What is bidding?
Your Bid determines your price for each SpareFoot customer who moves into a unit. Additionally, your Bid factors into where your facility ranks on our site. In total, there are five factors used to determine a facility’s rank in SpareFoot's search results. For more information about ranking factors, check out our help article: How does SpareFoot rank/order facilities in search results?
Why should I change my bid?
The number of reservations SpareFoot generates for a facility depends heavily on its rank in our search results. SpareFoot uses a complex algorithm to rank facilities based on their performance, and strong quality factors can help a facility rank highly without bidding. However, a facility's bid influences its rank; higher bids lead to better positioning. Please note: If a facility has lower distance or quality factors compared to local competition, it will generally be more expensive to bid to rank higher.
How do I adjust my bid?
Account administrators can adjust facility bids using the Demand Optimizer tool in MySpareFoot.
With our Demand Optimizer tool, you simply set a Max Bid (the most you’re willing to pay for a customer at a specific facility), and the system automatically adjusts your bid multiple times a day to keep you competitive.
Key Concepts
Here are the key terms you’ll see on the Bidding page :
Max Bid: The maximum amount you’re willing to spend to acquire a customer at a specific facility.
Enhanced Bid: The system-calculated bid (updated multiple times daily) that automatically adjusts within your set bid range to keep you competitive.
Bid Opportunities: Recommended adjustments based on marketplace data, showing where you can improve rank and visibility.
View Bidding Opportunities
Navigate to the Bidding page in your MySpareFoot account by clicking Bidding from the menu on the left side of your screen. |
Click View from the Bid Opportunities column to see recommended bid adjustments based on marketplace data.
Example:
Manage bids for individual facilities
From the Bidding page, click Manage Bids.
Select the facility or facilities you’d like to update by clicking the facility checkboxes.
Enter a Max Bid.
Click Apply Changes.
Bulk Bidding
The Bulk Bidding tool allows you to quickly and easily change bids across multiple facilities simultaneously.
Export bid opportunities
You can export the bidding data shown on the screen, plus additional information, by selecting Export Bid Opportunities from the Bulk Bidding dropdown.
Click either Export by Zip Code or Export by City to download the file. |
Upload Bulk Bids
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Enter your new max bids on the spreadsheet and save your changes. The spreadsheet must be saved as a .csv. |
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Please be sure to use the template provided in the download. Our system cannot process the upload if the spreadsheet is not formatted correctly. |
Tips for reading the Bidding Opportunities Export
Column C: Facility ID - The ID number we use to identify each facility. This is important to note if you are using our Bulk Bidding tool.
Column G: Facility physical occupancy - The occupancy rate at the facility. You will only see data in this column if your Facility Management Software is integrated with SpareFoot and sends occupancy information through the API.
Location:Any column headers containing the word “location” refer to the city or zip code where each facility is located. For example, if you are viewing the spreadsheet for a city and one of your facilities is located in Austin, TX, the Location refers to Austin. If another facility on your account is located in Denver, CO, the Location for that facility refers to Denver.
Column L: Distance from location - The number of miles your facility is from the center of the city or zip code it is located in.
Column Q: Facilities in location - The number of facilities with an exact match for the city or zip code being searched. We include facilities within a 15-mile radius from the center of the city/zip, so facilities in neighboring areas may be included in search results.
Column H: Length of Stay in months. This information is only available for integrated facilities.
Metrics that factor into our ranking algorithm
Column M: Submit Rate is what we typically refer to as Reservation Rate - Reservations ÷ Listing Clicks
Column N: Move-In Rate - Rentals ÷ Reservations
Bidding
Column O: Rank - The facility’s current rank in search results by either city or zip code, depending on which file you are looking at.
Column P: Facilities in search result - The total number of facilities a customer will see when searching by city or zip.
Column R: Bid - The current facility bid (not your minimum bid).
Column S: Min bid - The minimum bid for that facility.
Column T: Delta bid - The difference between the minimum and current bids at that location.
Bidding Opportunities (starting with column U) - The bid modifier you would need to select in order to rank for each position in search results. A blank cell in any of the bid columns means that there is no bidding opportunity for that position.
Best Practices
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Use facility data wisely: Consider occupancy rate and length of stay (LoS) when setting Max Bids. Example:
Low occupancy? Set a higher Max Bid to attract more customers quickly.
Units with longer average length of stay? A higher Max Bid may be justified based on the lifetime value of those customers.
Review performance periodically: While Demand Optimizer reduces daily effort, reviewing your facility’s rank and conversions periodically helps fine-tune Max Bids.
Think strategically: Use higher Max Bids on high-priority facilities where demand is strongest.
FAQs
Q: How often do bids update?
A: Multiple times per day. Bids are continuously adjusted based on changing marketplace dynamics to achieve the highest possible rank within your bid range.
Q: Will my bid ever exceed my Max bid?
A: No. Your bid will always stay within your set Minimum and Maximum bid range.
Q: Do I still need to check Bid Opportunities?
A: Yes, Bid Opportunities provide insights into bids for various ranking positions. Demand Optimizer helps automate decisions, but you can still review these recommendations to refine your Max Bid strategy.
Q: Can I set my max bid the same as my minimum bid?
A: Yes, you can set your Max Bid to be the same as your Minimum Bid. However, we highly recommend evaluating your bid using our new tool to maximize your chances of ranking highly on the Marketplace.
Q: Where are the Occupancy Rates & Length of Stay values shown on the Bidding page coming from?
A: Occupancy data is only available if it’s synced with MySpareFoot. If your software is integrated with the Marketplace, we retrieve and show these values. If not, these fields will be empty. Contact support if you’d like to integrate your software with SpareFoot.
Q: Why don't I see the Bidding page in MySpareFoot?
A: Bidding is only available to clients on OneTime Pricing. If you are using RentPercent Pricing, you won't see the bidding page in MySpareFoot.
Q: Why isn’t a facility on my account showing up on the Bidding page in MySpareFoot?
A: A facility won’t show up on the Bidding page for the following reasons:
The account status is not live
The facility is inactive
The facility has no units
The facility is vehicle storage ONLY
The facility is outside a 15 mile radius from the city center