I found the “Price Tips”. Sorry for the confusion.
Price tips are a marketing algorithm. They display (if I remember correctly) as tips like “we recommend you list this place for $69.” You change to $69 and it comes back saying “we recommend $59” and just keeps making suggestions that are ridiculous. People call it the race to the bottom. These can be turned off in notifications/marketing. I have had all of the marketing options turned off for years.
Smart Pricing is found in the calendar options. You set the high and low parameters yourself because the default will be ridiculously low. When you say you tried it and it set your rates way too low, that tells me you didn’t set it up at all, you just turned it on.
If the lowest rate you will accept for a night is $100, then set $100. Set the high at $400 or whatever you want. It will adjust your nightly price within that range, just like PriceLabs without the monthly fee.
Its important to note that when you view your own calendar, you will mostly see nights displayed at the bottom parameter but when someone books, it is rarely at that rate because local availability of other spaces is taken into consideration and the rates rise. You can still go into individual days and ranges and manually set dates if you wish. It also picks up on popular dates in advance. It’s a great tool and makes pricing very simple.
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What I meant was not that I would have to figure out how much the payout should be according to fluctuating smart pricing, but that if Airbnb made an error, it wouldn’t be immediately noticeable if I didn’t know what smart pricing had shown the guest.
Airbnb once charged one of my guests double my nightly rate. I noticed that right away, and 5 minutes after the booking had been confirmed, got a message from the guest asking if it was correct, as she couldn’t afford that.
I told her I saw that as well, told her it was wrong, that she should call Airbnb to sort it out and that I would as well. Airbnb said it was a glitch, that many guests had been charged double that day and that the guest would be refunded the difference.
If I had been using smart pricing, I wouldn’t have known it was a glitch- I would have assumed smart pricing had set the price at double and it would have been more complicated to sort out.
Also, as mentioned, while other hosts may find it weird, I don’t want my guests charged more than my set price just because an algorithm decides it’s a “popular date”.
The last time I checked out Smart Pricing was when we just started almost 5 years ago. Is it possible that they didn’t offer the lower and upper limit yet at that time?
Now I saw it and configured it. I’m going to give it a shot. Thanks for your detailed explanation!
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I will say from my experience, and that of others I’ve talked to, it does seem to perform better in seasonal markets to see the most benefit. It has surprised me in off season though with some of the bookings I’ve gotten.
I’ve been using it for about 7 of my 10 years hosting. I’m not doing Airbnb to get rich but I don’t like leaving money on the table when there are options. Good luck.
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We have a basic accommodation, without fancy amenities. It’s a practical studio to have a good rest and a nice hot shower - no big living room or kitchen. It’s for guests who work in the area or tourists who explore the tri-border region (Germany, Switzerland, France).
We face a lot of competition - no idea how those investment properties pay their bills but they offer rates like 45-50 a night, sometimes no cleaning fee, located in big apartment buildings with paper thin walls, poor insulation and lots of traffic in front of their door.
When I first tried out the “Smart Pricing” without a “bottom” limit, it would have priced us even lower than that, but we have a gated property in a very calm area in the city center and the studio has its own private entrance. We’re always available in the same house in case guests ever need help. We consider this as added value which many guests mention in their reviews. This is why we price our studio a little above the competition, so we may not get more bookings but at least I don’t have to stay up to date on every single event in Germany, Switzerland and France close by to up the prices for certain weekends etc. Let’s see if Smart Pricing will do that for us.
It’s a test.
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Your setup sounds similar to mine. I started with a private room/bath in my home 10 years ago and it went great for me, I’m probably one of the longest continual hosts on the island where I live. Three years ago I added a 300 sf studio below my home (I’m on pilings as many coastal homes are) and both listings are top 1% guest favorites. The studio has a washer/dryer, kitchenette with a 2 burner cooktop, a private patio and access to my hot tub. I provide a basket of snacks, coffees, creamers, shampoo/conditioner, body wash, beach chairs and towels, a wagon for hauling and many other amenities.
When I opened the studio I changed the private room to mostly direct bookings as I have a lot of returning guests. Some of them have been coming the entire 10 years I’ve been open. I have hundreds of reviews and only a handful that aren’t 5 stars. Guests bring me gifts, invite me to dinner with them and I have even traveled to visit a couple of them. It’s been an unexpected lovely addition to my retirement life as I’ve lost both a spouse and a child and it’s a way to keep busy.
I look forward to many of these return guests visits. I’ve watched them marry, have children, divorce and just celebrate life. Almost every one of my reviews mentions the care and thoughtfulness I have put in my units. I also feel, like you, that being onsite is a big plus for guests because when we live here, we take care of the home, everything works and we are right here if there’s an issue.
I guess I’m kind of rambling, sorry. I feel Airbnb rewards us somewhat for using their services exclusively. I’ve got consistently high search placement, a high booking rate, happy customers and a little extra spending money. I hate all the negative comments I read from hosts and guests, it’s really been a good experience for me.
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