Problem with the special discount calculator which won't update my base price as per my calendar

[Dee1863]

I've been hosting for only a few months and when I began my opening special price was $169 per night. Now I have several 5 star reviews and have updated my price to reflect airbnb values in my area to $251 weekdays and $270 weekends. However when I try to set a "special discount" the system says my original price is $169, not the updated price of $251. So the discount applies as 20% off $169 instead of 20% off $251 - It's a massive difference! The calendar shows my updated price but the special discount calculator doesn't recognise the base price as $251, it wants to discount from my initial price of $169 and I can't change it! Please help brains trust!

[Shelley159]

Hi @Dee1863 

How did you change the price? If you changed it on the dates themselves, that may be the reason. Go to minimum price (under pricing) and check whether 169 is still there and change it.

[Dee1863]

Hmm, that didn't work. I did have my Base Price per night and custom weekend prices set, as well as some prices I'd changed directly on the calendar. I then selected Smart Pricing and set the minimum and maximum price. It changed the prices showing on the calendar but the special discount calculator is still basing my rate at $169. Appreciate your suggestion! 

[Shelley159]

OK @Dee1863 , on the mobile app, if you go to a specific night for which you have set the special and you click on that night, details come up on the bottom of the screen. If you click on "guest total" it gives you the detailed calculation. Is that where you are seeing the 169 being used? The first line should be either your price or the Smart price x number of nights, with the next line subtracting the special offer discount.

[Dee1863]

Yes I do see it there. But I also see it against every new date I select eg. On the calendar the date selected shows as $251 but when I go to add the custom promotion it shows the base price in the discount calculator as $169, and therefore the discounted price is 20% off $169 instead 20% off $251. 

[Dee1863]

 

[Dee1863]

 

 

 

[Dee1863 · Accepted solution]

For anyone else having this issue, tech support came back to me with this answer: After review, I can confirm this working correctly as the base price of promotions is not taken from the dates chosen by the Host, but it is a calculation of the average of 60 hosted nights in order to make sure there is an actual promotion and the final price is correct, otherwise you could rise their nightly price before creating a promotion and there would not be any discount at all for guests, but it would be displayed as a discount. Thanks Shelley for your assistance.

[Rosabeth0]

Very confusing! 

[Ken4190]

Thank you very much. I'm actually having the same problem, and I would say that this is a fairly new feature of Airbnb hosting. I don't remember this being true say in July or August of this year. Did they announce this particular change?

[Shelley159]

Hi @Ken4190 

It's posdible that you used a different type of discount before (length-of-stay, early bird, last-minute). I initially thought @Dee1863 was referring to one of those that calculate the discount from the host's chosen price.

Custom promotions have always referred to historical prices and shown a strikethrough amount on the listing, which allows the guest to see the price is genuinely lower than previously sold nights. The downside is they can really drag down your price, the upside is they usually help you rank well and fill nights.

[Ken4190]

Thank you for weighing in! I'm pretty certain that the promotions used to take a certain percentage off my baseline price. As I said for my property, my baseline weekday price is $250 and my Friday night and Saturday night price is $350, and I would offer discounts pretty consistently based on demand factors. It seems only a couple of weeks ago that it is now discounting off the 60 day average price of the booking.

this is a pretty interesting price feature. The more you discount off the previous 60 day average, the more the 60 day average eventually will go down which will then meditate against further discounts.