Many people first try a coworking space with a day pass, and for some it's the only way they'll ever use one. Priced well and easy to buy, it fills desks your members leave empty and brings you your next members. This guide covers setting the price, selling it on the morning people need it, capping it at the desks you really have, and turning regulars into members, whatever tool you use.
How to price a day pass: a share of the month
Set the day pass so a month becomes cheaper somewhere between the sixth and eighth day of use: fair for an occasional visit, and a clear case for joining to anyone coming twice a week.
Say your hot desk is £200 a month:
- At an eighth of the month, the day is £25 and the month pays for itself at eight days.
- At a sixth, the day is about £33 and the month pays for itself at six.
If passes sell out by ten, move towards a sixth; if desks sit empty, move towards an eighth rather than discounting at the door.
Before deciding, check what the three nearest spaces charge for a day on their own websites, and whether that price includes VAT.
Two refinements: a half day at around 60% of the full day catches people between meetings, and a lower price on your quietest weekday fills desks members leave empty.
Show the price people pay. If anyone can buy a pass, some buyers will be consumers, people buying for themselves rather than for a business. For them, the price you show must be the total, including any mandatory fees and taxes, so any VAT goes in the headline price, not at checkout. This is general information, not legal advice.
To sell more, sell the same morning
Most people decide on a day pass the morning they need a desk, not the week before. So:
- No notice period. A rule that passes must be bought the day before turns most buyers away.
- Sell before you open. Someone deciding over breakfast at half seven should be able to buy then, not wait for reception.
- Be bookable from a search. Put your booking link on your Google Business Profile, under Booking, so someone searching for a coworking nearby can buy without ringing.
- Let the confirmation do the welcome: the address, the door, who to ask for, the wifi and what's included.
Cap passes at the desks actually free
Sell only the desks left after your members. Say you have 40 desks, 15 of them fixed, and 30 hot-desk members of whom about 15 come in on a typical Tuesday. That leaves 10; keep 2 back for members who turn up unannounced and sell 8 passes. On a quieter Friday you might sell 15.
Overselling costs more than selling out: a day-pass buyer with nowhere to sit is unlikely to come back, and a member who loses their usual spot complains. When the day's passes are gone, the page should say so.
Let people pick a desk, or not
Picking a desk on a plan of the room is a reason to buy: the window, a socket, the quiet end, or three desks together for a small team. The cost is control. Keep the desks members treat as theirs off the plan, and put day passes where coming and going disturbs nobody. If your space is one long shared table, skip it and sell "a desk".
Turn regulars into members
Someone buying five passes a month is already paying most of a membership. Make the switch easy:
- Look each month at who bought three or more passes.
- Do the sum for them: "You spent £125 here in October. A month is £200, with a desk every weekday."
- Count this month's passes towards their first month, with a discount code that expires when the month does.
- Ask in person. The person at the front desk who sees them every Tuesday will do this better than any email.
- Reward the ones who won't join. A free day after ten passes keeps them coming back.
Doing it with Tuora
Tuora sells your day passes on your own booking page, either as a number of places, never one more than you set, or as desks your customers pick on a floor plan of your space. They pay online into your own Stripe account, and you choose how much notice a booking needs, if any. Prices change with the day and the length, so a half day or a quiet weekday can cost less, and discount codes go to your regulars. More on how it works for coworking spaces.
You can try it before talking to anyone: pick a desk on the floor plan at our demo coworking and see the booking from its back office.