Personally i wouldn’t say ‘many hosts drop their prices’ unless statistically you know that to be the case.
I know in my area this statement is definitely not true.
i also think you need to edit the overall response down so it is more succinct.
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Here’s a suggestion to shorten it. I took out the comment about other hosts reducing rates because the inquiry was about your place, your pricing. Like others, I think you dodged a bullet as it’s clear from your message that you were replying to someone you thought didn’t know how to use the system. The guest’s reply was rude.
Thanks for your enquiry, pricing is specific to the dates used for booking and can vary by day of the week, time of the year, or events. The default view shows the cheapest rate during the next 30 days.
The filter has options for travel dates and budget before you start searching so you obtain a total cost for your stay up front.
If you are comfortable waiting until the last minute to book, I do reduce rates, but not until (when?) for maximum occupancy.
Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.
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No - it is not " a normal, accommodation marketing strategy.".
It is what You do, and I respect that , and it works for you, and you have every right to price your place any way you choose, and to lower your rates exactly as you see fit. So yes the strategy is normal for you.
But in that paragraph, you are not referring to only Your properties, rather the paragraph is meant to “teach” the guest how to utilize the airbnb system to get the best rate from a multitude of properties or owners, …well especially not your property…since you have made it clear that you wont accept a booking from this guest anyway.
So therefore, the paragraph does not deliver accurate advice across the board for guests, plus it teaches guests to use a wait and see approach instead of booking, and it denigrates the pricing policiies of other owners who dont follow your strategy.
I stand by my belief that the offending paragraph should be removed from future educational rebuffs and replies.
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Why have that paragraph about waiting until the last minute to book in there at all? It has nothing to do with the question the guest asked you about why the price doubled. And it encourages the “race to the bottom”.
If you want to say that YOU drop the price for last minute bookings, that’s different. Please don’t train them to wait until the last minute to book any more than they are already trained by the media.
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It’s certainly not true for us. In the event that one of the apartments has a gap for a few days, I heave a sigh of relief and get badly-needed maintenance issues dealt with plus give the apartment a needed deep (hugely deep) clean and also have professionals in to do such tasks as upholstery cleaning.
If anything, I am likely to increase prices. Anyone looking for last minute accommodation is more willing to pay higher prices.
Because we are usually back to back in both apartments, this has only happened on the odd occasion we’ve had a cancellation.
It’s not often that we’ve had people questioning the prices but when we have, I certainly haven’t gone into a long explanation. I merely say that I use Airbnb’s automatic pricing system and that they set the prices and that this is an industry standard. (This is sort of true - I do use SP but set prices manually too). That’s all the guest needs to know - one sentence.
Although I don’t subscribe to the ‘run off to contact Airbnb for the slightest thing’ philosophy, on the occasions when we’ve had obvious, via-the-message-system third party bookings, I’ve simply asked Airbnb to sort it out and they have done. Again, no need to lecture the guest.
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If I wanted to explain my prices I would default to “I use a program that changes prices daily based on demand.” I’m one of those who does not lower prices as dates approach 90% of the time. I raise them as the calendar fills. Supply drops, prices increase.
The guests who claim they know very well how it works aside from the pricing have a chip on their shoulder the size of Tasmania. No thanks.
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Maybe, I don’t know, I’ve never been asked for a discount. Perhaps I misunderstood you, I thought you were referring to guests who were looking for less expensive listings, not asking for a discount.
I don’t mind your wait-until-the-last-few-days paragraph, @Poppy. No harm in giving a “tip” that may or may not work for them. It’s them taking the risk that a place will not be available on their dates when they wait until the last minute.
That note about the issue with the system is something prospective guests have tried on with me. “Is there a glitch?” they ask when they try to book a high holiday and find it is more than the base price.
I suspect they know there is not, as all the askers seem otherwise site savvy. But just in case, I have added a note - like the automatic note of old - in my summary that says weekend and holiday rates are higher than weekday.
I do think you are well shot of that booker and the parents who taught her to be so rude.
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I hike my prices at the last minute, works like a charm!
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One of my places sleeps 12. For the first 2 it is $200 a night. With max occupancy it is $600 a night, or $50 a head. They book for 2 and want to bring 12, this is when the moaning and the bleating for a discount starts. Particularly with newbies,they think the children should be free.
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It is normal accommodation marketing strategy! It is used across the world, accommodation properties drop their prices and airlines increase theirs.
I, too, INCREASE my prices not decrease. It used to be $20 more for same day and $10 for day before (and we are talking for prices of $20-$55 + cleaning of $10-$40) and it actually hasn’t hurt at all…has helped my bottom line (although increased my last minute bookings so I am upping it now to $25 more day of, $15 day before and $5 more 2 days before. Rates are now $35-$55 and cleaning fees are $20-$50).
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Again, I respectfully strongly disagree, because that statement is a generalization that is certainly NOT true and not a fact across the board nor across the world.
As a Travel Advisor , also privy to inside data and information exchanged in the trade journals…
that is a sweeping statement that lacks fact and substantiated documentation.
Again, I feel it is a fine strategy for you …if that is what you desire, and I have no reason to object to your marketing plan. If it works for you then more power to you and keep marching on! I applaud your success.
But your assumption about the world is incorrect.
Thank you for considering nuances and shades of grey rather than absolutes.
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@Poppy I started my career in tourism and can assure you it’s not a ‘normal accommodation marketing strategy’ for self-catering properties to drop prices for late bookings.
In fact the reverse is true, availability decreases the closer it gets to a booking date and prices increase.
Absolutely do what you feel works best for you.
But as @georgygirlofairbnb says, what you state as fact is a generalisation which doesn’t hold true in many cases.
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Exactly. That is the industry standard, as I said above. And it has been since I started in this business in the early nineteen … um … a long time ago 
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Ok now I had to google the size of Tasmania. Approximately 68,000 sq km. Or 24,000 mi.
That’s big!!!
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“Cheap places attract dodgy guests” is not logically equivalent to “all guests of cheap places are dodgy”. Let me draw you a Venn diagram…
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nineteenth century?.
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