Dynamic Pricing

What is Dynamic Pricing?

Dynamic Pricing is an intelligent pricing strategy tool that automatically recommends nightly rates based on actual booking data from similar properties in your region. Instead of manually setting prices for each season, Dynamic Pricing analyzes real market demand and guest behavior to help you stay competitive and optimize your revenue.

When you set up Dynamic Pricing, you receive a recommended price curve for the next 14 months. You have full control over these recommendations—you can adjust them and apply them manually, or enable automatic price optimization to let the system adjust prices within limits you define. As market demand changes, Dynamic Pricing continues to provide updated recommendations, helping you respond quickly to market conditions without the time-consuming work of building seasonal pricing from scratch.

Key Benefits of Dynamic Pricing

• Data-Driven Recommendations: Pricing is based on completed bookings from similar properties in your area, not guesswork or competitor listing prices
• Time Saving: Eliminate manual seasonal pricing adjustments—14 months of pricing is generated in minutes
• Market Responsive: Weekly updates to booking data mean your price recommendations reflect real, current market trends
• Complete Control: Apply recommendations manually with one click, or enable automatic optimization within your chosen price range
• Flexible Adjustments: Edit individual dates, price levels, or seasonal settings anytime—nothing is locked in

How to Set Up Dynamic Pricing: Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Open Dynamic Pricing

Log in to your Holidu Host Account and navigate to the Pricing tab. If you have a new listing or no seasons configured yet, you'll see an empty state with a "Get started" button. Click this button to launch the guided setup wizard.

Step 2: Choose Your Pricing Tier

Select the tier that represents how you want to position your property in the market:

• Budget: Priced like the cheapest approximately 15% of similar properties in your area—ideal for maximum occupancy and volume
• Comfort: Priced around the average of similar properties—a balanced approach for steady bookings at market rate
• Premium: Priced like the top approximately 15% of similar properties in your area—for properties with superior amenities or locations

Similar properties are determined by their location (your focus region), maximum occupancy, and completed, non-cancelled Holidu Homes bookings. This comparison group is fixed and cannot be manually adjusted. If sufficient booking data exists for your property, Holidu will display a "Recommended for you" badge next to the best-fit category.

Step 3: Set Your Seasonal Rules

The guided setup organizes your 14-month pricing period into four demand-based season types:

• Peak: Highest demand period—typically holiday seasons, summer vacation, or local events
• High: Strong demand periods
• Mid: Moderate demand periods
• Low: Quieter periods with lower demand

For each season type, you'll configure:

• Minimum Stay: The shortest length of stay you'll accept during this season
• Weekend Markup: An additional percentage charge for weekend nights if desired
• Check-in/Check-out Days: Which days of the week you allow check-ins and check-outs

These settings apply to every date within each season type, so you only need to set them once rather than adjusting individual days.

Step 4: Preview and Apply Your Prices

Before any changes take effect, review a side-by-side comparison of your new recommended prices versus your current rates. This preview shows you exactly what will change. When you're satisfied with the recommendations, click "Apply prices" to implement them.

Important: Applying Dynamic Pricing will overwrite your existing prices and season settings, including any manual adjustments you've made to individual days. Always review the preview carefully before confirming. After applying, you can still fine-tune any specific dates as needed.

Step 5: Adjust Anytime

Dynamic Pricing is not a set-and-forget tool. You can reopen it whenever you want to adjust your overall price level, modify seasonal effects, or make manual edits to specific dates, prices, and minimum-stay rules directly in your calendar view.

How Dynamic Pricing Stays Current

Weekly Data Refresh

Holidu updates the booking data underlying your price recommendations every week. This means your comparison against similar properties gradually reflects what's actually happening in your market right now, not historical data.

Regular Price Recommendations

As guest demand shifts throughout the year, Dynamic Pricing surfaces new price recommendations for you to review. You can apply these recommendations with a single click whenever you're ready.

Automatic Price Optimization (Optional)

If you prefer not to manually review and apply recommendations, you can enable "Automatic Price Optimisation." When activated, you'll set a minimum and maximum price range (your floor and ceiling), and Dynamic Pricing will automatically adjust your price level within those bounds as market conditions change. Every adjustment is logged in your price history for full transparency. You're never locked into automatic mode—you can switch back to manual management at any time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my existing prices be overwritten?

Yes. Applying Dynamic Pricing replaces all your current prices and settings, including any manual day-by-day adjustments you've made. You'll see a clear comparison of your new versus old prices before confirming, and you retain the ability to edit individual days manually afterward.

What are the pricing seasons (Peak, High, Mid, Low)?

These are demand-based groups that organize your year into pricing periods. Peak represents the highest demand season, while Low represents the quietest period. You can adjust the settings for each season type before your final prices are applied.

Can I still control my minimum stay requirements?

Yes. Dynamic Pricing suggests minimum stay rules based on demand patterns, but you have full control to edit them manually at any time. Minimum stay is set per season type and applies to all dates in that season unless you override specific dates individually.

Can I adjust my prices after setup?

Absolutely. You can return to Dynamic Pricing at any time to shift your overall price level, change your seasonal effect, or adjust specific dates and price ranges manually, just as you would in the regular pricing calendar.

What do Budget, Comfort, and Premium mean?

These tiers define which group of similar properties you want to compete with. Budget positions your property at the lower end of your local market, Comfort positions it near the average, and Premium positions it alongside the top-tier properties in your area.

Are cleaning fees or taxes included in these prices?

No. Dynamic Pricing recommends nightly base rates only. Cleaning fees, taxes, and any other charges are managed separately in your property settings and are not affected by this tool.

What if I want to return to manual pricing?

You can do so at any time. Dynamic Pricing is a starting point and recommendation system, not a permanent lock-in. Switch back to traditional manual pricing management whenever you prefer.

Is the Minimum Price the absolute lowest I will ever receive?

No. The Minimum Price applies only to your nightly base rate. If you have active discounts—such as a 10% Weekly Discount or a 15% Last-Minute deal—these are calculated on top of your nightly rate. This means the final price a guest pays could be lower than your Minimum Price setting.

Will this change the price of bookings I've already received?

No. Dynamic Pricing only affects rates for nights that are currently available and unbooked. All existing confirmed reservations remain at the price they were booked at, regardless of any pricing updates you make.

Why don't the similar property prices match what I see on Airbnb or Booking.com?

The price range is based on actual completed bookings within Holidu's portfolio, not listed or asking prices on other platforms. Listed prices and actual booking prices often differ significantly, so some variation between platforms is expected and normal.

Can I adjust the comparison area or radius used for the price curve?

No. Your comparison area (focus region) is fixed and cannot be manually adjusted. Instead, you fine-tune your competitiveness within your selected tier (Budget, Comfort, or Premium) using the Price Level slider.

How does Dynamic Pricing handle extra-guest surcharges?

Dynamic Pricing prices for the full number of adults your property accommodates. If you charge a base rate for fewer adults than your total capacity—for example, a property that sleeps 6 but prices for 4 plus 2 extra-guest fees—adjust your price level down in the wizard accordingly, as it's calibrated for your full occupancy capacity.

Best Practices for Using Dynamic Pricing

• Review Recommendations Regularly: Check in on price recommendations weekly or as often as market conditions warrant to stay competitive
• Start with Your Recommended Tier: If Holidu recommends a specific tier, it's based on your actual booking performance—a good starting point
• Use Automatic Optimization Strategically: Enable automatic price optimization if you want hands-off management, but keep monitoring your bookings and revenue to ensure the results align with your goals
• Fine-Tune Seasonal Settings: After initial setup, review your minimum stay and weekend markup settings to ensure they match your property's operational needs
• Track Your Results: Monitor occupancy and revenue before and after applying new pricing to understand the impact

Getting Started Today

Dynamic Pricing transforms how you manage rates, replacing hours of manual work with data-driven recommendations. To get started, log into your Holidu Host Account, navigate to Pricing, and click "Get started" on the Dynamic Pricing section. Follow the guided setup to choose your tier, configure your seasonal rules, preview your new prices, and apply them—all in just a few minutes.

Remember: nothing is permanent. You can adjust, fine-tune, or change direction at any time as your needs and market conditions evolve.