Airbnb hosts who use dynamic pricing software make up to 40% higher revenue than those with static pricing. Leaving your pricing static in the ever- competitive short-term rental market today is one of the quickest ways to lose money. Real-time fluctuations travelers are extremely sensitive to price, and demand changes on a daily basis based on seasonality, events, and your competition’s activity, for example. That’s where dynamic pricing tools for property managers make all the difference, giving Airbnb hosts and vacation rental owners, not to mention professional property managers. The chance to earn top-dollar without the headache of updating rates on a day-to-day basis.
In this post, we’ll explain what dynamic pricing means for property managers, why it is important and we’ll cover the best tools for the job. And we’ll examine the most important benefits, useful tactics and how investing in the best vacation rental pricing software can help drive more income, more bookings and less headache.
What is Dynamic Pricing?
Dynamic pricing is a strategy whereby nightly rental rates are periodically modified using real-time information and automatic algorithms that consider demand, seasonal factors, competitor pricing, and market information. Instead of guessing and/or copying the rates of other hosts, property managers rely on smart pricing tools for property managers that monitor market signals continuously to set the “right” price.
By utilizing these smart pricing tools for property managers, you avoid undercosting during those weekends of high demand, or overcosting during those quiet midweek periods that could cause your occupancy rate to tumble. Already, industries including airlines, ride-sharing, and hotels employ dynamic pricing. For short-term rentals, smart pricing tools have already become a requirement to remain competitive.
Also Read: How Dynamic Pricing Boosts Vacation Rental Profits
Best Dynamic Pricing Software for Property Managers
When selecting short-term rental pricing software, you should choose a platform that works well with your business size, management structure, and target audience. Here are the most popular Airbnb dynamic pricing tools and a breakdown of what sets them apart.
1. Wheelhouse:
Wheelhouse is among the most popular vacation rental pricing software options, known for its customizable and transparent pricing recommendations. Property managers love Wheelhouse because it lets them fine-tune their Airbnb pricing strategy while still receiving automated rate suggestions. It offers deep market insights, competitor benchmarking, and the flexibility to set rules like minimum and maximum rates.
2. Beyond Pricing:
Called “Beyond” for short, it is widely recognized for its simplicity and straightforwardness. It connects directly to Airbnb, VRBO and other booking sites and price synchronizes automatically. What sets it apart from other Airbnb pricing strategy software is its concentration on revenue management, offering forecasting tools and reporting to help property managers trust the long-term pricing strategy they adopt. Beyond Pricing Ideal for a passive “set it and forget it” host, but also allows for intervention.
3. PriceLabs:
PriceLabs is another major player in the short term rental pricing software arena, and for good reason, the company helps you gain fine-grained control over your rates and pricing while providing recommendations based on data. It is especially favored among professional property managers who manage dozens of listings across multiple platforms. Between automation and freedom, PriceLabs is the ideal solution for you to configure your pricing rules according to season, last minute, or length of stay. A most working Airbnb dynamic pricing tool for managers with many properties is PriceLabs which eases the process for them.
4. DPGO:
DPGO is a relatively new, yet potent, smart pricing tool for property managers that is designed to ensure that your properties achieve maximum occupancy. Built to cater to smaller-scale property managers and individual hosts, DPGO operates on machine-learning algorithms that consider over 200 market factors. It is an excellent entry point for Airbnb hosts looking to experiment with automation without a large cash outlay, and with a very easy-to-use dashboard interface.
Key Benefits of Dynamic Pricing
The real power of vacation rental pricing software lies in the measurable results it delivers for hosts and managers.
1. Higher Rental Income:
Dynamic pricing for automatic rate adjustments based on demand. This means that on dates when interest surges, say, during festivals, concerts or important sports events, your nightly rates will jump as well. And rather than leaving money on the table with fixed pricing, this move helps you continue to optimize earnings and maximize long-term returns.
2. Better Occupancy Rates:
Empty nights are lost revenue. Short-term rental pricing softwares such as PriceLabs and Beyond come to the aid here, by strategically reducing rates for optimisation during full times. This boosts your occupancy without lowering your average nightly rate for the month. It’s a balance that manual pricing often can’t get right.
3. Time-Saving Automation:
Pricing daily is time-consuming and stressful for a new or even seasoned host managing multiple listings. With the help of Airbnb dynamic pricing tool, you can automate these adjustments and dedicate more time to creating delightful guest experiences, maintaining your property, or growing your portfolio. It’s one of the primary reasons that even busy property managers do make room for these tools. They not only decrease the amount of manual effort required, they generally improve results.
Dynamic Pricing and the Bigger SEO Picture
As pricing tools maximize revenue, property managers also must consider where their listings appear in Airbnb’s search results. Airbnb benefits those with the best combination of aggressive prices and high occupancy. With using Airbnb pricing strategy software, you will be able to keep your rates competitive, which will ultimately make you more visible in the search results. When paired with good photography and guest experience, this is a winning combination in your listing.
Why Property Managers Can’t Afford to Ignore Smart Pricing Tools
The short-term rental market has never been more competitive. There are now thousands of available options, and small differences in price can be the difference between a guest booking at your property or a competitor’s. Lacking vacation rental pricing software, you leave yourself vulnerable to losing bookings to hosts who are more in touch with the market.
For Airbnb hosts with just one or two properties, platforms like DPGO or Wheelhouse offer affordable on-ramps. Property managers tasked with managing and sorting through multiple units use PriceLabs and Beyond for scalability, reporting, and portability.
And ultimately, it’s not only about maximizing revenue, it’s about sustainability. It makes your business malleable in a changing market.
The Bottom Line
Dynamic pricing is no longer an add-on, it’s happening now for property managers who can’t afford not to. The adoption of short-term rental pricing software like Wheelhouse, Beyond Pricing, PriceLabs, and DPGO has provided hosts with the ability to instantly respond to changes in market conditions and guest demand. With that in mind, there are Airbnb dynamic pricing tools we recommend, which can assist with setting nightly rates competitively so you get as many bookings as possible while also charging the best rates during peak demand times. In addition to increasing revenue, they free up property managers from hours of work with automation to deliver a better guest experience and help grow the business.
As competition grows in the STR space, forgoing guesswork, gut feeling and static pricing is a losing game. Following a smart Airbnb pricing strategy software goes a long way to keeping you competitive, in demand and profitable. When you implement data-driven short-term rental pricing software, you transform your rentals into a sustainable, efficient, money-making machine. The sooner you start using these Airbnb dynamic pricing tools, the sooner you can reveal the burst potential of your listings!
Ready to simplify your property management and maximize profits? Reach out to Staybnb today and let our expert virtual co-hosts take your rentals to the next level.