Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Beyond Pricing – Automatic Dynamic Pricing for Airbnb

beyondpricing.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 65 posts

Re: Beyond Pricing – Automatic Dynamic Pricing for Airbnb

#31

Post by rayiner »

buro9 wrote: post #4

Surge pricing for AirBNB, and suddenly we're back to looking our networks for floors to crash on and spare rooms to be had. I guess the rule of thumb is that even when costs are eroded, profits increased, intermediaries disintermediated... the prices will rise to the maximum levels that the market will bear. It just takes away the magic of being able to find that rare, cheap and great place. The sharing culture is no…

> I guess the rule of thumb is that even when costs are eroded, profits increased, intermediaries disintermediated... the prices will rise to the maximum levels that the market will bear.

Price has always been about demand versus supply, not demand versus cost. Reducing costs in situations where supply is constrained by some other factor will just increase profits.

Re: Beyond Pricing – Automatic Dynamic Pricing for Airbnb

#34

Post by clogston »

pmoods wrote: post #20

I use something similar called Smart Host ( http://www.smarthost.me ). They told me they are supporting about 10 cities right now. It’s not automatic like Beyond, but they give me a bunch of context around their recommendation. Smart Host - The short-term rental price expert. www.smarthost.me

Agree on Smart Host. I really like the flavor they provided about the pricing recommendation I got from them.

Re: Beyond Pricing – Automatic Dynamic Pricing for Airbnb

#35

Post by crazypyro »

pbreit wrote: post #28
ianmchenry wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beyond Pricing is free during beta, and then we will charge a reasonable monthly rate per property, similar to other SaaS solutions for vacation rentals. The channels like Airbnb actually love it because it helps maximize revenue across the system, making the pie from which they take a 10% commission on larger.

I'd be careful about assuming the platforms will "love it". AirBnB, in particular, is very sensitive to customer experiences and ever-changing prices are known to be extremely annoying. A delicate balance must be struck.

Maybe there could be an option for "max volatility" or something where an owner would give it a percent and say "Don't change my price by more than x% in y time".

Re: Beyond Pricing – Automatic Dynamic Pricing for Airbnb

#37

Post by rahimnathwani »

pbreit wrote: post #27
venutip wrote: post #17

We model local demand for each night by modeling hotel prices, flight data, conference attendance & more. God forbid you could just set what you think is a reasonable price for your rental, and have somebody else come along and think your price is reasonable, too.

Agree. I think the modeling is fine but it always seems to neglect consumer preferences for slower moving prices.

Customer preferences for slower moving prices are just like customer preferences for lower prices. They must be traded off against customer preferences for availability.

If prices didn't move then the market wouldn't clear, and some capacity or demand (at the current price) would be wasted.

Re: Beyond Pricing – Automatic Dynamic Pricing for Airbnb

#38

Post by josu »

rayiner wrote: post #31
buro9 wrote: post #4

Surge pricing for AirBNB, and suddenly we're back to looking our networks for floors to crash on and spare rooms to be had. I guess the rule of thumb is that even when costs are eroded, profits increased, intermediaries disintermediated... the prices will rise to the maximum levels that the market will bear. It just takes away the magic of being able to find that rare, cheap and great place. The sharing culture is no…

> I guess the rule of thumb is that even when costs are eroded, profits increased, intermediaries disintermediated... the prices will rise to the maximum levels that the market will bear. Price has always been about demand versus supply, not demand versus cost. Reducing costs in situations where supply is constrained by some other factor will just increase profits.

>Price has always been about demand versus supply

True, but it needs one of the two following conditions:

1. In the long run 2. In a fairly competitive market

Re: Beyond Pricing – Automatic Dynamic Pricing for Airbnb

#40

Post by graeme »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #9
ForHackernews wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer couchsurfing.com anyway. It's an example of the actual sharing economy, and without the grey-area legal shadiness.

This part of couchsurfing (the third auto-suggest result when I start typing couchsurfing into Chrome) is my concern: http://www.businessinsider.com/couchsurfing-the-best-hook-up...

The system still works. Women traveling alone have to exercise more caution, but that's true of most activities in life, unfortunately.

The review system on couchsurfing is good. I'm male, so I'm going to have an easier time, but I've never had a problem with couchsurfing. I've stayed with and hosted a few dozen people.

Before I take ANY guest or send a request, I go over their whole profile, their reviews, their photos. Do them seem cool? Do they seem normal, no creepy vibe? Do they have reviews? Do the reviews go beyond "Jack is a nice man. He stayed with me two days."?

If they are "yes" on all counts, not only have they been safe, but they've been among the most interesting people I've met in 28 years on this earth.

Women should heighten scrutiny on all counts, and also check for "do they only host women?". Do they have even a SINGLE negative review or sign of creepy behavior?

Suffice to say, I've met plenty of women travelers who find couchsurfing a great experience, including while traveling alone. I'm not speaking out of male ignorance.

Post reply on HN