The Price is Right

Picking your price can be tricky and cause you stress. You want to get enough for each night so it's worth it to you, but not so much that no one books. Here are a few things to consider when picking your price:

Research:

Look at what other people are charging in your area. Look at listings that match your listing. When I started with airbnb I looked around and people were charging $80 to $90 per night for a room in my area. I had two kids at the time, so I dropped my rate to $70 per night.

Reviews:

Getting someone to book with you when you don't have any reviews can be hard. I tell all my airbnb hosts that I'm going to start their listings about 10% to 15% less than what other hosts are charging for the same kind of room. If you have the same rate for a room as someone else who has a lot of reviews, it is likely that a guest will go with the host with more reviews because they judge that host is a safe bet. Once you have 5 to 10 positive reviews, you can bring your price back up.

Pick your guests by price:

The second year I was doing this I was renting out two rooms. There were about 5 nights the whole summer that a room wasn't booked. I would wait till the morning of and if the room wasn't booked I would drop my price to $60. It was amazing the difference $10 made in clientele. $70 brought people who could pay more for a hotel, but where staying with me to save a couple of bucks. $60 a night brought people who could really only afford $30 a night, but couldn't find anything that inexpensive, so they booked with me. These people wanted the world for their $60, were often people I didn't feel comfortable having in my home, and were often more negative with their reviews.

Pick your price so it's worth your time to do this. Remember that all your utility bills will go up, and you will have to cover that. Your sheets and towels will get stained and you will have to replace them. Your carpets will have to be cleaned more often. There are costs involved and your time is worth something. You will be able to pick what type of people you have in your room by setting your price right. You might need to adjust your price a couple of times before you find the sweet spot.