How VNG Property Scaled to 90 Listings in Istanbul with PriceLabs

Short-term rental operators managing multiple properties in a fast-moving market like Istanbul face a familiar tension: price sharply enough to stay competitive, without spending hours on it every day. For VNG Property, a property management company based in Istanbul, Turkey, PriceLabs cut daily pricing work from up to an hour a day down to just 1-2 hours a week — even as the portfolio grew from a single apartment to around 90 listings across Istanbul and the south of Turkey.

"We've definitely seen improvements in our occupancy and our revenue"
— Nicholas Selby, Co-founder & CEO, VNG Property

How VNG Property Got Started

Nicholas Selby, co-founder and CEO of VNG Property, got into short-term rentals after watching Airbnb take off. "I first got into it when I heard about Airbnb," he says. He started with a single property, and from there it "organically grew, and it took off." Today, roughly eight to nine years after launch, VNG Property manages a large portfolio of apartments and freestanding homes across Istanbul and southern Turkey.

The Challenge: Manual, Guesswork-Based Pricing

In the early years, pricing was entirely manual. "When I first started the company, I was doing a lot of the work manually," Nicholas explains, "increasing and decreasing price based on time of year — peak season, high season, low season, specific weekends, and so forth." As the portfolio grew, VNG Property brought in a dedicated in-house hire to review pricing daily and adjust it based on occupancy and availability. Even with someone focused on it full-time, Nicholas is candid about the process: "It was a bit of guesswork."

Finding PriceLabs through Hostfully

The turning point came while VNG Property was evaluating channel manager and integration options. "When I signed up to Hostfully, I was looking at all the different integrations and channels that came with it, and PriceLabs caught my eye," Nicholas says. He wanted a tool that priced off real market data instead of instinct: "I really wanted to try a professional integration that collected raw data and would help us not leave money on the table, and figure out a way to strategically price guests coming to stay at our properties." Adopting it was very smooth.

"The whole transition was very smooth. It was a great integration, very quick and easy. We signed up pretty much straight away once we integrated with Hostfully."

More Time for Growth, Less Time on Day-to-Day Pricing

Before PriceLabs, keeping rates current across the portfolio was a real time commitment — Nicholas was spending up to an hour a day manually reviewing and adjusting prices. Today, even with a portfolio several times larger, day-to-day pricing and minimum-stay strategy takes him only about 1-2 hours a week.

That time back has changed what Nicholas spends his time on. Instead of getting pulled into daily rate adjustments, he's been able to focus on growth strategy — evaluating new properties and expanding into new areas, which is a big part of how VNG Property has been able to scale from one apartment to roughly 90 listings while keeping performance steady across a much larger portfolio.

The Results: Three Years of Steady Growth

Since adopting PriceLabs three years ago, VNG Property has grown its portfolio to around 90 listings while keeping pricing aligned with a fast-changing market. "We've definitely seen improvements in our occupancy and our revenue percentages," Nicholas says, "though they change depending on season."

• Manual pricing work: eliminated completely across 90+ listings
• Time spent on pricing: reduced from 1 hour a day to 1-2 hours a week
• Team focus: shifted from manual rate updates to expansion strategy

What stands out to him most is the support behind the product:

"The team at PriceLabs has always been available if we had any questions, or if they've seen that we have something we're doing wrong or could improve on. They always reach out and they really make everything seamless."

That combination of dynamic pricing and hands-on account support, he says, has shown up directly in the numbers: "It's been a real boost in our performance, and most importantly, of course, revenue."

Advice for Other Property Managers

Nicholas's advice for other hosts and property managers considering PriceLabs is simple — don't hesitate to ask for help. "Don't be afraid to reach out to them. They're super friendly and helpful if you have any questions. You can book in a call and they can step by step guide you through any questions that you may have." His overall take: "I think overall it would definitely help bring in higher revenue and boost occupancy rate. All in all, they're just a very friendly team, and I would recommend them for sure."

Three years on, VNG Property continues to grow its Istanbul portfolio — spending a fraction of the time on pricing that it used to, and putting the rest toward what's next.