Guests seeing different prices

[Huei0]

Hi I am a new host and still trying to learn everything here.

I just got my first request which was for his girlfriend.  He eventually told me the reason his girlfriend did not request herself was because it showed $67/night to her but $50/night to him. $50/night is the price I set and I have smart pricing function off.  

I don't understand why they were seeing different prices which can become a big problem for me.  

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Huei

[Diane1253]

This happened to me today. I cancelled my reservation completely. This is total BS. I'm very disappointed in Airbnb. I will not be using them in the future. Way to treat past customers! What a joke! Owners need to complain!  They charged me $817 and my friend $639.

[Robert6321]

Wow this is incredible to read, I thought a host was trying to pull one over me, here’s the story -

was looking at a place for 2 nights on a given date and it showed $408. My wife also saw this as $408. I messaged the host to ask about activities, and after our chat I went back and the listing was now $450 for me but was still $408 for my wife. I noticed all dates had gone up for me! I thought the host was trying to pull one over me and had raised the price on me, knowing I was about to book. This is astonishingly bad software & business practice by Airbnb and has left me with a sour taste over using the app. The host nearly got accused of being unethical had I not done some research into this first. 

[Kim-and-Jen0]

The guests will see the smart pricing price if they are coming within 4 months. But it is more than 4 months booking the base price will be shown. I hope this help 🙂

[Sarah2458]

I had a similar situation to the others below - but in my case I was getting wild gaps in price based on whether I was logged into my account or not.  I recently searched for accommodation while logged out of my account and noticed a steep increase in the cost per night (for the same dates) once I'd logged in.

This leads me to belief that Airbnb price the room according to my demographics (age, country of origin, Airbnb history) - which, if that's the case, doesn't take into account income variation within these categories, for example I'm currently a volunteer working in a middle income country and therefore don't have the spare cash that other people my age in Australia might have. 

Also feeling very disappointed in Airbnb.

[Sarah2458]

Searching to book just now I go $17 AUD when logged out and $39 when logged in. That's a 230% increase!!!!!

[Huei0]

Thanks!

The smart pricing is not on though.

The following was the answer I got from an AirBnB Expert:

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Please be advised that search result page pricing now includes any additional fees you have set on your listing, pro-rated across the term of the proposed booking. This includes a cleaning fee and any additional guest fees.

For example, a base price of $100 per night with a $50 cleaning fee will display as $125 a night for a 2 night booking.

======

This explains why people might see price differently.  It doesn't really explain why the guest saw $67/night (my price is $50/night, $10 cleaning fee, and $10 for second guest/night).  But I understand better now.  

Huei

[Suzy86]

No, that doesn't solve it. I have two diffrent accounts and the one I book with regularly is being quoted higher rates than the one I never book with. I went through the booking process on both accounts to test this out and I get the reservation for $50 bucks less on my never used to book account than on my mostly used account. This is so lame,  it's discriminating my renting history and uping my prices! Should be illigal. I don't trust Airbnb now. 

[RitaDeCassia6]

Suzy, it happens almost the same to me. I use Airbnb a lot (as a guest) and recently I realised that the prices shown to my sisters and my friends (who barely uses Airbnb) is a lot lower - just now I saw a difference of almost 50% - this is INSANE! And really unrespectful to say the least. Lost my trust in Airbnb as well.

[Charles946]

As a software engineer you'd be surprise at kind of crap they get away with.  Agreed, it's not the fault of the hosts.  Airbnb fees are astronomical, which is why it's in their best interest for hosts to use price discrimination, I mean smart pricing.

My use of airbnb has decreased over time.  I started using other alternatives https://medium.com/@airbnb_review/top-8-airbnb-competitors-not-who-your-might-think-417d6b3514e0.  Until they buy up those competitors, and pretend like they are competing against each other.  I recommend deleting your cookies/browsing history and going incognito to compare priceshttps://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95464?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en.  There is even greater price discrimination pending the country you are searching from, there are ways to trick your computer and browse from a different region.  

[Julius78]

Hey Charles! I'm trying to figure out at the moment how to trick my computer to browse from a different region! I'm using a browser based VPN on chrome and tested it from ipcheck to confirm its working, however airbnb still seems to know where I'm coming from. I have not cleared cookies etc, would that be the differentiating factor?

[Sean1253]

I was just  browsing apartments from Europe, and I clicked on 'allow cookies' and the prices just flipped in front of me. This is awful! I will be firing up my VPN!

[Merouan2]

Thank you! I also used to use airbnb a lot and was quite surprised to realize that they charge my girlfriend and I (both heavy users) more than my little brother who rarely goes on vacation. I am quite shocked about this and will definitely look for alternatives now.

[Sarah977]

@Merouan2  Host's prices are set. It isn't the host's price per night that changes, it's the Airbnb fees. Also the algorithms will show different users different listings before others. It might show your brother cheaper places first, and have a lower Airbnb service fee because they are trying to get him to book more often.

Whereas you book a lot, so they aren't so concerned about trying to attract your business, because they alteady have it.

[Lance180]

Agreed. My last two bookings the posted rate one day was higher the next that I booked. I think the algorithm or whatever drives the business model can tell when your interested/viewing a property. If you return to book it they have tweaked the rate knowing you’re in the hunt. Maybe I’m wrong but it’s starting to look like a pattern. 

[Ann752]

Same thing happened to me when I added property to favorites list