Last week, I detailed how to make money on Swimply simply by renting out your swimming pool. I had a ton of private messages asking if it really worked, and how they can advertise to get more bookings. This post is about how to get more bookings for your pool and some of the warnings you have to watch out for.
Related: How to Make a Quick $500 with Your Pool
What is Swimply?
Swimply is a very easy to use app that connects your pool with people looking for a pool. It allows you to rent your pool by the house while taking the money and depositing it in your account. It gets very addicting because everyone is having a good time (and fun is contagious).
Swimply allows you to search for swimming pools near you & instantly book to reserve a specific time period. If you have a swimming pool, you can list your swimming for rent and get paid by the hour.
After I noticed that there were no pools listed within 5 miles of my house, I decided to list my home to get a step ahead of my neighborhood's market. I used these pool listings in this search above as a guide to show me what to say / what to post / what to charge on my listing.
Best Ways to Advertise for Bookings?
Here are some ideas on the best ways to advertise for additional bookings:
- Facebook Community Groups
- Facebook Marketplace
- Peerspace
- Nextdoor
- Your Own Website
- Word of Mouth
- Postcards
- Swimply App
- Discount Codes
- PA System
Tips on How to Get More Pool Bookings
In my neighborhood, we have tons of local groups on Facebook for garage sales and for sale by owner groups. That's the perfect place to show off your listings to people in your neighborhood. Most people do not have a pool and/or are looking for birthday party space.
The Facebook Marketplace is also an easy way to spread the message because Facebook shows off your listing to the people around you. If you're looking for an example of someone renting out their pool, click here for a swimming pool example.
Once you signup for Swimply, they have a ton of marketing materials including postcards. Right now, they will mail you a starter set for free. They look like this:
Using Facebook to Advertise Your Pool
The goal is to find facebook groups to join, where you can post a link to your pool and a blurb about it, inviting people to check it out and book a swim.
The easiest way to do this is to join facebook buying / selling groups. This does NOT mean the general facebook marketplace, but specific groups which you have to manually join. These groups are usually city or neighborhood specific, and range in what they allow to be posted. Before joining, make sure you read the group rules for posting restrictions. Posting in buying / selling groups is a great way to reach a broad audience quickly.
That being said, there are tons of other, more specific, groups on facebook that are perfect for marketing your pool. Finding and posting in these groups do require a bit more forethought and planning. However, they can be extremely lucrative.
Here are a couple of tips for finding more specific groups to join:
- Consider what kind of swimmer enjoys your pool most, and join groups that correspond with that kind of swimmer.
- For example: if your pool is a great spot for families, search for facebook groups geared towards parents or activities to do with kids. Then, when you’re posting, upload photos that highlight features of your pool that are family friendly, such as toys, floats and games. Mention that your pool is a great spot for families to relax, spend time together, or host an event. Of course, don’t forget to link your listing URL and invite them to sign up and book!
- Think of communities that you are a part of – anything from knitting to hiking groups to Marvel enthusiasts. Even though these groups don’t directly correspond with pools & swimming, we have seen hosts across the country find success by posting in interest / community specific groups.
Advertising on Nextdoor to Increase Your Pool Bookings
This is a significantly easier process than posting on facebook. All you need is a Nextdoor account, and then you can go ahead and upload some photos of your pool along with a description and link to your listing. The biggest thing to be aware of with Nextdoor is the potential for complaints from neighbors or interference from your HOA. By posting on Nextdoor you are broadcasting to your neighbors you are renting your pool, thus creating the potential for complaints and attempts to block you.
What to Look Out for When Advertising Your Swimming Pool
With anything you do in life, there will be a lot of challenges that arise. It's not smooth sailing, especially now in this political environment. You may run into problems when renting out your swimming pool. Let's get into it.
Swimply provides postcards to pass out in your neighborhood, but what if you have an HOA? Your HOA will probably not approve of you renting out your private pool. They'll call it a “business” and point to language in their HOA. Prepare yourself for Karens of HOA.
Nextdoor neighbors. If Karens or Angry Chads see your post, they may make up something to be mad about. You know the types. I can barely hear music coming from that backyard, however, there's a lot of commotion. They stir the pot because they are unhappy with their own lives.
Swimply App problems. Most of the time, everyone will reserve, show up and leave. I have never talked to half my reservations. However, there are times when the app's messenging system gave me programming code instead of the actual message.
More people than reserved. This is an interesting case because normally I have LESS people show up than booked. However, yesterday, I had one more person show up than reserved. The party of ten people showed up and an extra one showed up. So you may have more people than the reservation. They'll add it to the listing or pay you cash to make up the difference. During this particular pool party, I didn't mind because a few people left early so at any particular time I never had more than 8 for a party of 10.
Restrooms. Because you have 8 people showing up to your pool, you want to provide restrooms. Lucky for me we have a restroom right off the pool. I have seen a few hosts rent a port o potty just for their guests. An outdoor port o potty rents for around $120 per month. What happens if they get water on the floor? Put down some easy washable runners to/fro your bathroom to avoid water on your hardwoods.
Noise Level. What happens if your party gets a little too loud, especially music. We have solved this issue by adding our own outdoor speaker and setting the volume on our app. If they turn it up, I can turn it down with my app.
I'll post more problems that I see that could easily be managed. The goal is to make sure everyone has a good time with very little problems.
How to Set Your Pool's Pricing
Swimply offers suggested pricing that looks similar to this.
Basic $15 – $29 per hour
Very simple pool with not too many extras.
Comfort $30 – $44 per hour
Pool with furniture and a few amenities.
Luxury $45 to $59 per hour
Large backyard with a ton of amenities like pool toys, floaties, tables, umbrellas and lounge chairs.
VIP $60 to $100 per hour
High end experience in a resort-like pool atmosphere.
To start, I have priced my pool at $37 per hour. I spent the pandemic creating a resort-like atmosphere with tons of amenities. However, to build up my reviews, I want to price lower than the nearest pool to start gaining reviews and referrals.
utton if you do. Do you have a hot tube? Towels? Shower?
What Amenities Can I Provide to Make More Money
You can provide and charge more for premium amenities. To get to this section in your Swimply profile, just click on your picture in the upper right corner and manage your listing. Then, click on pool info / premium amenities.
Let me give you a few ideas on what you can provide to increase your listings and your rental price.
- Outdoor Cooler for Drinks
- Birthday Themed Banners (pirate themes, mermaid themes)
- Outdoor Grills
- Ice Water Jug with Cups
- Netflix on Outdoor TV
- Ping Pong Table
- Indoor Treadmill
- Indoor Yoga
- Indoor Gym
- Indoor Cold Lounge
- Restrooms
- Shower
- Outdoor Shower
- Indoor Shower
- Indoor Jacuzzi
- Snacks
- Basketball Court
- Tennis Court
- Pool Games
- Pool Floaties
- Trampoline
- Pool Toys
- Speakers
- Portable Speakers
- Jam Box
- Karoake Machine
- Towels
- Jenga
- Outdoor Lawn Games
- Lawn Darts
- Lawn Cornhole
- Outdoor Fridge
- Extra Towels
Example Pricing for Pool Amenities
You are in control of what you charge for the above items. Here is what a few pools in my area charge. Towel rental $10 flat rate. Patio heater $8 per hour. Patio AC Fan $8 per hour. BBQ $40 flat rate. Lawn games $20 flat rate. Portable speaker: $20 flat rate.
Can You Make Money with Swimply?
I love finding these additional side hustles that you can easily tap into to make additional money, especially when inflation and gas prices are out of control. I turned on my pool listing 9 days ago and have booked / completed 16 hours of pool rental time.
16 hours x $37 = $592
Swimply charges 15% which would come to around $88. So for the first 9 days, I have made an easy $500 which came mostly from the weekend. If this continues in a similar fashion, I'll hit $3,000 by day 30. If you live in a cold environment like Portland, there will be far less competitors so you can charge double what I do.
How to Get Started with Swimply
Are you ready to get started? You can fill out your profile and pause/restart it at your convenience. If you want to take a break, you can pause your listing. If you're going out of town or have guests in town, you can block off those dates within the listing. It is very user-friendly.
Click here to Get Started with Your Own Listing
Swimply pays me $100 for every referral and 100% of the proceeds go to Alzheimer's Care. I would appreciate it if you could share this referral with anyone you know who has a pool. Thank you!
People Also Ask
Yes! You can list your swimming pool on Swimply and charge an hourly rate between $20 and $50 per hour. Neighbors nearby can reserve your pool and Swimply auto deposits the funds into your checking account.
Swimply is an app that allows owners to rent out their own swimming pools by the hour. Founded by Asher Weinberger who came up with the idea in 2018 when he bought his first house which came with a swimming pool. When friends and family asked to borrow it, Asher created a app to help manage the appointments and help avoid liability.
The rental fee ranges from $20 to $60 per hour and Swimply charges hosts a 15% fee.
The Sharks missed out on this one. Swimply aired in the Shark Tank on March 13, 2020 – about a week before the Covid-19 pandemic shut the world down. Public pools and beaches were closed, but private pools were not. The result: Swimply saw a 4,000% increase in business.
You can create your listing for free and set your own price, upload photos and determine your own rules that you're comfortable with.
No. In fact, most of my guests want full privacy to swim and play in the pool.
Swimply provides peace of mind that hosts will be taken care of. Swimply Insurance Policy protects all bookings done via Swimply for up to $1 million for general liability claims and $10,000 of property protection per occurrence.
70% of bookings done via Swimply are moms with their kids. However, you can turn on or off if kids are accepted.
Schedule a dedicated one on one with one of our wonderful Host care representative and we will walk and coach you throughout the entire process.
Call us at +1 (844) 970-4050
Click here to get started and make side hustle money by renting out your swimming pool.
