Can I change the price before accepting a request?

[La35]

I am new to airbnb and received my first request, which is for 2 nights and 2 people. I accepted this request and I'm fine to honor the price.

Then I got my second request, for 1 night and 2 people. I realized that I could charge a cleaning fee and an additional person fee and weekend rate.

For the second request, I want to update the pricing before accepting - is this something I can do without penalty? As the guest can change the reservation, wondering if I Should contact them first about the pricing, or just make the changes? Or do I need to decline, then make changes?

Please let me know!

[Ana1136]

@La35 you can send special offer with the changed price explaining why you are doing that but does it really make that much of a difference for a 1 night booking? I would just go with it and try to get as many positive reviews in the beginning as possible. 

[La35]

Thank you Ana! Appreciate the guidance.

[Mike1034 · Accepted solution]

@La35 If it is a booking request instead of a booking inquiry, you cannot change the price since those dates are blocked. If you change the base price which those blocked dates use, I think that it will not affect those either.

You can put your listing on snooze or inactive status when you make price change. Therefore, you have plenty of time to make them right. Otherwise, it will make you look bad once a guest finds the price prior to the booking and after the booking is hugely different.

[La35]

Thank you Mike! I'm still navigating, so I appreciate the helpful feedback!  I'm not trying to raise the general price, I just became aware of the other features under pricing and wanted to know how I could go about changing it and when would be the best time. So again, thank you.

[Nancy1209]

Mike,

I just started today.  I listed my unit and had 2 people inquire this morning.  I accepted their inquiry. Then I had a person request to book.  Now I have someone asking to book and they said they have until tomorrow.  I think I did something wrong.  I don't know if I should cancel the booked reservation and let the first person who inquired book it. I feel really bad. 

Nancy

[Sarah977]

@Nancy1209  DO NOT CANCEL. There are a lot of penalties for hosts  if they cancel a confirmed reservation. 

Don't feel bad at all. An Inquiry is just that- someone asking questions. Most Inquiries don't lead to reservations, in fact, you are likely never to hear back from someone whose Inquiry you answer.

The way it works is first to pay gets it. You snooze, you lose. When you pre-approved the Inquiry, that person could have gone on to book it immediately, which they didn't.

But it seems you don't quite understand Requests to Book, either. It isn't a booking until you Accept it. As soon as you click on Accept, that guest's credit card is charged and it becomes a confirmed reservation.

And you need to understand the terms, or you'll confuse yourself and others who you ask for help here.

Host's choices:

Inquiry: Preapprove or Decline, or simply answer within 24 hours. An answer is all that's required if you aren't certain whether or not you want this guest and want more communication with them before deciding whether to pre-approve or decline. And you don't have to do either of those.

Booking Request: Accept or Decline. You have to do one or the other within 24 hours. But you can still exchange messages with the guest in the meantime.

And if you have Instant Book turned on (not that recommended for a new host until you find your way around all this) a guest who Instant Books is confirmed without you accepting, it's automatic.

[Nancy1209]

@Sarah997 

Thank you so much for your response.  I have been searching and trying to figure things out.  I approved the inquiry for the dates.  I think she has 24 hours to book.  I had 24 hours to respond.  I had 2 inquiries that I approved today.  The one that is upset said it was being held for her.  I told her I had it on automatic book and when I saw someone wanted to book tonight it was accepted.  I told the one who is upset that I could give her a discount for another time.  So I was ok to preapprove the inquiry.  This allows them to book? But I'm not committed to them.  The first one with the money right?

[Sarah977]

@Nancy1209  Yes, exactly. If you pre-approve an Inquiry, that allows that guest to immediately go on to book if they choose. If they waffle around, then that preapproval will be superceded by an Instant Book, or a Booking Request that you Accept. Guests do have 24 hours to pay, but someone actually paying first will get the place. 

I think this guest also didn't understand the process- if she had actually gone on to book right away, the dates would have been blocked for her and a Booking Request or IB wouldn't have been possible. I think she thought she had 24 hours to decide to book or not, which isn't true. She has 24 hours for her payment to clear- if it doesn't clear within that time (like something wrong with the credit card) then the dates would open up again. 

If a guest gets belligerant or tries to make you feel bad about something to do with the booking or payment process, it's best to just suggest that they contact Airbnb to find out why this or that happened, explaining that hosts don't control those things. 

[Nancy1209]

@Sarah977

I think I understand now.  I felt bad because she told me she had 24 hours and that it was held for her.  You explained it for me and I really appreciate your help!  Now I need to explain it to her.  Thank you again!

[Sarah977]

@Nancy1209  It may indeed be confusing from the guest side. I've never travelled as a guest, so I don't know how the 24 hour thing is explained to guests. If Airbnb does tell them that the dates are held for them and they have 24 hours to pay, then I can understand that she'd be upset. I'd just apologize to her and be sympathetic, but let her know that it wasn't your doing- that it's something she should take up with Airbnb if she was given a false understanding by their wording.

[Nancy1209]

@Sarah977

Thank you so much for your response.  I have been searching and trying to figure things out.  I approved the inquiry for the dates.  I think she has 24 hours to book.  I had 24 hours to respond.  I had 2 inquiries that I approved today.  The one that is upset said it was being held for her.  I told her I had it on automatic book and when I saw someone wanted to book tonight it was accepted.  I told the one who is upset that I could give her a discount for another time.  So I was ok to preapprove the inquiry.  This allows them to book? But I'm not committed to them.  The first one with the money right?

[Sara334]

Honestly, you're brand new to Airbnb and haven't yet had a guest and you already want to raise the price on your first reservation? 

Not trying to criticize, but the hosts, especially the Superhosts are cringing as they read this. We set the tone for the entire organization and trust/safety is essential to being a both a host and a guest with Airbnb. 

Please accept whatever rules and prices that YOU have set up. 

[La35]

Thanks Sara.

I did not want to raise the price on the first booking. I just realized that there was a possibility to charge cleaning fee, etc. I hadn't seen that when I set it up. Did not expect a request so soon, but now I'm reflecting. Upon reflecting, I would like to charge $10 more for a weekend per night - I don't think that is a big deal.  For me, I'm still in set up mode. 

I can take criticism, but there's a way to do it, especially since I'm brand new.  Just trying to understand the platform.

[Sarah977]

@La35  Yes, it's definitely a learning curve, and you may find you want to change other things about your listing as well as time goes on. It's really hard to anticipate what things will be issues for guests that we have to state more clearly, or house rules we need to add because we though those things just went without saying, as they seem to be common coutesy. Then you find out that some guests need everything spelled out for them, like wash your dirty dishes?

But saying you're still in "set-up mode- I never understand that. I don't understand why people don't take the time to read all the info available for hosts on the Airbnb site before going live with a listing. Set-up mode is supposed to happen before you make your place available to guests, it seems to me.