How can I modify number of guest on ENQUIRIES?

[Juan623]

It's frequent that guests when looking for a place to stay, do not insert properly the number of guest in the information. Therefore the price they are shown is not the correct one.

How can I modify this variable so they can see the actual cost for the property?

As a host I would like to make it easy on them and do the changes myself, without having to tell them to dismiss this enquiry and set a new one with the updated information.

[Emiel1]

@Juan623 

If it is an inquiry, then you can sent them special offer, including the right amount of guests

If it is a booking request, ask them to retract and sent a new one.

[Juan623]

@Emiel1 Thanks, it is a nice workaround to skip the problem. 

However, I do not like it as special offers are too simplistic, and are not linked with several variables that airbnb has when doing a quotation. 

– smart pricing
– discounts for specific dates
– additional discount if the guest chose a non-refund cancellation policy

– long-stay discounts

– others

Therefore it is not clear the breakdown of the price, which can lead to less conversions from enquiries to  actual reservations.

[Anonymous]

@Juan623  You can always edit the price when sending a Special Offer. But if the dates remain open, the guest can still send a Request that is locked into the default price, if it happens to be lower than your offer.

As the manager of your own business, it's generally your job to understand your own pricing scheme, and simplify it when you find it has more variables than you're able to keep track of. The calendar does have a tool that calculates what the total price will be when you enter the dates and parameters of a booking with all your variables in place. 

Inquiries aren't all that likely to convert to reservations, since serious guests click "Book" rather than "contact host." Perhaps you'll find that they're not worth investing so much time in - you don't have to pre-approve or decline them, just ask that they look through your full listing and follow through to the booking form - with the correct number of guests - if they are ready to commit.

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous  I think it may depend on the listing and the type of guests it attracts as to what percentage of Inquiries go on to book. I get a fair amount of those who do. It's because I only host solo travelers, tend to get a lot of single women (maybe they book my place because I'm a female host or they see from the reviews that I've had so many female guests) and it's not right in town. Guests want to check that it's safe for them to walk alone the 20 minutes back and forth to town and the beach, if it's safe in general here (if they are reading the US State Dept. travel advisories and don't realize that some reported cartel killing was actually in a state 1500 miles from me), that the walk isn't too arduous in terms of hills to climb, a few things like that. And I think a lot of females traveling alone want to get a sense of the host they'll be sharing a home with before committing to a booking, in fact many have told me they'd never IB for that reason. Most of those do go on to book, although of course I also get the clueless and annoying Inquiries, like "So is it only for 1 person?" or "Do you know of any places around that accept 6 guests?" which don't lead to bookings.

I think I get a higher % of Inquiries that go on to book than those that don't, although I've never totaled it up and compared.