If there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, then it would be found in fully booked Airbnb calendars. But isn’t a fully book calendar a good thing? Doesn’t this mean that I have money coming in? Yes and yes, but look at it from your guests’ perspective. The reason why your listing is fully booked is most likely because your guests see it as the most cost effective option. Ask yourself: “Am I leaving money on the table?”
Here is how to use your fully booked calendar as a queue to implement a better Airbnb pricing scheme. It’s time to put on your math hat and deep dive on your price point.
Say your Airbnb listing is fully booked for the year at the price of $80 per night. In a 30-day month you will pocket $2400. What would the increase your nightly price to $110? Is making an additional $30 worth losing a 5 nights of booking? Let’s play this out. 25 nights are $110 per night is $2750. That’s an extra $350 a month. Extrapolated out to a full year, that’s an additional $4200. Do you like making more money? Would you like an extra $4200 per year and possibly decrease the amount of work you have to do each month? We would guess that the answer to both would be a thunderous YES!
So what do you need to do to find the happy medium of your listings price? This is when you switch out your math cap for your marketing hat. Do your homework, and study your competitors’ listings. What price point are they using? Are your amenities and comparable with those with higher prices? Check your competition’s calendars and see if they are also fully booked and, if they are comparable listings consider bumping your listings price higher than theirs.
If you look at hotel prices you will notice that they fluctuate throughout the year. Seasons, festivals, holidays and weekends all bring with them the opportunity to change your prices. Does your town host a music festival? You can be sure that the masses will descend upon your town and demand for accommodations will increase. Your price should reflect this and increase along with the demand. Does traffic in your city decrease during the fall shoulder season? Decrease your price so that you don’t price yourself out of the market. It’s basic supply and demand economics, make sure to adapt your prices to stay competitive and profitable.
A good first step would be to try to have only 50% of your Airbnb calendar booked. This allows you the flexibility to change your prices and, equally important, it allows for some room for last minute booking, or Instant Bookings. Do not underestimate the power of a listing with many good reviews.