Advice on pricing

Francisca16
Level 5
New York, NY

Advice on pricing

My name is Francisca ***. I live in Far Rockaway, NY. I am new to AirBB. Can someone take a look at my posting and advise me on pricing, second room and additional people please.

Thanks

 

*[Surname hidden]

16 Replies 16
Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello @Francisca16,

 

Nice to meet you. I hope you don't mind, I have made your post in a new topic as it will make it easier to find. 

 

Does anyone have any tips on pricing you can offer here?

 

Thanks,

 

Lizzie


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Julia66
Level 10
Scotland, United Kingdom

@Francisca16  You have two Private Rooms in a convenient location that should prove to be very popular. 

My only suggestion is to compare your price for the 5 guests that you can accommodate, with other listings in a similar location.  I see that you can rent a whole apartment in Queens for a similar price that you ask for 5 people, with shared kitchen and bathroom, so you might want to reduce your prices for a while.  But you are the judge of this!

Good luck!

@Julia0, thanks a bunch. I am still navigating this system. I think I have to go back to smart pricing until I learn the rope.

I have two guests who want to book my place from April-August. I am a little bit on the fence because with the beaches in Far Rockaway, this seems to be the peak period. I believe that pricing might be higher that period. ON the other hand, I might accept them and move on. The guest asked me if I am giving them the whole apartment or just a room for them to share. They are also expecting visitors for 2 weeks. They are coming from Europe. I don't even know what or how to answer these two questions.

I certainly would ask extra for the other guests.$15.- pr night? and make sure you have your cleaning fee set accordingly. 

Thanks a lot Magaret. I appreciate your input. They said that they would clean the apartment themselves since they are going to stay three months. I intend charging their visitors $15-$20 per night.

Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

Welcome to hosting on Air BNB, @Francisca16.  I hope you will take the opportunity to read all the information available to new hosts on the Help Center about hosting.  Be sure to read about Instant Book, reservations, responses, cancellations in order to avoid making common mistakes that can be costly.  Here are some of my observations of your listing.

  1. You have Instant Book turned on as that is a default for new hosts.  Most new hosts do not know how to vet potential guests and can get guests that are not suitable to there listing.  Might want to turn that off until you know more.
  2. Your own profile is skimpy.  You do not have full verification and would not be eligible as a guest yourself for many experienced hosts.  While it is possible to have a profile on Air BNB with just a couple of verifications, it is best to have 4 including government ID.  You would only want guests who have that level of verification as well.
  3. Your pricing is a bit like "bait and switch" with a set up for 5 guests but an extra charge of $30 per person for guests over 1.  That means if 5 guests were booked, your nightly rate would go from $40 per night to $160 per night.  You will get some negative reaction from travelers with that price structure.  A good resource for you about pricing is the Smart Pricing option that will change your price nightly based on demand.  Also, look at your competition to see what is being charged for comparable listings.  It is a good idea to have a lower price to start so you can get reviews.  
  4. You need more pictures of the space that are a better quality.  Make sure the rooms are staged including smooth bed linens, maybe some flowers and outside pictures that depict your place.  Also, your place is a private room which means there are shared host/guest spaces.  Need a description of that.

Good luck and keep learning about this business!

@Linda108 Thanks immensely for your candid advise. I really appreciate your input. I turned on instant pricing and received me first guest though at @$12 per night. Also, I have added more verifications. I am working on adding more pictures of my place. When you said this,

"Also, your place is a private room which means there are shared host/guest spaces.  Need a description of that."

How exactly do I describe it? I need more clearance please. I have had 3 guest so far, and Airbnb keeps blocking my calendar. The other room has not been used so far.

Matter of fact, I have a guest inquiry for a 4 month period, asking me if she and her friend, are going to rent one bedroom or the two bedrooms (whole apartment) at the price Airbnb gave them. Also, they want to know if their two relatives can come and visit them for two weeks since they are coming from Europe. I don't know what to say to them. I need your help!

Julia66
Level 10
Scotland, United Kingdom

@Francisca16  Airbnb are blocking your calendar when you get a booking because you have your two bedrooms and living room with sofa bed on one listing.

If you want to be able to let each bedroom separately, you need to have 3 listings, one for each bedroom and one for the living room.

You would have to say in your other listings that the guests don't have the use of a living room.

In answer to your current guest enquiry, you can tell them that they can book one room for 4 months and their two relatives can book the other one for 2 weeks (once you have it set up in its own listing).

Your listing is for a Private Room, so you tell them that they won't have the whole apartment to themselves.  You can say that you live there (as I assume you do) and that they have the use of the kitchen.

If you have bookings for each bedroom, and you thought the apartment might be a bit full, you could always block the dates on the living room listing, so that you could all use the living room.  But that is your choice.

I would recommend that you don't accept long stays like 4 months until you are more used to Airbnb as it's a long time to have guests who may not be as suitable as you hoped.  When you have more experience, you will know what questions to ask long term guests and you will have gradually added to your House Rules in order to ensure that their behaviour fits in with your lifestyle.

 

Thanks Julia! You are very kind and helpful. Please take a look at my newly separated listings. I have two listings now. I don't live in that area. I was wondering why I haven't had any booking since I separated the apartment. Does it have to do with pricing? I need your honest advise once again. 

Julia66
Level 10
Scotland, United Kingdom

@Francisca16  Your two listings look fine!  Your price seems very good - you would just need to compare it with the local competition.

Bear in mind @Linda108's great advice on photos.

You say in both listings that there is a sofa-bed in the small living-room.  Make sure that it doesn't get double-booked!  If you get an enquiry from two people for one listing, you need to find out if they are expecting one guest to use the sofa-bed.  Then it won't be available for anyone else.

Good luck with the bookings! 

Thanks Julia for your insightful advise. I have corrected it to show that only one listing has the use of the pull out couch.

Ohoo Julia! I'm in looove with your place. And your awesome dog "Shadow." Wouldn't mind visiting soon. Take care and stay blessed.

Dear Francisca, here I am

Hi Stefanie! What's up?

@Francisca16 and @Stefanie79  Seems like you would like to have a personal communication which is very possible if you hover over each other's picture on the this discussion thread and select send message.  That way all the other hosts on this thread will not be notified of your mutual postings.  Make sense?  It is great when hosts connect with one another on this CC. 😄