Price change for Canada Day Weekend

[Joanna88]

Hi!

I am a brand new host. I have listed my apartment without working out all the pricing details and now I have guests coming for Canada Day weekend but not for the price I initially intended. Would it be rude to message the guests, asking them if they would consider a price increase? I understand that it is my fault but it was an honest oversight. Should I just leave it as it?

Thanks for your advice,

Joanna

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Joanna88

It's unfortunate, but you are obliged to host the guest at the price they were quoted when they booked.

Use it as a learning experience and look at all other holiday weekends, etc and put up your price and consider what minimum number of nights you want during that period.

Putting up your price, and getting the guest to agree to it, will probably lead to a justified negative reivew, which you really don;t want.

[Joanna85]

The first thing I did was realize the calandar is up for 90 days so I quick adjusted my price.  It took me a second to really sit and think about what a busy weekend is, what do charge, when the 'slow time is' since I"ve never done this before.  Then I adjusted it more as I got more bookings.  I realized my price was way too low, then I bumped it up...but I always do across the board so that I don't lose out on money as I"m trying to just sort of feel my way around.  I have my break even number....I know what's too cheap so I get a flood of bookings or if the price is not right I don't get one at all in a week.  I saw on here someone said if you are 75% booked the current month and 50% booked ahead you are right on track.  I also block days if I think remotely I might be needing time off..like my son MIGHT want to go to some tournament, so I blocked that week just in case.  I can always change it but once you get a booking, you are on the hook.  And remember as each day passes, a new day on the calendar is added, so everyday you need to make sure the price is right on that day 90.  

One thing I learned quick--is people really hone in on the listing...they catch it if it isn't what it should be (to their favor) and hang on.  You can't change midstream.  Just think of your first few bookings as part of the learning curve. Keep things simple until you get the hang of it.  

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Joanna88

ah.. it happend to me too , first time just minutes after I made my listings public and still setting up my prices and the second time when I got instant book in August for a new year and I was not thinking so much ahead

Both times I let them stay with a price they booked , learning curve... 

"Funny" thing is that my New year Franch guest gave me a low star rating for value while I could get 3x higher price for that period. Unbelivable. 

[Joanna88]

Thanks for advice. I kept it as is and learned from my mistake 🙂