A new version of Smoobu Dynamic Pricing is rolling out. It is not on every Smoobu account yet. The new version has a completely new design and many more settings, including the Advanced Settings in this article. If your Dynamic Pricing page looks the same as before, your account does not have it yet. There is nothing you need to do to get the new version.
The Advanced Settings in Smoobu Dynamic Pricing are four sliders that decide how far your prices move away from your standard nightly rate: in busy and quiet seasons, around local events, for nights that are still free shortly before arrival, and for dates far ahead. Each slider has three positions, with Recommended in the middle. You set them for each property.
The examples in this article use a property with a standard nightly rate of 100 euros. Your own numbers depend on your market and your rate.
Where to find the Advanced Settings
- In Smoobu, open Configuration in the left sidebar and click Dynamic Pricing.
- Click Go to settings next to the property.
- Open Advanced Settings. You see the four sliders: Seasonal pricing, Last Minute Pricing, Reaction to demand and Dates far in advance.
- Move a slider to the position you want and click Save changes made below the sliders.
Your Minimum price and Maximum price always apply: no slider moves a price below your minimum or above your maximum. A price you type into your rate calendar yourself is a fixed rate, and the sliders do not change it.
Seasonal pricing
Dynamic Pricing looks at how booking demand rises and falls through the year for rentals in your area, and works out how busy each date usually is. Busy dates get a higher price and quiet dates a lower one. Because the pattern comes from your area and not only from your own bookings, a new property with no bookings yet also gets seasonal prices. Prices change gradually from day to day, not all at once at the start of a month.
This slider decides how strongly Dynamic Pricing applies those ups and downs. It does not change your standard nightly rate, and it does not change which months are busy.
| Position | Busy summer weekend (suggested: +25%) | Quiet November weekday (suggested: −20%) |
|---|---|---|
| Smaller seasonal changes | 120 euros (+20%) | 84 euros (−16%) |
| Recommended | 125 euros (+25%) | 80 euros (−20%) |
| Bigger seasonal changes | 130 euros (+30%) | 76 euros (−24%) |
Smaller seasonal changes makes the seasonal ups and downs 20% smaller, and Bigger seasonal changes makes them 20% bigger. How big the seasonal changes are in the first place depends on your market. A beach town can have big summer peaks, while a city property may stay fairly flat all year.
Which position fits you:
- Smaller seasonal changes suits a property where demand is fairly even all year, or where many returning guests expect similar prices.
- Recommended follows your area's pattern as it is. It is a good starting point if you are not sure.
- Bigger seasonal changes suits strongly seasonal places, such as beach or ski areas, where the busy months sell out and the quiet months need a lower price to get booked. Your Minimum price still applies in the quiet months.
Unless you change it, this slider is on Recommended.
Reaction to demand
This slider decides how strongly your prices react to local events and other busy dates in your area. Steadier prices makes that reaction 10% smaller, and Stronger response makes it 10% bigger.
For example, if an event raises a date by 20% to 120 euros, the price is 118 euros with Steadier prices, 120 euros with Recommended and 122 euros with Stronger response. Dates without an event or other extra demand do not change.
Unless you change it, this slider is on Recommended.
Last Minute Pricing
When a night is still free as the arrival date gets closer, Dynamic Pricing gives it a discount, so it still gets booked. The discount is biggest on the day itself and gets smaller the further away the date is. This slider changes both how big the discount is and how many days before arrival it starts.
| Days before arrival | More bookings | Recommended | Higher prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same day | 75 euros | 85 euros | 85 euros |
| 7 days | 78 euros | 92.50 euros | 97 euros |
| 14 days | 85 euros | 97 euros | 99 euros |
| 30 days | 94 euros | 99 euros | about 100 euros |
The discount is almost gone (less than 5%) about 36 days before arrival with More bookings, 10 days before with Recommended and 5 days before with Higher prices.
Unless you change it, this slider is on More bookings.
Dates far in advance
For dates far in the future, Dynamic Pricing adds an increase to your price. There is little booking data that far ahead, and the increase means an early booking does not lock in a price that is too low. Prices can still come down as the date gets closer.
- Bigger increase: the increase starts about 180 days before the date and rises to up to 25%. A date 240 days away costs about 115 euros, and a date 365 days away about 124 euros.
- Recommended: the increase starts about 365 days before the date and quickly rises to 10%. A date 400 days away costs about 109 euros.
- No increase: dates far ahead get no extra increase and stay at 100 euros.
Unless you change it, this slider is on Bigger increase.
"Higher prices" does not mean higher prices on every slider
The right-hand position does not raise your prices on every slider. On Last Minute Pricing, Higher prices means a smaller last-minute discount. On Dates far in advance, the right-hand position is No increase, so dates far ahead never get an increase and can be cheaper than on the other two positions. On Seasonal pricing and Reaction to demand, the right-hand position makes prices move more in both directions: higher on busy dates and lower on quiet ones.
Common questions
My prices hardly change through the year
Check your Minimum price first. If it is close to your standard nightly rate, prices in the quiet months cannot go lower, so your calendar looks flat. Smaller seasonal changes also makes prices flatter. In some areas the year has only a small seasonal pattern, and prices move mainly around events and busy dates. See My Dynamic Pricing barely moves or shows below my minimum.
I moved Reaction to demand, but my prices did not change
The slider only changes dates with a local event or other extra demand. If the dates you are looking at have none, their price stays the same.
Why are my prices higher for dates far in the future?
Dates far in advance starts on Bigger increase, so dates from about 180 days ahead get an increase of up to 25%. To lower it, move the slider to Recommended (an increase only from about a year ahead) or No increase.
I want fewer free nights shortly before arrival
Keep Last Minute Pricing on More bookings: it gives the biggest discount and starts it earliest, about 5 weeks ahead. If your prices still do not move, check your Minimum price. If it is set too high, most nights land on the minimum and no discount can show. See My Dynamic Pricing barely moves or shows below my minimum.
Where do I change my standard nightly rate?
Your Standard Nightly Rate, your Minimum price / Maximum price and your Minimum stays are under Dynamic settings, not under Advanced Settings. See Turn on Smoobu Dynamic Pricing.
Related articles
- Turn on Smoobu Dynamic Pricing
- What Smoobu Dynamic Pricing is, what it costs, and what happens if you turn it off
- My Dynamic Pricing barely moves or shows below my minimum
Still stuck?
If these steps didn't fix it, contact the Smoobu team: open the Help menu to open a ticket or book a call slot, or use the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner. To get the fastest answer, please include:
- Your Smoobu User ID (in the profile-icon menu, top right).
- The property name or ID, if it's about one property.
- The Booking ID, if it's about one booking (Bookings, then View more).
- The channel name, if it's about channel sync (Booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo, and so on).
- A short step-by-step: what you did, what you expected, and what happened.
- Screenshots or a short screen recording of the problem.
- Your browser and operating system, if something looks wrong on screen.
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