A guests wants a lower rate

[Jordyn4]

Hi all- 

A few months ago we had an inquiry for a month stay next summer. 
The guest reached out again after locking down their dates and noticed that our rate had increased. (After our 1st year I always planned on increasing the price)

They said their budget for the month is about $1,000 less than what we made last summer for the same dates. 
Although I would love to not have to worry about the house for a month, I also know this is a business and losing $1,000 is a big deal. 

Should I try to explain this to them and/or negotiate? Or is that a bad idea? Not sure how to handle this situation. 

Thanks in advance for your help! 

[Maureen242]

That's a tough one

[Helen3]

I would just explain to these guests that your listing is priced to reflect the quality of the listing. @Jordyn4 

That you understand guests will have a budget for their stay, and that as yours is not within their price bracket that a solution for them would be to search for the accommodation critieria they want and set a maximum price, they are comfortable with,  so that only properties within their budget will appear in their search.

[Sarah977]

@Jordyn4  I can never figure out what makes people think that their financial situation and budget is of any interest or concern to a complete stranger. Do these people go into the supermarket and try to negotiate a lower price for their groceries? Haggle at the gas pumps because the price of gas was 30 cents lower a month ago? 

I guess if these people were looking at your place based on the price they originally saw, it's a drag for them that it suddenly increased. I'd either do what Helen suggested, or perhaps offer them a slight discount, but not try to accomodate their budget, which is none of your business.

I'd also be wary of a long booking when guests start off talking about their budget. What if they damage things or leave a huge mess behind them that requires significant extra cleaning? Have they budgeted for extra costs that could be incurred?

[Ricardo85]

@Sarah977 

Perfect!

Ricardo

[John-And-Donette0]

Great post. It’s been my experience from hosting  that most any  “special request” sends up a red flag. It never fails that the “special request” guests are the most difficult to accommodate.  It’s taken me a couple years to  form thick skin.  My nature is to want to please everyone - but it’s come back to bite me too often.  At this point, 99.9% of the time I reiterate what is in my listing and  AirBnB policy. If I lose a booking, I figure I dodged a bullet. 

[Anonymous]

@Jordyn4  I can tell you right now, guests with attitude of entitlement are likely to give you the very opposite of a worry-free month.

A long vacation is an extraordinary luxury. What kind of person would ask a stranger to take a pay cut because they couldn't be bothered to make luxury plans that fit their budget? They still have the option of choosing a shorter stay, a cheaper listing, or a different destination. 

I can sympathize with their disappointment with the fact that they waited too long to book and missed out on a bargain. But the kind of people who think that's your problem rather than theirs are not ones I'd trust with keys to my house. 

[Lisa723]

@Jordyn4 

Nope. If your price is fair, somebody else will book at it. As @Helen3 said, they should look for a place that meets their budget, and not wait months to book.

[Danielle681]

Hi Jordyn,

First off, great job thinking ahead of increasing pricing after a particular time based off your expenses, length of time running your business and maybe events.

We had 1 similar instance and before pre-approving their inquiry, what we did was first off thank the person for their continued interest in our vacation rental. We let them know that we have very high standards of hospitality and hosts are always available and on hand throughout the entire booking process (the latter indirectly lets guests know how your attention to detail which is something you can't put a price on).

We then pre-approved the enquiry and let them know that we did pre-approve their enquiry should they wish to book at the current price set and if not, encourage them to visit other listings which had varied prices and styles that may suit their needs.

We end off with inviting them for a future stay and reminded them to follow our updates on social media for interval specials! We know everyone travels with various budgets in mind and may not always be aware of price changes or understand the need to. For the latter we hint on our site that we made minor upgrades throughout the listing. So maybe this is something you could look at? (your call)

I hope this information was helpful Jordyn. I know everyone has their style of writing and hospitality standards and I'm sure you will be on top of it. 

Best wishes to you coming from Barbados!

[Emilia42]

@Jordyn4 

This happened to me last summer. It was a new listing and a traveling nurse wanted to book the entire space for 3.5 weeks. Her budget was X amount which was fair and nice not to have to worry about it for a month. I agreed. She canceled about a week later because she could not get out of her current lease. Back on Airbnb it went and I ended up making over three times as much. Don't sell yourself short in the summer. That is when people are traveling and that is the time to charge a premium price. 

[Cathie19]

@Jordyn4 . As you have already been well advised by @Lisa723 , @Emilia42 , @Danielle681, @Anonymous , @Helen3  & @Sarah977 , I can only recount similar views.

*  You’ve done your  research and know your property value across the year: stick to it.

*  Guests who chip away at your values or pricing, will chip away on other matters : such as care and house rules.....

*  Airbnb Community STR platform is very varied, to meet the needs of a guest against a host. 

Therefore: they are not a good match! 

Noting: $1000 is no small amount of money to give up as your amenities and utilities are still being used and wear and tear for a month can be less caring......

It’s a thanks, sorry, but no thanks!

The four Fs:

Be Fair,

Be Friendly

Be Firm

..... the fourth is a quietly  rude response, under your breath...... to go elsewhere......

shhhhh.

[John-And-Donette0]

Excellent post. 

I deal with this far too often, people wanting to negotiate a lower price.  

I’ll remember the 4 F’s! 😉😂❤️

[Lilly28]

@Helen3 @Cathie19 

I have a question about pricing. Last year/as well as the last 3 years/ in our country Airbnb price of any accommodation was formed by the nightly price+cleaning fee+ service fee. People in our country often omitted cleaning fee - so the price was almost always quite reasonable.

We - the hosts had to pay yearly tax as usual renters, I mean as renters giving their flats for long time, usu a year.  

Now a new law is introduced. Every guest for every night has to pay tourist tax and VAT, as hotels do. How I can add these amounts to the nightly price? How do you think I can manage to compete with even hostels not to mention hotels? 4 guests = 4 x tourist taxes + nightly price for 4 +  cleaning + service 13% + 10% VAT = ??? AND - we are NOT allowed to withdraw any expenses! by the end of the year - we still have to pay tax for everything - electricity, water, food, towels, cleaning, any items bought by the end of the year according to the whole amount received by guests. 

Is the situation the same in any other country?  I think hotels are paying taxes minus expenses for business, but NO - this is not allowed for any airbnb - even for a single room!

[Helen3]

Have a look at pricing under Airbnb Help @Lilly28  hopefully this will give you some guidance on adding taxes and VAT.

Sorry I am not aware of how to do this as we don't have this in my country.

Or give Airbnb a call.

Good luck.

[Lilly28]

@Emilia42 

On top - we have to pay 250 euro to be verified as hotels are and 125 euro - for registering every year, and some more for god knows else - i.e. every year 5 euro for every bed into the accommodation - by the tourist quaters of the city council. Our listing has to be connected with the tax authority as big shops are - and we will be obliged to go to the Tourist Ministery every month to give them the monthly tourist tax due according to the number of guests we had the previous month - but we are not allowed to ask it from guests - we have to pay it from our pockets, as the authority are sure that our price should include it.

The most important things - oh - I have gorgotten - are Fines - they start from 500 euro for every single non-complience and finish till 5000 euro!