The pricing robot means well, but still needs work.

[Matthew285]

So, I received one of those emails suggesting I compare my pricing to nearby listings because their pricing is better. The screenshot is below, but let's look at what it says:

Average Price:

Nearby listings: $220

My listing: $251 

Average Occupancy (for the upcoming month):

Nearby listings: 90%

My listing: 93%

Last 30 days Occupancy:

Nearby listings: 80%

My listing: 100%

So... nearby listings made less money per night,

made less money overall (due to being less occupied),

had fewer bookings last month,

and have fewer bookings going forward.

I think I'm good at my price.

It does acknowledge that I am doing well compared to the other listings, but should consider lowering my price if I want more bookings.

More bookings than 100% occupancy? How does that work?

[Pete28]

Baffling nonsense from Airbnb robot. Any hotel would push up weekend price to maximize revenue since demand is high. Why does Airbnb bother to build this stuff - either make the auto price stuff work or just buy someone that knows what they are doing. 

Whenever i I make the mistake of leaving it turned on, it happily sells nights at the min price I set, even on days like Xmas and New Years 😞

[Cor3]

Hi @Matthew285,

I had this funny e-mail last year, but I saved the link. Which I used from time to time (Because it is better to have some info on top of page-views, than nothing at all).

It compares your listing to about 10 others. And the properties selected were (at least in our case) indeed the majority of our 'competitors'.

Unfortunately the link contains an expiry date. So it stopped working some months ago.

I must honestly admit, that usually the smartpricing doesn't make any sense. But it has been improved somewhat lately (as long as you do not look any further than about 3 months). After that it is almost of no use again.

So I would like to have a working link again.

[Donald28]

congrats!!!!! you are doing fantastic. I am jealous and hope to have 100% occupancy some month!

I get those crazy bits of advice too. The little light bulb icon on the calender... if you click it, it says funny things like ... people who search your listing booked a nearby listing for $81 less per night. And my nightly price was $100. So, they want me to believe that hosts nearby me are renting for $19 a night?! That's ludicrious.