Do your guests ask to negotiate the price?

[Quincy]

Negotiations.

A word that we have probably all encountered many times in our lives, and perhaps an action that we may have practised ourselves at one point. Negotiations when buying a car, negotiations when buying a property, the list goes on. 

Treading very carefully here, I am aware that in some regions negotiating the price is not common practice. However, since everyone has a different style of Hosting, how do you view guests who try to negotiate the price with you? Have you perhaps ever negotiated your asking price, and what advice would you give to other Hosts?

I look forward to reading your answers (please go easy on me 🙂). 

Thank you,

Quincy

[Debra300]

@Quincy,

I do offer discounts to locals, regional travelers, and returning guests, but they book with me directly.  This courtesy isn't extended to potential Airbnb or other OTA guests.  It's not my job to supplement their vacation, relocation, or in-between-homes stay.  Also, I believe that if a person can't pay the listed rate, they surely cannot afford to pay for any damages that they may cause.

[Helen427]

@Quincy is this leading to something the AI / IT Team are prodding us on?
I ask as we have recently had a "Make an Offer''  "Opt in" ( not Opt out) additional Notification on one of our local Buy and Sell Online platforms here in New Zealand.

It's limited until the first bid is placed and on the surface surface brings to mind, "Where there's smoke in AI/ IT there's usually fire.." and they try roll those things in other areas of our lives.

[Loni56]

@Quincy  tenho tido essa experiência

o convidado que pede desconto

ele nao esta se importando com o que voce esta oferecendo,de bom!

ele só quer um preço bem baixo

para ter dinheiro bastante para passear e comer nos melhores restaurantes!

[Stephanie]

All those wondering - this topic came up because we saw that for the last 12 months, there has been a  consistent amount of people searching for "how to negotiate the price" and other such combinations on the Community Center search.

All your excellent answers here will provide guests searching for those terms, a realistic idea of what they should expect from Hosts, if they try it when they book.

Thanks

@Helen427 @Ann72 @Mike-And-Jane0 

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie  Wait, so Airbnb is using the answers here to make some kind of changes? Quincy seemed to say the opposite.

[Stephanie]

@Sarah977 Didn't say we were changing anything.- when a guest searches on the CC about negotiating prices, this thread will come up in the search results.

Thanks

[Ann72]

That makes total sense @Stephanie.  I would do the same kind of digging in running a business.  I'm glad you guys reached out to us to get a sense of how we feel about it.  I think we've demonstrated there isn't much room for negotiation, so I would assume Airbnb would not encourage guests to do this.  None of us can control the Reddits of the world, so there will always be guests who heard somewhere that it's what they should do.  But experienced hosts have learned how to say "no" to these requests.  I hope new hosts searching here find support in doing the same.

[Ted307]

We have had some request a lower rate. Someone wanted to get a lower rate to become a monthly tenant. No, if we wanted a monthly renter, we would not be on AirBnB. The others just flat out asked if we could give them a lower rate, so we answered "no" and declined the booking request. One requested again, and we blocked that guy. That probably hurts our ranking in the search engine.

If Air is noticing that renters are searching for lower rates, maybe the company should put up a page about us hard-working hosts, who make all this possible, and how we deserve higher rates for our unique experiences than the cheap motel down the street!

[Ann72]

@Ted307 and Chris, agreed!  People are not very bright about money.  They see that a motel room is cheaper, but they don't factor in the meals they have to eat in restaurants versus eating at home, the greater comfort, more space (usually), the money they save in tips - the list goes on.

[Sarah977]

@Ann72  Not to mention the washed once a year motel bedspreads 🙂

[Gillian166]

euwwwwww, that made me laugh. 

@Ted307  100% agree! (some) Guests seem to think we are lolling around in a hammock just collecting their money.  We had a good suggestion from a guest recently: to put up pics of what our home looked like before we did the giant reno, just to give people some perspective and understanding of how much we've done to get to this point. Kinda like spruiking yourself for your hard work, in a subtle way. 

[Fred13]

Recently I been 'experimenting' with a new way of thinking. Thinking backwards.

   I rather hit the economic goal I would be happy with, with the least amount of bookings;  which has allowed us more time between guests, having to spend less on guests overall, less wear & tear, etc, etc. And we also get to use our place for personal use, it is now all more fun.

  Now giving discounts whether asked (or not), comes across obviously foolish and definitely unnecessary.

[Fred13]

I forgot to mention, then after setting the goal of only wanting to work 'X' amount of days, come up with a price and stick to it. What has been surprising however is that we are still getting fully booked, so back to square one.

[Kelly149]

@Fred13 every host, everywhere would do well to play the 8th-grade math game of "which one is the better value?"

A nights x $B = $AB

0.5A nights x $2B = $AB

0.3A nights x $3B = $AB

You don't know how far you can take the rate until you raise it... and every night you get at a higher number is two more that you don't have to take at the lower number... No host should be running at 100% occupancy, IMO

[Fred13]

"No host should be running at 100% occupancy, IMO." That is the toughest thing to believe and thus to learn. It has taken me years to see this. If only I would have believed it years ago, surviving the Covid fiasco would have been soooo much easier.