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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Love Airbnb! Was able to afford a central place in Paris because of it.

What do you charge OP? What do you make yearly off it?

Do prices ever fluctuate? I swear I was looking at a place for a certain date and the price changed - though I could be wrong about this.

[/quote]

OP here (I'm going to ignore the ridiculous comforter debate.)

Airbnb has something called "Smart Pricing" which continually adjusts pricing based on what other properties in the area are charging and local Airbnb availability. We rely on Smart Pricing, so our prices can change, particularly as you get closer to a specific date and/or as other Airbnb's in the area fill up, which is often because of something happening locally that Airbnb has no way of knowing about, such as a popular festival.

Think of the Folklife Festival in DC. It's not a holiday, but it is a big tourist draw, so many Airbnbs in the DC area will fill up early. That will trigger price hikes on those units that haven't yet been booked. Obviously, smart hosts will hike their prices in advance, because they DO know about the festival and want to cash in. As hosts, we can adjust the price on any day to any rate we want. I reduce it to $10 (the lowest you can charge) for friends and family, for example.

We do set a basement price, which is $70 a night. With Smart Pricing, it can go as high as $120/night on weekends during the summer, which is the peak season here. But even at $70, we're doing fine. We are almost always booked, so we typically bring in about $2,000-$2,500 a month, which is almost all profit.

We think of it as "making money while we sleep." :-)[/quote]

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