@cmpipe some of the hosts on this thread can give valuable feedback on how to make your listing more appealing.
You may wish to send the link to a few via private messaging and ask for their opinions.
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@cmpipe some of the hosts on this thread can give valuable feedback on how to make your listing more appealing.
You may wish to send the link to a few via private messaging and ask for their opinions.
@Annet3176 Thank you! I have read alot of questions & answers on this forum, some with ānewbiesā asking for help, and it seems that hosts, in general, donāt really want to give advice like that. It seems that being successful in this platform (to some) is proprietary information. I get it. I suffered/paid my dues, and so shall youā¦kind of thingā¦lol! But you are very kind to suggest it, and your helpful attitude is what this forum is all about, right? 7 months in to this ācompetitive gameā and Iām learning. Take care & best of luck with your listing.
@mille100piedi Hi there! Well, the house Iām talking about with the super low listed price may be just an extra property that the host owns and decides to rent. I only noticed the house because I was researching competitive prices in my general area. Homes w same configuration- # bedrooms,bath,etc. Being new to the short-term rental market, I needed to price accordingly. So I did a search & thereās the house prices waaaaay below what others charge. They had alot of good reviews & calendar was filled. I could not imagine how they even covered their expenses! Lol! And, their home was at the top of the search results. Anyway, for a giggle, I pretended to book, and found that the actual rate they charge is at least 3x whatās on their listing page.
I asked how this was done & got my answer: just one low ball night will do it.
The result is obviously that folks will see the price & review the listing. Itās attractive, so the higher booked price must be ok. Itās a pricing game & for them has become an effective strategy.
What annoys me is that Airbnb is including their house in comps for the area, and no one comes close to their crazy listing price. Now, if the comp results showed the average booked price, then the research would be more helpful. Sigh.
@mille100piedi I have to agree. Their search results are useless if youāre trying to price your property based on comparable # of beds, etc. Shows that you cannot base your pricing strategy on their search results. Then you question their āsmart pricingā which incorrect if theyāre basing it on the listing price of homes. Opens up a can of worms! Iāve read many times that smart pricing is too low. We know why, right?!
Makes me curious as to how many folks use 3p pricing toolsā¦
@KKC Iām glad you asked what āaccessibleā means as Iāve found ( on Airbnb) that many folks donāt know that it means wheelchair accessible when youāre referring to propertiesā¦taken in context, of course.
I exaggerated the radious.
I have rented long-term for years using a Property Manager. Itās safe and the money is consistent, but how much you can charge per month obviously has its limits. Then thereās the tenancy laws,etc.; maintaining the propertyā¦list goes on.
Short-term rental can be more profitable and theyāre out in a few days- you can see damage right away, etc. Iāve found it has its advantages as long as the price is right & you get booked.
The work, Iāve found is in pricing correctly & making the listing more appealing than Ć²thers.
If youāre lucky to have a home where many people want to go on holiday ( London, New York) then unless thereās a glut of properties, chances are, for a decent place, you open the door and they fall in. I donāt have that tourist-driven traffic. Iām in the suburbs just outside Atlanta, so I have to pull people in by marketing, pricing, advertising, etc.
So, itās been alot of work getting bookings.
I know what I need to make-itās a matter of getting there.
Cheers!
There are hosts on this forum who are helpful. If you send them personal messages you are not subjecting your listing to critique by the many. There are several on this thread an others who would give you helpful feedback. All you need to do is ask them. If you donāt know who to message, Iām sure the moderators would make recommendations, as would I.
Iām having trouble understanding this statement. Two weeks ago there was a shortage of rooms due to multiple conferences, events & ball games in Atlanta. If your listing is properly presented, you shouldāve had rentals.
Some websites show a range or average price. At least they are obliged to offer the rate listed for the date. Using TripAdvisor and putting in dates then clicking through to the cheapest booking site (Bookings.com is the worst abuser) the actual rate is often much higher. If TA were genuine in trying to be honest they would randomly check rates and throw off the worst ones but those are also their clients who pay them $$$$.
Hi, yes, July is doing ok, but I canāt say the same for August, etc. Iāve had a problem with pricing, so I just signed up with Wheelhouse. I get stressed because my home/rental is my future security.
If youād like to take a peek at my home? Just first impressionsā¦like is it inviting?
wowā¦ thatās bigā¦lol! ( the link results)ā¦
Like many have already answered, we have weekend and holiday rates that are higher than our base rate. But we also follow the lead of local hotels and may charge even higher rates when we have already booked a certain percentage of our available dates. We do this rather then block those dates but are perfectly comfortable if no one books at the higher rate. However, we never offer a rate lower than our base rate.
No, not to me.
You focus on a very small niche market. A group of guests that is does not use AirBnB as their first choice to find a place. You focus a lot on this, so this could scare other guests away.
Also when these guests look for an accessible place, they will use the filters, so no need to put it in the listing title.
Also the first description are all bulletpoints. And due to the use of caps, ~, $ and bad and useless abbreviations the whole thing is not friendly to the eye and hard to read:
"ā¢ SAVE $ w Fully equipped Kitchen. "
This just hurts my eyesā¦ and how do you think this will look in AirBnBās auto translate.
It would be a lot better to write a friendly paragraph of text.
Look at your your main competitor in accessible listings: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20458108?location=Smyrna%2C%20GA%2C%20United%20States&s=Qdzo0O0g
His pictures could be better, but his description is a lot more readable.
I would also change the main picture. Now it is just a drone picture of a green house, that could use some tweaking of the levels and curves. (The second picture is a bleached picture of the entrance, followed by an simple picture of a bedroom.)
But think of what people would like about the house, give people ideas of what the house has to offer them during the stay. For example, for summer bookings I would dress up the wooden patio, and create a family outside dinner setting, and use that as the main picture. So when people see your listing they will think: āthat is what I want for my familyā.
I donāt really get why so many people are jumping to the conclusion that hosts that might have individual nights priced much lower than average are trying to trick anyone.
You know that airbnb is the one who chooses to flag this āprices start as low asā and not include all fees, not the host.
I personally will often heavily discount the odd unsold nights left over between other reservations as they get closer just to fill them. Iām doing it to get revenue for a night that would otherwise go vacant, not to affect how my listing is displayed.
Lol, who cares what other host do! I looked at my listings and the price displayed is my lowest price plus the cleaning deposit, no ABB fees. I just lowered a few Tuesday nights to get that number down so more people will see my place. Its not trickery its business.
RR
Did you see I gave the example of a fellow with one cheap night that he had no intention of booking out? I clicked on it to see if I could book it because if I could get a $200 a night place for $50 I would stay there one night and move to another airbnb for the other nights. It wasnāt bookable because he has a 3 night minimum.
It is deceptive if the service or product is not actually available at that price. Itās like a store flyer with a cheap item, you go to buy the item and they are out and they point to the small print that says āno rain checks.ā When you complain to the manager he says āitās not trickery, itās business. We had 5 of them but sold out.ā Iām sure you would just admire their clever business sense, you wouldnāt be irritated, but I would.
Itās one thing to have nights based on demand like the hotel thatās $20 a night cheaper on T-W-Th, itās another to just have artificially low prices to get people to look.
When I was in retail they would sell paper towels on the ad for less than we paid for them, and then put them in the back of the store so you have to go past everything else to see them. Costco mixes stuff up all the time to make you search. No difference. Plus you can book my tuesday rate its not fake.
RR
It is available at that price in my case. I have a one day minimum so anyone who wants to book my cheap Tuesday night is free to do so and I will be happy to host them.
My thanks to the OP for pointing out this strategy!
RR
yes! i absolutely agree with you on artificial prices. perfect word: artificial. and, the example you gave of trying to get that elusive $50 price was spot on.
no, we canāt dictate what other hosts do, however, my point was that when Airbnb compiles a list of āsimilar listingsā to use as a comparison, i have to wonder at these low ball prices. Airbnb keeps saying lower my pricesā¦to the low ball one? trick the public the same way?
discounting prices based on demand, orphan date, etc. is not what weāre talking about. nothing wrong, certainly, with managing your booking that way. itās smart.
bottom line: airbnb cannot expect me to offer āconsistentlyā low ball prices to match the competition when that price is artificial. this certainly makes it hard for a new host, i can tell you that!
And you can book my cheap Tuesday night as well, no minimum night stay here.
RR
thank you, chris, for taking the time to critique my listing! you were very thoughtful and i really appreciate your advice.
i thought the bullets would make it easier to read. some people have said if itās too wordy folks wonāt bother reading it? Iāll look at that other listing.
appreciate your input, chris!
cheers!
I know in my own town there are some nice, inexpensive places but there seems to be more demand than supply so I just wait it out. The last minute people have to pay more, not less if Iām the only listing left. And if it doesnāt book out, I take a night off. I donāt lower my price anymore.