Advice: Price suggestions, overall improvements?

[Anthony2339]

Hi all,

This is a great tool especially for beginners such as us. We started off with this as a way to attract professionals through FF (I dont know if I'm allowed to talk about them here). A couple of our friends that do use FF said it was the way to go and people would be 'fighting' to get into our place. Well, we used them for ~3 weeks with absolutely no hits and us reaching even reaching out to possible tenants. Those same friends, emphatically told us to stay away from Airbnb. Well, with no income and starting to get discouraged, we took a chance on Airbnb. All I can say in one word is 'wow.' It has truly taken off for us. That is what led me here. Airbnb is fun, no lie and honestly I think it would be much more fun than FF.
After that long-winded intro, now is why I'm here. Ok, so far we have not had a single empty night since getting on Airbnb. There is no way I got everything right, but we haven't had a night 'off.' Which makes me think I listed my unit for entirely too cheap. I tried to get on AirDNA to get some insights, but they informed us we hadn't been on there long enough to glean any information. So, I'm here trying to see what feedback I can get from seasoned veterans. If not too much of a bother, please take a look at my place:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1232715759464368897?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=dfface2a-e35...

Please give me thoughts, ideas, feedback, etc. I think my price is too low, but we are just starting out and we want this to snowball to where we can upgrade even more to make it nicer, and well get more bang for our buck. Or is it buck for our bang?

I thank you in advance.

Respectfully,

AB

[Marie8425]

@Anthony2339 

Your best bet would be logon to ABB as a guest and shop for a listing same size as your listing and see what the competition is charging.

[Anthony2339]

@Marie8425 you know there’s a principle I try to live by K.I.S.S.  I was doing what you proposed already and I thought to myself ‘there has to be more to this right?’  Yes ma’am, that is great advice. The one thing I have learned so far is requiring more than one night to prevent the, how do I say without sounding vulgar, the ‘one night stands’ which has already happened to us. Kind of gross if you ask me but I sanitize out the wazoo. Again I thank you for your time and your reply. 

v/r,

AB

[Elisa]

Hi @Anthony2339 😊

It’s fantastic to hear that Airbnb has been such a success for you! 😍

Regarding your pricing and feedback, it's great that you're open to suggestions. Pricing can indeed be tricky.

I’ll mention other Hosts: @Angela1056, @Joan2709 and @Karen114 who might have some valuable insights on this topic.

Warm regards🌻,

[Anthony2339]

Thank you!

[Joan2709]

@Anthony2339 

@Marie8425 has provided a good suggestion to view other similar listings and review their prices and cleaning fees to see if you are competitive. I would only choose listings that have a 4.8 or higher and lots of reviews. Check their calendars and see if they are booked well. This will give you a good idea of overall pricing.

You can also use the "View Similar Listings" Tool on the calendar. Just be aware that "similar" doesn't necessarily mean exactly the same number of bedrooms or amenities. However, it can be a good general pricing tool. 

Go to your Calendar

Select some dates you are interested in

In the right panel choose View Similar Listings

A Map will appear showing booked and unbooked listings and the prices

You may also choose to look into a dynamic pricing software tool like PriceLabs, Beyond Pricing or Wheelhouse. 

[Anthony2339]

Thank you so much I will definitely look into those resources. There is so much to learn. I don’t want to just be good at this, I want to be fantastic. 

Again thank you so much for your time and energy. Everybody’s insight is invaluable and like I said I don’t want to just be good I want to be stellar!

v/r,

AB

[Shelley159]

Hi @Anthony2339 

You seem to be doing everything very well, I'm just concerned about the "I want to be fantastic" part! Unfortunately, the odds are very good that you could be fantastic and get some really bad reviews at some point, somewhere along the way (look around here on the community center, you'll see endless threads on the topic). Some hosts try very hard and don't see their way open to carry on when they get negative feedback. Rather expand it to "I want to be fantastic and yet thick-skinned" and you'll do great:)

[Anthony2339]

yea lol, I'm retired Army....trust me, I have fairly thick skin....you do bring a very valid point. Thank you!

[Marie8425]

@Anthony2339 

Suggestions

I don't encourage pricing per person.I think it encourages guess ro lie about how many people.  I rent bedrooms so my max is 2 but my usual is 1 because mostly employment related stays.  So I generally have 1 person for a long period who occasionally has a wife or girlfriend visit for a week. Knowing my market if I charge a few dollars more and don't have a price increase when there is 2.  Guests are happy, I am happy and I can discount in private on the rare occasion I an asked.  I suggest determine your market, how many days and how manty people are your usual and determine your pricing based on that information,  If youe busual is 2 or 3 Guests price for that and then an additional fee for 4 if that is the rare case.  

Review the amenities you have clothing storage, it seems access to paid laundry add  everything Airbnb lists so many because many rentals don't have and experienced Guests know.

Do a Guidebook What is good about your rental sights hiking shopping I don't know your neighborhood.

[Karen114]

@Anthony2339  Congrats on your early success!  I don't think there is anything wrong with your pricing right now if you are getting guests, good guests and good reviews.  There will be room for increasing your rates after you have a solid proven track record.  

As the others have mentioned I would defintiely be researching your nearby competition to see where you fall in line with them.  Also I do suggest a pricing tool like Price Labs for the future.