14 ms·

Surge Price Predictor for Airbnb Hosts

68 points by drm237 13y ago

thelogos 13y ago
Am I the only one who has noticed that hotel is cheaper than Airbnb? Especially in SE asian countries, you can actually haggle hotel prices if staying for extended amount of time. Even without that, it's still cheaper in some cases to stay at a hotel and with the added bonus of room service.
truantbuick 13y ago
I can't fault Airbnb hosts if they use this -- if I was a host, I probably would. Nevertheless, it takes some of the charm and advantage out of it for us hostees. Airbnb seemed like a marketplace where sellers for the most part aren't trying to optimize their profits to squeeze out every last buck. Edit: Actually, to be more accurate, it didn't feel like much of a "marketplace" at all, and that's where the charm was. You weren't terribly aware of supply and demand and the rest of econ 101 when using it.
- andrewkitchell 13y ago
  Great point -- as we designed this, we thought a lot about how this might impact a marketplace/community (Airbnb) that we love. In talking to a lot of hosts, as well as hosting ourselves, we've learned that (a) pricing your home is really hard, and (b) there is a LOT of work that goes into being a great host. From cleaning your home to welcoming guests and answering inquiries, (not to mention the cost of food, furniture, linens, etc.), most hosts spend hours every week making sure their guests are safe & happy. If we can help hosts by making it easier to accurately price their home, we think we can create a bigger incentive for great hosts to continue hosting. * Edit :: I run operations at Beyond, have hosted for years on Airbnb, and helped design this - appreciate the question
  - rajacombinator 13y ago
    This is awesome. I'm very impressed by the concept and design. Do you guys have any kind of development blog, etc? Would love to read more about the development process, timeline, etc, and my initial googling comes up totally blank. Would definitely use the pricing tool, and maybe the management service too if I were Airbnb'ing my place.
    - andrewkitchell 13y ago
      Thank you -- we appreciate that! We're going to be sharing a lot more in the coming weeks. There is a lot of interesting data out there, and making sense of that data/making it available is one of our teams goals. If you have any ideas, send them my way: andrew@beyondstays.com
- krisdol 13y ago
  I agree, and it depends. In super high-demand, low-supply markets like Manhattan and San Francisco, I opt for the hotel over Airbnb. The price difference is usually minor, and the hotels in these cities often have better amenities than the crappy studios and efficiencies being offered. On the other hand, in Boston, Montreal, and a plethora of international destinations, Airbnb 110% of the time. Most cities don't have the demand that Manhattan has, and everyone wants to make a quick buck renting their apartment out to some friendly guests. The markets tend to be so saturated with great places, from my experience, that raising the price is more likely going to hurt the probability of finding someone who will rent it.
- graeme 13y ago
  If hosts don't use this, then you get sold out listings. I was in Boston in November. Normally there would be a range of listings in the $60-$120 range, and then some in the ultra-pricey $250-$500 range. Except there was a yatch race on, an ALL but one of the affordable listings was booked. I researched, and there really were dozens of listings that were normally cheap, but they were full. I fortunately got the last affordable place in town. But I would have been much happier if some of the other hosts had charged a small premium. I was almost forced into a luxury listing.
  - andrewkitchell 13y ago
    Good point -- in response we'd say: 'pricing is hard!' Its pretty rare that an individual hosts will have enough information to accurately/comfortably price their home. By studying larger trends across a municipality, we think we can help paint a clearer picture for these hosts, both for short term price surges & also for how they should set the base price their home.
    - graeme 13y ago
      I also expect you could help mobilize spare capacity. I know some hosts who rent out their space one weekend a year and make $500-$600. They just go on a short vacation when the major festival hits town. They get easy money, guests find space. With more spare capacity, I'd bet the average price would drop and more people would be happy.
nostromo 13y ago
I'd personally love a travel site that aggregates Airbnb & VRBO & Hotels. Listing everything a city has to offer on a single site could be a real differentiator to sites like Kayak.
- jenoneal 13y ago
  We do this! Check out http://www.tripping.com/ http://www.tripping.com/ Tripping is the top metasearch site for vacation rentals with over 1 million homes worldwide. We also have the richest data set in the industry, so it'll be fun to see how our data compares with BeyondStays.
  - NickSharp 13y ago
    Tripping is great! Two thumbs up.
    - jenoneal 13y ago
      Thanks Nick!
- timjahn 13y ago
  That would be awesome. Especially when you're going to markets that aren't that big and have a ton of Airbnb's and whatnot. It'd be great to have one place list the entire realm of places to stay.
  - ianmchenry 13y ago
    Hipmunk does this with Airbnb listings: http://www.hipmunk.com/hotels-search http://www.hipmunk.com/hotels-search
- aj37 13y ago
  I believe that's what these guys are trying to do http://alltherooms.com/ http://alltherooms.com/
- blazeit 13y ago
timjahn 13y ago
A little scary to me that their entire business is dependent on another business. Yeah, yeah, Airbnb is successful, but I imagine there are a bunch of ways Airbnb could mess with them if they ever felt the need.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- alaskamiller 13y ago
  This happens all the time. Build tools and managers to till the kingdom then pray the king shows mercy and buys you out.
  - timjahn 13y ago
    A solid strategy I suppose, just not a risk I'd personally take.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
ar7hur 13y ago
Somewhat scary to see that at around $190 for one bedroom, there are nights when AirBnb is more expensive than 4-star hotels like Westin.
- sbisker 13y ago
  The hotels have been downgrading the quality around their brand names for years now, cramming people into tinier and more cookie-cutter spaces. Plus the average Airbnb has always had more livable space (not to mention a kitchen!) than a hotel. For 190 a night, you're probably getting the whole Airbnb unit to yourself. Take that, and SF's 14% hotel tax, and I think they're reaping what they've sowed.
- thelogos 13y ago
  It's not unusual for airbnb to be more expensive than hotel. When I was in vietnam, all I had to do was go around to a couple of hotels and ask for the price in person. Many hotels are not advertised online. And even though the space is smaller, I prefer it over airbnb. More anonymity and room service.
seucroch 13y ago
When is someone going to build the exact opposite for guests ;-)

68 points by drm237 13y ago

Am I the only one who has noticed that hotel is cheaper than Airbnb? Especially in SE asian countries, you can actually haggle hotel prices if staying for extended amount of time. Even without that, it's still cheaper in some cases to stay at a hotel and with the added bonus of room service.

truantbuick 13y ago

I can't fault Airbnb hosts if they use this -- if I was a host, I probably would. Nevertheless, it takes some of the charm and advantage out of it for us hostees. Airbnb seemed like a marketplace where sellers for the most part aren't trying to optimize their profits to squeeze out every last buck. Edit: Actually, to be more accurate, it didn't feel like much of a "marketplace" at all, and that's where the charm was. You weren't terribly aware of supply and demand and the rest of econ 101 when using it.

andrewkitchell 13y ago
Great point -- as we designed this, we thought a lot about how this might impact a marketplace/community (Airbnb) that we love. In talking to a lot of hosts, as well as hosting ourselves, we've learned that (a) pricing your home is really hard, and (b) there is a LOT of work that goes into being a great host. From cleaning your home to welcoming guests and answering inquiries, (not to mention the cost of food, furniture, linens, etc.), most hosts spend hours every week making sure their guests are safe & happy. If we can help hosts by making it easier to accurately price their home, we think we can create a bigger incentive for great hosts to continue hosting. * Edit :: I run operations at Beyond, have hosted for years on Airbnb, and helped design this - appreciate the question
- rajacombinator 13y ago
  This is awesome. I'm very impressed by the concept and design. Do you guys have any kind of development blog, etc? Would love to read more about the development process, timeline, etc, and my initial googling comes up totally blank. Would definitely use the pricing tool, and maybe the management service too if I were Airbnb'ing my place.
  - andrewkitchell 13y ago
    Thank you -- we appreciate that! We're going to be sharing a lot more in the coming weeks. There is a lot of interesting data out there, and making sense of that data/making it available is one of our teams goals. If you have any ideas, send them my way: andrew@beyondstays.com
krisdol 13y ago
I agree, and it depends. In super high-demand, low-supply markets like Manhattan and San Francisco, I opt for the hotel over Airbnb. The price difference is usually minor, and the hotels in these cities often have better amenities than the crappy studios and efficiencies being offered. On the other hand, in Boston, Montreal, and a plethora of international destinations, Airbnb 110% of the time. Most cities don't have the demand that Manhattan has, and everyone wants to make a quick buck renting their apartment out to some friendly guests. The markets tend to be so saturated with great places, from my experience, that raising the price is more likely going to hurt the probability of finding someone who will rent it.
graeme 13y ago
If hosts don't use this, then you get sold out listings. I was in Boston in November. Normally there would be a range of listings in the $60-$120 range, and then some in the ultra-pricey $250-$500 range. Except there was a yatch race on, an ALL but one of the affordable listings was booked. I researched, and there really were dozens of listings that were normally cheap, but they were full. I fortunately got the last affordable place in town. But I would have been much happier if some of the other hosts had charged a small premium. I was almost forced into a luxury listing.
- andrewkitchell 13y ago
  Good point -- in response we'd say: 'pricing is hard!' Its pretty rare that an individual hosts will have enough information to accurately/comfortably price their home. By studying larger trends across a municipality, we think we can help paint a clearer picture for these hosts, both for short term price surges & also for how they should set the base price their home.
  - graeme 13y ago
    I also expect you could help mobilize spare capacity. I know some hosts who rent out their space one weekend a year and make $500-$600. They just go on a short vacation when the major festival hits town. They get easy money, guests find space. With more spare capacity, I'd bet the average price would drop and more people would be happy.

nostromo 13y ago

I'd personally love a travel site that aggregates Airbnb & VRBO & Hotels. Listing everything a city has to offer on a single site could be a real differentiator to sites like Kayak.

jenoneal 13y ago
We do this! Check out http://www.tripping.com/ http://www.tripping.com/ Tripping is the top metasearch site for vacation rentals with over 1 million homes worldwide. We also have the richest data set in the industry, so it'll be fun to see how our data compares with BeyondStays.
- NickSharp 13y ago
  Tripping is great! Two thumbs up.
  - jenoneal 13y ago
    Thanks Nick!
timjahn 13y ago
That would be awesome. Especially when you're going to markets that aren't that big and have a ton of Airbnb's and whatnot. It'd be great to have one place list the entire realm of places to stay.
- ianmchenry 13y ago
  Hipmunk does this with Airbnb listings: http://www.hipmunk.com/hotels-search http://www.hipmunk.com/hotels-search
aj37 13y ago
I believe that's what these guys are trying to do http://alltherooms.com/ http://alltherooms.com/
blazeit 13y ago

timjahn 13y ago

A little scary to me that their entire business is dependent on another business. Yeah, yeah, Airbnb is successful, but I imagine there are a bunch of ways Airbnb could mess with them if they ever felt the need.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
alaskamiller 13y ago
This happens all the time. Build tools and managers to till the kingdom then pray the king shows mercy and buys you out.
- timjahn 13y ago
  A solid strategy I suppose, just not a risk I'd personally take.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

ar7hur 13y ago

Somewhat scary to see that at around $190 for one bedroom, there are nights when AirBnb is more expensive than 4-star hotels like Westin.

sbisker 13y ago
The hotels have been downgrading the quality around their brand names for years now, cramming people into tinier and more cookie-cutter spaces. Plus the average Airbnb has always had more livable space (not to mention a kitchen!) than a hotel. For 190 a night, you're probably getting the whole Airbnb unit to yourself. Take that, and SF's 14% hotel tax, and I think they're reaping what they've sowed.
thelogos 13y ago
It's not unusual for airbnb to be more expensive than hotel. When I was in vietnam, all I had to do was go around to a couple of hotels and ask for the price in person. Many hotels are not advertised online. And even though the space is smaller, I prefer it over airbnb. More anonymity and room service.

seucroch 13y ago

When is someone going to build the exact opposite for guests ;-)