How long does it take to get your first booking?

[Bernard1238]

Hi everyone,

I'm curious: how long does it take to get our first booking?

Thanks!

Content and title updated by OCM for relevance

[Susan4137]

I had a booking within a few days, but I did use the newbie offer which gave a discount to the first 3 clients.  I think it also depends on level of demand for your location, and whether it's high or low season too.  Good luck with your listing.

[Deanna216]

It took me 4 years…and then a very kind host coached me….

I duplicated my ad and at that time was able to add the “New listing” 20% discount for the first 3 bookings…it was a lot of work duplicating my ad but worth my while.

I reviewed that all descriptions were completed…no unanswered descriptions.

I deleted the old ad.

I improved the description of my property.
I moved the most important pics I had for the top 5 rooms in my condo to the front.
I made a substancial decrease on my nightly rates and voila!

I received 4 bookings back to back! 

good luck! 

[Cristina3164]

Hi Deanna! May I know how to apply ad also how to duplicate it and how to delete it?

[Deanna216]

It is necessary to say that you are starting a new property…if possible, change the name. I just copied and pasted some of the property descriptions from the original ad. I did change the order of the pictures to feature the bedroom, kitchen, terrace and one bathroom at the top of the pics…It is necessary to do much of the new ad manually. When you are completely done, delete the old ad. Call support to ask Fir helpndeleting the old ad 

[Sonya81]

Hi @Bernard1238 ,

Actually, it did not take very long, but steady reservations came slowly. This, in hindsight, was a God send.

This gave me time to fall in some "holes"; figure out the best resources to use for different issues; make corrections; make improvements (like you did); and figure out how to gather information for taxes.

Blessings!

[Shirley-Y-0]

If I recall correctly,I got my first guest just a few days after I  listed. In fact I   was quite surprised at how soon. It was in May of 2022.

[Deanna216]

Not to discourage you…it took me more than 4 years to get a booking….until I learned! 
It was all about exposure! My ad was buried and no one was seeing it.

It took starting over with a new “twin like” ad…reproducing the old ad and refreshing everything. As a new ad / property, Airbnb let’s you take advantage of a 20% discount new listing discount you want to advertise. Also, I had to compare pricing more closely to other properties and once I had the duplicate ad (deleted the old one), and revised nightly rates, I immediately booked to 5 guests! 

It’s a lot of work to create a duplicate listing but we’ll worth the trouble…of course I changed the order of my primary pics to show at the top and created a new property description and even a new catchy name. 

I hope this helps! Good luck! 

Dee

[Eileen462]

@Deanna216  Hi Deanna, did you create a whole new add and delete the old one?  Or did you modify your existing add??  Thanks for answering,  Eileen

[Deanna216]

I had to start a new ad and gave it a new fresh name and that way I could go back and forth…copy and paste from the old…added a few more pics in a different order. I cleaned it up…then when all done, deleted the old ad.

[Deanna216]

I replied…I hope you saw my answer

[Catherine468]

I got my first booking straight away, but this was in July, peak season. If I'd started hosting at the beginning of this month I would have had no bookings for a month, whereas I know many are fully booked this month so it depends on other factors like location, price, time of year etc. 

[Giovanni1189]

@Bernard1238 24 hours 🙂 

[Deborah1139]

As soon as I posted I had a request. 

[Elizabeth2846]

Hi. It didn’t take me very long to get my first booking, but I wasn't quite ready. The guest wanted it urgently but my WiFi set up was not ready. No doubt I was disappointed. He wanted a 3 week booking. 

[Sean243]

Mine came in the first week I recommend being under market rate so you can get a quick booking with someone that will appreciate the value.  Also use the discounts!

Sean