Of course, there are always those who say, “it depends.” From those respondents, most agree that it depends on your market and your membership base.
There are a few other reasons people give for charging or not charging for classes. One respondent says, “It depends on where the bulk of your money comes from. Does it come from specialty classes, or does it come from basic membership payments? It could be that if the class is free, [members] get more bang for [their] membership buck. On the other hand, you could market the class [as something that] sets you apart from everyone else.”
Another respondent gives a few reasons for why or why not clubs should charge for specialty classes: “… If the class is a specialty class that includes involved training and status on the part of the instructor, I think that there should be an additional charge….
Offering interesting classes at no charge is one way. However, if a health club wants to focus on revenue, a specialty class that has an additional charge may be the answer. So, there are two sides to this question, one from a member’s standpoint, and one from the management’s standpoint.” Well said.
Tags: instructor, management, standpoint