Hi @Deborah630! Well I agree with everyone: smart pricing makes your Air BNB not profitable. I set my own prices, I just wish hosts had more data to set the prices. Which months have the most searches? Which days within a month? Which weekends have the most demand and which the least? In theory the smart pricing shows a price that includes that info, so I at least look at it before setting my own price.
My experiencie is: prices have to vary. I rent a whole house at a beach town, and it’s clear that a tuesday in winter cant cost the same as a saturday in summer. My prices vary from X to 3X.
Most people rent on weekends. Having much cheaper weekdays means I have every now and then someone renting from monday to thursday, while when having a flat rate that didnt use to happen.
Do you want your place fully booked? Or do you want a reasonable amount of reservations (e.g. 30% occupation) to generate an income? All variables that are important to determine how aggresive you should be with your pricing.