Pricing Tips

Pricing Tips

Dear fellow hosts -  

Has anyone yet surmised how the algorithm works for Smart Pricing?  My floor price is set for $39.  Today there was a "tip" to lower my price because

  tip.JPG

 

And the room is listed at

tip1.JPG

 

That means, that people in my market are booking rooms at $15.   Please, someone find me a property in my market that is booking for $15 because if they are booking for $15, you all should be flocking to Durham as we speak.  That's less than the cost of the Uber ride from the Airport.  That's less than the cost of 2 beers in town.  That's less than the cost of a single hour of LIVING WAGE in the US (minimum wage is $7.25 so $15 barely covers 2 hours of work).   

 

I'm looking for some sane voices in a swirling sea of insanity in my mind right now.  

6 Replies 6
Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

I think one has to be 'insane' to figure it out - so that leaves me out from contributing. Seriously, I have tried to figure it out many times for fun, still escapes me.

'Pricing Tips' is also an enigma, when I hit it (again for fun) it tells me I should charge 1/2 of what I do IF I want to get bookings - but my place is booked for almost 2 years ahead.

It is plausible these programs were written by aliens.

Or just computer nerds who can't get a date on a Saturday night and get their entertainment by creating unfathomable programs.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

I also love how they tell me the places that use instant book got 198% more views. When in fact, that is because they decided to make instant book the default setting, which I'm sure some guests don't even realize, so they only see the places that can be instant booked unless they turn that filter off.

Greed is a nasty animal.

Katie201
Level 4
Salt Lake City, UT

I refuse to do Smart Pricing because of what I've seen suggested in their "price tips." So I don't know exactly where they get their smart pricing rates, but I do occassionally use price tips when trying to increase my ranking. And from what I've seen recently, I'm convinced that their suggested rates have absolutley nothing to do with anything except what they think they can get the hosts to lower their price to. Here's why:

 

Usually the price tips I get suggest lowering my price by about $10-$30. I recently started using Beyond Pricing and they increased my rates by about $20-$40, and in some cases by almost $100. So if the price tips were actually generated by what Airbnb says they are (seasonality, location, how far out the date is, etc), then you'd think that the price tips would now suggest lowering my price drastcally, by $50-$100. But guess what? Price tips STILL suggest lowering my price by only $10-$30!

 

So now I'm convinced that it's just a calculation of what suggested price is lower than the host's current rate so that more guests will book, but not so low that hosts would just dismiss it outright as ludicrous because of how much lower it is than their original asking price. I mean, if I haven't had a booking for a few days and Airbnb was suggesting that I just lower my price by $10 to start getting bookings again, then I'd be WAY more likely to believe them and use their price suggestion than if they suggested that I lower my price by $50.  And because more guests will book if more places are listed for cheap, Airbnb's price tips and smart pricing have to have more to do with convincing hosts to continuously lower their prices.

@Alice-and-Jeff0

 

I usually take a look at price tips when I need something to laugh about. They are soooooo~~~ ridiculous!!!!

 

I'm like~~~ "look here you idiot algorithm~ how stupid do you think I am to price myself lower than a single bed in a 6 person dorm room at a backpackers guest house that is farther away from city center than where I live." 

 

Airbnb is in it for the money.... they don't care if hosts actually end up loosing money hosting because the majority of fees come from guests and also there is no shortage of hosts. There is so much evidence that shows Airbnb cares way more about whether GUESTS have a good experience and get their friends to use airbnb next time they travel.

 

As long as I'm paid what I'm owned and I am able to be selective about guests according to the rules I have in my listing description, I don't really have any other expectations toward Airbnb other than it's just a site to find guests 🙂 I do wish they'd try to make the pages more user friendly though..... 

Marzena4
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

I've been on SP for quite a long time now, @Alice-and-Jeff0, and in such cases as you described (I also got a number of emails from Airbnb and prompts me in the calendar) it seems to me that "those other bookings" must have been for more people. I mean in my listing max number of ppl is 4, and my prices are best for 1-2 ppl. But the algorithm takes it globally. And simply picked up the total of a reservation that I supposedly missed.

 

// "The only person you can trust is yourself"