Fair market Value

[Manny]

Well in my dojang sambonim charges monthly as I wrote and charges for every examination, we have examination every 3 months this is 4 examinations in one year. So basically Jhonny Be Good pays per year $640.00 american dollars. The hogu,head gear and the protective equipment is by your own I mean it's not include in the $640.00.

Now let me tell you, for the dan examination thoe are the prices:

1.-$440.00 american dollars for the examn (includes a embroiden black belt and certification).
2.-$120.00 american dollars for a new mooto or adidas dobok.
3.-$150.00 american dollars for one day acomodation (hotel) and bus. The examniation is conduted in Mexico City.
4.-$40.00 american dollars for the meals.

When I did my second dan black belt last july it cost me the above but the dobok, I didn't have to bought it because I already had a Mooto one.

Here in my country $750.00 amercian dollars is huge money, for me, it was I have to save one full year, just imagine the family who has two o three member in TKD!!!

Manny

 

[ralphmcpherson]

We train in a school hall, it costs $50 a month and can do as many classes a week as your instructor offers. My instructor, for example, has two venues which each train twice a week so I can therefore train 4 times a week if I wish for that $50. If more than 3 people from the same family train then they pay no more than $150 per month irrespective of how many family members train. My wife and I train with my daughter and when my son starts he will not cost any extra so in effect his training will be free. I know of families with 6 members all training for $150 per month total.

 

[randy.leopard1]

I don't operate, but I attend a full time school. I pay 170.00 a month for my wife and I along with my 10 and 8 year olds. That includes unlimited classes Monday through Saturday (1 class a day) and 2 sparring classes a week if we want. We do pay for belt testing.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I don't operate, but I attend a full time school. I pay 170.00 a month for my wife and I along with my 10 and 8 year olds. That includes unlimited classes Monday through Saturday (1 class a day) and 2 sparring classes a week if we want. We do pay for belt testing.

That's 42.50 per person. Not bad at all!

Daniel

 

[Kwan Jang]

Percieved value is a big factor. I don't really know much about vacuum cleaners, but if I need a new one, my first reaction is that most likely the more expensive one is probably of better quality. Most adult students or parents of younger students are likely to feel the same way, whether this is true or not often involves more effort than many are willing to put into a subject in the beginning.. IF you are charging significantly less than the school down the street, many people are going to wonder why either you are less valuable or why you have less confidence in the quality of your program.

Another factor is demographics and what the local market will bear. My school is in a small blue collar town and I charge quite a bit less than I think we are worth at $129/mo. I do keep the prices fairly low to make it within reach of the people who really want it and if I were in a higher income area, I'd be charging more. The next town over is over twice the size and the median family income is nearly double of where my school is.(Guess where my second location is going).There is a FAR lower quality school there that charges quite a bit more than we do and many people assume that it's because they are a better school. Once again, true or not, you have to deal with the public's perceptions almost as much as you do with reality.

I've also noticed the trend that the VAST majority of the people who are looking for lower rates rarely are good about paying nor are very good about staying committed to their training. Also, trying to attract many of these people will drive away many of the people you would rather have. I'm not just talking about rich vs. poor, either.

As far as being one of the first things to go in a bad economy, I'd say that you need to make sure you are providing a far better value for your students. If the life skillls you are teaching someone or their kids are of high enough value to them, they'll cut a LOT of other things before they start looking at you. Parents will go without a lot of things if they really believe what you are teaching their kids will make a serious impact on who and what type of person their child will become. Adult students will sacrifice much for an effective path towards self-actualization for themselves. The truth and the trick of the matter is you really do have to give them far greater value than what they are paying for.

 

[miguksaram]

As far as being one of the first things to go in a bad economy, I'd say that you need to make sure you are providing a far better value for your students. If the life skillls you are teaching someone or their kids are of high enough value to them, they'll cut a LOT of other things before they start looking at you. Parents will go without a lot of things if they really believe what you are teaching their kids will make a serious impact on who and what type of person their child will become. Adult students will sacrifice much for an effective path towards self-actualization for themselves. The truth and the trick of the matter is you really do have to give them far greater value than what they are paying for.

This is an excellent point. If you have something of value parents will make it a priority to meet the tuition. A big trend I see is parents overexposing their kids to 3 or 4 activities at once. I know one kid who swims, does piano, karate, and then soccer or baseball depending on the season. When the economy started going bad, the parents slowed the roll and decided which activity had the best impact on their kid. Happy to say we made the cut. Now we did have a couple of cases where money was the real issue. So we told them that we would lower their tuition for a few months until they were back on their feet. We did this on a case by case situation. Point is, it is about priorities and it is up to you as a school owner to establish yourself as a priority in their life.