a great value for the area, so prices are not negotiable.
She thanked me and said she would shop around, but the. She ended up accepting the booking anyway. Drat! I am so dreading her arrival now. I just know she’s going to be so nitpicking about every detail because she feels like she’s spending a fortune.
Worst experience so far (not exactly negotiating, but similar):
After having hosted 2 guests, I got an inquiry for one week in the summer (4 months in the future). She was asking for late check-out, and I confirmed that this would be possible if I don’t have a booking the next day.
She said she would book.
Nothing happened.
After some days, she asked to “block the dates”, she would have to book her flights.
For sure, I did not block the dates but told her the dates are still open, no inquiries for that time, she is welcome to book.
Again, nothing happened for several days.
As I was new to hosting and was not so experienced in pricing, I discovered that my price was too low, so I raised the price.
Now (again, several days later) she sent me a message saying my price increase was dubious, I had promised to block the dates for her (which is a lie), and that my “late check-out policy” (!) was inconsistent. She claimed to be allowed to book with the “old” price and said that I would be responsible for for her “financial losses” because she had booked her flight in the meantime.
Result: I am glad not having to host such a guest!
Just got one of these this morning. Person wants to stay for 11 days our price is $3950 and they asked for $3500 including Air fees. My Response: ’ Hi XX, We would love to host you and your husband. However, we do not negotiate pricing. If you would like to pay our listed price please let me know and I will pre-approve your request. Good Luck!’
I will reduce the price if it’s beneficial to me. For example, I have a few days available next month. I would rather have someone in than no-one so I would reduce the price (a little) if required. It could be a good review and they might recommend our rental to their friends. It’s marketing, really.
We had a holiday resort where we would often get these kind of bargain hunters. Part and parcel of the industry and quite frankly, consumers are constantly being told to bargain! I do and can nearly always get 10% off just about anything. Even a home loan at a bank is negotiable.
The way we handle such enquiries is to offer a value add. For example. A cabin we had may have been $100 per night. A potential guest asks for a 20% discount. Which would cost you $20 in lost fees. Instead, we would offer something like a free bag of firewood. The value of this firewood is $20 to the guest so it satisfies their desire for a bargain. However, the wholesale rate of the firewood may only be $10 to me. So I am now only $10 out rather than $20 and the guest feels as if they are getting a better deal.
Hotels do it all the time. A special deal may be a free breakfast which is normally valued at $30. Obviously the cost of that breakfast costs them very little - especially if it is a buffet style breakfast. So the hotel charges their normal rate, but the guest gets a good deal. Apply this principle to your AirBnB.
So think of what you can value add. Late checkouts are always popular.
Would be interested to hear of what other hosts do with “value adds” to entice their guests. Lets share them…
Don’t lower the price but raise the price… I tell you i accept 2 thai and 1 malasia people who negociated for some hours. I said “No”, but if they pay more, i let them early in. Do you know what happened? Each take 4 times shower during 12 hours, each shower is 30 mins, the next day again…maximum water volum. And i am sure in the future, i don’t let anyone in, who bargains!
You really don’t need to answer and let it guess what you want to do. What i did isi wrote my Guest; you can ask me to lower the price 24 hours before the day you arrive, if i don’t have any other guest, i will lower the price for you. He said: He doesn’t feel safe, he wants to be sure. I told him, he has to pay to feel safe. I think he understand. He is someone who born in Germany, but not really a german, coz German doesn’t bargain.And finanlly he did what i said and wait, but no room. But i am sure he found other solutions, maybe just drives home or get a cheaper room somewhere.
