Pricing abuse

[Keith-and-Lorraine0]

I'm moving over to Air from VRBO and am trying to get my head around settings for pricing.  On looking at several properties near me it seems quite difficult as some are abusing the cleaning charges in order to get their headline rate down.  For instance instead of an average $150 clean they show a $400 cleaning charge whereby their nighty rate gets reduced significantly and probaly means they get more hits.  Do we all join in this game toi an end result of free nights and a $1000 cleaning charge or is airbnb going to somethiung about it?

[Kelly149]

one thing to keep in mind is that a cleaning charge is always 100% refunded if a guest cancels before arrival

when guests search without dates, then abb adds the cleaning fee to the nightly rate and shows that as the rate, so that idea could backfire

I consider the cleaning fee more of a setup fee so it is actually a discount for a 3-5 night reservation before a weekly rate kicks in. Abb has recently added custom discounts for any number of days you want to choose, so you can create the same effect without the cleaning fee

[Matthew285]

@Keith-and-Lorraine0, I agree it is dishonest to try to game the pricing system as described.

I don't think that having a high cleaning charge and a low nightly rate will result in many bookings, though.

Once the traveler gets to the point where they are choosing dates, the listings with the high cleaning charges will be revealed as more expensive. It's not like the guest is fooled with hidden charges that they won't know about until they check in; the guests know the final price before they even submit a booking request.

You are an experienced host, so set your price as you see fit.

The people trying to game the system won't beat you.

[Keith-and-Lorraine0]

Thanks, I appreciate your comments. I guess my concern is that although it’s not tricking the traveller with hidden charges it probably helps ensure the property has lots of hits due to the headline rate and that in turn probably boosts its metrics bumping it towards the top of searches. 

It could be construed as being clever but I would prefer it if we all competed on a level playing field without any smartass tactics.  Dream on I guess.