Smart Pricing dropped prices during peak season.

[James4425]

I’m a new Airbnb host and have been using the smart pricing tool, which has worked well until recently. I noticed that bookings for next year have all defaulted to the minimum of my range for peak season. I accepted a guest without realizing this issue. Is there any way I can cancel the booking due to an error in Airbnb’s system?

[Joan2709]

@James4425 

Unfortunately, you can't cancel the reservation (without penalty). It is the Host's responsibiity to always monitor their pricing, whether using Smart Pricing or a 3rd party Dynamic Software.

Many Hosts don't use Smart Pricing (it's not very smart) for this reason (and others). It is not very good at predicting demand far out like in your case and doesn't always capture local events in the area that would necessitate an increase in price. You can always manually override a smart price on your calendar, but that means you have to actively monitor your pricing and not rely on Smart Pricing (or any 3rd party pricing software) 100%.

Smart Pricing

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1168

[Shelley159]

@James4425 

It's not an error - smart pricing just doesn't "see" something right now that causes it to lift the prices above the minimum.

[Mary1523]

Nope, you can't change a booking just cause the price you charged isn't to your liking. As per the other host responses.

FYI

I don't use smart pricing, and even then, I've accidently taken bookings at normal, not peak rates for weekends that should have been priced higher. It's my fault. (I know now when i change my default weekend rate, it overrides any special weekend that might command a higher rate).

Live and learn for next time

Kind regs MK

[Paula]

Hello @James4425, welcome to our community and to Airbnb!

Although this situation might be common for new hosts, our experienced members have shared some great advice. Have you had a chance to review their responses?

Please let us know if you found this helpful.

Best regards,

[James4425]

@Paula I certainly did read the responses. I am just sad to see that your tools are not up to par. I ended up spending an extra $20 a month on price labs for a better tool. You would assume a company with as many resources would be able to create a pricing tool that didn't drop prices in peak season, both parties are losing money when this occurs.