Airbnb proposing discounts of 24% and 64 percent

[Peter1854]

The suggestion from Airbnb to discount the product by 24% weekly and a whopping 64% monthly is ridiculous and shows to me lack of understanding or  respect for what we do.  I do not think that we price our product with margins this high. Further our booking partner. (who defines themselves as a marketing firm )  does not share in this discount in that their percentage remains the same.

I do agree with the idea of discounting weekly and monthly to promote users to book for longer time frames, to promote this idea, I have the following suggestion.

1-reducing the percentage they collect, (the same percentage on a lower amount is not sharing in the discount).

2-that we establish a reasonable percentage of discount for this plan, my take on that is something between 20-30 percent

would like to hear what others think about this?

Thanks 

[Sarah977]

@Peter1854  Experienced hosts do not pay the slightest attention to Airbnb's price tips. As you say, they are ridiculous. The only time I look at them is for a laugh.

As for Airbnb reducing its service fee, it's kind of pointless to suggest that, as they will never do such a thing.

They aren't our partners, they are just a listing/booking platform. Their only concern is their company profits, and everything they do is just a means to that end.

[Mark116]

@Sarah977  Even so, a 64% discount is pretty silly, that would mean, as an example, for us we'd be offering an entire 2 bedroom apartment with a fully stocked kitchen, for $35 a day, which is insane, I hate to even think the kind of guests I might get at that price. 

[Sarah977]

@Mark116  A 64% discount is indeed absurd. The price tips I get are that I should charge $19 for a private room, very artistically designed, with a private bathroom and full use of my kitchen. Private entrance to the guest quarters and seating for them on the balcony right outside their room, with a beautiful view of jungled hillsides. Tea, coffee, cream, oil and spices available for the guests. If I subtracted my expenses, that would leave me with about $15/night and I don't even charge a cleaning fee. You can't even get a shared hostel room with a shared bathroom for that in my town. 

And why would I offer weekly discounts when my average guest stay is 10 days, anyway and I've had lots of guest comments that my place is great value. No guest has considered what I charge to be too expensive.

[Debra300]

@Mark116, @Sarah977, @Peter1854,

We all know that inquiries and booking activity will let us know if our rates are out of sync with our respective marketplaces.  If you get too many requests, or from an undesired guests, then your rates are probably too low.  On the other hand, it may be a good indication your rates are too high if you aren't getting any requests, and you see that the calendars of your competitors are filled. 

Maybe in it's earlier days, the pricing tips were useful to hosts, but nowadays I believe only the novice host may get duped into turning it on.  It's Airbnb's rational that they can make the same amount or more from several low priced bookings as could be earned with one market-rate booking. Like Sarah, I look at the pricing tips only if I want to laugh.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Debra300 I would normally agree that booking/view activity is indicative of correct pricing but at present things are massively skewed by Covid. I fear that many hosts will panic and reduce their prices to stupid levels which will ruin the market for everyone. I am confident that guests will book but some may well wait, in the UK, until the Government actually makes it legal to holiday again.

[Peter1854]

Thanks for the confirmation of what I think.  It's confirmation that I am not crazy or insane.  It seems constant the airbnb wants me to drop prices or use their suggestions.  If I were to do what they suggest, I would go bankrupt.   Sara is correct, looks like the only concern is company profits, at my expense is just fine for them. 

I have not used any of the suggestions, I stick with what makes sense for me.  Business is coming back now, I know it has nothing tot do with my pricing, but because things are better regarding Covid. Something. else I have learned, it makes most sense to offer 3 nights or more, anything less, is not worth the effort

[Sarah977]

@Peter1854  I've always had a 3 day minimum, 2 week maximum. When I first listed, i figured that if I didn't particuarly like a guest, at least I wouldn't have to put up with them for more than 2 weeks. And the 3 day minimum is because I didn't want to charge a cleaning fee ( I clean it myself- takes 1.5-2 hours), so the cleaning time spread out over 3 days is reasonable.

3 day minimum works for me because people come to my town on vacation-usually for a week-2 weeks. They aren't just passing through or coming for a day or two on business. So it doesn't really lose me business, and if it does, so what. 

I know a lot of hosts, though, rely on 1 or two night bookings, or weekends, and that's their most common booking timeframe, so a 3 night minimum isn't practical for them. And there's so many different hosting styles and goals. Some really aim for 100% occupancy, even if that means rushing around every day or two to turn over a place- some, like me, aren't interested in that kind of stress and actually like a bit of a break from guests, like a day or two between bookings.