Pricing

[Lori3658]

Hi everybody! I'm new to Air BnB and I'm in need of advice on pricing. I have a full home. Sleeps 16. I've been putting down prices for a full house but I feel like that is scaring guests from booking. Should i put down a price for 4 people and then say additional charges for every extra person? What would be a good base price and what would you additionally charge for each extra person?!

[Guy991]

Hello @Lori3658 

Welcome, and I hope you will host many wonderful guests in your house.

Here are some general ideas for you to consider:

1. The negotiation with the marina is mentioned twice, and I'm not sure if this phase of the process is worth mentioning. When there is access, let the guests know.

2. I couldn't find information on which floor the bedrooms are located. Are they all on the second floor? Will all guests need to climb stairs to reach their rooms?

3. In my opinion, this property will attract more reservations for groups of around 8 people. It's unlikely to have a full house of 15 people given your sleeping arrangements and a dining table that seats 8-10. The dining table is usually a good indication of a property's capacity.

4. Consider adding a picture of the house from the outside. The photos are a bit mixed up, and the beautiful view from the house should be emphasized. It's currently blended with other pictures from the area.

5. You can use a base price method with an additional charge per guest, but since this is a large house (which I wouldn't recommend for smaller properties), consider locking the attic and offering the house in a separate listing for 6-10 people.

In the second listing, you can use a base price for 6 guests and an additional charge for guests up to 10. Don't include the attic in the second listing.

Think in terms of floors, not rooms.

6. Regarding pricing, check the properties around you to determine how much a group of 6-10 will  pay, and start from there.

i hope this helps

[Joan2709]

Hi @Lori3658 

Beautiful property in a unique location! In addition to the excellent advice from @Guy991  about locking off attic and have two listings; one whole house, one without attic. Some addl  suggestions:

Professional Photos

These are a MUST for any Airbnb but especially for properties of this size. Your place is fantastic, but your photos are not showing that unfortunately. This is the number one thing you can do to improve bookings at a relatively low cost. The cost will pay for itself in increased bookings very quickly and you can write the cost off as a business expense in most cases. Photographer should have experience with shooting Airbnbs or real estate. Local real estate agents usually know good photographers. Your property would also really benefit from several drone shots; some twilight some daylight on a nice day. They are pretty common these days and not that expensive. Get several angles and at least one should show your property in relationship to the water (river?).

Cover Photo

You definitely need a better cover photo. The one you have now (artistic shot of wooden bridge)  is better suited further down in your photos as an "art shot"; not your cover photo. You are trying to get prospective guests to stop scrolling and click your listing thumbnail cover photo. You can't get booked unless they stop scrolling and click into the listing. A superb cover photo is the best way to do that. The next 4 photos should highlight the best/most unique features of your property. Exterior, twilight photos (all lights on inside/outside) do really well as cover photos. Also, any photos of a fantastic view or water shots (ocean, river, pool) do really well. Suggest you use the photo below as your cover photo for now until you can get professional photos done. If shows off you beautiful kitchen/dining areas. It is a bit tilted, so I suggest trying to straighten it if you can:

This would be a great number 2 photo but it's too dark. Lighten it using the edit features on your phone or on a computer and make it your number 2 photo for now:

I would get a good photo of the hot tub running at twilight (outside string lights and interior/exterior lights on). Make that your number 3 photo. I would reshoot the fire pit photo (see below) and maybe make that your number 4 photo. 

You could try reshooting this photo at twilight and make it your cover photo also for now. Pick a clear night. Turn on all the lights inside/outside. There should be a soft, orange glow and you should still be able to see all the features of the home (not too dark):

Photo Composition & Amenities

You should have a photo of your best amenities. You have a hot tub, but I don't see a photo of it? Hot tubs are key amenities and you really need to highlight that. You have some great fireplaces so I would definitely have a fire going when taking photos. TVs should be on showing a nice landscape scene or show you have Netflix, Hulu, Disney etc. Bathrooms should have toilet lids down and shower curtain pulled back to show the shower head. Reshoot the fire pit photo much further back; its too close up right now. Reshoot at twilight with all the lights on inside/outside house. Shoot looking towards house/seating area with firepit in foreground (fire going). 

Title

Your title should mention your best amenities. Save the name of your property "Westham Island Getaway" for the long description. Guests searching are looking for what makes you stand out as far as amenities go. Maybe something like:

"Island Escape w Hot Tub, Fire Pit," (whatever else you want to highlight) 

Wishing you much success going forward! Let us know how it goes 😊

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Lori3658 The problems with charging per guest are that a) Guests may be economical with the truth on how many people are staying and b) they can still use every bed and make a mess in every room.

@Guy991 's advice to lock off rooms is excellent and should save on cleaning fees as well.

With more than 1 listing it is worth switching on pro tools. Also you need to link the calendars  to prevent double bookings. Finally don't forget that blocking (rather than booking) one listing will not block the linked listing. This is designed to allow you to block the cheaper listing for high seasons and still have the bigger listing available.