Revenue management, answered

Can we set a hard minimum price floor on a listing so it never books below a certain number?

Yes, a hard minimum price floor is a standard control we apply to every listing we manage. It protects against distressed bookings, OTA fee compression, and owner trust issues. We set it at the unit level based on true cost-to-serve, not gut feel.

By Jack Murphy, Head of Revenue Management at UpRev. Running pricing for US vacation rental managers since 2017.

How We Determine the Right Floor

The floor is calculated from the bottom up: cleaning cost, OTA commission, owner payout expectation, and any fixed overhead the property carries. If a night cannot clear those costs with margin left over, it should not book at all. A vacancy is often less damaging than a below-floor booking that trains the market to expect low rates on that unit.

Floor Strategy Across a Portfolio

For property management companies running multiple owners, floors must be set per unit, not as a blanket portfolio number. A studio in a secondary market has a completely different floor than a four-bedroom primary-market asset. We also review floors seasonally, since cost structures and demand baselines shift, and a floor that was correct in January may leave money on the table by June.

Communicating Floors to Owners

Owners often push to lower floors during slow periods thinking any booking beats none. Your job is to hold the line and show them why. Document your floor rationale in writing so it is tied to their actual costs, not your preference. That paper trail protects the management relationship and keeps decision-making professional rather than reactive.