Pricing for Next Season

[Fraise]

"
You will probably tend to price too low your first year, but that's OK, better than the other way round."
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That's what we have done- we had a lady round from a company specialising in holiday homes in France and the price band she put our house in( she said it was "impeccable") meant charging double the amount we currently charge!! How do you know when starting out? I think you have to just look at others but discard the very highest prices,how do you know they have any bookings? With the Olympics though , it seems as though you could be well placed to have an excelllent start!!

www.thepetitmanoir.com

[Clexane]

We have virtually booked out our high and very high season and I have taken the early call of significantly increasing our prices for remaining medium season and next years rates.

We run four bands, Low, medium, high, and very high. Since increasing pricing we have just received one booking on medium season - June - at the high season rates I got for August! I should be jumping for joy but that greed gene wont get its eye off the empty half of the glass i.e., all the rent that we could have got in high season etc etc - talk about never been grateful ...

I am almost certain we were too low to start with as we booked out so quickly our high season (should have got the hint when people where telling us what great value it looked).

So with a 30-40% upward revision we go forward and see what happens ... We might offer our existing guests a significant discount for returns next year to soften the blow ... if they behave.

P.S. That damn greed gene still wonders if its high enough still ... its so hard to tell in Provence what the rate should be with all the variety. Opinions appreciated - don't be too harsh

http://www.perfectplaces.com/villaemmanuelle.htm

[Fraise]

We,ve put ours up for next year by an average of 15% but not across the board.Why is the second half of June still hanging round? I have one week in July and the last week in August free- the problem here is that I've had quite a few enquiries for them but they wanted 2 weeks and the other week is booked in each case! Doh! Oh well,for thr first year I am quite happy!! I told you we had it inspected? It really should be much dearer but how do you do it? Same dilemma as many I suppose? I'm afraid to double the rates as she advised us in case no-one books!!!

www.thepetitmanoir.com

[vrooje]

I agree, doubling the rates might be risky to do all at once! Better to increase them by 30% a year and see how it goes each year.

Of course, we're even more cautious than that (and properties aren't that expensive in our area) so we'll probably only increase 10% this year.

[Ciapolin]

. The Winter Olympics are being held in Turin next Feb, with the main skiing events being held only 30 mins from our apartment.
Helen

Helen, I'm having the same connundrum. Looking at other properties on the internet hasn't helped at all - they vary from €300 for a 4 bed farm house to €400 for a one room kitchen/bed!

I've decided to just base it on what I would be prepared to pay and go from there.

Of course I have the added problem of hoping my builder finishes in time!

C-A

[Hells Bells]

I have the completion problem too. there is also such a vast difference in prices in the area, and we have the added problem of being unique to the area, having a pool in the communal grounds that can be used all year round.

[vrooje]

Helen,

We also "suffer" from the issue of uniqueness -- though I look at it as an advantage! Our location appears to be unique compared to other gites around us, offering several amenities and features the other ones can't. In my opinion that means we can charge more than they can. The question is: how much more?

When we first started, we priced our house equal to others in the area of similar size, so that when comparing the location and features our house would be the obvious choice. We were able to get experience and testimonials that way, and raised our prices the following year even as others in the area kept them the same or even lowered them a bit. Largely due to our unique location, I think, we have continued to be successful.

[paolo]

its so hard to tell in Provence what the rate should be with all the variety. Opinions appreciated - don't be too harsh

Clexane,

I don't really know the market in Banon, but I don't think your prices are too high, based on properties a little to the west of you.

[Guest3]

We normally have a look at other rental prices on the Costa as we do not want to charge ourselves out of the market!

We've raised our prices for 2006 by 5%, don't know whether that is too low or not, but it seems to be in line (or cheaper) in comparison to other villas of similar size and location.

[evabal]

I also only started this year and strtegically underpriced the apartment. I got so many inquires that I knew that for the next Summar I will not have any problem to rais the price. I just really wanted to book as fast and as much as I can for 2005.

I also checked other similar apartments and things are a bit of tricky because my apartment is very small but honestly it has an excellent layout (when I renovated I toally redesigned the whole place) and it is very clean and "high-end". I think I will match the similar apartment's prices (even that they are larger in size) and make the "extras" stand out more, so in comparison my place would look better. this way I would rais my prices about 20-30%

Eva