Smart pricing - Does anyone actually use it?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

Does smart pricing work? 

Does anyone know if it just uses the pricing suggestions which always seem very low or does it have better informed algorithms?

Any help appreciated

[Ricardo85]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

(1) Turn off SP

(2) Know your market and set your price

(3) Use "Rule Sets" to do some pricing strategies

Ricardo

[Emilia42]

@Mike-And-Jane0 There is a huge misconception with Smart Pricing. YOU are in complete control. So there is no "My prices are too low." You are setting your minimum price and smart pricing will never fall below it. If you think your prices are too low then simply raise your minimum. 

I used Smart Pricing last year but it only works for me in the high season (summertime) so I turn it off in the off season and manually adjust my pricing. I will try it again when people are beginning to book for summer in my area again. It did make me more money then I normally would have made but you have to keep an eye on it and adjust as needed.

[Larry339]

@Mike-And-Jane0 I tried smart pricing as a new host and felt the same that prices were too low and turned it off.

However, I did not set my minimum and maximum prices with the smart pricing option. As a test, I recently placed a minimum and maximum amount and turned smart pricing back on. To my surprise, the prices are a bit higher than what I was going to charge.

I am going to try it and use some custom discount promotions with it. We will see how it works out?

[Emilia42]

@Larry339 If you did not set a minimum and maximum price, you did not activate 'Smart Pricing.' You used the suggest Price Tips are are insane and always undercut a listings true cost by A LOT. Price Tips commonly get confused with Smart Pricing. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

Thanks @Larry339 for this.

Please could someone explain why I need a maximum price. Do I care if theorise goes super-high or does this just risk not getting booked?

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 , I use it but not their suggested low and high, I set my own based on the max I expect of both and then I lower those prices the closer I get to "Today" according to what the trends are saying, if there are more looking and less available-the price stays higher,  if there are less looking and more spaces available- the price goes lower.  I am always ready to compete for those instant bookings, that has worked pretty well for us and we get lots of bookings even close to "Today", after all, a little higher prices and far less bookings isnt a good thing, you can't get an unbooked day back once its passed, good luck, experiment a little and see how it goes, JR

[Lisa723]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

I am very happy with www.usewheelhouse.com. Much smarter.

[Robin129]

I have it on for my future dates, like four months out and beyond. I set new rates about three months out. I generally do not have guests booking more than a couple weeks out.