Most small RV parks run one nightly rate all year. It's simple, but it quietly costs money twice: in July you're the cheapest reservation in the county, and in October you're too expensive to fill midweek pads.
The fix isn't a dynamic pricing engine. It's three seasons and two rules.
Step 1: Split the year into three seasons
Look at last year's occupancy (your ledger or export is enough) and draw two lines:
- Peak — the weeks you regularly fill up or turn people away. For most parks: mid-June through Labor Day, plus holiday weekends.
- Shoulder — spring and fall weeks with steady but incomplete occupancy.
- Off — the weeks you're mostly empty (or closed).
Don't overthink the boundaries. Season dates you can explain in one sentence are season dates you'll actually maintain.
Step 2: Set the spread
A spread that works for most small parks:
- Shoulder = your current rate. It's probably about right — you set it when demand was average.
- Peak = shoulder + 20–30%. If you filled up every July weekend last year, you were underpriced. Campers comparing a $52 and a $64 site rarely change plans over it; they change plans over availability.
- Off = shoulder − 15–20%, if you stay open. The goal is covering utilities and keeping regulars, not profit.
Step 3: Apply the two rules
Rule one: never discount peak. When someone calls asking for a deal on a July Saturday, the answer is a friendly no. You'll sell that night anyway.
Rule two: raise peak until it stops selling out. Each winter, look at how many peak nights you turned people away. If it's more than a handful, add another 10% next season. Stop when peak weekends fill in the final week instead of a month out — that's the market telling you the price is right.
Where software helps (and where it doesn't)
The math above is a napkin exercise. Where software earns its keep is enforcement: the right rate applied to the right dates automatically, taxes calculated on top, no mental arithmetic at the register, no regular getting quoted three different prices by two family members.
In Bunkpost, you define your seasons and rates once under Settings → Rates, and every quote on your booking page uses them from that moment on. Change your mind in February; the change is live for summer bookings instantly.
One rate becomes three, two rules keep you honest, and one winter review compounds it. That's the whole framework — and it routinely adds 10–15% to annual revenue without a single extra guest.