Hi, was just wondering if anyone else is noticing a decrease in inquiries for their venue(s). I understand renting out spaces isn’t the number one priority for most people during these times but was curious to know if others are experiencing a decrease in business. If it’s just me, are there any suggestions on how to attract more people to book my venues.
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I’ve also noticed a decrease in bookings this month. We typically have twice as many requests at this point in the month than we have and even have this coming Saturday totally open (I haven’t had a Saturday without a single booking since we opened in September.)
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From Chicago, we have noticed a significant drop in both inquiries and bookings.
On the other hand, Facebook Marketplace now offers listings for events. In Chicago, post Covid, every empty store front, restaurants that closed permanently, even garage spaces have been listed on the site, so it might be just the hosting spaces doubled since Covid.
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Hi! I, too, have noticed a drastic decrease in inquiries. I would get at the least, 2-3 inquiries per day. In April, I got one inquiry. Yikes. I just think right now the market is super saturated. I know a lot of small business owners in my area who have storefronts for one business model (i.e., salons, childcare centers, etc.) are now turning them into event spaces for extra income to keep them afloat, and their rates are half price compared to mine. I feel that people are just wanting to get out and connect again, and with inflation, having a gathering at a “day-childcare/night-event space” at like $50/hr makes sense. I did reach out to Peerspace to ask what might be happening; as a Super Host, I am not seeing benefits. But their suggestion was to start actively marketing via ads, newsletters, social media campaigns. Which totally makes sense, especially now that the market is saturated. I definitely do not want to see this platform as a “pay to be at the top of searches”. That will be a disaster.
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Maybe you’ll find it comforting that it’s the same here in NYC.
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Yes, I’ve seen a huge decline since I started last December. All was going great until about March and since thenI’ve only seen a handful of inquiries.
I personally stay away from Facebook marketplace in my area. Different customer base.
Hi everyone.
We’re a team of professionals (20+ people) managing several locations across NYC and offering full concierge service to clients. We’re also seeing a considerable decrease in inquiries, and a huge, huge decrease in listings ranking performance (listings becoming lost in the matrix of listings, which makes it harder for clients to see our spaces and inquire).
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Yes, we are in a recession. GDP is going to fall again this quarter. Hosts who use Peerspace as the main source of their income are going to adjust prices down to try and squeeze whatever they can from the APP and there will be a “race to the bottom” in prices.
Retail is also suffering and nearly every retailer except beauty supply is seeing decreased traffic into their stores.
The question becomes whether or not this is the bottom of the recession and the answer is most likely that it is not.
Prepare for pain.
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Also large decrease in inquiries! We had about 2-3 production shoots per week some weeks, and haven’t had anything in all of april and up to now in may. luckily just got one for friday! i’m afraid peerspace isn’t marketing their general services as much as they used to, maybe?
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I have spaces in Boston and Providence, and I think the story is going:
March 2020-January 2021: Massive upheaval from Covid, obvious drop in bookings and a huge reshuffling of spaces, ownership, and priorities.
January 2021-October 2021: Big upswing in bookings as people thought the vaccines would fix everything and the pandemic was over and were also making up for the projects that had been on hold since March 2020. Also, having a listing at that time might have been particularly valuable, as I imagine in the number of listings on the platform decreased as people gave up their spaces during peak Covid.
October 2021-now: Covid-related uncertainty and economic instability have caused a lot of projects to be put on hold, and more and more businesses are jumping onto the platform and saturating the market. Also, the novelty of certain spaces may have worn off- if your space is unique (like mine) it may only be useful for one or two shoots before the creative team moves on to a different look.
So yes - my bookings are down significantly, and I wonder if perhaps we were in a bubble. I almost took on a third space but backed off when I noticed the downward trend.
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YES, same in Coastal Virginia… I thought perhaps it was just that there are more and more hosts discovering Peerspace, so the “water is getting muddied,” but Steven in San Diego raises a very good point… disposable income may be drying up as the economy tanks…
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I host mostly production and yes, inquiries have been slow this year over last year in general.
My production almost dropped entirely. Event requests have declined but not significantly
I’m in San Diego by the way so guests have a lot of outdoor options here
Yup we’re right outside of LA and we have crickets. We normally book 1-2 shoots a month and we have had only 2 this entire year.
I love how the @peerspace-team only suggestion is to put it back on our shoulders to market our spaces thru social media channels. How do you think it got so saturated to begin with? Now everyone’s space is for rent. We just deal with production here (no events), but I can’t imagine trying to book a location and having to get thru everyone’s typical living room to find exactly what you need (unless that’s what you need ; ) . I can only hope they are working on a perfect search engine to streamline searches for location managers before they get frustrated with the platform.
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No. This has nothing to do with the recession as far as I can tell this has to do with a change in Peerspace’s algorithms. I’ve been told they recently changed their algorithm to include a new category called CONVERSION FACTOR. Conversion factor means you are now judged by the number of bookings you DECLINE. If you get an inquiry and you don’t accept the booking you somehow get demerits that lower your search ranking. (I know this because during Covid we complied with CDC and state guidelines and declined pretty much all inquiries for parties and events as dictated by state law. We still do production but because we declined events we were getting dinged weekly without ever knowing that this was being used against us.)
We have since turned off our event listing capability but Peerspace needs to do something to make this up to people particularly because they never informed us of this change. I suggest you all contact your Peerspace rep for some kind of adjustment asap.
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Hi Tim!
I just wanted to hop in and let you know that we have NOT made any changes to our search algorithm.
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I haven’t had a single inquiry on my space since January. Not one. Someone posted a thread out here critical of how Peerspace listed their insurance coverage… they were being sued for a stair fall at their studio and were unaware at the lack of coverage from Peerspace. I posted a reply a bit critical myself since I was under the same impression as the OP regarding the insurance coverage. My post included my opinion that their insurance page was a bit deceptive and should be changed the way it was worded and it makes me a little more weary about some of the smaller bookings that I know have no insurance themselves. Several other hosts agreed. A week later Peerspace updated their insurance page to be a bit more reflective of the actual coverage. Since that tread where I was critical, I have not had one single inquiry on my space. LOL. I went from getting 3-4 per month in the months prior to 0 after January. Coincidence?? I mean we are a specialty medical space so it’s possible no one needs a med space, but I’ve never gone 6+ months on this site without a single inquiry.
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Hi Chris, thanks for contributing to the forum. I understand that it is disheartening to see demand for your space fluctuate or go down as it appears in your case.
However, I do want to respond to your note about possible retaliation for providing critical feedback on the forum. To do that would be unethical, impossible, and antithetical to everything we stand for at Peerspace. We encourage hosts to provide feedback (though we appreciate when it is shared in a productive manner) so our team can understand where we can improve. I assure you any prior posts here have nothing to do with traction you are receiving.
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