Critique my listing - Anton Söder in Stockholm, Sweden

Anton5061
Level 1
Stockholm, Sweden

Critique my listing - Anton Söder in Stockholm, Sweden

Hi, I got a lot of bookings the first days and am wondering if the price might be too low?

 

https://www.airbnb.se/rooms/31093773?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=5785f1be-866a-465e-b82c-...

B224DBF1-0F31-4200-B3B4-0715368441A7_1_105_c.jpeg

5 Replies 5

@Anton5061  The price does seem unusually low for Stockholm; similarly sized apartments in your neighborhood seem to go for about double that price or more on average. If you're using Smart Pricing, turn it off - it's not your friend. You might consider keeping the low rates on the next calendar month to build up your reviews, but still having such a big discount at midsummer does you no good. Go into your calendar and adjust the high season for a premium rate. You can always lower the price later on for dates that aren't getting booked.

 

The apartment looks nice and cozy, with furnishings that make the most out of the space limitations. It looks like you forgot to fill out most of the written description fields, which are just as important as the photos. I'd recommend adding some new pictures when springtime arrives, so you can show the home in brighter light and feature the backyard, but right now it's perfect to illustrate how nice it is to come in from the cold and dark to a warm and cozy studio.

 

Under "Where you'll sleep," you should probably remove the living room as an option. This makes no sense for an apartment for 2 with a king bed; it only encourages people to sneak in extra unpaid guests.

J-Renato0
Level 10
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The apartment looks beautiful and seems to be comfortable @Anton5061  ! Certainly It will encourage lots of people to book it!

 @Anonymous  I believe @Anton5061 offers the sofa as an option for 2 guests who are not a couple.
e.g. Mother and adult son or two persons who want to sleep in separate beds, similar to a hotel room  that offers two beds.

However, beyond the sofa there is also an air matress as an option to sleep ! Why if the apartment takes at the most 2 guests?

Perhaps an option for the guest to choose between the sofa and the air mattress.

 

@J-Renato0  Possibly, but the extra sleeping spaces aren't mentioned in the listing description or shown made up in the photos. So it's not apparent to guests whether @Anton5061  actually intended to offer them in the way you described or just ticked the wrong amenity fields. I also can't tell whether the additional sleep surfaces come with extra linens.

 

Anyway, I'd still be cautious about inviting guests to commandeer a small living room as an extra sleeping area. Guests might appreciate the flexibility at the time they book, but when it comes time to review, what they'll remember is the apartment feeling cramped and cluttered. 

Helen3
Top Contributor
Bristol, United Kingdom

Did you check prices of comparable places locally to see if your prices are in line with what others are charging. If not that's your best starting point @Anton5061 

Pat271
Level 10
Greenville, SC

You are already on the right track deducing that your price might be too low if everything books quickly. Pricing is complicated and depends on many things like holidays, events, and how many guests are looking for a given date.

 

I recommend you raise your rates closer to what’s comparable to others in your area, and see what happens. It might slow down bookings but often in a high demand area guests will snatch up the cheapest properties months in advance, leaving the higher-priced options to be booked later.

 

You might also consider varying your prices based on season. I would think in a place like Stockholm, summertime would be in higher demand than wintertime, and weekends would be in higher demand than weekdays. That’s just my guess. It’s a tightrope walk to set just the right prices.

 

In big cities with lots of demand and lots going on, a dynamic pricing product is helpful (like Wheelhouse, Beyond, or Pricelabs). This kind of product keeps track of holidays, festivals and events in your area, measures the flows, trends and volume of bookings as they happen, and dynamically proposes and/or manages the prices accordingly. They charge a small percentage of your revenue. I find it very helpful on one of my bigger city properties, where it would be difficult for me to keep track of festivals, business meetings, sporting events, etc.

 

To start, though, just start tweaking the prices, so that you can get a gut feel for the booking flow for your property under different circumstances.