Why do I suddenly have no bookings?

[Marie70]

Hi! 

When we first put up our listing on Airbnb, there were a number of enquiries coming in everyday. But since the last 3-4 days, there's a sudden halt in enquiries.

I wonder if anyone encountered the same issue recently? Is it something wrong with my listing? 

Some enlightenment from other Hosts/Airbnb would be of great help!

Thank you  😊 

[Lisa-and-Chema0]

Hi Dede!

Nice to make your acquaintance! You seem extremely knowledgeable about all things airbnb!

I was wondering if you could offer me any insight into 2 of my listings? Recently bookings have completely disappeared, I'm very nervous :'( Nothing for December yet on the whole house one, I've dropped all my prices from 85 average in whole house to 69 and the room on the 2nd link from around 55 to as low as 39....

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/18328814
Entire private luxury home in heart of Boise

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/9959127
Private luxurious suite 5 min to downtown

This is our 3rd one but it seems we're a little more booked up in the next 90, although I've had no inquiries or bookings for over a week on that one too...

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/18257435
Luxurious private suite in the heart of Boise

I'd be so grateful for your help!

Best, Lisa

[Raquel13]

Dede, you seem to be insightful and savvy and I'd like to get your input as to why the bookings, and even messages asking questions, have suddently stopped.  Would you take a look at my profile, please

[Dede0]

Just quick impressions, @Raquel13. I mostly don't see anything problematic. But... Your house rules do run more than just a little long. (I quit reading less than halfway through; suggest you limit them to what REALLY matters to you, not just everthing you would like people to know.) Also, your listing doesn't seem to mention a minimum-nights booking requirement but when I played with your calendar I encountered multi-day limits. Likewie, your cleaning fee of $85 is off-putting to guests wanting to book for only 1 or 2 or 3 nights. First, make your minimum stay easily apparent and then possibly reconsider your cleaning fee. That's a start.

Lastly, it's possible that the slowdown you've noticed is just seasonal. Depending on your location, summers can just be slooooowww. They are for us.

[Raquel13]

Dede, thank you for your speedy and helpful response.  Yes, my rules are long because I allowed the attorney in me get a little too cautious 🙂 I will fix it as well as number of days.  Thank you so much for taking the time to check my listing, and I hope you don't mind checking my listing again to see if my changes make sense 🙂

[Dede0]

@Raquel13, since you're an attorney, I'll probably have to bill you at my $400/hour rate for glancing at your listing. I'm sure you'll understand...   🙂

[Anisha1]

Hi Dede,

we have been facing the same issue. can you please look into our listing?

Anisha

[Dede0]

Looking better. Here are some additional thoughts:

Your calendar actually looks pretty full going two, three, or more months out, so I don't think a temporary slowdown beyond that necessarily means much. (We don't even open dates more than three months out except for special events that people tend to book 6-12 months ahead.)

Your base rate is shown at $118, but I notice that you tend to individually set lower rates for most days (lots of dates below $110, all the way down to $88). Your base rate doesn't seem to come into effect until months out, so I suppose you haven't gotten around to tweaking those dates yet. That said, I think you should consider lowering your base rate to something in the range that you end up applying to most of your dates. Make it $110 or $107 or whatever better represents the rates you end up charging most of the time. And then set higher rates for whatever specific dates you think you can get higher rates for. That's what we do.

That makes your visible base rate lower, which might result in more people clicking on your listing, or for your listing even appearing in search results when they're filtered at the lower price range. If they like what they see, they might be more inclined to book even when some of their desired dates are a few dollars more than what they saw coming in.

One last idea and one that you might consider but might also just ignore: You state an additional charge of $25 per person for each guest past 2. How did you arrive at that charge? If you run some numbers on your actual incremental costs per add'l guest, is it really around $25 (for add'l towels, sheets, utilities, amenities, wear-and-tear)? If it's less, you might consider lowering that a few bucks. If doing that increased your bookings by a few nights per month, it might be worth the loss of $5-10 per night. That would depend, of course, on how many of your bookings are for 1-2 people versus 3 or 4. Play around with the math...

[Raquel13]

Dede, thank you for your insightful and valuable feedback.  I haven't used the "base" pricing option, I'm not sure I'd know how to do it.  As for extra guests, the incremental costs are basically extra laundry and more cleaning time.  I used to have a fee for extra guests above 4, but  I started having such large groups that I thought I needed to make a change.  Frankly, I don't calculate anything, I just know my fixed monthly costs and know I have to make above that threshold.  Again, thank you Dede.

[Dede0]

To see/set your base price, go to your calendar. Click on the unlabeled button with 4 horizontal bars, found near the upper left. When the menu slides out, click on Pricing. From there you can set a base price that will be applied to any days that you haven't already individually set a price. You can also set a second base price that applies only to Friday and Saturday nights.

[Raquel13]

Dede, thank you so much for your guidance, I really it appreciate that you took the time to help me out.  Wishing you much success in the months ahead!!

[Susan66]

Hi Dede, I have also been experincing slow bookings and wonder if you would take a look at my profile? I charged $75 per night (for 2) last year and was fine - but now have reduced price and very little activity. I also took off my cleaning fee. Any advice would be great! 

Thx Sue

[Paul-And-Sri0]

Dede,

We are getting bookings but not that many. I am new to airbnb and I was just wondering why the price filters are so drastic when it comes to people initially searching for accomodation in Medewi Jembrana Bali. I am "Medewi Manor". If you simply search "entire home / apartment" in Medewi Jembrana Bali either for 2 , 3 or 4 guests I do not appear. It is only when you tweak the price filters that Medewi Manor Finally appears. What am I doing wrong? I would like Medewi Manor to appear first up when seaching "entire home / apartment" for the Medewi Jembrana Bali area. I would appreciate your guidance.

Cheers

Paul and Sri 

[Andrew90]

See the help guides for a more detailed explanation but short answer is that Airbnb does not display all places in a search. As you build you reputation for responsiveness, track record of not cancellin, average revues. and quality of listing you will score higher in the search rankings. Updating your calendar daily ( just reviewing and refreshing) had also been reported to increase placement.

“Community Help Guides - Airbnb Community”

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Community-Help/Community-Help-Guides/m-p/23100#M311

[Jill39]

Hi DEde,
Was hoping you could give some insight on our home. We had tons of inquiries when we first signed up and then none. We had a random booking and for a great review but aren't planning on booking again until end of May. Any feedback would be appreciated!

[Susan191]

Hi DeDe!

I know that I'm joining an old posting but still hoping that you'll see my message. I'm impressed by your generosity of carefully evaluating member's profiles - well, I'm having the same difficulty - bookings have dried up or one of last or last booked in Portland! Kindly look over my profile and give me your pearls of wisdom! Thanks so much!

Susan