The problem
Many glamping sites set prices once each spring: bank holiday and school holiday weekends sell out months ahead at the standard rate, while midweek nights in spring and autumn stay empty. If 20 peak nights a month could have sold for $20£15€18A$29C$28 more and 4 empty midweek nights could have sold at $113£85€101A$163C$160 that's $399£300€357A$576C$564 + $452£340€405A$653C$639 = $851£640€762A$1,229C$1,203 a month missed.
What the AI does
PriceLabs is a dynamic pricing service. Its pricing page says it makes automated daily rate and minimum stay updates from market data and your listings' performance, with automated demand and seasonal adjustments, last-minute discounts and minimum stay recommendations, and direct integrations with Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com plus many property management systems. You set a base price, a minimum price you'll never go below and your own rules, and PriceLabs updates the rates in your channel manager once a day. You check its prices each week until you trust them.
A worked example
A 5-unit glamping site in the Lake District sells through Beds24 at a base price of $146£110€131A$211C$207 a night. The owner connects PriceLabs, sets a floor of $106£80€95A$154C$150 and checks prices every Monday.
Before
Fixed seasonal prices: peak weekends sold at the standard rate and about 4 midweek nights a month left empty
After
About 20 peak nights a month at $20£15€18A$29C$28 more ($399£300€357A$576C$564) and 4 extra midweek nights at $113£85€101A$163C$160 ($452£340€405A$653C$639): $851£640€762A$1,229C$1,203 a month more in bookings
What it's worth
About $638£480€571A$922C$902 a month in profit, at an assumed 75% margin after cleaning, laundry and booking-site commission on $851£640€762A$1,229C$1,203 of extra bookings. The extra nights and higher prices are assumptions; a quiet season can mean less. PriceLabs is about $40£30€36A$58C$56 to $80£60€71A$115C$113 a month: $39.99 (about $40£30€36A$58C$56) if the units are set up as one multi-unit listing (1 at $19.99 plus 4 at $5), or 5 separate listings at $15.99 each, $79.95 (about $80£60€71A$115C$113), from the page's calculator.
How to set it up
- Start the 30-day free trial and connect it to your channel manager or booking sites.
- Set a base price, a minimum price you'll never sell below and a maximum, from your own costs and past bookings.
- Add your own rules, such as minimum stays on bank holiday weekends, and check the calendar it proposes.
- Run it with price syncing on but check every price each week for the first month.
- Compare your monthly takings and occupancy with the same month last year before deciding to keep it.
What goes wrong
- Ask PriceLabs how your units are counted: as one multi-unit listing or as separate listings. That doubles the price.
- It updates once a day on the standard plan; extra daily syncs cost $1 a listing a month.
- Without a sensible minimum price, last-minute discounts can sell a night for less than it costs to clean.
- Prices are in dollars plus taxes, so the sterling cost moves with the exchange rate.