Pricing Strategy - What is your approach?

Question

What kinds of tools/resources does everyone use for pricing? Is there a specific pricing strategy that you follow or do you look at your comps and adjust accordingly? How do you go about seasonality and what benchmarks do you use to guide your pricing?

John Underwood · Answer

My approach is to take a few minutes per quarter and make sure it is accurate by manually checking my true competition and adjustmenting prices accordingly.

Mike Grudzien · Answer

I'm an Airbnb SuperHost Ambassador.  (that means I work for Airbnb as an independent contractor, a paid, by Airbnb, consultant to new Hosts).Here is my "tip" that I send to new Hosts:"Pricing is key and worth doing some homework. Airbnb price suggestions tend to run on the low side. Some of the national data sites have pricing suggestions that run both high and low. I have a solution that I do myself once a year.Here's one of my best tips: go on Airbnb as a TRAVELER, in Traveler mode. Search for properties in your area as if you wanted to find a place like yours. Bingo: you will get to see all your competitors, their pictures, their amenities, their descriptions and their PRICING. You will quickly see how you compare in all those categories. And you can determine the sweet spot for pricing your place based on comparable properties that are your competition."

Michael Baum · Answer

Hey @Jonathan Sanchez, a lot will depend on your area.

If you are buying in a saturated area with lots of competition, then using an aggregator like Pricelabs to help make your pricing accurate is handy.

If you are in an area that has less, then simply looking at nearby properties that are similar to yours on VRBO and AirBNB. Check their occupancy, nightly rate and amenities. This will get you 90% of the way there and should be sufficient.

It works the same in a saturated area, it's just more to sort through.

You are aware that STRs in Denver are allowed only in certain zones and you must live onsite?

Patricia Andriolo-Bull · Answer

Strategy vs. Tools?  I see both answers here.  I just started using PriceLabs (still on a free trial, will see if I continue using it).  From a tool perspective, nothing should be set it and forget it.  Like others have said, know your market.  Look at your competitors then adjust regularly.  From a strategy perspective, I market in the top 75-85% of the market.  I furnish and provide amenities that warrants this so I do a lot of work to find comps in this particular space.  I also find that if I am booking out too far in advance I am likely priced too low.  I price higher far out and bring my prices closer to market as dates get closer.  I look at average length of time for bookings by season and try to stay within that space.  Lastly, I'm having a bit of an issue with PriceLabs base rate pricing accordingly for far out stays vs. closer stays (e.g. I've had to override Christmas 2025 to make it higher because PriceLabs has it too low...but if I increase my base rate, the other dates are off...this may fix itself over time as PriceLabs learns my occupancy and rates, not sure).  Also, nightly stays should be adjusted based on your specific pricing strategy as well (e.g. longer stays further out, shorter as dates get closer or gaps exist).

Collin Hays · Answer

Agree with much of the above. Use something like Pricelabs, but don't let it run "autopilot". You need to do your own homework by manually checking comps on VRBO and Airbnb.

Garrett Brown · Answer

I think Pricelabs is by far the most popular pricing tool out there. Beyond Pricing, AirDNA, and a few others are options as well. Really diving into the features they have like Orphan Days, Price Adjustment Aggressiveness, etc. makes them even more powerful. They pay for themselves almost instantly when you use a dynamic pricing tool. I would avoid any tool that charges 1% of booking revenue as payment.

Andrew Steffens · Answer

On a more enterprise scale, I employ RevMax software as well as a fractional revenue manager who looks at the prices daily on a market level and a comp set level.  I can do this as I manage over 60 units and it makes the most sense, and I beat the market every month.

If I had 1-5 units, I would like use PriceLabs (or Beyond Pricing) and use their base tech as well as manually checking things at minimum weekly.

Alex Nauth · Answer

Pricelabs has been great for me, but it also takes time to dial in. There's no real perfect solution. Even with pricelabs you have to know how to pull the right levers and have the right settings for your market that just takes time to learn. Also checking it every few days is still important IMO.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Like @John Underwood, I always just go look at the competition. Far more accurate than an algorithm.....

Eric DeNardo · Answer

@Jonathan Sanchez, I use pricelabs and it kept me above 90% occupancy in unincorporated Adams county.

You can tinker with all sort of pricing strategies on the platform, but the key is figuring out your base price, which they help with as well.

DM me if you have any questions and I can show you how it works .

Pricing Strategy - What is your approach?

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