I have a question about Smart Pricing!

[Kim225]

I have chosen the Smart Pricing option and set my minimum and maximum nightly price. Just received a reservation for an amount significantly under my minimum.  Why is that happening????

[Marit-Anne0]

@Kim225

You do offer a weekly discount - could that be it ?

[Jan288]

Does anyone know the phone number for Airbnb for hosts?Does anyone know the phone number for Airbnb for hosts? I had $180 for a minimum on my condo and strict cancellation policy. Smart Pricing just rented time out for $160 a night far in advance, for Spring Break time which is busy for me. Then, they allowed a very easy cancellation! I have to turn off smart pricing I guess. But that is very unfair and they should pay me the difference, even if the guest cancels!

[Steve143 · Accepted solution]

Hello @Kim225,

You have smart pricing on so prices will vary according to the date, have weekend pricing set and allow a weekly discount but you don't give any details of the dates or amounts involved so hosts here can't help with specific calculation advice.

Here are some pointers to things that might explain the difference:

1) is the stay long enough to trigger your weekly discount?

2) does the stay include a weekend? The weekend pricing feature doesn't work if you have smart pricing turned on. See the 3rd bullet ppoint in this article

   How do I set custom prices for weekends or holidays?

If the above suggestions don't explain the difference then you'll have to contact Airbnb support.

Steve

[Adrian164]

Smart pricing just offered low season rate to a high season 2018 booking - unable to get any sense out the call center - reported a bug and Airbnb say they do not repsond to individual cases......

Come on Airbnb you can do better than this - is there a problem with your smart pricing algorithm?

[Vincent216]

Smart Pricing is anything BUT!!! I have already lost hundreds of dollars on prime rental periods based on prior history over the last four years WITHOUT smart pricing! Why would you issue a price a HALF if the going price for the Christmas week?!? Almost TWO MONTHS ahead of time!!

It’s taking me a lot of effort to set up minimum prices. More effort than if I just set prices ahead of time!

[Alicia242]

@Vincent0 Any tips on how the new algorythims are working here on Airbnb? This is such BS.. I think we are better off setting our own prices for the year. Time consuming I know and I am leary of the pricing companies like wheelhouse their reviews are not all positive. Smart pricing doesnt seem to work well...Many people book just a few weeks prior to their trip. However, during busier times of year they can book many months in advance for ex: I live in Salem Ma ( Halloween capital of the world) people start searching soon. I dont want to be overseen because Im not setting the min and max price. Why is this so confusing?! 

[Rick-and-Deana0]

I just opened up our calendar for our mountain place for the month of February since we will be traveling and **bleep** Pricing recommended $151 or less per night.  I set the price between $295 & $355 and the month is almost completely filled.  I expect the last 6 days to fill soon. This only took a week.  NEVER EVER trust Smart ?!?! Pricing.

[Jan288]

Does anyone know the phone number for Airbnb for hosts? I had $180 for a minimum on my condo and strict cancellation policy. Smart Pricing just rented time out for $160 a night far in advance, for Spring Break time which is busy for me. Then, they allowed a very easy cancellation! I have to turn off smart pricing I guess. But that is very unfair and they should pay me the difference, even if the guest cancels!

[Malcolm-And-Eilidh0]

I've had this problem more than once. Not good enough Airbnb.

Just had a high season booking for August this year. 3 nights at my minimum price.

[Vicki93]

My smart pricing is compleately off. Prices should be higher during high season and lower during low season. Smart pricing did exactly the opposit for me. 

My rental is in Florida and Winter season is very busy. Smart pricing picked the lowest prices. Looking at July and August which is the lowest season I see higher prices.

I now have to turn it off and do pricing manually.

[Elisabeth40]

I used and trusted smart pricing for over a year. I do not recommend that tool. The tool itself is maybe a great idea, but the algorism is not working out, probably bc the developers fed it wrong.I am just guessing, that smart pricing tool, has wrong infos or no idea about how much the actual rental pricing in particular areas in different cities is. I came to a conclusion, that if I use smart pricing I maybe compete on a world rental markt with countries or cities where the rental prices are way lower as mine. My ratings on my listings felt after using this tool for over a year, my guests got worst, and the reviews from guests who probably even cannot pay my actual rental price are still sometimes hard. It's not like people value that you give away your flat below the actual rental price.

[Kathleen872]

I too found smart pricing very odd. I priced my Florida tropical suite for $112 min $150 maxi when I searched Airbnb for my property I saw it as low as $81 and as high as $165 per night. My place is perfectly priced at $112 perhaps during high peak season maybe $150. I too think pricing manually is the way to go. When guests see $165 they are going to be put off as that’s way too high for my suit which is suitable for two guests. 

[Jessica484]

This happened to me too!

I rang airbnb and they rectified the situation by asking the client if they would be happy to pay the extra.

All was resolved but this took quite a bit of my precious time!

[Jen127]

Here is how I handled the problem.

I had Smart Pricing turned on.  I had min price set to $68 and max price set to $200.  This week, someone booked my place (instant booking with no discounts) for $55.50 per night.  I thought, gee, I did something wrong.  Again, last night, someone booked my place for $55.50 per night.  I immediately checked every setting.  I'm very well-versed with using the settings, and have never had a problem until this week (also, I'm a Super Host).  I called Airbnb and they actually told me that Smart Pricing will ignore your min/max pricing settings.  I immediately turned off Smart Pricing and went in and hand-priced each month; my location is very seasonal.  Super Hosts are permitted to cancel any guest's booking within 24-hours for absolutely no reason at all.  The next time my place books for less than my minimum, I am going to cancel the booking and send an explanation to the guest.  My price is exceptionally economical.  It's the absolutely lowest I can go.  For me to book less than $68/night means I lose money (my cleaning lady charges me $50/cleaning, and I build that into the $68, so you can see what I mean.