Outdoorsy Smart Pricing is a new pricing algorithm created by Outdoorsy to recommend optimized base rates for your listings. The focus is on building a model that considers historical data, customer behavior, and seasonality to recommend optimal prices in near real time.

Understanding Outdoorsy Smart Pricing

Refer to the sections below to learn more about how Outdoorsy's Smart Pricing algorithm works, how it evaluates listing quality, and how it aligns with your hosting goals.

What does the Smart Pricing algorithm consider when making recommendations?

Smart Pricing compares your listing to similar local RVs to ensure your rates stay competitive and aligned with the real-time market. This helps you identify if your RV is underpriced compared to others in your area, ensuring you never miss out on potential earnings.

The pricing recommendations it generates take into account:

Geography
Seasonality
Vehicle attributes
Additional listing factors

Our system constantly learns from real-world booking patterns. By understanding exactly what travelers are willing to pay for your specific RV type and location, Smart Pricing gets smarter over time to help you capture the best possible price.

What is the goal of Smart Pricing?

The result is a system that uses historic data to identify opportunities where a listing’s price can be raised without negatively impacting its utilization rates (bookings).

How does the algorithm account for the quality of my listing?

Each listing receives a rating based on a composite score. The composite score is derived from factors such as:

Review count and average rating
Number of images
Sleep capacity
Vehicle year

This ensures that one listing is compared against a similar listing, preventing the algorithm from suggesting a top-tier vehicle charge the same rate as a basic older vehicle.

Will the algorithm recommend a price decrease for my listing?

No. Pricing decreases are not recommended today. If the algorithm calculates that an optimized price would be less than your current Host-set price, your current price is retained. Over time, we may add functionality that suggests lowering your rates if you are overpriced.

Do I still set my own prices?

Yes. Prices are still set by Hosts, and the new system provides recommendations for optimized rates throughout the year.

To ensure these recommendations always align with your goals, you can easily set a minimum and maximum price range for the algorithm to follow once you’ve enabled Smart Pricing. The feature will never suggest or apply a rate that falls outside of the boundaries you’ve established.

Smart Pricing also never adjusts prices on existing, confirmed bookings.

Do Smart Pricing recommendations automatically apply to my listing?

No. You have total control over your settings and must manually enable Smart Pricing. Once turned on, recommendations are applied automatically throughout the year. You can disable it at any time, and your rates will revert to exactly what they were before.

Most importantly, you always set your prices — Smart Pricing only works within the rates you've established, to identify opportunities to optimize them.

How does Smart Pricing work with my goals?

When you enable Smart Pricing on your listing page, you’ll be asked to choose a strategy. This is how you tell the feature exactly what your goals are. Think of these as your smart presets—you pick a goal, and the feature handles the pricing to help you get there.

Choose the strategy that fits your goals:

High-occupancy: Best for keeping your RV on the road. The system looks for the most competitive price to fill your calendar quickly.
Balanced: The best of both worlds. This aims for a steady flow of bookings at a solid, reliable price point.
Premium: Prioritizes top-dollar nightly rates. You may have fewer bookings, but you’ll earn more for every trip you take.

Pro tip: Regardless of the strategy you choose, you are always in control. The system will never price your RV outside of the Minimum and Maximum range you set. Additionally, Smart Pricing will not recommend a price lower than your current Host-set price today.

Why is Smart Pricing recommending a higher rate for my listing?

Recommendations are based on one or more of the following:

Your listing is priced below what similar RVs nearby are booking for. Smart Pricing compares your rate against actual booked prices for comparable vehicles in your area — not just listed prices.
Your listing stands out from the competition. Listings with strong reviews, great photos, higher sleep capacity, and newer vehicles are benchmarked against top-tier booked rates in your area.
It's a high-demand time of year in your area. Recommendations reflect seasonal patterns based on what Guests pay for similar RVs during this time of year.
Guests pay more on weekends. Weekday and weekend demand are measured separately, so your recommendation may be higher on weekend nights.

The tool will indicate which of these reasons is influencing our recommendation. Please see Figure 1 below an example of the Smart Pricing logic on a sample listing, including the influence of individual pricing factors. To view the figure in full resolution or zoom in, click the image.

Figure 1. An example view of the Smart Pricing logic panel on a sample listing calendar, displaying factors influencing the daily rate recommendation.

How often are Smart Pricing recommendations updated?

Smart Pricing recommendations are updated daily to reflect the latest booking trends in your area. Recommendations cover the next 365 days, so your rates stay relevant as demand patterns shift throughout the year.

Does Smart Pricing work with my existing seasonal or custom rates?

Yes. Smart Pricing works alongside your existing pricing settings. If you've set different rates for weekends, those may override the Smart Pricing recommendations. Discounts you've configured — such as a weekly discount for 7-night trips — will also continue to apply as normal. However, we do not support Smart Price floors for different seasons. Smart Pricing is meant to take seasonality into consideration.

Enabling & Managing Smart Pricing

Refer to the sections below to learn how to turn on Smart Pricing, view dynamic daily rates on your calendar, apply manual price overrides, and restore automated rates.

How do I enable or configure Smart Pricing on my listing?

You can easily enable and customize Smart Pricing for individual listings directly from your Outdoorsy Host Dashboard:

Log in to your Outdoorsy Host Dashboard.
Navigate to Listings: Click the Listings tab from your main navigation menu.
Open Pricing Settings: Select the listing you want to update, then navigate to its Pricing tab.
Access the Toggle: Click the Edit link under the tab to expose the Smart Pricing controls.
Enable Smart Pricing: Click the Smart Pricing toggle switch to turn it on and display the available dynamic strategy options.
Select Your Strategy: Click the radio button for your preferred dynamic strategy based on your hosting goals:
- High-occupancy: Lower rate, more bookings. The system looks for the most competitive price to fill your calendar quickly.
- Balanced: An even mix of rates and bookings. This aims for a steady flow of bookings at a solid, reliable price point.
- Premium: Higher rate, fewer bookings. You may have fewer bookings, but you’ll earn more for every trip you take.
Set Price Boundaries: Input your preferred minimum and maximum price per night into their designated fields.
Save Changes: Click the Save button at the bottom of the page to finalize your settings and activate automated recommendations.

Pro Tip: Smart Pricing will only suggest and apply rates within your set minimum and maximum price range, ensuring your listing never drops below your baseline threshold.

For a sample view of the Smart Pricing section under an RV listing’s Pricing tab, see Figure 2 below. To view it in full resolution or zoom in, click the image.

Figure 2. The Smart Pricing section of a listing's Pricing tab, displaying strategy options and the minimum and maximum baseline input fields.

How do I see Smart Pricing-recommended rates on my listing?

You can view Smart Pricing rates directly on your Host dashboard's listing calendar. Because Smart Pricing is applied at the individual listing level, you will need to open the specific vehicle listing's calendar to inspect its daily dynamic rates.

To review your listing's dynamic pricing:

Log in to your Outdoorsy Host Dashboard.
Navigate to the Calendar Tab: Select Calendar from the main navigation menu.
Select Your RV Listing: Use the side panel's listing selector dropdown to choose the specific RV listing you wish to view.
Identify Smart Pricing Indicators: Review your calendar date cells. A small yellow circle displayed next to a daily rate indicates an active Smart Pricing rate.
Inspect Pricing Logic: Hover your mouse pointer over any daily rate with a yellow circle to open the detail panel, which displays the specific market factors driving that price:
1. Local Demand: Reflects recent booking trends and estimated vehicle availability nearby.
2. Seasonal Trends: Highlights seasonal travel surges, regional events, and historical holiday booking patterns.
3. Weekend vs. Weekday: Shows rate adjustments based on localized weekend versus weekday demand shifts.
4. Vehicle Traits: Displays how your vehicle's specific attributes (model year, passenger capacity, vehicle class, and rating) benchmark against local competitors.
5. National Demand Trends: Highlights broader nationwide travel trends and holiday demand surges impacting overall pricing.

For a sample view of Smart Pricing rates and the logic detail modal displayed on a listing calendar, see Figure 3 below. To view the figure in full resolution or zoom in, click the image.

Figure 3. A sample listing calendar displaying Smart Pricing rates and the logic detail modal.

Can I override a Smart Pricing-recommended rate?

Yes. If you want to set a custom nightly rate for a specific date or date range, you can manually override Smart Pricing directly from your listing calendar:

Log in to your Outdoorsy Host Dashboard.
Navigate to the Calendar Tab: Select Calendar from the main navigation menu.
Locate the Date: Review your calendar date cells and find the Smart Pricing rate (indicated by a small yellow circle) that you want to override.
Open Pricing Logic: Hover your mouse pointer over the Smart Pricing rate to open its logic details modal.
Click Override: Click the Override Rate button inside the modal to open the Calendar Management window.
Set Your Custom Rate: Click the Set price manually dropdown, then enter your preferred nightly rate into the input field.

Note: To override rates across multiple consecutive days, use the date range selectors at the top of the modal to define your start and end dates.
Save Changes: Click Apply to lock in your custom rate.

Pro Tip: Once a manual override is saved, your custom rate takes precedence over automated recommendations, and the yellow Smart Pricing indicator will be replaced by a gray circle on your calendar.

For a sample view of the Override Rate button on a Smart Pricing logic detail modal, see Figure 4 below. To view the figure in full resolution or zoom in, click the image.

Figure 4. The Override Rate button displayed on a Smart Pricing logic detail modal.

How do I remove a manual override and restore Smart Pricing?

If you previously set a manual rate and want to revert back to automated Smart Pricing recommendations, you can clear the override directly from your calendar:

Locate the Overridden Date: On your dashboard calendar, find the date cell displaying a gray circle (indicating a manual rate override).
Open Details Modal: Hover your mouse pointer over the overridden date to open its logic details modal.
Restore Smart Pricing: Click the Restore Smart Pricing button inside the modal. The gray circle will revert to a yellow Smart Pricing indicator, confirming automated rates are active again.

For a sample view of restoring Smart Pricing rates on an overridden date cell, see Figure 5 below. To view the figure in full resolution or zoom in, click the image.

Figure 5. Restoring automated Smart Pricing rates on an overridden date cell.