Esteemed hosts, friends, ladies and gentlemen, the time has come: the serious problem that has always plagued most hosts everywhere must be faced once and for all, and, therefore, it will be done here and now, without hesitation, without stupid indecisions. However, the right listing price. I mean: how do you calculate it?
An answer to this question today is given by a woman named Emily who is neither a host nor a guest. It’s not to be believed.
To be fair, I used AIRBNB with a satisfying outcome on the behalf of my father some time ago.
Not now. Not anymore now. I do not intend to give that old host a new life.
I have hosted anything and everything: California dream men, tuaregs without a camel, melomaniacs, Barbie girls with a change of clothes to make Lady Gaga envious, dancers, dentists, Miami beach lifeguards, Middle-earth dwarfs, Indian paleontologists, Olympic athletes, Japanese androids and Dublin electricians. In short, a cast for a film by Federico Fellini.
A memory that still tickles my heart, and lives in the flavors of a past more than ever present. For example, the guest book, which I still keep locked in a drawer of my desk in Milan, and occasionally smells to soothe this feeling of nostalgia. What remains is the love and the longing.
Do you want to know what my approach to prices was?
And so it shall be, ladies and gentlemen. I am referring to Milan. Art city. Strong flow of visitors. Well connected area.
When I started (in the Jurassic period: I still remember the Brontosauruses in the cathedral square) I had absolutely no idea of what price would have been appropriate. So, I looked around (ads for rooms similar to mine in that area of that neighborhood and services offered) and I tried to figure out how the bloody algorithm of AIRBNB worked. The first results generally corresponded to the best ads for that category.
At the beginning, to climb the summit, I did prices slightly below the average to get bookings and good reviews.
Then, reached the coveted summit, disregarding badges, trophies, scores, pressing invitations to lower prices, I raised the prices, but not taking them “off the market”.
Price differentation: weekend, weekly, monthly, seasonal (September-October = students and teachers, March-April = beginning of exhibitions, events (Furniture Fair, Fashion Week, etc.), synchronizing the calendars on multiple platforms to avoid overbooking.
But I had not considered two variables: cleaning costs (independent of the number of nights) and AIRBNB charges: I thougt I need to reconsider my marketing policies.
I had some limited success, but more needed to be done. So, I asked myself: "What are you doing wrong, bad girl?" I saw the top ads, the most glamorous ones that I had not previously considered.
I tried to understand what really made those ads really special. I decided to expand my range of action. A small makeover, some slight modification of the offer (better quality) was enough to make the difference, to make the stay more comfortable and "exclusive", intercepting a higher target market. Result? My occupancy rate suddenly rose.
Without listening to the melodious song of AIRBNB sirens (with warm wax, plug your ears, like Ulysses, and let yourself be tied by the co-host to the ship's mainmast), finally you will understand in which price range you can put your room/flat reaching your Ithaca!
But be careful, ‘cause the right price should not be established forever, but it’s something that must be conquered with the sweat of your brow: in a hypersaturated market, constantly keep an eye on your price, taking account of competition and escaping the pitfalls of Scylla and Charybdis, Circe and Polyphemus.