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- 0:00Welcome to STR Pricing Secrets. This series is powered by HOST.
- 0:04Planet and beyond. The global leader in revenue
- 0:07management for vacation rentals, this series is your go to guide
- 0:12for mastering pricing strategies that maximize your earnings,
- 0:16whether you're a seasoned host or just starting out.
- 0:19We'll breakdown the latest trends, expert insights and
- 0:22actionable tips to help you boost occupancy, increase
- 0:26revenue and stay ahead in the ever changing short term rental
- 0:30markets. Ready to unlock the secrets to
- 0:33smarter pricing? Let's dive in.
- 0:40Welcome to STR Pricing Secrets. Today we're going to discuss
- 0:44must Know revenue. Management tips for. 2025 and
- 0:48with me to share his extensive knowledge on this.
- 0:51Subject is. Roman Solianic from beyond.
- 0:54How's it going, Roman? Yeah, good.
- 0:56Thanks, James. How are you?
- 0:57Really good. Thank you.
- 0:59Excited to kick off this. Series with these exciting
- 1:03pricing secrets we're actually going to start today by busting
- 1:07a few myths about dynamic pricing and I'm sure one of the
- 1:12things that you hear about often is dynamic pricing versus surge
- 1:17pricing, especially with it being in the news a lot recently
- 1:20with the. Oasis ticket.
- 1:22Scandal and and all the other stuff out there, it's it's
- 1:24certainly something that gave dynamic pricing a bit of bad.
- 1:26Press for a. While.
- 1:27So explain. To the hosts out there, what are
- 1:30the differences between dynamic pricing and search pricing?
- 1:34Yeah, no, you make a great point, right.
- 1:36And everyone has seen it online over the last few months around
- 1:41tickets. Oasis, like you said, being the
- 1:43the perfect example where prices went up to almost £500
- 1:47overnight, just down to increased demand.
- 1:50Now the keyword there, prices only went up, right?
- 1:53So that's what surge pricing essentially means is when
- 1:56there's increased demand, prices will skyrocket and then they'll
- 2:00kind of level out. So only goes one way and that's
- 2:03up, right? Whereas dynamic pricing, it
- 2:07fluctuates up or down based on real market data, real consumer
- 2:12trends. So rather than just skyrocketing
- 2:14and then levelling out, prices will go fluctuate essentially up
- 2:17and down depending on the consumer demand.
- 2:21Things like the seasonality of a market, you know, the, the day
- 2:23of the week that it is, any events that are happening
- 2:26locally. But you'll see prices going up
- 2:28and down and optimizing the, the rates to be suitable both for
- 2:33the guests. So the guest is getting good
- 2:35value for money and getting the best possible occupancies in
- 2:38revenues for the the host of the property manager.
- 2:42Yeah. So dynamic pricing, there's much
- 2:44more of a balance rather than surge pricing, which and I
- 2:48remember we spoke about this before and you mentioned Uber.
- 2:51When there's a lot of demand and not many Uber drivers around,
- 2:56that cost just goes up and up and up.
- 2:59Yeah, exactly. And then you will see like it'll
- 3:01go down to the normal price that Uber has, right, They won't go
- 3:04below it. So that's kind of surge pricing.
- 3:07Whereas with dynamic pricing, looking at the, the trends, for
- 3:11example, all the booking pace of the consumer booking data, we'll
- 3:16see if demand is increased and the prices will go up, if demand
- 3:19decreases and the prices will actually go down to incentivise
- 3:23guests to to book. So it's it's fair, it's it's
- 3:25flexible and it's designed to help both the guest and the the
- 3:30host of the property manager. Yeah, much more balanced.
- 3:35Another myth, then some hosts. Are afraid to.
- 3:38Try dynamic pricing because they fear they'll lose control of
- 3:41their revenue management. So why is this not the case?
- 3:45Yeah. So there is a common kind of
- 3:47misconception I suppose that dynamic pricing will essentially
- 3:51kind of do everything for you, you lose all control and it's
- 3:55all down to the tool. But that's not the case, right?
- 3:58It doesn't mean giving up control.
- 3:59It actually means having smarter control.
- 4:03So there's a range of different ways that you essentially
- 4:07customize the tool to be or to work with the strategy that you
- 4:11want to kind of use at the time. So you set rules on things like
- 4:15minimum prices, maximum prices, your strategy preference,
- 4:19Spence, of say this kind of thing, while the system handles
- 4:22the heavy lifting of updating your prices in line with the
- 4:27supply and demand data every 24 hours.
- 4:30But in between those automatic updates, of course you remain
- 4:34fully in control to the parameters that the tool works
- 4:39within. Yeah, exactly.
- 4:40You are like you say you're in control there.
- 4:43You're setting the minimums, the maximums when it comes to the
- 4:46length of stay, all that kind of thing.
- 4:48So you're totally in control. You're not just like handing it
- 4:50over to an AI tool which will kind of make decisions for you.
- 4:54You're the one kind of setting those those clear parameters,
- 4:59another kind of myth. Then some property managers say
- 5:02they know their market better than any algorithm and that's
- 5:05why they don't want to use dynamic pricing.
- 5:08What would you say to those managers?
- 5:11Look, I would say it's a, it's a very fairpoint, right?
- 5:13But however, you know, local knowledge is, is crucial, right?
- 5:18And it will never be replaced. And that's where property
- 5:20managers come in. They know their owners, they
- 5:22know their markets, they know their areas.
- 5:24But manual pricing can't keep up with, with real time market
- 5:28shifts. I can consumer demand, consumer
- 5:32booking trends change all the time.
- 5:35Keeping on top of that manually, it's simply humanly impossible
- 5:39right now. Like a strong dynamic pricing
- 5:42tool works with your expertise, not against it.
- 5:45So it gives you data backed insights whilst allowing you to
- 5:49customize it based on your knowledge of the market, of the
- 5:53owner, of the type of goals that you have with each individual
- 5:56kind of property. Is it just basically?
- 6:00Impossible. To kind of compete with a
- 6:03dynamic pricing tool when it comes to revenue management,
- 6:06because I, I do hear it from quite a lot of property
- 6:09managers, especially if they feel like they're in a, a very
- 6:11unique area. And some have said, oh, there
- 6:14isn't enough data, there isn't enough competition in my area.
- 6:17So I'm always going to know better and I'll have you know,
- 6:20these prices for different seasons or these prices for for
- 6:24different months. What would you say to?
- 6:26Those those managers, yeah, I mean, as I mentioned, a consumer
- 6:31kind of booking patterns, search patterns, you know, how they
- 6:35plan continuously change and adapt and they're and they're
- 6:39flexible and, and we see a lot of the time where peak seasons
- 6:42have become shorter, right? Booking windows have become
- 6:45shorter, length of stay have become shorter, right.
- 6:47So only relying on kind of historical knowledge and
- 6:50historical trends just isn't enough with these trends
- 6:54changing all the time. So having access to data that's
- 6:57fresh and looks at exactly what's happening in your local
- 7:02market will only help empower you to be even more effective
- 7:05with the approach that you that you essentially take.
- 7:09If you think about it, right, let's say you have, you know, 10
- 7:12listings right in different parts of Cornwall.
- 7:16Now keeping on top of those 10 listings on top of the demand
- 7:20and how it changes between Monday to Thursday and Friday to
- 7:24Sunday to events happening within the local areas, right to
- 7:29this different seasonalities in each particular kind of area
- 7:33that you're in across just 10 listings across one listing.
- 7:37It's, it's simply kind of impossible and beyond.
- 7:41We analyse about 6 billion data points every 24 hours.
- 7:46Imagine that as a, as a human being or how many people that
- 7:49would take. But yeah, it's, and as I say,
- 7:52it's not a case of kind of replacing it and saying you're
- 7:56wrong with what you're doing. It's, it's the other way around.
- 7:59It's the giving you the the tools and the data to empower
- 8:03you to make much smarter decisions with your pricing
- 8:07strategy and ultimately maximizing both occupancies in
- 8:10the kind of slower periods and then ultimately getting the best
- 8:13possible rates in the the peak periods of of of demand.
- 8:17Maximize your holiday. Let revenue with Beyond Are you
- 8:20leaving money on the table with outdated pricing?
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- 8:27term rentals, helping hosts and property managers boost revenue
- 8:31by up to 35%. With real time market insights,
- 8:36automated pricing updates and AI driven strategy, Beyond takes
- 8:40the guesswork out of setting rates so you can earn more while
- 8:44doing less. Join thousands of successful
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- 8:54Visit beyondpricing.com to get started.
- 8:58How do you approach things when you work with a property manager
- 9:01and perhaps they're on a far-flung island and there
- 9:05aren't that many comparable listings or properties nearby.
- 9:09Do you look at maybe other islands or do you look at other
- 9:12data sets that you compare it to to try and get an idea of, you
- 9:15know, what the what the price and what the rate should be?
- 9:19Yeah, it's a great question, right.
- 9:20So I'd say there are often areas where you have a massive
- 9:23concentration of listing, so the data is richer, right, or where
- 9:26you'll have a kind of rural areas where the next property
- 9:30isn't for another 20 miles, right.
- 9:33So in those instances we will look at a wider area to and but
- 9:39we always look at, for example, if it's a four bedroom property,
- 9:42right, we will look at data for four bedroom properties.
- 9:45If there isn't a, a kind of large concentration within a
- 9:47specific geographical area, we will widen the search because
- 9:52ultimately as a guest you only have those wider options in that
- 9:56particular region. So if we have to look at a wider
- 9:59kind of scope, we will. But ultimately the data we pull
- 10:04from multiple sources as well, right.
- 10:06So all the major OTAs. So try to be as accurate with
- 10:11the booking trends for that specific region as we can.
- 10:14And if at times it will involve looking at wider areas
- 10:19similarly, for example, you might have kind of individuals,
- 10:23hosts of property managers that will have much larger
- 10:26properties, right? Let's say 10 bedrooms or or 12
- 10:29bedrooms, right? There's never the same
- 10:31concentration of 12 bedroom mansions as there is one bedroom
- 10:35apartments, right? So in that case, when we with
- 10:39these booking trends, we'll also widen the scope of data that we
- 10:44look at to also include properties with kind of, you
- 10:46know, 810-1214 bedrooms, for example.
- 10:50Because when it comes to those kind of houses or those sized
- 10:55group bookings, people aren't necessarily searching for a
- 10:58specific area. They're searching for a property
- 11:01big enough to accommodate their group or gathering or whatever
- 11:06it is. So again, to be as accurate as
- 11:08possible, we'll also then look at other data sources or why the
- 11:13data range to capture those kind of search trends and demand
- 11:18trends to make sure that we're like accurately adjusting the
- 11:22prices for our clients. Makes a lot of sense.
- 11:26A lot of hosts and property managers out there are perhaps
- 11:28not particularly tech savvy. They hear about dynamic pricing
- 11:33and algorithms and AI and they think, Oh my goodness.
- 11:36And then they see a dashboard and they think, Oh my goodness,
- 11:38this, this is too complicated for me.
- 11:40I, I don't know where to start. Why is it potentially simpler
- 11:45than what they might fear? Yeah, it is.
- 11:49It's the fear of the unknown a lot of the time, right, That
- 11:52you're kind of incorporating a new system you've never used
- 11:55before and there's a lot of different tools and features and
- 11:58so on. So it can become a little bit
- 12:00overwhelming. However, you know, the whole
- 12:02point of having the the right tool is to make it easier than
- 12:06manual pricing, right? So instead of adjusting rates
- 12:09daily, a good dynamic pricing system automates that process,
- 12:13but gives you the final say in that.
- 12:15And in terms of the complexities, right, it can be
- 12:19as simple or as complex as you like it to depending on how far
- 12:25you want to go into your strategy or how many tweaks you
- 12:28want to make to it. Ultimately, the tool is is very
- 12:32user friendly. We've won multiple awards for
- 12:35the user experience of Beyond Dashboard.
- 12:38You can also customise the dashboard to include as much or
- 12:42as little information as you need, or the critical
- 12:44information to empower your kind of decision making.
- 12:47But ultimately, it's there to simplify pricing for you and
- 12:52make your life easier, rather than make it more complicated
- 12:55and give you more more work. And you've got the support team
- 12:59there as well. If if people have any questions.
- 13:01I've seen quite a few dynamic pricing tools and software out
- 13:05there. And I can confidently,
- 13:07confidently say that beyond is I think by far the simplest.
- 13:11It is easy to look at, easy to use and the user experience is
- 13:15exceptional. Finally then, Roman, just tell
- 13:18us about the the potential impact of going from static
- 13:23pricing to dynamic pricing if people change what than they
- 13:28expect to earn in terms of extra revenue?
- 13:32Yeah. So in, in terms of like average
- 13:35results with beyond, it's around about 18% revenue growth in the
- 13:401st 12 months right now. But that's across 700,000
- 13:44listings globally, right. So it does vary by market, by
- 13:47region, by country, by by type of of portfolio.
- 13:51However, it's not uncommon or unheard of to see, you know,
- 13:56revenue growth up to 35, 40%, for example, when coming from a
- 14:01completely manual process to dynamic pricing with beyond.
- 14:06Because ultimately, if you were having, you know, three seasons
- 14:10before low season, mid season, high season across a 12 month
- 14:16period and you now have 365 seasons, individual daily rates
- 14:21based on things like day of the week impact seasonality events.
- 14:25The opportunities are are massive.
- 14:28I say it's not unheard of in in the 40s, fifties for for
- 14:32instance, we have a range of customer stories on our website.
- 14:37But one of our clients, the Hinge management in Ireland,
- 14:41they grew revenue by over 50% in the 1st 12 months.
- 14:45So results do vary, but the results are always a very strong
- 14:51return on investment. And ultimately, our goal is to
- 14:55make sure that you're maximizing the revenue potential of your
- 14:59portfolio given what's happening in your market. 50%, that is
- 15:04phenomenal. Take it from me though, people,
- 15:06I've gone from manual pricing to dynamic pricing and it works.
- 15:11So if you're not using a dynamic pricing tool at the moment, give
- 15:15beyond a try. Roman, it's been a real
- 15:19pleasure. We will talk to you soon for
- 15:21another couple of episodes in this series.
- 15:23Looking forward to it. Thank you very much for having
- 15:25me and see you soon. Great to chat to Roman Solanik
- 15:28there and bust A. Few myths about dynamic.
- 15:31Pricing All right, that's it for today's episode of STR Pricing
- 15:35secrets. Remember, this series is
- 15:37sponsored by Beyond and if you'd like to try their dynamic
- 15:40pricing tool, head to beyondpricing.com.
- 15:43For more free education tips and trends from the STR industry,
- 15:47visit houseplanner dot club where you can sign up for our
- 15:50newsletter. Listen to our.
- 15:52Podcasts and. Download a suite of ebooks for
- 15:54hosts and property managers. That's it for today's episode.
- 15:58Until next time, happy hosting.