$$$$?

[yak sao]

Someone mentioned on another thread what they charged for classes
I came from an organization where everything was so freaking expensive, that when I got away from that organization, I reflexively went the other way and didn't charge enough.

Well the pendulum is swinging back. I am raising my prices, in part because I gotta eat, but also, as a way of weeding out the mildly curious.

i know areas of the country /world vary in what the market can handle, but do you tend to charge on the high side, low side or somewhere in between for classes?

 

[Eric_H]

Depends what I'm teaching, how often, what their commitment is, etc.

There's no hard fast rule outside of averaging whats normal for your area.

The factors to consider:
Do you have a facility (+) or in a public space (-)
Is your style taught commonly (-) or is it rare in your area (+)
How often are you going to train them? (+ for each time past 3)
Does your art have a good rep (+) or does nobody really know what it is(-)

there's a bunch more for sure, but those are off the top of my head.

 

[cwk]

I only teach five people, three of them I teach as a private group and the other two I teach together at the local Chin Woo federation.
The three I teach privately I've known for a while and are more like friends than students so I charge them next to nothing at the moment ( I told them I'll be putting up the fees after I feel they've got a grip on the fundamentals). Whatever money they do pay me I spend on training equipment for them to use.
I have a friend who travels a lot to instruct in another martial art and he's always telling me I'm crazy for charging so little as the style I teach is so rare, not just where I live but pretty much anywhere in the world. I can see his point but I'm not too interested in making a living out of it at the moment, I just want people to train with and to get people interested in MA. I teach the group of 3 on the roof of my friends restaurant so I don't have to pay for the training area.

Recently though, I've been thinking that maybe he's right about the fees. Not because the style's rare but because I find that people just don't seem to take it seriously enough when something is very cheap or free.

 

[yak sao]

[[quote] 
Recently though, I've been thinking that maybe he's right about the fees. Not because the style's rare but because I find that people just don't seem to take it seriously enough when something is very cheap or free.[/quote]
 
[/quote]
 
 
I feel the same way. People have the mentality of you get what you pay for.
My nice guy attitude of not charging much only served to make me unappreciated and taken for granted. I'm not God's gift to Wing Tsun by any means, but I know what I know and it's pretty damn terrific.

 

[bully]

I can't speak as a WC teacher but I can say from a room hire/admin pov. I was the one who sorted the room and paid up front for it. Then as it was on a casual basis I got stiffed by some of the others who then did nto turn up.
Speaking to a freind who teaches MMA, he says the only way he will train anyone is a $xx per month direct debit setup in advance, he said he been burnt too many times. You also will get better attendance I think if you do that, as students will think...ah I have paid for tonights class already so I better get off my butt and attend or I will lose money.

 

[mook jong man]

I charge 30 bucks for a 90 minute private lesson , which these days doesn't even hardly cover the cost of fuel.

I think I'm pretty cheap when you consider the fact that around these parts there are personal trainers who have done a 6 month course and are charging fat people 80 bucks an hour to teach them how to do push ups and semi quasi boxing punches on focus mitts.

My wife is on at me all the time to put the rates up and I probably will , but if your in this gig to get rich then your barking up the wrong tree , because there are a lot more easier ways to make money.

You have to love to teach , there is no better feeling than when you build a student from the ground up and they finally start to "get it" as the skills become internalised.
You just look at them and think to yourself "I created that".

 

[mograph]

A loose rule of thumb for private lessons given to the average consumers seems to be $60 per hour. I've seen this applied to music lessons and personal training in the home.

 

[Eric_H]

I'm not God's gift to Wing Tsun by any means, but I know what I know and it's pretty damn terrific.

Sig worthy.