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When the Air photographer came here a few years ago, he told me my place was a GREAT place at a great price compared to what others have out there. That the last place he shot was a hammock on someone’s lanai going for $50 a night. But yet, I still get negotiators at times.
My boilerplate reply is, “Sorry, it’s priced fairly for the season and the location. I don’t offer discounts.”
They usually don’t respond after a terse reply, but once I had a guy persist. “Well what is there to do around there?” As though he thought I should sell him on the location (all in my listing BTW) and then his higness would grant me the favor of booking. I never responded. Don’t waste my time!
I also sometimes get people asking a bunch of questions about the location and even Hawaii or the Big Island in general, and then ask about all the things they should do. Do I look like a travel agent? I politely tell them that once they book, I can answer those sorts of questions and provide detailed suggestions.
I learned a long time ago when I was a newbie advertising copywriter NEVER to give your work away for free. You get tons of potential clients who want you to “donate” your time or do “speculative” work which might lead to “jobs.” It never does. Because the type of clients you really want will never ask you to give away your work. They respect you enough to pay you fairly for your work and meet your price. Also when I was a newbie copywriter I had a low hourly rate in order to attract business. My mentor in the business told me, “You have to raise your rate to double that or everyone will think you are an amateur!”
It worked for me only if negotiating is making sense. For example I don’t set weekly prices as I would rather don’t have week long stays. But sometimes when it’s empty, and someone wants to stay a week, I won’t say no to money. These people usually ask if they get a discount. It’s a legitimate negotiation, and I don’t get insulted or mad, and honestly I negotiate also when I travel, if I stay long term.
When a person says, this is my budget, will you be able to work around it, I consider it honest and appropriate negotiation. Of course it’s not when they offer me half the asking price.
I had great guests who negotiated like this, and they never gave me any problem. I had the worst guest who did not negotiate and were hands full.,
The silliest negotiators I had
A girl who only “was going to sleep for 6 hours”, can I give her discount.,
A guy who insisted on me giving him 5$ discount and then said, I am just asking about 5$. And looked at me like I was cheap.,
A woman who told me she will really appreciate my kindness if I give her half price for the room, and hinting on " being in Christmas spirit".
LOL!!! These are truly funny!!!
Oh yeah, we hear about the “aloha spirit” here too.
BBM is right… it’s insulting to be offered a lowball price for your hard work, especially when it is ALREADY budget priced.
Luckily, I rarely get negotiators now.
I have a dedicated discount for longer stays. When we stared we offered no discounts other than these. But recently I have offered a discount to local companies in East London, gave them each an extra £50 off their rentals. One to show solidarity with other local businesses, but mainly to ensure that when they have other bookings they come to me. Will see if this works, fairly hopeful. To everyone else it’s the same response. You are getting 500sq ft in Central London for less than the Holiday Inn 200m away. Go there if you think you can get a better deal. We have had <10 empty nights since we started, so it’s not hurting us.
We check against the local market all the time. Adding on another tenner might be possible, But lose one night and that’s 12-15 extra we need to make that up. I take the points, but would rather have the cash in the bank, with guaranteed bookings, than the possibility of bookings. We raised the rate for Xmas & New Year, a given. But most of our usual trade are business people. We are less than a mile from The City and in the middle of creative industries. We translate about 20-25% enquiries into bookings offering a quality product at a reasonable price. The rate we charge allows us to maintain a flat in a cool part of London, which we get to use as and when, accrue the capital appreciation on the flat, pay all associated bills, obtain a good income, all without the hassle of long term tenants, and minimum stress. I think we have it about right. We might be able to squeeze an additional 5-10% out of it, but that would undoubtedly raise the stress levels. Not sure we want that.
Are you in the “Silicon Roundabout” area by any chance? Just thinking, because you have all businesspeople, they are reimbursed costs by their companies, so they are not paying it themselves and care less what the cost is. I think you should raise the rates and you will still be booked!
We are on the edge of Bethnal Green/Shoreditch. Not far from Old Street roundabout. I am surprised at how price savvy people are, especially if they work for SME’s rather than big companies.
So true about never giving your work away for free. I recently got burned by a multiple questioner asking about our place in Skye over New Year and what was there to do etc etc. Stupidly I sent two long emails detailing all the things one can do. Of course they never booked. From now on, I most definitely will do what you do konacoco, which is to say that once they book I can answer those kinds of questions.
It’s easy to fall into the trap because you want the booking. So annoying. But those who ask lots of questions tend not to book in my experience.
That’s interesting. I find it very difficult to know how to price our place. I wonder if it’s worth testing higher prices and seeing how it affects bookings?
The Isle of Skye? Oh my god. I spent one of the worst days of my life there in 1980. I was backpacking around the UK, and landed up there for a day. There were several other young people staying in the hostel there, which was run by a maniac. Most of us had no real idea what to expect, but it was absolutely pissing rain and the hostel owner kicked us all out early in the morning. We spent most of the day mooching around the local cafe or chipper or whatever until we were finally let back in for dinner. We all left as soon as we could the next day!!
Yes, I can imagine a hostel on Skye in bad weather is dreich. But it is also a stunning and very dramatic island - it would be difficult to find more incredible views anywhere in the UK. Interestingly, the guests we have in Skye tend to be ‘better’ guests than ones we get in Edinburgh - happier and less liable to grouch.
I’m sure it was my fault. I had a rail pass and was just travelling around on an ad hoc basis without planning anything. I did notice that there were a couple of people with us who were prepared for the weather and seemed to know what they were doing. Many years later, we lived in Galway, and the west of Ireland must be similar to Skye - wild and beautiful! Those wind-swept trees, permanently bent away from the Atlantic…
Too right. We’ve just had a nice couple over New Year. Quiet, out a lot, left the place immaculate. Okay, haven’t had their review yet, but still…it makes the whole experience so much nicer if people are pleasant.
If it’s last minute booking, I would consider 5-10% discount if they ask politely.
There was once some guest demanded a discount because “it’s a last minute booking”. I couldn’t click the decline button fast enough. That’s a red flag for problematic guests. You don’t demand discount, I give discount on my free will.
I wouldn’t reduce my fee. It still entails the same amount of work. Does a hotel reduce its fee because you book on the same day? Or does it raise its price because fewer places are available. I had someone ask me to put a discount if he stayed a week or longer.However, I do not want guests for longer than a week so do not provide a discount.
