This is a podcast interview with Emma Johnson, founder of Bidden Stay, describing a platform that auctions last-minute accommodation using an automatically calculated silent reserve: guests must beat that reserve to secure a booking. The platform was born from Emma's experience trying to fill empty holiday lets (she experimented with eBay) and was developed more seriously during the pandemic. Key operational details: a recent integration with TXGB connects to multiple PMSs; TXGB takes ~2.5% on bookings; hosts can list via the platform's Book-Direct side (targeting cyclists) and can choose pricing to target gaps/cancellations within the next 30 days. Monetization options discussed: 5% commission or a £150/year flat fee for hosts. The company launched publicly very recently ("in the last six weeks") and reports early traction (website visits up nearly 20% month-on-month); marketing plans include social media (Instagram, TikTok) and flyer partnerships (wine and cocktail box inserts). Current primary challenge: onboarding hosts (preference for direct onboarding over using agents) and expanding integrations beyond TXGB.
Questions this video answers
Launched in the last six weeks (per interview).
Integration with TXGB, which connects to multiple PMSs.
Around 2.5% to TXGB (as stated).
Either 5% commission on bookings or a £150 per year flat fee.
Primarily the next 30 days / last-minute gaps and cancellations.
Chapters
And now that we've been concentrating really on getting the technology actually absolutely right and, and user testing it now we need to onboard hosts. So that's where. And my preference is to onboard hosts directly rather than going and bringing on agents which will supply stock quite quickly. But I really want to be working with those hosts directly. If they're going to put in really low rates, they're not going to get the booking. So. So they have to beat that silent reserve. As soon as they do the bookings taken, the property's removed, it's done and it's all automated like that, having a blast.
Gonna get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee like Bruce Lee cuz it's so hard and the tea is loose leaf making up those rhymes. Don't write it, just do it loosely. If you want my respect, you better but direct.
Mmm.
Here are the words in the podcast. That's what comes next.
Welcome back to the Boostly Podcast. The podcast that gives you the tools, the tactics, the training and most importantly the confidence so you can go out there and get more direct. Book. This mini series on the Boostly podcast focuses on services and people that you need to be aware of as a host. And today we're diving into something a bit different, something which is going to help you as a host potentially fill some of your calendar and really just find out about this service. So we've got a special guest, we've got Emma Johnson from, she's the founder from Bidden Stay. Thank you for joining us, Emma.
Hi, Liam. Hi everybody.
So Emma, fill us in. What is Bidden Stay?
So Bidden Stay, there's two elements to actually. And the main element being its unique ability to auction off last minute accommodation. So the host sets a silent reserve which is automatically calculated. So they might say they want to reduce the price by a percentage throughout that month and that can be on a sliding scale. And then that becomes a silent reserve. A guest comes along and all they have to do is beat that silent reserve. As long as they beat that silent reserve, they get the booking. So the host increases their occupancy and their revenue. They get a booking that they might otherwise have not got. And then the other side to the business is really promoting that direct booking process.
What is the reason that Bid and Stay has been founded?
Okay, so I actually came into it, we converted the farm into holiday accommodation and I would sit there thinking that place is empty and that place is empty this weekend. How can I get them let the very last minute because the weather looks good, sun Shining. I'd rather have people in there than it sat there empty, making no money. So it's. I'm a runner and actually I was out running in the morning and I thought, I just need to be able to auction this off and have a place to auction it. So I actually started auctioning it in on ebay, but going on social media and letting my network know that we'd got some accommodation going to the last minute on ebay and actually took a couple of bookings through that.
Nice.
Something for this. I think there's a market for this. So, yeah, that was, that was one way. And, yeah, so that's. That's kind of how it came about. It wasn't until the pandemic when I threw myself at it and I thought, you know what? I'm going to do a raise. We're going to build this, let's see if we can make it happen.
So, diving back into the product, how does this work? So I'm a host myself. Many of the people listening to this are hosts. What do they need to do to come and list their properties?
So currently we've just carried out an integration with TXGB, which is linked to a number of their PMS's, so for the likes of anytime bookings and booklets as well, there's, there's loads that they're linked to, so all they have to do is if they're not a member of txgb, they can sign up for free and there's a small commission to pay on any bookings that are placed. I think it's around 2 1/2% to THGB, but as far as it goes with the THGB connection, it is just ticking that box where they're then sent all of the details and they can list with us.
If they're not with those people at the moment. Is there plans for. Is there any way for other people to list at the moment?
Yes. So they can list on the book Direct Slide, which we're currently really marketing to cyclists we've just started building out. I mean, this is all very new. We've just launched in the last six weeks, so it is very new. But the, the cycling side. So if you've got a good area for cycling or you just want to drive direct bookings, then we've got the booking side as well.
How does this work then, for a guest? So how do you get guests to use, bid and stay? And where do those guests sort of find out about your. Your offering?
So we're just, we've just started Marketing it. Because we've really been spending the last 18 months, two years, building out the tech and we've built all of the technology from, from scratch. So we're now starting to grow our social media presence and we're in talks with a couple of companies about getting flyers into that. Well, we're actually in talks with a wine company and also a cocktail company to get flyers into their boxes that they send out. And so we're get into households. So that's the sort of key areas that we're looking to market this at the minute.
What would you say to hosts who are concerned that they'll get a lower rate than what they'd really like? Is this more for the gaps that they've got in their calendar or could it just be advertised sort of ongoing for the minimum that they'd kind of want for that, that period?
Yeah, no. So it is, it's really for the last minute sort of gaps that they haven't been able to fill. Also, cancellations. We've seen a rise in cancellation, so it's perfect for looking for everything in the next 30 days. When we're looking at that auction side of the site and the bid and stay side of the site, is there.
Any risk of guests sort of going on it and just trying to lowball across a lot of properties and stuff like that, or do they go on genuinely just looking at the dates which are, you know, the dates which are available and given fair rates.
If they're going to put in really low rates, they're not going to get the booking. So they have to beat that silent reserve. As soon as they do the bookings take in, the property is removed, it's done and it's all automated like that.
It's cool. That's cool. I think this is something personally which could go really big because you see a lot of the tips and tricks on places like TikTok and Instagram reels where they're saying, hey, if you want a place to go, you know, go and check out this, this website and bid and stay. Sounds like somewhere where they could easily do it. It might be worth, you know, social media. The reels and stuff like that could be really good for this, especially if it's recorded as if it's a secret, you know, like, I guess somebody, you know, hey, I've just found this awesome website. Don't tell anyone. Well, it's a great way to promote it, isn't it?
Definitely. I need to spend some more time on TikTok.
Actually.
We're Doing quite well on Instagram. We're really starting to gain some traction in their website visits have gone up nearly 20% month on month over the last couple of months. We're really starting to, to improve our Traffic and yeah, TikTok is going to be the next thing. I think I need to get better at being on, being on camera.
What would you say is the biggest challenge for Bidden today at the moment? Where would you say your, your time is having to be put into and, and things that you're, you're going to look to overcome or something that you have overcome?
Yeah. So now that we've been concentrating really on getting the technology actually absolutely right and, and user testing it now we need to onboard hosts. So that's where. And, and my preference is to onboard hosts directly rather than going and bringing on agents which will supply stock quite quickly. But I really want to be working with those hosts directly. So that's my main target, bringing on board as many hosts as we possibly can. So that's going to be more integrations as well. Other than just txgp and with those.
Hosts, how does it work? How do you make your. The income? Is that from the host side of things or does the guests pay a kind of booking fee?
Yeah, so we're either looking to charge at just 5% commission or they can pay 150 pounds for the year and that enables them the use of our technology and that's it. We're keeping it as low as we possibly can.
Awesome. Awesome. And so it's basically, it could be the price of one night, realistically, and then they've got the option to be able to sell all of their nights throughout the year that they need to sort of send out there. So I'm sure there's going to be people off the back of this thinking, oh, I've got some dates, especially as we record this. We're coming up to January and January tends to be one of the slower months, doesn't it, where there's, there's some dates available. So I know, I know hosts are going to be excited about hearing this. So, Emma, thank you so much for joining us today on the Boosty Spotlight series. Thank you two for listening to this. If there's somebody you know who can get some value from this, all you need to do is share that with them and come and follow us more in the boostly community, which is the hospitality community on Facebook. Or go and check out the book Direct Playbook, which if you go on Amazon, the book Direct Playbook you can go and see 101 Ways to Increase your direct bookings. Thank you so much for spending time with us. We'll see you on the next one. Bye for now.
Having a blast. Gonna get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee like Bruce Lee? Cause it's so hard on the T is loose leaf making up those rhymes don't write it, just do it loosely.
