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Key takeaways
- Choose per person or per room, then set weekday and weekend rates. Friday to Sunday, public holidays and the day before one are charged at the weekend rate automatically.
- Time bands, minimums, group discounts and add-ons are optional. Keep only the ones you need.
- Guests see the total for their slot and group in search, with no booking fee. A deposit is listed separately.
- Do not guess the market. Check the price index, then adjust for amenities, location and size.
- Review which slots stay empty and adjust your time bands and weekday rate.
Choose per person or per room, set weekday and weekend rates, and split the day into time bands if demand varies. Then fine-tune with minimum hours, a minimum headcount, group discounts, add-ons and platform-only offers. Guests see the total for their slot and group straight away, with no extra fee, so your pricing needs to make sense at a glance.
What should you do before setting prices?
- 1
Look at the market
Check the price index for your category and district rather than guessing.
- 2
Work out the effort behind each booking
How long do you need to clean and prepare before and after? That shapes your minimum hours and cleaning buffer.
- 3
Decide who you want to book
Large groups, company events, small groups, shoots or rehearsals? Different guests suit different units and offers.
- 4
Choose a unit and set base rates
Per person or per room, plus a weekday rate and a weekend rate.
- 5
Add only the conditions you need
Time bands, minimum hours, minimum headcount, child rate, group discounts, add-ons. For each one, ask whether a guest would still understand the total.
- 6
Test it as a guest
Search for your venue on the site with different dates, times and group sizes, and check the total is what you expect.
Per person or per room?
Per person per hour
- guests x hours x rate per person
- Suits venues where group size varies, such as party rooms
- Can add a child rate and a minimum headcount
- Larger groups naturally pay more
Per room per hour
- hours x room rate
- Suits fixed-use spaces such as studios, band rooms and meeting rooms
- Guests do not need a final headcount
- The easiest total to predict
| Unit | Suits | How the guest's total is worked out |
|---|---|---|
| Per person per hour | Venues where group size varies, such as party rooms | guests x hours x hourly rate per person |
| Per room per hour | Fixed-use spaces, such as studios, band rooms and meeting rooms | hours x room rate |
Per-person venues can also set a child rate as a percentage of the adult rate.
Weekday and weekend rates
Friday to Sunday, public holidays and the day before a public holiday are charged at the weekend rate automatically. So your weekday rate applies Monday to Thursday, excluding public holidays and the day before one.
| Day | Rate |
|---|---|
| Monday to Thursday | Weekday |
| Friday to Sunday | Weekend |
| Public holiday | Weekend |
| Day before a public holiday | Weekend |
A useful way to think about it:
- Weekend demand is higher, and the weekend rate should reflect that.
- Weekdays need price and offers to draw guests. See fill your weekday slots.
Time bands
You can set different hourly rates for different times of day, such as daytime and evening. If a booking crosses two bands, each part is charged at its own rate.
For example, suppose your daytime band runs until 6pm and a guest books 5pm to 9pm. One hour is charged at the daytime rate and three hours at the evening rate, and the two are added together.
Before setting bands, look at your calendar: which hours are always full, and which are always empty? Put the boundaries where guest habits change, such as the end of the working day or dinner time. Too many bands make the total hard to predict.
Minimums
- Minimum hours: avoids very short bookings where cleaning and preparation are not worth it.
- Minimum headcount: for per-person venues, a smaller group is charged as if it were the minimum.
Set them too high and you lose small groups. Base them on your room size and turnaround time.
Group discounts
You can set a discount that applies once a group reaches a given size. It suits venues that want larger groups and company events.
Add-ons
Add-ons include BBQ food sets, extra equipment or other services. Guests choose them when booking and they are added to the total automatically. Say clearly what each one includes to avoid misunderstandings.
A simple format for each add-on:
- Name: plain and direct, such as "BBQ food set".
- What is included: list each item.
- Quantity: how many people it serves, or how many pieces.
- What is not included: anything guests might assume, such as cutlery, charcoal or drinks.
- Notice needed: if you need to prepare, say how far ahead it must be chosen.
Platform-only offers
Optionally, you can set:
- An offer line, shown on your venue page, telling guests what they get by booking on Gatherland. Be specific, for example which days and times it covers, rather than a vague "great deals".
- A weekday discount, applied automatically to weekday hours. The total guests see in search already includes it.
Common pricing mistakes
How do guests see the total?
After a guest enters date, time, duration and group size, the total is built like this:
- 1
Venue hire
With the weekday or weekend rate, time bands and headcount (for per-person venues) applied.
- 2
Less discounts
Any group discount and platform-only offer, such as a weekday discount.
- 3
Plus add-ons
Whatever the guest chose, such as a BBQ food set.
- 4
Deposit listed separately
If you set one, it is shown separately before payment and returned about 48 hours after the booking ends, unless you report damage, overtime or extra cleaning.
There is no booking fee for guests. The platform's commission is taken on completed bookings only; the rate is on host pricing.
How often should you review prices?
Every few weeks, sit down with your calendar:
Change one or two things at a time and give each change a while, so you can tell what worked.
Frequently asked questions
Should I charge per person or per room?
Per person usually suits venues where group size varies a lot, such as party rooms. Per room usually suits fixed-use spaces such as photo studios, band rooms and meeting rooms. What matters most is that guests understand the price at a glance.
Which days count as the weekend?
Friday to Sunday, public holidays and the day before a public holiday are all charged at the weekend rate automatically. Your weekday rate applies Monday to Thursday, excluding public holidays and the day before one.
Do guests pay more than my price?
There is no booking fee for guests; the total they see is what they pay. A security deposit, if you set one, is shown separately before payment. The platform's commission is taken from completed bookings; the rate is on the host pricing page.
How do I know what the market charges?
Check the price index for typical levels by category and district, then adjust for your amenities, location and size.
How is a booking that crosses two time bands charged?
Each part is charged at the hourly rate of its own time band, and the parts are added together for the total.
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