Our review of Pricelabs: Is it the best rate management software for vacation rentals? Complete guide to features, alternatives and prices :
In an ever-changing and increasingly competitive vacation rental market. Today, it’s essential to have the right tools to optimize rate management for your Airbnb rentals.
Pricelabs is a solution that will help you increase the sales and profitability of your properties by offering dynamic AND automatic pricing.
Often compared to Airdna, this tool allows you to reliably automate your pricing. Coupled with a channel manager, all your platforms will be controlled by the software. Here comparaison Airbnb VS Pricelabs
At Channel-Manager-Experts, we’re big fans of automation and delegation, and Pricelabs is the type of tool we recommend. It’ll give you peace of mind without affecting profitability – quite the opposite, in fact!
In this article, read our review of Pricelabs, the tool that automates your pricing.
Pricelabs: what is it?
Created in the USA in Chicago in 2014, the tool is used worldwide. To operate, it retrieves available data, on Airbnb and VRBO.
Today, there are more than 220,000 ads worldwide managed by the tool.
It is used by subletting companies, concierge services and, above all, by managers and owners looking for automation and optimal time management…
Pricelabs analyzes market data in real time, and automatically adjusts room rates on a daily basis according to the criteria you have selected.
An increase in revenues of 10 to 40% is observed with the use of the system and tools offered by Pricelabs.
To make your rates dynamic and automatic, use Pricelabs, which will make you a free and efficient owner.
Pricelabs features:
Historically, the main functionality has been dynamic pricing and length-of-stay management. Added to this :
- Portfolio Analytics;
- The Market Dashboard.
We’ll take a closer look at each of the 3 functionalities, with a particular focus on the number 1 trump card: dynamic pricing.
In our opinion, only the first one is a real “Plus” in your day-to-day housing management. Find out more…
Pricelabs: Dynamic and automatic pricing :
How does Pricelabs' algorithm work?
It all starts with a base price for each of your properties, and ends with dynamic prices that change every day according to the filters and criteria applied.
They are already configured, but you can modify them at any time.
How do I set my price on Pricelabs?
It comes from :
– or your estimate when you have experience of the property and your market;
– or take the last 10 – 100 nights and divide to get your average price;
– or you can refer to the data in the help file, which we recommend.
After defining a base price of 100 euros, for example, the algorithm will start working according to several criteria:
- Seasonality ;
- Days of the week
- Anticipation
- Your market demand ;
- Occupancy rate of your home.
Seasonality :
Pricelabs will define a seasonality curve for each geographic zone. The zone can be a neighborhood if we’re in Lyon, or a city or department. The idea is to have enough data to establish this seasonality curve. This curve differs depending on where you are in France.
Days of the week :
As everyone knows, we don’t sell a night at the same price on a Monday night as on a Saturday night. That’s obvious, and so it’s built into the algorithm that will make these automatic variations on our base price of 100 euros that we gave at the outset.
So we already have 2 modulations that are applied season and days of the week.
Anticipation :
Anticipation, i.e. at the last minute, the algorithm will automatically lower prices, and for future dates, the tool will automatically raise them and prevent future prices from being sold too low.
Your market demand :
By monitoring what’s happening on rental platforms, the system will detect local demand for future dates.
He’ll be able to anticipate and cover everything from vacations to events.
For example, if there’s a salon in your neighborhood, demand will be much higher, which will be detected and therefore increase your prices.
Your home's occupancy rate :
Depending on the occupancy rate of your apartment, rates will be adjusted up or down.
Occupancy and demand rates are derived from a scraping of public data from the Airbnb and Booking reservation platforms.
As already mentioned, all these settings are integrated into the algorithm by default. If you create your account and connect your ad, you don’t need to make any adjustments – everything is already set up!
Nonetheless, you have full control over all these settings, so you can either deactivate them or modify them if you feel you have specific needs in your market.
From a base price of 100 euros per night, the algorithm“works” the base price.
So, as you can see, we end up with different prices every day for the next 12 to 18 months!
Every day they will be recalculated and constantly updated!
Thanks to Pricelabs, you’ll always be at the “right price” in your market.
What’s more, this daily price update is highly appreciated by Airbnb and Booking algorithms, as it proves your professionalism. As a result, your ad will be highlighted by the platforms, more consulted and more booked…
Pricelabs: Automated length of stay :
If you wish, you can automate the number of overnight stays. To do so, you need to activate this option in Customization.
You can define your rule of minimum duration of these days by default in this example 5 nights and come to add variations according to the time that remains to us to rent your lodging various options are actionable.
The pharaout option:
When you arrive more than a certain number of days in advance, you can vary the minimum duration of these days.
For example, increase to 7 nights when the reservation is more than 180 days away.
The lastminute booking option:
It allows you to reduce the minimum duration as the date approaches. For example, you can reduce it from the last 5 days to one night.
You can also keep a minimum of 2 nights for weekends.
The Orphan Gaps option:
This feature allows you to manage orphaned nights or “holes”.
Please note that it is essential to add this option to open your calendar for sale to optimize your fill rate!
For example:
If you have a “hole” of 4 nights, you can define a minimum number of reservations. You can give the option of booking for a minimum of 1, 2 or 3 nights.
Finally, don’t hesitate to consult the help and information provided.
Pricelabs : Portfolio Analytics: what is it?
First of all, Portfolio Analytics is free!
This is a real-time system for analyzing the performance of your apartments. Your performance and results are compared with those of your market.
This will enable you to adjust your pricing policy and length-of-stay restrictions by comparing yourself with your competitors.
You will also be able to identify past periods or your competitors:
- Sales ;
- Occupancy rate ;
- RevPar etc…
A wealth of information to help you confirm or refute your strategy.
Pricelabs : Market Dashboard :
List of competitors :
You can define and track a list of competitors according to geographic zone and equipment criteria.
For example, you want all the competitors around you to have a pool just like you.
Follow your direct competitors who have the same assets as you!
Occupancy rates and price trends
In this section you will find both :
- Future occupancy rate ;
- Dates with high demand ;
- Rates for competing rentals ;
Market length of stay trend :
In this interface, you will have an overview of the trend over time practiced around you according to different criteria:
- by reservation date (longer in summer, for example)
- anticipation of the market if the date is far in the future the duration is often longer;
- depending on the size of your home and the number of bedrooms.
Equipment :
Thanks to Pricelabs, you can find out what equipment is common in your area. For example, if you’re in the South of France, you’ll find that perhaps 80% of homes have air conditioning, so it’s essential to install one.
Another example: 15% of properties have a free parking space, so having one will be an asset for you!
Pricelabs will help you identify the amenities that travelers are looking for.
How much does Pricelabs charge?
Pricelabs prices vary according to the number of ads.
What’s more, the price of the software will also depend on the options you subscribe to. You can subscribe to each package separately:
- Portfolio Analytics: It’s free!
- Dynamic Pricing: Depending on the number of ads, it is degressive. 19.99 for one ad, or about €18.
- Market Dashboard. $9.99 (about €9)
As mentioned above, Pricing’s real added value lies in dynamic price management. In our view, the Market Dashboard is not the best option for this type of information.
Use the available calculator to determine the price for your apartments.
Take advantage with our Pricelabs promo code – 30 days free and $10 OFF!
Pricelabs advantages and disadvantages :
Advantages of the Pricelabs tool :
- Dynamic pricing and automatic updates on platforms and channel managers.
- Automatic update of length of stay;
- Easy to learn thanks to clear training ;
- Quality customer support, with numerous webinars to help you get started.
Pricelabs disadvantages :
Optimization is based on a base price. If a mistake is made at the outset, the whole pricing is wrong;
Alternatives to Pricelabs :
Although Pricelabs is a popular solution for its customers, there are other options for those wishing to compare the available offers:
- Wheelhouse: another dynamic pricing software that stands out for its data-driven approach, taking into account factors such as past performance and market trends.
- Beyond Pricing: a similar solution, which is more focused on revenue optimization through customizable pricing according to each user’s needs and preferences.
Do you want to compare ton Airdna ? Read our review Airdna VS Pricelabs
Pricelabs customer reviews :
Our opinion on Pricelabs :
If you’re looking for an automatic pricing tool that sends data either to your channel manager or directly to Airbnb, Pricelabs is for you!
Pricelabs is the best tool for dynamic and automatic pricing.
We find it particularly suitable for :
- Seasonal renters with a large number of units;
- A rental owner wanting to automate his seasonal rental ;
- A renter who wants to improve profitability without spending hours on it;
- In our opinion, a concierge and property manager is an indispensable tool!
In fact, it’s an invaluable time-saver when you’re managing dozens of properties.
Don’t hesitate to test the tool – a 30-day trial period is available.
FAQ : Questions from Pricelabs customers:
Can I subscribe to Market Dashboard only?
Yes, you can subscribe to this feature only. In this case, however, Airdna offers more precise data and more options.
Is customer service in French?
Yes, customer support is in French. Webinars in French are also organized.
Are prices sent via Booking?
Not directly. But you can if you use a channel manager.
Which channel managers are compatible?
Can you increase your income?
It has often been an increase in income ranging from 10% to 40%!