Host guide · Pricing
How to set a starting bid for a 1:1 or six-seat workshop
Key points
- Job
- Floor = deposit feel · Buy-now = stop competing · Multi-seat = hold per seat
- Not this article
- Format catalog, big-ticket market rates, charity-0% hero, “higher = brand”
- Sister
- Before the first slot · No-show playbook
Small hosts stall first on how low to open. Put a fixed-ticket floor under an experience slot and the hold either becomes a toy—or nobody bids. This note does three jobs only.
1. The floor is a deposit stand-in—not a revenue target
On SlotVail, a bid places an authorization hold for that bid amount. The starting minimum (floor) is the lowest hold you’ll accept to open. It exists so the slot sticks on a calendar—not so you hit a sales plan on the first click.
If you price the floor like a cheap reminder (a few hundred yen of “just show up”), the hold is too small to matter. If you price it like your dream ticket total, bidding never starts. Neither is a branding strategy; both are floor mistakes.
Losing bids release the hold. After a win, funds stay in escrow until the experience; day-of no-show is managed resale—not an automatic refund. Don’t mix that rule into “open low so they feel safe walking away.”
2. Buy-now means: at this amount, I stop competing
Buy-now is optional. When someone pays that price, the auction ends for that seat—you’re saying this number is enough; I won’t wait for another round. It is not a second “premium brand” sticker. Put it near what you would already accept offline for a firm booking.
3. Multiple seats still mean a hold per seat
A six-seat workshop is not Eventbrite-style “sell N tickets from one cart.” Each seat that gets a bid carries its own hold. Don’t set one tiny floor and expect six people to feel committed because the room has six chairs.
4. Ratios from your usual rate—not from big-ticket markets
We don’t invent industry yen tables here. Start from what you already charge.
- 1:1 lesson: floor ≈ 30–50% of your usual hourly; buy-now candidate ≈ around your full usual rate
- Six-seat workshop: don’t split a room total into the floor. Look at your usual per-seat rate; trial floor ≈ half to full of that. Don’t use reminder-level hundreds of yen
- Tattoo guest slot: don’t set the floor below your existing deposit
Too low (reminder-level hundreds of yen) → hold feels like free RSVP. Too high → no first bid. Adjust from your own book—not from arena tours.
FAQ
Q. Is the starting bid my revenue goal?
A. No. It’s the deposit-like floor that opens the hold. Revenue is what bidding and buy-now discover after that.
Q. What is buy-now for?
A. The price where you stop competing—someone can lock the seat without waiting out the auction.
Q. For six seats, is one hold enough for the whole room?
A. No. Each seated bid carries its own authorization hold—not a single Eventbrite-style ticket count.
Q. If they win and don’t show, does the money come back automatically?
A. No. That’s resale vs emergency cancel territory—see the no-show playbook. This article only sets floors and buy-now.
Next step
On the listing screen, set floor and buy-now from your usual rate, then set auction end and experience date together.
Open the listing screen →