Curious- who else is experiencing slow season

[Yadira22]

Hello All,

hope you are well.

this month has been terrible for us, anyone else? 
I still have people looking but no  much luck with actual bookings- have changed settings to make it easier to book (IB is on), updated the listing itself, spent time in the photos, etc. Anything you found helps this? 
given my location, saying it’s due to increased competition and also a bit due to brexit and season (it’s not really peak season in London) but also Christmas just passed and this is obviously a very expensive time for anyone. 
Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 
thanks,

yadira 🙂

[Helen3]

What other platforms are you listing on @Yadira22 ?

I would look at what other platforms might be relevant for your market and also speak to the London Tourist Board to see if they have any opportunities to advertise your listing on their site.

You can also set up your own website/social media channels such as FB pages to advertise directly.

[Yadira22]

Hi @Helen3 

the London tourist board, never thought of this- great idea! Thank you 🙏🏻 

honestly we only advertise on Airbnb as our occupancy is top 80% month on month, and across 7 listings this is enough! But will definitely look into it. If you don’t mind me asking where else do you promote your listing? 

Regarding marketing, we have only done organically but will definitely look into it- I know that there are several talks on this matter in the forum. 

thank you and have a beautiful day 🙂 

Yadira 

[Helen3]

I don't tend to advertise elsewhere apart from taking direct bookings as this is very much a side income for me.

If I had seven listings I would definitely be looking to diversify @Yadira22 

In your situation I would do a google search for comparable places in London and see where they are advertising.

[Yadira22]

Thank you @Helen3 we do price check neighbouring listings and remain competitive. But a reminder is always welcomed! 🙂

[Robin4]

@Yadira22 

Hi Yadira, it is not just you, a lot of London hosts that I have contact with have experienced a downturn in booking over the past few months, and I think it basically comes down to........ competition.

London is where the amount of properties has dramatically increased. On 6 April 2015, there were 18,436 Airbnb properties in total, whereas on 6 October 2018, there were 74,153 – four times the amount! There are now more than 150,000 Airbnb listings in the UK

Check out this graph which although only up to 2018 illustrates what is happening in London.

Yadira, you are doing nothing wrong, you are a great host with 320+ great reviews you can't fix what ain't broke! The amount of sheer hosting competition in London is crucifying the market.

In the US in 2017 only 11% of available hosts had a guest reservation on any given night. For every 100 hosts, 89 of them did not have a booking, and yet London is seen as the most active Airbnb hosting city in the world.

You are refreshing your listings, doing the best you can to keep yourself prominent in search rankings, I can't tell you to do anything you aren't already doing. The only piece of advice I could give you would be to find yourself a gimmick. Offer something to guests that will make them say...."Hey this place looks good"!

Mine is my cheese plate, it costs me 3/4 of 9/10 of bugger all, due to deals I negotiate with my local supermarkets.....but the guests love it and they book with me because of it I think currently I only have 3 nights free between now and March 15th and remember we have suffered through guests perception of how bad our bush-fires have been! Our tourist numbers are considerably down!

You can't change the fact that you have a massive amount of competition, it's easy for me, I only have 400 or there abouts to contend with! Each week on Porter app I rank number 1 in my area and have done since.....dot!

This isn't the Taj Mahal, it's just a humble converted garage in..... 'nowhere in particular' land, but I offer things my competition don't and that keeps the guests coming!

Good luck mate!

Cheers......Rob

[Yadira22]

Hi @Robin4 

firstly- so happy to hear about it raining in Australia and that you are safe. If we can help in anyway please let us know. ❤️ And your business will recover, sending so much love and peace your way! 

This is such a thorough approach to the matter and you are correct, competition has increased exponentially since we started hosting over 3 years ago. Plus a lot of money has been invested in the area we live and host in meaning the local economy is growing, as is the immediate competition. You win some, you lose some I guess. 

I don’t know what I can offer, honestly after all the bills already profit is not exactly amazing- but the mortgages and bill are being paid easily enough so I am happy! 

Thank you anyway! 
Yadira 🙂 

[Paul1255]

Hey @Yadira22  I hope you are well.

All my listings are pretty much fully booked for January and February.

There are a lot more listings than guests clearly as @Robin4 shows in his graphic, and this is driving down prices in London and I am sure elsewhere too where the market is saturated.

Have you dropped your prices down? Sad to say that is the only way I have managed to get my listings booked for 2020 so far.

People are still coming to London, they just have a lot more options and much lower priced listings to choose from.

Paul.

[Robin4]

@Paul1255 

Paul you know your patch much better than I do mate, but gee, I hate this 'headlong rush to the bottom' stuff!

It's fine to say you price your listing to current market trends in your area but, what if everyone is losing money simply by trying to compete, does that mean you should join the queue and lose money too?

Because that's what you are eventually all going to do! In an endeavour to attract bookings you are going to keep on lowering your prices to the point where each guest will actually cost you....and Airbnb will rub their hands with glee!

I consistently receive those emails from Airbnb telling me a number of prospective guests looked at my listing but decided to book somewhere else that was X amount of dollars cheaper........

I don't give a...... proverbial, I seem to be attacking my fair share regardless of what others in the area charge,  those emails, to me Paul, are an insult.....I host to a quality not a price. Between Airbnb and Stayz I am fully booked till half way through March.

I am lucky, I don't have to lower my prices but, if I did Paul, I wouldn't, I don't need business that badly that I am prepared to buy it! If my price is too expensive, that's fine, I will stop hosting!

Cheers......Rob

[J-Renato0]

Hello @Robin4 

Great thoughts on this matter.

Maybe you already know. I came to know this recently.
You can get rid of the price comparison with other hosts by setting "sharing settings", by going to "prices" menu item.

[Yadira22]

Hi @Paul1255 

hope you are well and thanks for the message. 
we also dropped the price but not substantially but enough to make an impact and still feel comfortable with it. 
Truth be told, I have very limited authority on this- I advice heavily on strategy and carry any changes out myself but the homeowners have the final say! It’s only fair given how our working model works. 
I did see a strategy that I wanted to try out but honestly it seems a bit “click bait” like and insincere from a London host. They put the minimum stay to 5 or So and place the first day at £10 or something and increase the nightly rate as to compensate the difference from what the first Night is and what it should be.

Example 

normal night rate: £40 

minimum stay: 5 days 

total by normal: 5*£40= £200

first night: £10

night 2-5: (£200-£10)/4= £47.50 

imagine this strategy across the whole house and with a £7 first night and £160 other nights. 

An idea but still not quite for me but can absolutely see this working- throwing it out for anyone risking it. 

thank you anyway! 
Yadira 🙂

[Helen3]

I agree with @Robin4 this race to the bottom in terms of pricing is not a sustainable marketing approach to use to generate bookings. (as disclosure I head up a marketing and PR  team as my day job so have some expertise on the subject).

In Bristol, where I am based I am in the top 10% of comparable listings pricewise,  but also have one of the highest occupancy rates when many of my fellow hosts in Bristol with comparable listings are having issues filling their listings.

As you will see I live in an inner city area but I am still attracting bookings in the low season

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/29980982

Not everyone making a booking is so price sensitive that they go for the lowest price. I ask all my guests who book with me and consistently they choose based on photo's, my listing and my reviews even though I am definitely not the cheapest.

What other listing websites are you using for your portfolio @Yadira22 ? In your situation this would be my focus to help generate additional bookings rather than dropping your prices.

As you have seven listings I would also look at having your own website/FB page so you can take direct bookings (this will be added value for the listings you co-host).

And as I mentioned before look at third parties such as the London Tourist Board https://www.visitlondon.com/where-to-stay and local universities and businesses to see what opportunities are available for you to advertise with them.

Happy for you to private message me if you want any further ideas.

[Yadira22]

Hi @Helen3 

thank you for the input.

1. Pricing

i put it down by 5% or so it’s not substantial in terms of monetary value but impactful enough.

I absolutely agree pricing should be the absolute last thing you should touch, unless by some miracle you are able to maintain profit margins etc at a lower cost, whilst maintaining quality. It’s all a balance because the last thing you would want to do is price yourself out! And London is not cheap!

3. My issue

I am receiving plenty of traffic but limited convergence- this is my concern. 

I have updated my listings, photos, changed the check in time to be earlier, despite my personal views and comfort on this. My rating has remained the same (solid 4.9* overall, have 370+ reviews, and superhost 11 quarters). I really do not know what is happening- unless it’s due to a bug blocking bookings (which I doubt but can’t rule out) or pricing, combined with increased competition.

4. Other sites 

I would definitely do these but my concern is 

-6/7 listings are single bedrooms 

-“entire listing” by law can only be rented out 90 days per calendar year within London and unfortunately Airbnb’s competitors favour this one option only. So the bulk of the year will not be covered so private rental might be an option. 

5. Private Message 

I did not know you worked for the NHS- it’s an awesome cooperation! That’s amazing. 

I really do appreciate the offer to help (sooooooo much, honestly thank you x 100000000) - you are so sweet but as it’s a convergence issue not sure how to best approach it or what else to try. Heck even updated up guidebook and wrote another to improve on this. 

Thank you anyway, 

Yadira 🙂

[Helen3]

Hi @Yadira22 

I think you mean 'conversion' issue.  So you are still getting views but they are not converting to bookings...is that what you mean?

I think as discussed the London Airbnb market is way over saturated so this will be having an impact, along with Brexit having created uncertainty. 

My understanding is that you can integrate your calendars if you use other listing companies so that you don't exceed the 90 day limit?

@Paul1255

I know you co-host in London too, can you advise @Yadira22  about other listing platforms to try and how you integrate calendars so you don't exceed the 90 day limit?

[Yadira22]

@Helen3 
omg lol- sorry auto-correct! Conversion is the correct term! How embarrassing 😭😂

We get views but have had little luck in converting them into actual bookings. 

i know I can integrate the calendars as to not exceed the 90 days rules but as mentioned above airbnb’s competitors mainly favour “entire listings”. Meaning, we would need to look marketplaces for  “single rooms” only as to accommodate this and will do this during the weekend! Thank you.