5 Smart Way to Set Rates to Increase Your Revenue When Renting on Airbnb

Pricing your Airbnb property is never as simple as setting the rate. That you want and then waiting for guests to come along. It requires research and effort, and the more that you put into it. The more that you will get out of it. Airbnb prices are on average the same as hotel prices, but consumers have shown that they prefer using Airbnb. You know that hotel chains are putting serious effort into their pricing schemes, and you need to do the same.

Setting your rates intelligently, you can increase your revenues – all without doing any additional work. This is the power of smart pricing, and it is available to you immediately. Implement these five steps into your pricing strategy to increase your revenue.

Price your property competitively.

If there are comparable properties around you that are charging less than you are. Then they are likely to convert Airbnb users into guests more often. This is basic economics, and it applies to all situations on Airbnb. This does not mean that you want to be the rock-bottom-price option every time, though. You need to price your property competitively, earning yourself a healthy revenue without pricing yourself out of people’s budgets.

Undercut more-established listings if necessary.

When you have launched a new listing and you have not yet built up a reputation for it, you may need to take a small loss in order to build up your reviews and feedback. Renting on Airbnb more-established listings are more attractive to potential guests because they look like less of a risk. To offset this effect, undercut the prices that more-established listings have set – until you have established your listing just as firmly.

Raise your rates during the holidays.

There are days throughout the year when your property will be in more demand than it is otherwise. You should realize what these days are, how they affect your area, and whether or not you can charge your guests more for them. If you are the last listing available in Downtown Manhattan on Christmas Eve, for instance, you can be sure to rent out your property at double or even triple your normal rate. This is a huge windfall that you will miss out on unless you make yourself aware of it.

Offer discounts for longer stays.

Higher occupancy rates will equal more consistent revenue. Think about it: if you fill up only ten of your days in a thirty-day month, you would need to charge three times as much as to make the same amount of money filling up all your days. Strike a balance between a high occupancy rate and a high price by offering guests discounts if they book a week, two weeks, three weeks, or a month at a time.

Offer discounts for the least popular days.

Just as you charge more on holidays, you should charge less on the days that have historically gone unbooked in your area. If you are new to the area, then try to find someone who can offer this information to you. Renting on Airbnb discounting your property on a day that it may go empty anyway is a clever move toward improving your occupancy rates and increasing your revenue.

No one step alone will maximize the revenue that you generate at your Airbnb property. Taken all together, though, these five steps can point you in the right direction. Earning you the top dollar for your property day after day without missing any potential bookings.