Why would I use Smart Pricing? (no seasonal rates)

[Becca1603]

Hello,

I hope I'm just missing something. 

I like the idea of Smart Pricing. However... my peak season prices are always SO LOW when people book early. Smart Pricing looks at the calendar and sees that demand is low, so drops my nightly price way down.

Should I just ditch this and set up static seasonal pricing using custom pricing rules?

[Shelley159]

Hi @Becca1603 

I would leave Smart Pricing turned on and set a high minimum price that would be appropriate for high season (at a high minimum, it's not unusual for most or all of your nights to display the same price). For dates in the near future (before the popular season) that likely won't get booked at the high minimum price, set a discount. You can adjust the discounts for different dates according to your strategy.

Keeping Smart Pricing turned on ensures that you won't miss out if the prices for some high season nights go higher than your set minimum (which will likely not happen until much closer to the high season).

The above is the simplest way - you can also do your own detailed seasonal pricing using the Professional Tools feature if you don't mind the extra work (this may be what you mean when you say you're considering using custom pricing rules).

As an aside - it seems some hosts have run into technical problems with dates where they've manually typed prices directly onto the calendar (instead of just setting a minimum and letting smart pricing do the work). I haven't seen large numbers of complaints about it here, but I've had these technical issues myself and I'm having such a problem right now - for some reason I can't get a very straightforward promotion to run on a handful of my nights where I had previously typed a manual price. I can't find any error or understand why. Some other hosts have also reported problems, not identical to mine, but also strange issues on dates where they had previously manually typed prices to override smart pricing. As there could be some glitch, it may be better to think twice before manually typing a price on the calendar (if this is something you were considering).

One more thing on the high minimum price that I suggested above: the moment your price increases (in whatever way you choose to adjust it), you could take a hit in search results, as you probably know. You'll need to keep an eye on where you rank and make sure you don't price yourself right off the pages (or at least not for dates that you want to get booked soon). Hope it helps.

[Becca1603]

Thank you for your reply! I will try this! But I agree, this still isn't ideal if my nightly rate is displayed as too high.

[Alicia753]

Hi Becca,

You're not alone in finding Smart Pricing frustrating for peak-season bookings. While it can be a helpful tool, it often doesn't account for the nuances of local demand patterns or your personal goals as a host.

These are the reasons why Smart pricing might be under valuing your listing.

1. Early Bookings vs. Real-Time Demand: Smart Pricing adjusts prices based on current demand but doesn't predict the higher demand closer to peak season.
2. Local Market Variances: It often fails to account for events, holidays, or unique factors that drive demand in your area.
3. Floor Price Limitations: The minimum price setting might not fully protect your desired earnings for peak dates.

To maximize your revenue, you can try to set static prices for peak seasons to ensure you're earning what your property is worth. You can adjust these prices manually if demand exceeds expectations.

Example: Use Airbnb's calendar or a pricing tool like PriceLabs to create distinct rules for holidays, festivals, and local high-demand periods.

Pricelabs offers the flexibility to set custom base rates, minimum prices, and seasonal overrides, ensuring your peak season rates reflect their true value. It dynamically adjusts prices based on daily demand trends, local events, and competition, helping you capture more bookings without undervaluing your property.

With features like occupancy-based adjustments and event pricing, PriceLabs lets you increase rates for high-demand periods or adjust them to fill gaps in your calendar. By setting minimum price thresholds, you can avoid the common issue of undervaluation for early bookings during peak times. Its market insights dashboard keeps you informed about local trends, so you can fine-tune your strategy to stay competitive.

I hope this helps.

All the best,

Upfish Management

[Becca1603]

Thank you. We are a very small operation, so I have been hoping to avoid another subscription. But I will take a serious look at PriceLabs. 

And as a note to Airbnb, the Smart Pricing feature is proving to be more detrimental to our listing than helpful. Seems like an obvious flaw in the algorithm- people start booking their peak season vacations early, when the demand looks "low." Stop pricing my cabin at my minimum rate all summer.