How to set up sell limits for a rate in Mews Operations

Sell limits let you cap how many spaces a rate or rate group can sell on any single day or range of days. You can apply the cap to all space categories together or only to the space categories you choose. A sell limit works like a restriction: the rate stays bookable until bookings reach the limit, then it stops selling for that day only. Revenue managers and reservation managers use sell limits to keep discounted, partner, and staff rates on sale without giving away spaces on busy dates. You set them up yourself in Mews Operations under Settings > Services, with no need to contact Mews.

 

In this article, you can learn about:

• Where sell limits apply
• Setting up a sell limit
• Checking your sell limits for a date range
• Example: capping a staff rate by season
• Other ways to use sell limits

 

Sell limits apply in:

• Mews Operations, for bookings your staff make

• The Mews Booking Engine

• The Mews Connector API, so a custom booking engine that runs on the API can read your sell limits and show guests the same availability

 

Note: Mews does not pass sell limits to third-party channel managers, central reservation systems, or other booking engines. If you sell a rate mainly through one of these channels, sell limits do not cover that channel today.

 

You manage sell limits in a calendar view, with one row per space category and one column per date. You can set a limit for a single cell, meaning one space category on one date, or set one limit across a range of dates, rates, and space categories.

 

To set a limit for one space category on one date:

1. In Mews Operations, go to the main menu  > Settings > Services.

2. Select the service you want to set the limit for. For example, Short stay.

3. Open Sell limits.

4. Click the cell for the space category and date you want to limit.

5. Enter the maximum number of spaces the rate can sell on that date.

6. Click Save.

 

To set a limit across a date range:

1. In Mews Operations, go to the main menu > Settings > Services.

2. Select the service you want to set the limit for.

3. Open Sell limits.

4. Click Create sell limit. A side panel opens.

5. Enter the maximum number of spaces the rate can sell per day.

6. Select the rate or rates the limit applies to, or select a rate group. You can select more than one rate.

7. Select the date range the limit covers.

8. Under cadence, remove any days of the week the limit should not apply to. For example, remove Saturday and Sunday to leave the rate unrestricted on weekends.

9. Select whether the limit applies to all space categories together, as one cumulative total, or only to specific space categories.

10. Click Save.

The calendar shows your new limit. The rate keeps selling until bookings reach the limit, then stops selling for that day. Other rates keep selling as normal, and the rate opens again on the next day in the range, or when you remove the limit.

 

Note: The Sell limits menu item only appears once Mews switches on sell limits for your property. If you do not see it, contact Mews Support.

 

The Sell limits calendar includes a report.

1. In Mews Operations, go to the main menu > Settings > Services, select the service, and open Sell limits.

2. In the calendar, select the first and last date of the range you want to check.

A report panel opens and shows the sell limits for only those dates.

 

Many properties offer a staff rate but need to control how many staff bookings they accept. Without sell limits, a rate is either open or closed: to stop too many staff bookings on a busy day, you have to close the rate completely, or watch bookings and close it by hand once enough have come in.

With sell limits, you set the number once and Mews enforces it. For example, you can allow only two staff rate bookings per night in high season, when spaces are worth more to paying guests, and ten per night in low season, when spaces would otherwise sit empty. The staff rate stays on offer all year, and your best nights stay available for paying guests.

 

• Promotional or discounted rates: release only a fixed number of spaces at the deal price on your website.
• Partner or package rates: limit how many spaces a partner rate can take on busy dates.
• Weekday-only limits: use the cadence setting to cap a rate Monday to Friday and leave it unrestricted at weekends, or the other way round.
• Custom booking engines: apply a limit to any rate and let your own booking engine read it through the Mews Connector API.

You can now decide exactly how many spaces each rate sells, day by day, and protect revenue on peak dates without switching rates off.