Updated : Mar 4, 2025
Customer type: Host
Region: Europe
Products: Dynamic Pricing
Number of Listings: 5-25
PMS: Rentl.io
Executive Summary
Oli Walsh, Managing Director of Revilo Properties, started his property investment journey in Liverpool, quickly growing his portfolio to 20 properties. As he transitioned some units into short-term rentals, he faced common challenges – manual pricing, frequent calendar gaps, and inefficient booking management. By integrating PriceLabs alongside Rentl.io, Oli automated his pricing, optimized minimum stay rules, and reduced admin work by up to 90%. The results? An increase of up to 25% in revenue and an occupancy boost from 65% to 80%, all while saving hours of manual effort every week.
From Long-Term to Short-Term Rentals
In around 2020, Oli began investing in properties. Before that, he was working as a project manager at IBM for 7 years. He focused on affordable mid-terrace houses in Liverpool, an area offering higher rental returns than London. He quickly grew his portfolio and got to around 12 houses in about 18 months or so.
His transition into short-term rentals started when a tenant vacated a property near Anfield Stadium, home of Liverpool FC. Recognizing the demand for accommodation near the stadium, he converted it into a serviced apartment. The returns were significantly higher than long-term leases, leading him to expand to four full-time STR units, with two more on the way.
However, managing multiple short-term rentals manually soon became overwhelming, making it difficult to increase occupancy rates on Airbnb efficiently.
“PriceLabs reduced my admin work [rate-setting process] probably by 80 to 90%”
– Oli Walsh
The Challenge: Time-Consuming Pricing & Booking Management
Initially, Oli managed his pricing with spreadsheets and manual updates every Monday. His booking calendars synced via iCal, but this often led to sync failures and double bookings, a major headache in the short-term rental business.
Additionally, his pricing strategy was static, meaning he was missing out on higher rates during peak demand periods and leaving gaps in his calendar due to rigid minimum stay rules. This approach limited his ability to increase the occupancy rate effectively.
The Solution: Automating Pricing & Streamlining Booking Management
Oli knew automation was the key to scaling his business. He came across Rentl.io for channel management. He liked that Rentl.io was reasonably priced and was easy to use. “About 6 months later, I wanted to optimize my units, and I read a book called “Optimize Your Bnb” by Daniel Rusteen. He had a lot of advice there. One of which was PriceLabs. It sounded like a great option,” says Oli.
With PriceLabs, Oli unlocked powerful features that transformed his revenue management and helped him increase his Airbnb occupancy rate:
- Automated Pricing Adjustments: No more manual updates. PriceLabs dynamically adjusted rates based on demand.
- Custom Minimum Stay Rules:
- 90+ days out → Minimum 3-night stays to attract longer bookings.
- Weekends → 2-night minimum to capture high-demand stays.
- Last-minute orphan nights → High-priced 1-night stays to discourage party bookings while still filling gaps.
- Occupancy-Based Adjustments: PriceLabs automatically reduced prices if bookings were low, ensuring an increase in occupancy without requiring manual intervention.
- Event-Based Pricing: While PriceLabs took all the major events into account, Oli set custom rules for football match nights at Anfield, ensuring he maximized revenue during peak demand.
“Previously, I had a simple strategy, if I had 50% occupancy, I would lower my price by x amount, and now PriceLabs does that automatically for me, which is fantastic.”
– Oli Walsh
The Results: Higher Revenue, Higher Occupancy, Less Work
With PriceLabs and Rentl.io working together, Oli’s business saw immediate improvements:
- Revenue increased by 15-25% thanks to smarter pricing strategies.
- Occupancy rose from 60-70% to 75-85%, proving how to increase the occupancy rate on Airbnb effectively.
- Admin workload reduced by 80-90%, giving Oli more time to focus on growing his portfolio.
“The fact that PriceLabs will automatically adjust my prices—even if it’s by £5 is, pardon the pun… priceless.”
– Oli Walsh
Oli’s Advice: Take the Leap into Dynamic Pricing
“Just take the leap. I waited too long to switch from spreadsheets to Xero, and when I finally did, it took a bit to get used to—but once it clicked, I never looked back. It’s the same with dynamic pricing. If you don’t like it, there’s no long-term commitment. Worst case? You try it for a month, and if it’s not for you, you cancel. But chances are, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.” – Oli Walsh
