How Do You Determine the Right Booking Price?

How Do You Determine the Right Booking Price?

Hi everyone, does anyone have suggestions on the best way to set booking prices?

6 Replies 6
Elaine701
Level 10
Balearic Islands, Spain

Ok, I took a brief look at your listing. Looks very nice, suburban home in Indianapolis. 

 

I do not know what the market is like there, but I generally use a rule of thumb based on understanding at a macro viewpoint what the market for STRs are.

 

In general, guests perceive "accommodation" as something compared to hotels. Yes, a "home" is much different than a hotel, and in many ways more desirable, but they're  booking an Airbnb much like they book a hotel, and price is still a comparative factor. 

 

So, a basic rule of thumb hotel charges around 50$ or € per night per person. That goes up as the quality of the hotel increases. As it does in your case. 

 

Then you should compare all the ways your offering is better than a hotel (to the guest looking for that kind of accommodation). It's better than a hotel. I'll get to that later. 

 

And there's the capacity of your "home" offering. So, let's say you have 4 bedrooms, accommodating up to 8 persons. If you use the 50$ rule of thumb, then you should be able to get 400 per night. It's a bargain compared to a holiday inn, because your place is more like a home. That's a good rule of thumb. 

 

But.. it also depends on your market and high and low seasons. If you can be largely guaranteed bookings in the summer for example, then you can probably get 500. But if there's only certain days or weeks when demand is high, then you may have to stick with 400 except during those high demand dates 

 

But then, what about the "low season"? Say, November or February? Chances are, you won't get a lot of interest from an 8 person group willing to pay 400 per night (or 50 per person) . But if you can price-appeal to couples or maybe 2 couples, then your whole house is going look pretty attractive. So, you may need to use a per-person price model, instead of a one-price-for-whole-house model. 

 

And if you choose the per person model, be aware that the whole house is a dream for say,  a couple. So, you can make it rather pricey for the first 2 persons, say maybe 120-150 per night. And then charge a bit less for each extra person, say, 30 or 40 or 50  per night.

 

If your house is really super, then you can and should stay at the higher end of the price scale. It will book a bit slower, but you'll make more money and generally receive very nice guests. You just have to be patient. 

 

In general, it's always better to stay priced a bit above your closest competition. The least desirable guests tend to target whatever is cheapest first. Compete on the basis of quality, not on price!

 

It may be totally different in your market, but this is what I've learned in the past 15 years.

 

I hope that helps. 

 

Good luck and happy hosting.

Thank you for breaking this down so clearly. I really appreciates the simple way you explained pricing, hotels as comparison points, and how seasons affect demand. The per-person idea makes a lot of sense and gives me something new to consider. I’m grateful for your experience—it helps me think smarter about how to price moving forward.

 

-Rene

Elaine701
Level 10
Balearic Islands, Spain

@Lamika2 

 

Oh, thanks for the compliment, but there's another important consideration.

 

If you fix on a per-person pricing model, then in the "high season" when you're guaranteed to get a full house booking at full price, you could suffer getting booked for that entire season with couples at 1/3 the price of 8 persons.  Because it's too cheap to resist!

 

The only solution isn't all that difficult, but it creates more problems. 

 

Would you like to hear about that?

Thanks, Elaine!

 

I'm new to AirBnB and I'm thankful for your advice coming from a veteran and experienced AirBnB host. I'm not sure if you can check my AirBnB but I hope you can give me advice on how to improve as well coming from a newbie.

Cheers!

@Rene3394 . In addition to @Elaine701 excellent advice I'd simply add do a budget to work out the minimum cost to open your doors per night ie include all those fixed costs you cant avoid, add the variable ones such as utilities and cleaning, not forgetting replacement of wear and tear items such as linen, breakages, annual maintenance etc etc. Then add a % for profit (you arent a charity).

@Frances3408  @Lamika2 @Rene3394 

 

Agreed with Frances, but would add that your accommodation costs are all recovered in the first night or two. So it's probably wise to set a minimum number of nights.

 

I have 5 in low season, 7 in high season. You need to adjust for what works for you. 

 

But generally speaking, don't allow one night stays. You can't recoup your cost of accommodation in one night. Or make any profit. 3 nights minimum. You aren't a hotel. 

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