Should I lower my price if I turn instant book off?

David3418
Level 4
Ringwood, Australia

Should I lower my price if I turn instant book off?

Presumably, turning instant book off will lower the number of bookings I get (Airbnb say having it on can lead to up to double the number of bookings). I recently turned it off to have better control. So, should I lower my price, and if so, by how much eg is there some general guideline on this, such as 20% less or whatever?

 

I want to maximise my income/bookings.

2 Replies 2
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@David3418  Considering that you have good reviews (but I would try to get that star rating up, if possible) why not just leave your pricing as is, if you feel it's fair for what you offer and your location, and see how it goes? You could always drop the price in a month if you don't get the amount of bookings you are happy with. If you have such a low price that it attracts bad guests who make up reasons to demand refunds, or damage things, the lower price might not make it worthwhile.

And understand that Airbnb wants everyone to use Instant Book because it makes the money flow in faster for them, it doesn't have anything to do with wanting you to succeed. So they are constantly pushing IB and making us think that all guests prefer to book like that, which really isn't true.

Maia29
Level 10
Anchorage, AK

I’ve lowered my price several times to get bookings. Yes it does work; however, some of the guests i received were really, really, really bad and if could go back in time and change it, I surely would. 

 

Not all money is good money.