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| Hello All,
I decided to take a Bikram class for fun last week and there was a notice that they're raising their price from $15/class to $18/class. That's a 20% increase, which is outrageous. I mean, I doubt their overhead went up 20%. I have a business myself in the same town/county and my costs didn't go up 20% in the past year. My only guess is that that's what they think they can get out of people since $18/class is not uncommon in NY or CA.
Since I won't do Bikram regularly, I'll never buy a package. Now, I'll never take another Bikram class in my town. I mean, it's not like they're teaching Iyengar yoga. How hard is it to repeat, "go down, way down, more down"? $15/class (for Bikram, remember) is pushing it, in my opinion.
For the record, in the private sector, a 3 - 4 % pay raise/year is considered generous
What a shake down!
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
 
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Gosh Fifi, didn't you hear...they raised the heat index to 147 degrees. That's why they raised the prices, those astronomical electric bills....although, I think they should sell cookies to offset the cost. That Washington reporter did say it was hot enough to bake COOKIES,  |
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| i should point out that as rates go up, teachers usually don't get a raise. 
i recently asked for a raise at two of my jobs--i've worked there over 5 years and make the same amount now that i did then. interesting, huh? |
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| I know; and that pisses me off even more.
I'm officially boycotting $18.00 Bikram classes.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
 
Location: A Blue State | Well, I kinda of agree about price hikes that aren't accompanied by pay hikes. At the same time, $18/(1.5 hr class) has been common in some areas for quite a while (e.g., parts of NYC and DC). Bikram has the heating and [theorically] big time cleaning bills for all that sweat and mold. ... bg |
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| I see your point but most businesses that have customers in/on their property have to pay for heating, AC, plumbing and cleaning the carpet. One thing I'll give the Bikram studios is that they do have 2 showers. That couldn't have been cheap to install. When I was looking for office space, one landlord was going to charge me $5,000 just to install a bathroom!
Still, $18 is a bit much just to hear someone repeat, "hold it, hold it, hold it". |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | Especially when you can just buy a tape or CD with the text on it. Ever done a class to a tape? I have. And $5000 for a bath sounds pretty cheap to me. I spent a good fraction of that just to buy tile for one. ... bg |
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| I love it when Fifi gets riled--half the time I want to post "ditto." |
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| Oh, I just loved it when Bruce dittos me!  |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | If I recall correctly, I had a class in your area *fifi* and I have to tell you that you couldn't pay *me* $18 to be in a room with that teacher again! ... bg |
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| Now I'm curious, BG....No names, but a location? |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | Hmm...okay...I'll pm you. ... bg |
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| Fifi,
I agree with you. Yoga has gotten simply too expensive. The studios in my area most are charging nearly $18-20 for drop ins and $175-$195 for monthly unlimiteds! If I started to do yoga now there is no way I could afford to get into a practice regularly.
AS for the old "we have high expenses, so we charge more" excuse. Pardon my french, but BULL****. The start up costs for most yoga studios really is not that much compared to other businesses. I am looking at opening a larger location and even with bathrooms and showers it looks like the start up investment will be managable. The overhead on them also is nothing. Even with heat. Labor and rent are your two biggest expenses. As long as you have new business coming in every month you will make money.
That being said, I also feel that most studio owners do not take long term planning in account. Many agree to lease agreements to are to high to sustain a studio with decades of longevity. Many simply do not have the business sense to make it in the yoga business. So before long they get into their eyeball in debt, class rates go up, studio empties out and then....
I think you can guess. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| I get the feeling that landlords think they can bump up the rates for yoga people because we have a reputation of not being business-savy. |
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Location: Upstate NY | I realize that space can get quite costly in some areas but i cannot fathom paying that much for a class............ it would be far better to have a home practice and to save up for a workshop here and there...................... |
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| Or, yoga instructors should be reimbursed by insurance or something. That gets complicated. On a related note, my mom has senior demensions health insurance, which is an alternative to medicare. Senior dimensions paid in full for her to join 24 Hour Fitness. I think that's a $300.00/year value. My mom goes to the gym 3-6 times a week so it's a win-win situation.
I can see something like that where a yoga instructor can get paid up front for students who have certain insurance coverage.
I don't think yoga instuctors should be forced to be socialists in a capitalist society (sorry, just thinking about US right now). However, again, back to Bikram, how much should someone get paid for repeating a monologue for 90 minutes (sometimes while sitting down for the whole class) ? |
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| OMG Fifi! At a 0600 Bikram class back in the day, the teacher would sit there drinking hazelnut coffee--the sickening sweet smell made me wanna puke! As an aside I mentioned it nicely and she quit doing it--she was a good kid. |
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| If you don't like the price, you're doing exactly the right thing, voting with your feet. In fact voting with your dollars is the BEST way to vote. |
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Location: Upstate NY | You mean instructors actually get paid to teach Yoga???? and all this time I have been doing it for the fun of it... (if you saw my bi-weekly check from the YMCA you'd think this also  )
Edited by Ravi 2007-01-09 5:41 PM
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | I've been teaching my daughter headstand, and I don't charge her anything.
... bg
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$15 Bikram limit
