A weekly or monthly shortlet discount rewards guests who stay longer. On Cabans you can set up to three longer-stay discount tiers, a free-nights offer, or both. Each guest gets whichever saves them more, never both. You set offers on your listing, and the Cabans team approves them before guests see them.
This guide explains why longer-stay deals can help, how each offer works, how to compare them, and the booking rules that must match. If you are new to taking bookings, start with taking shortlet bookings online.
Why offer longer-stay deals
Every new guest costs you something: a full clean, fresh linen, a check-in, and often an empty night or two between stays. One guest for a month replaces many of those changeovers. That is the saving a longer-stay deal shares with the guest.
- Fewer changeovers. Less cleaning, laundry and key handovers.
- Fewer gaps. One long booking fills nights that short bookings might leave empty.
- Steadier months. Business visitors, people relocating and contract workers often need a week or a month. People search for things like “shortlet per month” and “weekly shortlet”.
The cost is a lower price per night. Your payout is what the guest paid for the stay, less any refund and the 5% Cabans commission. So a discount lowers the amount you are paid from. Nobody can promise that a discount brings more bookings. Set one, watch what happens for a few weeks, and adjust.
Discount tiers
A tier is a step: “this many nights or more, this much off”. You can set up to three. The highest tier a guest reaches applies to all their nights. Here is how to set one up:
- Open your listing. In the seller menu, open “Listings List” and edit your short let.
- Turn on the discount. In “Longer-stay discounts”, tick “Offer a discount on longer stays”.
- Fill in Tier 1. Next to “Tier 1:”, enter the number of nights and the percentage off, for example 7 nights and 10%.
- Add more tiers if you want. Add “Tier 2:” and “Tier 3:” for longer stays. Each tier needs more nights and a bigger discount than the one before.
- Or add a free-nights offer. Under “Free nights offer”, fill in “Nights stayed” and “Free nights”, or leave both empty for no offer.
- Check what guests will see, then save. Read the “Guests will see:” line, then save the listing. The Cabans team approves listing changes before guests see them.
A simple plan might look like this, as an example only:
- Tier 1: 7 nights, 10% off. Guests see “7+ nights, 10% off”.
- Tier 2: 14 nights, 15% off.
- Tier 3: 28 nights, 20% off.
A 10-night guest then gets 10% off all 10 nights. A 30-night guest gets 20% off all 30. The form checks your numbers as you type:
| The message | What to do |
|---|---|
| “Discount must be greater than 0%” | Enter a percentage above 0. |
| “Discount cannot exceed 100%” | Enter a smaller percentage. |
| “Discount must be greater than Tier 1 (10%)” | Give this tier a bigger discount than the one before it. |
The step-by-step help guide, how to offer longer-stay discounts and free nights, has more detail.
Free nights offers
A free-nights offer gives guests whole nights for nothing. Under “Free nights offer”, fill in two boxes: “Nights stayed” and “Free nights”. Fill in both, or leave both empty. Each can be from 1 to 731.
The form’s own example uses 5 and 1. Guests then see “Stay 5 nights, get 1 free”. A guest staying 6 nights pays for 5, and a guest staying 12 nights gets 2 free. The free nights are always the cheapest nights in the stay.
Free nights have one extra strength: guests see the offer before they pick dates. It sits above your calendar in a green line with a small gift icon.
The better of the two, worked through
If you offer both, a guest never gets both. Cabans works out which saves the guest more money and applies that one. The form explains this in a blue note, “The better of the two, never both”, with its own worked example.
Here is the same idea in “nights’ worth”, so it works for any price. Say every night costs the same. You offer 7+ nights at 10% off, 28+ nights at 20% off, and “Stay 6 nights, get 1 free”.
| Guest stays | Discount saves | Free nights save | Guest gets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 nights | 0.7 of a night | 1 night | 1 free night |
| 14 nights | 1.4 nights | 2 nights | 2 free nights |
| 28 nights | 5.6 nights | 4 nights | 20% off |
In this example, free nights win on stays of one and two weeks, and the 20% tier wins at four weeks. Run your own numbers the same way, and you can shape your offers around the guests you want.
Two more things to know. A free-nights offer is only at full strength on exact multiples: “Stay 5 nights, get 1 free” is about 17% off at 6 nights, but only about 9% off at 11 nights. And because the free night is the cheapest night, a stay that includes your higher-priced dates gives away a cheaper night. The Host Academy lesson on offers for longer stays explains the same rules step by step, with a short quiz.
Longest stay and booking window
An offer only works if guests can actually book that long, and far enough ahead. These rules live in “Availability, prices and booking rules” on your listing’s edit page. Save them with “Review and save calendar”. Unlike offers, they go live as soon as you save.
- “Longest stay (nights)” is 90 unless you change it, and can be 1 to 731. A 28-night tier is useless if your longest stay is 14.
- “Minimum stay (nights)” is 1 unless you change it. A minimum of 7 makes you weekly-only, but it turns away weekend guests.
- “Guests can book up to” is 1 year ahead unless you change it. Choices run from 30 days to 2 years. Monthly guests often plan early, so a short window can shut them out.
Offers are set per listing, not per date. They work on whatever the night prices are, including special day prices and price windows. So if you raise prices for December, a long December stay still gets your tier. Plan your December prices with that in mind.
A price per week is not a discount. If your listing is priced “Per Week”, Cabans shares that price over 7 nights and charges each night its share. Any tier or free-nights offer then works on those night prices. Our guide to setting night prices for busy days and seasons explains price windows and special day prices.
Check your offer the way a guest sees it
Once the Cabans team has approved your offer, test it. Open your own listing as a guest would, without booking:
- Look above the calendar. A free-nights offer shows as a green line with a gift icon.
- Pick a stay just below your first tier, such as 6 nights. The Price Breakdown should show no discount.
- Pick a stay that reaches the tier, such as 7 nights. A green line should name the offer, such as “7+ nights, 10% off”.
- Try a long stay, such as 30 nights. Check that your longest stay allows it, and see which offer wins.
- Check that the “Cleaning fee” and “Caution deposit (refundable)” lines have not changed.
If something looks wrong, fix the listing or the calendar and check again. Compare your offers with homes near yours, such as shortlets in Lekki or shortlets in Gwarinpa, and review them every few months.
What never gets discounted
- Your cleaning fee. A fixed amount, added once to each stay.
- Your caution deposit. A fixed amount the guest gets back after check-out, less anything the Cabans team agrees you may keep.
- The payment fee. Paystack’s fee is paid by the guest when they pay. It never comes out of your payout.
- Extra nights when a stay is extended. If a checked-in guest asks to stay longer and you approve, the extra nights cost your night prices, with no discount.
You are paid within 7 days after the guest’s stay, and sooner when the guest approves the payment after their trip. Cabans charges hosts a 5% commission on each booking.
See how other hosts present their homes: browse shortlets on Cabans. Then take bookings online, or list your short let if it is not on Cabans yet.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good weekly discount for a shortlet?
There is no single right number. Think about what each new guest costs you in cleaning, laundry and empty nights between stays, and offer part of that saving back. Start modestly, watch your bookings for a few weeks, and adjust.
Can I offer a monthly discount only?
Yes. Set Tier 1 at the number of nights you count as a month, such as 28 or 30, with the discount you want. Guests staying less than that pay full price. Make sure your longest stay allows a month.
Can a guest get my discount and free nights together?
No. If you offer both, each guest gets whichever saves them more money on their dates, never both. Cabans works it out on every booking.
Why can guests not see my new discount yet?
Discounts and free-nights offers are part of your listing, and listing changes wait for approval by the Cabans team. Once approved, guests see them. Calendar changes, by contrast, go live as soon as you save them.
Should I offer free nights or a percentage discount?
It depends on the stays you want. Free nights show above your calendar before guests pick dates. Work out what each offer saves for the stay lengths you want, in nights’ worth, as in the table on this page. You can offer both, and each guest gets the better one.
How does a discount affect my payout?
Your payout is what the guest paid for the stay, less any refund and the 5% Cabans commission. A discount lowers what the guest pays, so it lowers the amount you are paid from. Paystack’s payment fee is paid by the guest, not by you.
Related guides
How to get more shortlet bookings · Filling your shortlet in quiet months · Which cancellation cut-off to pick · Pricing your shortlet for Detty December · Is a shortlet profitable? · How guests pay less for longer stays · Shortlet minimum stay
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