The fastest way to kill a promising upsell is to guess the price. Too high and the take rate collapses. Too low and you've trained guests to expect a bargain while leaving real margin on the table. Pricing isn't a dark art, though — for pre-arrival offers there's a simple framework that works.
Start with the job the offer does
Every good upsell does one of three jobs. Price each differently:
- Removes anxiety (late checkout, early check-in, parking). Guests pay for peace of mind. Price for volume — low enough that saying yes is easy.
- Marks an occasion (champagne, a cake, a room upgrade). Guests celebrating barely flinch at price. Price for margin.
- Saves effort (a booked dinner table, a pre-arranged transfer, a spa slot). Guests pay for convenience. Price at a small, fair premium over doing it themselves.
The anchor trick
Show three options, not one. A guest seeing a single £55 champagne package judges it in isolation. A guest seeing £35, £55, and £85 packages judges between them — and most land in the middle. The presence of the £85 option makes the £55 feel sensible. You're not being sneaky; you're giving people a frame.
The right price isn't the highest one a guest will tolerate. It's the one that makes saying yes feel like good judgement.
Test, don't agonise
You will not get prices perfect on day one, and you don't need to. Launch with three offers at sensible prices, watch take rates for a fortnight, and adjust:
- Take rate above ~30%? You're probably under-priced. Nudge it up.
- Take rate near zero? Either the price is wrong or the offer is. Try the price first.
- Lots of views, no buys? The offer isn't matching the reason people booked.
Keep the list short
Three to five offers convert better than fifteen. A short, confident menu reads like a concierge's recommendations. A long one reads like a fee schedule. Curate ruthlessly.
Porter's pre-arrival Shop lets you set prices, show tasteful options, and watch take rates by product — so pricing becomes something you tune, not something you guess.