21 Questions Every Book Dance Space Host Should Ask
- October 18, 2018
- Rentals
Beyond date and time, there are many questions you may want to ask your potential guest to determine fit, set expectations, and…
Read MorePicking the perfect price is like a superpower. By changing a single number—your price—you can instantly change how customers see your space. Take the listing below, for instance. At $300/hr, you get a very different impression than $30/hr.
At $500/hr, you would expect guests with big budgets—a company party or high profile meeting. These don’t happen very often, but when they do guests spend a lot. They also tend to be more complex, which means added work for you.
At $30/hr, more casual bookings open up. Maybe a quick photoshoot or a rehearsal event. For a three-hour activity, it’s easier for a guest to spend $300 than $1,500. As a result, the price fits more occasions.
For this particular space, owner Ben Seidl picked the $96/hr price tag, and he’s been very successful with it. So far, he’s hosted over 100 bookings in this location, earning him Power Host status.
Of course, one price isn’t more “right” than the other. A $500/hr space can be as successful as a $96/hr space.
But picking the right price for your space can have a big impact on your bottom line. A study by McKinsey & Company showed that if companies can raise their price by 1%, it can lead to 8% higher profits. This is a bigger increase than if you lowered your costs or sold more volume.
So, how do you pick a price that’s right for you?
Finding the perfect price is an ongoing science, but here are three steps to get you headed in the right direction.
This won’t give you an exact answer, but it will help you triangulate the right price for you. Let’s go through each of them.
The first thing you’ll want to know is what other hosts with spaces similar to yours charge for their space. When it comes to comparing spaces, it’s important to look at a few key features of the space:
Luckily, Peerspace makes finding comparable spaces really easy. You can search for spaces by price, capacity, location, and the activities they accommodate all at bookdancespace.com
What do these spaces have in common? What makes them appealing? What makes your space similar or different? You should start seeing the range of prices that could work for your space.
A few pro tips when looking for similar spaces:
This is a critical question. Just because you want to charge $1,000/hr for your space doesn’t mean that guests will book it at that price.
In fact in 2017, 94% of bookings on Peerspace were for spaces under $250/hr.
But remember, the number of bookings isn’t the whole story. For instance, even though only 1% of bookings are at spaces that charge over $500 per hour, these bookings make up 8% of host payouts. In other words, bookings for over $500 per hour were less frequent, but they had big payouts for the hosts when they happened.
So how do you figure out how much guests will pay for your space?
The best way is to test a few different prices. From your analysis of similar spaces, you have a range of prices that could work for your space. Pick the lowest of the prices and start there.
You just want to get some experience with Peerspace to start. How will you prep your space? What will you have to tell guests? And how do you run a successful booking? Getting a few reviews under your belt will only help too. Guests rely on reviews to tell them what spaces are worth booking.
With every price you try, write down the number of inquiries, bookings, and payouts you receive. After several months, you should start to see which price is right for you.
If you find out that price is lower than you hoped, you may need to make a few upgrades to your space. Oftentimes, adding just a few amenities can really increase a guest’s willingness to pay. For instance, if you want more meetings, show a big whiteboard or TV screen in your cover photo of your space. You may find guests are willing to pay much more for an all-inclusive space, and it might not be too much more expensive for you.
Understanding what your guests want to pay will take some trial and error, but once you find the right price, bookings will be a breeze.
The price needs to work not only for the guest, but for you too. Just because a guest will pay $10/hr for your space doesn’t mean it’s worth it to you to open your space to them.
You may want to consider:
If you find your costs are too high in any of these areas, a few simple changes can go a long way. For instance, if you’re taking too much risk, limit the types of bookings you accept. If you want fewer bookings, increase your price or change your availability.
With BookDanceSapce, your space and pricing are in your control, so make it work in your favor.
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