Understanding Gym Membership Prices: A Quick Guide

One of the most popular post-Christmas purchases is the gym membership. After over-indulging during the holiday season, there is a big increase in sign-ups. This is a hectic time for gyms as numbers swell in a very short space of time. It during that time that members and potential members will be looking for the best value for money when it comes to membership prices. Everyone wants to stay fit and healthy – but they want to pay a fair price for it. 

As a gym owner, you need to understand that there a number of different ways to price your memberships. There are various different arguments for and against the different pricing models, but it really comes down to this; price your memberships in a way that grows your membership base and retains them. 

In this article, we will explain the different types of gym membership prices, matching them to the services you provide and how to effectively price your fitness business. 

The Different Types of Gym Membership Prices

When it comes to gym membership prices, there are various types and models that you may go for. You need to set them properly – and if possible, make them variable – so that you can attract people from various income categories. The best gyms will have the best memberships. 

Here are the options you can go for.

Monthly Memberships

This is the standard type of membership. The client pays a certain sum every month so that he/she may use the gym’s services daily.  Monthly memberships can also be turned into yearly memberships. If a certain client likes going to your gym to take fitness classes, for example, then they should also have the option to pay for a longer subscription. This also works to your benefit, as you will know you are going to have him or her as a client for a much longer time.

Pay-as-You-Go Memberships

Pay-as-you-go memberships are also a very popular choice among users, which is why it might not be such a bad idea to introduce them to your gym. These membership types are generally convenient for those with a chaotic schedule, who cannot be completely sure how many times they may make it to the gym over the course of a month. 

Obviously, these people won’t like the idea of spending a lot of money every month at the gym – particularly when they are not completely sure whether they can make it or not. This is why they should be given the option to pay when they do go so that no money is wasted, and they can save money instead. 

Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic classes take into account the type of gym program that you are going to, the demand for that particular class, the time during which the class is held – everything that essentially makes it special. Therefore, a class with a set of not-so-popular cardio routines and training options should not be as expensive as one where everyone is trying to get into.

Or for example, if your 4 pm class is less popular than your 8 pm one, then it doesn’t make sense to place it at the same price. That being said, if you decide to go for dynamic prices and make the less popular course also less expensive, then you might attract new clients as well, as they’d love to exercise and save money too. There’s nothing better to raise the popularity of a product (in this case, your gym product) than to add very attractive prices in the mix.

College/Senior/Medical Memberships

You may or may not want to add some discount membership prices – that is entirely up to you. However, keep in mind that discounts will always bring you more clients – particularly if you set them for a certain category in particular.

For instance, let’s say that you built the gym fairly close to a university. In that case, you might want to try the tactic of setting some college student discounts. This way, you might be able to attract more students compared to the competition – as they will always choose the cheapest gym close to them.

If you do not want to cater to students, then you might want to apply other discounts as well. Senior discounts or those for medical purposes are also very popular when it comes to memberships, which is why you might want to seriously consider adding them into the mix. They might seem like a costly idea at first – still, the wave of clients that will choose your gym over the others will make it worth everything.

Matching Memberships to the Services You Provide

When you are setting the prices for your gym, you have to consider what features you are able to provide – and exactly how much you have to pay for them as well. To establish a good set of gym membership prices, you need to go through the following aspects as well.

Staff Attention

A lot of the money from the gym membership prices will go to paying the staff at the gym – those who are making sure that the gym is safe, welcoming, and a good place to come to every day. These people are the ones that answer questions, take care of all of the paperwork, offer personal training classes, schedule the classes, and overall make sure that the gym is standing at the top of the chain.

Up-to-Date Equipment Upgrades

When someone pays for a gym membership, they will always look for the one that provides the latest tech – that allows them the best of results. This is why, when you are setting the prices, you have to keep in mind that, at some point, you will have to do some upgrades on the equipment as well.

Gym enthusiasts love setting foot into a room that looks high tech and with the latest equipment. They won’t look as thrilled when they see a stepper or a bicycle dating back a few decades – so, you also have to take into account the occasional need for upgrades. With that being said, make sure that you have the best treadmills, bicycles, and other types of key equipment

Cleaning and Maintenance

A gym won’t clean itself – and considering how many people will be using it, things are about to get very sweaty and dirty, very fast. This is why a part of that money that you get from the membership fee will have to go into paying for the cleaning staff. The chances are that you will not be able to do all the work yourself.

Moreover, aside from the cleaning, you will also have to pay for occasional maintenance. For example, even if you have previously purchased newer equipment, sooner or later, you will still have to give it some maintenance. The rowing machine may have gotten glitchy, or the cables for certain pieces of equipment may have gotten worn down.

In this case, you may need to have the money for maintenance readily available. For this reason, you need to ensure that the process you set for the gym memberships will help you cover at least some of the maintenance costs.

Fitness Instructors

People almost never go to the gym to work out by themselves. In truth, most of them don’t even know where to start, how they should work out – and how to ensure that a certain exercise is right for them. If they knew, they would not have taken the trouble to pay for a gym membership, and they would do all the exercise by themselves in the comfort of their own home.

We all need trainers – someone to instruct us in the appropriate way so that we can reach our goals. Some clients may be focused on losing weight. Other clients may want to tone themselves a bit more. Regardless of their purpose, they always want someone to teach them how to achieve those results, and personal trainers are the best ones in this regard. 

And the issue here is that those instructors will have to be paid for. This is why you should also take them into account when calculating your membership prices. 

How to Effectively Price Gym Memberships

So, you’ve determined the basics of calculating your gym prices – but there is way more to that. When you are determining your gym membership prices, there are also a few factors that you might want to keep in mind – as well as some steps that you might want to follow. Here are a few ways for you to effectively calculate your gym membership prices so that they are the most attractive around the block.

Structure the Prices

When setting the prices for your gym, you may want to remember that this is by no means a “one size fits all” kind of business. Some people might be into weightlifting, whereas others may have more of an interest in Pilates or Zumba. In this case, you might want to structure the prices properly so that they fit both the effort and the equipment used.

Learn About Your Competitors

It is very important to know exactly how much your competitors will be charging – but also to know exactly what their clients are getting. Sure, you may be asking the same gym membership prices as your competitor – but if you provide a better member experience, the chances are that they will all choose you as the better option.

Ideally, you should reflect on all the values of a great experience whenever you are calculating the prices for your gym. If a gym-goer feels that they receive all the services that they need at your gym, then they will not be inclined to leave you for another service that has the same price. Plus, if you even throw in a discount that your competitors do not offer, it will make things even better.

Learn How Much the Clients Use your Gym

Some gyms may have clients at all points of the day, whereas others will have people coming to the gym. If very few people are coming to the gym and the prices are very high compared to what they are on the market, you might want to bring them down. This might actually give your potential customers the incentive that they need.

However, if you have a healthy flow of regulars, you will have to decide whether you want to go for full, unlimited access memberships, or limited kinds. Depending on the time and resources that are used, you may want to set different prices for them.

Consider Adding Membership Discounts

It takes certain moves for someone to be loyal to you – certain actions that prove you really care whether a particular person stays by your side or not. Imagine the client as that particular someone and add the discounts accordingly.

For instance, let’s say that you have a client that comes fairly often with a “pay as you go” class, with no particular attachments to your gym. However, if you offer them a 10% discount on their weekly or monthly membership, they might be more inclined to come to the gym – more often than they originally used to. When membership costs are lower, yet the clients get the same perks, you’ll surely make them stand by your side. 

Consider the Service Levels

There are several types of gyms in the world. We have budget gyms, we have mid-tier gyms, and then we have high-end gyms. Each kind of gym will have to use different prices, and each will help people meet particular fitness goals. For instance, if you have a budget fitness center, you will have to provide only the essentials: classes, instructors, minimum staff, etc.

However, if you are planning to run a high-end gym, the service levels will also have to be planned accordingly. You may have to cater to specific needs, such as childcare or on-site physical treatments. This means you could also include massage chairs, a sauna and maybe even tanning beds to keep clients as interested as possible. If you are going to charge a lot, then you might as well ensure that the people have everything that they need. Do not make the prices higher than the competition if your services have not been upgraded as well.

In Summary 

Setting the gym membership prices is never very easy to do, as there are various considerations to make here. The most important thing is to not be too greedy and to set the prices in accordance with the features that you offer. Your clients will certainly be appreciative.