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I know this is a common complaint but I can’t find a suitable thread to attach it to. I’ve been hosting for almost 8 years and this is the first time ever in all that time that my calendar is empty for the next two months.
I’ve played around with things, switched on smart pricing, checked other similar listings for pricing etc etc, I don’t know what else to do. I know that nobody can really help but it just seems so strange?
went through the same thing…completely clear calendar with no Airbnb bookings at all. Thank goodness I have a few strings to my bow!
Rang Air to see if there was a silent block…took months to get a booking .
So I guess I just have to wait for my son to become that superstar editor and bring in the millions. Sorry guys, I’ve been out for drinks! This is my boy’s video (it’s UFC so not to everyone’s taste) but it was a hit on youtube. Just say it’s great, lol! And forward it to anyone you know who has money to spare and wants to invest in a young talent.
This has been the case for 2 seasons…absolutely booked solid March, April and May and then nothing to speak of for 2 months…the height of tourist season.
This will probably be my last year on Abnb…it just isnt worth it.
I’ve been through this every year since I started. Panic, no bookings! But then they’d start to trickle through.
This year is different. Just nothing. Ah well, might be time to give up.
I think it depends on your target market @Magwitch .
I get quite a few young people coming over from Europe to live/work and have noticed a definite slow down in bookings from them due to all the delays/confusion around Brexit.
I also notice I don’t get so many bookings when I am booked up over the next few months as Airbnb drops you down the rankings .
At the moment I am booked until the end of November.
I think the tourist season slows now schools are going back. Luckily for me quite a few of my guests are coming to visit friends/family.
Have you searched for your listing and if you have instant book on if your place is still instant bookable?
Air took my instant book off without informing me for about a month and only got two booking requests during that time. I was told this can happen if you cancel on someone (also if you cancel because you are uncomfortable with the guest, there is no such thing as penalty free cancellation), guest cancels on you or you decline too many requests.
I think back to school time there is usually a slow down. There is for me anyways. Then it switches from tourists two more business Travelers, military personnel and their families, and parents of students at the local colleges
I’ve canceled guests and had no penalty, that is, no drop in search. I’ve had guests cancel on me But I cancel very few, probably one or two a year which with my volume equals about .3-.5%.
However if you have a combo of several declines and cancels and guest cancels together in a relatively short period of time (which is what you seem to be describing you had) then yes they penalize you.
@Magwitch Do you use Rule-Sets? There seemed to be some issues with those towards the end of the summer. A few people reporting the same thing, no bookings at all and then found their calendars were blocked in weird ways and/or charging strangely during the booking. I started using them in mid-August and then didn’t get a single booking for a couple of weeks, which has never happened before - I have a very high occupancy rate. When I read about these other people, I went in and removed all of the rule-sets and got 3 bookings that evening. Not sure what the glitch is but removed them all and it (seemingly) worked - I’m booked as usual now.
This happened to me and they said it would sort itself out, that it would be looked at again in a week so this is what I did, I turned off IB myself for two days and turned it back on and it worked.
RR
I had this exact problem. On July I got stuck or it seemed so, to rule sets that appeared from nowhere and to even localize this issue was very hard. After a while I figured out that it always added the rule sets when I changed the prices on my calendar. Airbnb support was useless for this one (too), but couple weeks passed and the rule sets stopped appearing.
Thanks everyone for the replies, really appreciate it.
@JJD @Elli Please tell me what are “rule sets”? I have never heard of them before 
I’ve checked everything and IB is definitely on and I haven’t cancelled anyone, not even declined an inquiry.
… and this is why it is not a good idea to put all your bed nights in the Airbnb basket.
We had almost zip from airbnb during July and August, but fortunately directs and BDC came to the rescue. This month, mostly airbnb, but I know if it dries up I can drop BDC prices and fill our remaining nights.
JF
I agree but we’re not doing any better anywhere else we are listed, either. It’s too hot for motorcycles, the kids went back to school, and the river is so low it’s been declared toxic. I don’t expect anything to improve until the weather does.
True, if you list an entire property. But for us in-house hosts there are very few other options for short stay rentals.
Ugh. My friends here have already told me to shut about my climate apocalypse gloom and doom. But the reality is that many hosts are already suffering and will continue to do so. That’s why I feel so fortunate to have the kind of Airbnb business I do that has such a large non discretionary component.
Update: I switched off smart pricing and got a booking today.
Yay! No idea whether the two things are linked. Probably not.
The booking is only for two nights in October but at least it shows that I’m still visible somewhere.
Got a booking today for a long weekend a month away. Place has been vacant since the Labor Day Weekend guests checked out on September 2. Had only bogus inquiries since then until this morning. I am not surprised, our weather sucks in September.
