Suggested price tips vs smart pricing

[Nicole1128]

Hello all!

I have been an AirBnb host for a couple of years now and I'm still trying to figure out how some new features work.  I cannot for the life of me figure out what the difference is between having smart pricing on and using the suggested price tips in my calendar.  When I turn smart pricing on, my listing jumps to $175 a night for the same dates as when I just view my calendar and hit "view suggested price tips" the rate is more like $260 a night.  I would think that the smart pricing and suggested price tips would be the same, but it is definitely not.  I want to use the smart pricing as it is easier for me to have AirBnb monitor the demand in the area, but if price tips gets me more money, then why would I not use that and overall, WHY would those two prices be different?

Any information anyone has either from AirBnb or just a fellow host would be much appreciated.  Thank you!

[Ann72]

@Nicole1128 , Ha!  Good question!  And I'm with you on having Airbnb's tool monitor my prices for me - as long as they're going up!  

In my experience, Price tips and Smart Pricing are opposites.

Before I used Smart Pricing, I would look at the tips, and they always, always, always wanted me to lower my price by a LOT.  I ignored them.

I finally turned on Smart Pricing a few months ago, and it has raised my prices across the board.  My minimum is set to what I would normally charge, NOT Airbnb's minimum.  And so far so good.

If price tips are raising your price - I say go for it.  But I would worry about using both, because I get the impression that after you turn Smart Pricing on, if you fiddle with prices individually, it gets glitchy.  Some have said Smart Pricing has let people book instantly at a price below their minimum.

And I've found another benefit - using tools like Smart Pricing and Instant Book have driven my listings up in the rankings.  Maybe price tips would do the same.

If you're happy with the price Smart Pricing comes up with, go for it, because as you say, it's easier than manually revising prices all the time.

[Nicole1128]

Thanks Ann!  It is definitely tricky.  I dont like the lows that smart pricing offers and when I set my minimum is just puts every night at that.  So I'm not really sure if the program is working properly.  I will just use the price tips for now since that has been working so far.  I just don't like having to constantly check it to see what has changed.  I appreciate your response and insight 🙂