Count:20+
Geo: San Juan, Peurto Rico
Area: Urban Market
PMS: Lodgify
Juan Morales owns Capital JetSet – Beach front vacation rentals in San Juan – Puerto Rico. As they were scaling up their properties, they realized the necessity for automation in their pricing. From making 100 bucks a month, they have grown to add more and more properties under their single roof.
Read on to understand their journey with automation in PriceLabs.
About Capital JetSet
Capital JetSet hosts beach-front vacation rentals in elaborate and fabulous locations. Their properties boast amenities that appeal to guests of all afflictions. They feature high-speed internet, parking, fully-equipped kitchens, and pools to cool off after a day in the city. The property is minutes away from SJU airport, Old San Juan, El Yunque National Rainforest, and many other attractions on the island. In addition to their elaborate and fabulous locations, their properties have amenities that appeal to guests of all afflictions. They feature high-speed internet, parking, fully-equipped kitchens, and pools to cool off after a day in the city. The property is minutes away from SJU airport, Old San Juan, El Yunque National Rainforest, and many other attractions on the island.
How Capital JetSet Lost Money Due to Manual Pricing Processes
Juan Morales, the owner of Capital JetSet, started their Airbnb arbitrage journey in 2012 by mistake. To scale, they dipped their feet deeper into their Airbnb arbitrage business. As they brought more properties into their portfolio, they realized the importance of good processes and systems.
A hotel and restaurant administration background helped them realize that pricing would be difficult. As they were scaling their business, they realized that they had more and more properties, hence, more nights to sell and maximize.
They believe that scaling up is not just about getting more properties and making more revenue; it’s also about how much you get to keep. For example, if you are going to buy a flight, those prices keep changing. Even in a hotel, when you book a hotel and wait for a few days, you might see a change in prices.
They realized that many people were leaving a lot of money on the table by making appropriate settings and locking them without adapting them dynamically. Whenever they got a booking, they would click on the booking and make adjustments after each of them.
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I’m a very curious person. I’m always looking to optimize everything and was actually doing it on my phone. So I would have my phone in my pocket, and every time I would get a booking on Airbnb as an example. I would go, and I would click on the booking. I would click on the calendar and create adjustments after every single booking.
-Juan C Morales, Owner of Capital JetSet
They were highly dependent on their phone and had to expend a lot of their valuable time to optimize their price according to the market. This got them thinking. There would definitely be a better way of doing this; there would be clever people who would have found a smarter way of doing this.
This got them searching; that is when they found out about PriceLabs.
PriceLabs is a globally available revenue management software that is not restricted by boundaries. PriceLabs dynamic pricing solutions can help you get pricing recommendations based on historical and current booking data, market supply and demand, seasonal and day-of-week trends, special events and holiday predictions, and the number of days left to book.
How did they Leverage PriceLabs to Reduce Time Spent on Automating their Pricing?
Juan started researching the other products in the market. When they came across PriceLabs, they really liked the pricing model and features of the software. One thing that really impressed them was the informative onboarding process.
They started their journey with PriceLabs to buy some of their time back. In their words, they were a ‘slave’ to adjustments and their calendar. They wanted to free themselves from those shackles, and PriceLabs became the key.
The gravy on top is that I realize that PriceLabs gives me suggestions of when I can make more money. And I know I have made a lot more money with Pricelabs, for sure.
Juan C Morales, Owner Capital JetSet
As per the market’s demand, their software usage varies. If there’s a lot of demand in the market, there is not much need for their intervention as they have already customized the software to function to their needs.
They have spent time perfecting the foundations that only a maximum of five to ten minutes is needed to optimize the software to their needs. Sometimes, they go into PriceLabs sometimes once a week, sometimes once a day in the morning.
The PriceLabs’ market dashboard helps Juan to understand the market and the pricing of various properties in their market. This can help them understand where to put their money and also understand how the money they have already spent is working.
I did the work of understanding the settings, and the team did a great job in explaining to me how to set it up. So I feel like I became really good at understanding how to create settings on PriceLabs.
Juan C Morales, Owner Capital JetSet
Juan’s experience with PriceLabs has been life-changing. They say that people usually look at the financial cost of using software and forget the time cost. Using a system to help them has had the biggest impact on saving time!
When running a business such as a vacation rental, they did not have an expert or a consultant by their side to guide them through the ups and downs. So, a software that can read the market and the property and provide suggestions was a great help for Juan.
While managing a short-term rental property, too many things are on your plate. It is always helpful to deep dive into your property in a quick snapshot! Our Portfolio Analytics helps in just that. It is a real-time reporting system that provides high-level metrics of your property. It provides detailed insights into trends in your portfolio that shed light on the necessary improvements in your minimum stay, length of stay (LOS) trends, and booking window trends in your pricing strategy. You can also easily review and adjust the underperforming listings. Utilize this comprehensive guide on using Portfolio Analytics to inform your pricing strategy
It’s like having an employee always working for you, doing the best they can and doing a hell of a job. And you can always come back and make adjustments. So it’s super cool.
Juan C Morales, Owner Capital JetSet
Revenue management is the foundation of your success in your vacation rental industry. To put it in perspective, even flight tickets change dynamically. Why shouldn’t your prices?
Setting the right pricing strategy can give your property the necessary boost to succeed in the ever-changing market. PriceLabs constantly studies the market to find the intersectional point of demand and supply to place you at a sweet spot, increasing your revenue-generating potential.
