Custom pricing help with my listing

[Nancy2485]

Hi everyone

I am a new host with 4 X five star reviews. I have 17 upcoming listings. My space and property is very unique. All the guests have commented on the very good value so far. Moving forward I need to be really careful I price according to my offerings so this operation can be sustainable for me financially. I offer 5 bedrooms sleeping 10, 3000 sq feet of living space, a 20 X 40 salt water pool seasonally, and 7 acres of healthy mixed forest beautiful in all seasons with marked, private walking trails. Lots of parking, all linens, fully kitted out kitchen, etc etc. There is no direct comparable in my area to determine what I should price. The similar comparables are somewhat inline some charge more, some less. Smart pricing has been helpful but I want to start with a solid base pricing structure now that I have tested the waters with reviews. The 17 next groups have locked in on current pricing and people are already booking 2 summers ahead. I am now fielding inquiries for very small weddings of 30 people and less so I am also interested in discussing pricing policy for day guests with the understanding all rules, insurance, hosting, noise policy, is followed. 

Thank you for any help!

Nancy

[Marie8425]

@Nancy2485 

Congratulations!  Your listing .looks outstanding and your Reviews confirm.

Looking at comparables is very smart, U suggest you also determine your expenses wheen rented,.

 So you are aware what is the minimum that you at least break even.

Then though you can comfortably accommodate 10  most vacations aren't planned for that many people.  What is the average group size you have?    Calculate is your expenses at your average group size and 10 Guests.  Can you be more competitive in both markets if you did per person price add ons after your determined average?  Host sometimes with so many bedrooms lock 1 or 2 bedrooms for smaller groups to decrease cleaning costs.

Include in your photos your dining are, especially large groups this is important as one reviewer complimented yours.

For your type of listing, think of your listing has the online brochure for your vacation rental.  Use ab AI tool, write 2 versions snow vacation and warm weather vacation.  I am sure in that area there is fun winter activities sledding skating or skiing.  Activities to do when enjoying a winter vacation.  Create some Guidebooks also.  You can create 6.  The General Internet Search Engines read the Airbnb site.  They pick based on keyword matches so ties your listing because somebody is just searching vacation lodging near a site. 

When your talking use terms like gamily reunion retreat,   What ever people might search for.

Also create the Airbnb Custom Link.  Just post the link on Social Media Pages it creates a picture ad that links to your listing.

When you are comfortable with Reservations, remove the Sale pricing.  You can set a discount for length of reservation, to encourage longer stays.  Then the Airbnb Custom  Discounts, I use like the supermarket flyer.  Haha  I discount usually 3 days different for 4 different discounts.  3 days then I cab do the 20% or higher.  Airbnb markets as long as 20% discount.

Your snow pictures are very inviting.  

[Nancy2485]

Thank you @Marie8425 ! I really appreciate your response! So helpful - You have given me alot of really good advice to get to work on. 

Warmly, Nancy

[Shelley159]

Hi @Nancy2485 

I agree with you, it does sound like your place is very popular at the pricepoint, and can probably be priced quite a bit higher now.

A higher price will make hosting sustainable as you've said, and inevitably there will be some damage, maintenance etc along the way that you need to provide for. A higher price may also attract respectful guests.

For me, Smart Pricing works best when I set the minimum at a point where almost all of the nights are priced at the minimum, with only a handful of nights in the year pricing higher. This is because Smart Pricing (like the rest of Airbnb!) is very keen on a low price.

You can test that and see what price level it works out to for you.

It's possible that you may get an absurd result because our locations and listings are very different, but it's  something you can test for a starting point.

[Nancy2485]

Ok amazing @Shelley159  I'm going to test that. Thank you!

[Joan2709]

@Nancy2485 

Luv your place!

Some suggestions:

Property Type

I would change your property type to "Home" or "Cabin". Cottage implies small and your place is definitely not small. 

Pricing

I agree with @Shelley159 in that Airbnb's Smart Pricing is not very smart. It doesn't anticipate holidays or events further out and always prices your listing too low. Keep in mind this is an Airbnb product. They are in the business of making money and they only make money if you are booked - even if the price is too low. This is why she suggests keeping the base price higher as Airbnb will price too low. You can always use Custom Promotions to lower the price, but can't recover lost revenue because the listing was priced too low. Suggest you look at other locations for 10+ guest properties that might be similar, even if in another city.

Wedding Cautions

i can tell you from experience to be very cautious about accepting wedding bookings. There are all kinds of headaches with 30+ people for a property your size. You are not an event space and I can tell you that parking, overloading the septic and unregistered guests is an issue. Guests wanting to have a wedding will tell you its 30 people, but you end up with 50 as they didn't count children or the +1! They also want to setup table/chairs, tents, arbors, etc. and can damage the property. They also might want to have caterers and other outside vendors. Then you have a problem with who will be overseeing the event and alcohol. It's a nightmare. Hosts I work with that have large properties do not allow weddings or receptions on the property. They do allow the wedding party to book just for before or after, but thats it. I would check your local building codes and zoning as there may be restrictions regarding the number of persons on the property, fire safety and occupancy limits. You should probably check with your insurer regarding this as well.