Private Lesson pricing.....(getting away from the Philosophical debates)

[PocketAces]

I'm a corporate lawyer. There's no price fixing going on here. I'm not going to waste my time explaining why.

[moma_news]

I'm not going to waste my time explaining why.

Spoken like a true lawyer!

[terry]

I have never charged a fee for lessons or classes. People are usually glad to hear this...until they learn that when we get the thai pads out they're gonna PAY. It's worked out okay, but once in a while you have to drop a guy who isn't serious.

[kengar]

200 bucks for a hour, what were you smokin'?
As Paul stated, I have seen instructors who charge $100 a hour but will allow 2-4 people to split the cost. I couldn't see charging one person that much money, no matter how good you think you are. What are you most interested in, money or training people? I think you would do best with a lower price.

[Great Sage]

I've taken Business Law and I agree, there's no price fixing here...

As far as the $200/hour... I failed to mention that it was for me and a couple of students to attend an ISKA seminar/lesson on International Fight techniques/Regulations, etc... However, I covered the cost since some of my kids didn't have money and it wouldn't have been fair to have only a few pay.

[jukado1]

privite lesson charges

Ryu: the price you charge is primarely dependent on your location, when i was teaching in beverly hills i would charge between $50 and $75 per hour, when i was teaching in mission viejo in orange county calif. my rates were between $ 35 to $$65.00 per hour, as most of my orange county students were working folks with less spendable income. that was in the 1970's. you do want to make sure that you charge enough to make your students respect you, as most folks think if you charge an avarige amount your only an avarige instructor. make sure you emphysize that your a privite trainer, you can also emphysize that proffesional fighters all have trainers. if you remember one of the main reasons Bruce Lee closed his school was becuase he felt that as a class teacher HE could not get to the students full potential. good luck, train hard, train smart.

[yenhoi]

Id say charge what you need to charge.

What are your goals as an instructor, Ryu?

[ceasarx]

I know a Guy who charges $20.00 an hour for personals . But he treats it as a one on one thing and noone else is allowed to attend. He does this so there no distractions and only for his normal students. I dont know how much he charges to the general public

[terry]

It's a price-seeker's market, Ryu. That means you have imperfect information about pricing. If I were you I would try it out at the rate you're suggesting. Collect all the market reference information you can, but at the end of the day your own busy schedule may wind up being the major factor in pricing decisions.

My suggestion would be to make sure to keep up the customer service side of the business. If you establish a reputation for reliability, integrity and competence you'll attract more business, especially if you're not in a crowded market like L.A.

Alternatively, you can go back to school, get a MSEE, and wind up working the equivalent of three martial artist jobs for twice the pay and have no time left over for martial arts or family. Hmmm...somehow that is supposed to equate to success.

[lloydmtz]

I charge $60 for an hour but then I also offer blocks of 4, 8 and 12 at a reduced rate. To me this makes more sense because you then can make more because now you have given the student an incentive to sign up for more classes...so for example...charge $60 for a single session...$55 per session for 4 sessions (Total: $220)...$50 per session for 8 sessions(Total: $400) and $45 per session for 12 sessions (Total: $540). By doing it this way you give the student an incentive to sign up for more classes...and heck even if they only do one private at least you make more for your time. And to make the prices seem even less I usually ask for 10% down and then split the remaining balance over the length of the sessions. Example: 4 sessions at $55 (Total: $220),
$220 - $22 (10% down) = $198(Balance Due), $198 divided by 4 payments = $49.50 per session!!!

Remember, regardless of what others may say, your offering a professional service and should be paid accordingly for your time and experience. And over time you should raise your rates.

Lloyd

[Eddie]

That will be $50.00 dollars, "EACH!?"

My friend and I, drove to Charlotte, NC for private training with Dicky Harrell. We did about an hour and a half and paid fifty dollars each. This was in 1988...the funny thing was my friend being from LA, studied at the torrance academy. Mostly what Dicky taught us he had already done. When the training was over I asked what do we owe you? He said, fifty dollars, I replied very quickly, "EACH!" he said, "yes" so we paid. Later that month Dicky called me, letting me know the time he would have for more private training, and I told him that I would get back to him, which I never did, cause on top of the fifty an hour, we had to drive 2.5 hours to Charlotte, so 5 hours on the road, gas, food, for an hour to train, and then pay fifty dollars...just wasn't worth it to me.
Today, for private lessons I charge anywhere from $20-35 dollars, which I think is pretty good. I really couldn't see paying more than fifty dollars an hour for private lessons and I don't care what someone is teaching or who that someone is...including Dan Insanto! I respect the fact that someone's time is very important and that their art may be very good, and if someone would pay $200.00 and hour then more power to them. In my opinion the Martial Arts teachers has gone way over board with prices. I mean going to a weekend seminar can cost over $150.00 and that may be for 3-6 hours. The fact is of the 3-6 hour seminar how much would one learn and how much would they retain? Maybe if the coordnator would provide a video along with that 3-6 hour seminar then someone training might not feel ripped-off. I know this, Dan Insanto(and I love the guy) teaches very fast and shows different things, wanting to have people come back to learn, and learn, and learn again, but they end up learning the samething, continue to pick up little of this and a little of that to keep them coming. I have been to a lot of seminars and had a great time and learned a lot. However, I can only think of one or two that I didn't feel ripped-off, after I went.

[Psyo]

Just eliminate the consumer surplus , if they're rich charge more if they're poor charge less

[ryanhall]

Ryu,
I pay $50 an hour for semi-private lessons, but I frequently get half again as much time per lesson as I pay for. I find the rate to be more than fair considering who I'm learning from and what I'm learning. Many big name instructors charge much, much more than $50/hr while teaching what I consider to be less valuable material for my purposes.

If you charged somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty dollars an hour, you would probably be in good shape.

[skinny]

I recently started taking private lessons and my instructor charges $15.00 per hour and he is very lenient about keeping time. I mean I'm sure there are days we 've gone on for over three hours and he still charges me for two even if I ask if I owe more? Prior to this, I found private lessons to be too expensive and I couldn't afford to spend $50.00-$75.00 per hour.

I think if you can keep the prices low you will find more students who can afford to try JKD. Maybe you can do an introductory deal. Maybe you can offer free lessons for a month or three free lessons. Maybe you can also work out a deal where two or more partners or family members can join at a discount? Maybe you can also reduce the cost by length of commitment or number of days per week? Just some thoughts.

[robin]

It also depend on the interest of the student. I give private lessons, but not all students have the same intention. Some of them just want to have quality time and just want to grow a bit faster or want to catch up. Other students want to be instructors and teach JKD themselfs. Try to figure out what they want, because you can make the difference in the way you teach. $25 per hour is o.k.!

I am training with Prof. Gary Dill in August.
Training costs: $750 per day!

Be like water my friend.

Robin


Moderator's Note - I removed a martial artists name from this post after being contacted and being asked to remove his name. The martial artist in question "does not, nor has he ever charged $750 per day for training"