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How Gyms Make Money (2015)

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Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#71

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

Not gonna lie, I was utterly spoiled by the perfect atmosphere in my community college gym. I used it as much as possible as a registered student. Unfortunately, it's pretty far from my home, so after graduation it wasn't realistic that I should commute there on a weekly basis, as a community-based member instead of active student.

So this all transpired right around the pandemic lockdowns. I went up to the nearest gym I could find, really the only gym I could realistically commute to, and investigated a membership. The culture there was rather repulsive, honestly; the staff who I interacted with, they were uncool people IMHO, just nobody I'd want to associate with in normal life.

I asked several pointed questions about the membership structure and payments, and even their method for admission left something to be desired. Their mobile app was mandatory; you couldn't show a wallet ID card to get in. At the time, my only mobile device was a WiFi-only tablet, so before I could work out at all, I'd have to come in the door, get my tablet opened up and connected to their WiFi, then access their stupid app so they could let me in the gates.

Another real deal-breaker was when I found out that they really didn't have personal trainers available to me. As a sedentary novice, and someone at-risk for injury, I really needed professional advice and guidance on a regular basis, and they just couldn't meet me where I'm at. Basically the bottom line was that I'd be all on my own, with whatever equipment was available. So I just completely gave up on commercial gym usage.

That being said, my own apartment community has a modest gym available, and it's included in my rent, so I'm actually losing money by not taking advantage of this amenity. No personal trainer, but the machines are easy to use, and could really be helpful if I put in the commitment.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#72

Post by SamBam »

djmips wrote: post #52
Popeyes wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't read the article but the move to squeezy ketchup bottles was because parents didn't like kids messing with the glass bottles, and kids were the ones who would dump a load of unused ketchup on their plates meaning parents would buy more.

The squeezy bottles are annoying because they are opaque and I'm sure a ton of wasted mustard, ketchup etc are being thrown in the trash compared to glass. The Dutch have the flessenlikker but most Americans don't.

At my grocery store all the squeezy ketchup bottles are transparent.

Even Heinz has both a bright red bottle and transparent versions. Shops like Whole Foods don't sell the bright red version though, only the transparent version. Clearly they are marked at different customers, and there must be some demographics that prefer the bright red.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#73

Post by phil21 »

klipt wrote: post #43
RajT88 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just recently dealt with this. Gym would not respond to emails asking for cancellation form, nor pick up the phone during office hours. Then stood by their cancellation policy of 30 days despite the weeks of messages left. 30 days from time of signing the form. Shady business.

If you paid by credit card just dispute the extra charges. Credit card company will side with you if you have evidence of trying to cancel earlier.

They do not. The major gyms somehow have basically blocked chargebacks from most major issuers and additionally even cancelling your card for a new one won’t help.

I got into a giant fight with Lifetime Fitness and Amex over this. Amex 100% took the gyms side and allowed them to bill me even after I told them I refused any additional charges.

The chargeback system is consumer friendly until there is actual real money on the table. If you are a giant business you can block many chargebacks as matter of course. Your issuing bank will tell you to take it up in civil court while issuing you a bill.

As I looked into this further I realized chargebacks other than outright theft and fraud are basically done as a courtesy until your account is no longer worth it to the issuer.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#74

Post by kibwen »

opportune wrote: post #70
nomilk wrote: post #69

A friend asked me what gym I’m going to now days, I was delighted to inform him it’s a globally available 24/7 gym and I never have to wait for equipment. It’s 2 square meters in “the park”. 120 bodyweight squats, lunges, and calf raises, 150 push ups and 200 sit ups, 3km run, and 10 minutes stretching. Challenging, requires zero thought or planning (other than wearing a warm top on cold days) and costs $0/month.

I’m happy for you, but this is kind of phrased a little overly smugly to me. As someone who lifts weights, it sounds like “I don’t go to the grocery, I just eat potatoes and eggs from my backyard farm”. It’s certainly something you can do and get good results, but it’s also a limitation. If you want to build muscle or strength past a certain point it will be very inefficient not to use free weights. Maybe you don’t w…

Smugness aside, it's still good advice because calisthenics is all that the average person needs to maintain a healthy level of personal fitness. For people to think that they need to have access to specialized equipment (and pay handsomely for the privilege) creates an artificial barrier that turns people off from exercising entirely and prevents them from meeting their basic fitness needs.

For those out there, if you don't have time or inclination to go to the gym, I guarantee you will feel better in your skin if you go from doing zero physical activity to doing any at all, even a little bit. A few minutes of stretching when you wake up in the morning followed by single-digit numbers of squats, pushups, and situps is a great start.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#75

Post by nomilk »

opportune wrote: post #70
nomilk wrote: post #69

A friend asked me what gym I’m going to now days, I was delighted to inform him it’s a globally available 24/7 gym and I never have to wait for equipment. It’s 2 square meters in “the park”. 120 bodyweight squats, lunges, and calf raises, 150 push ups and 200 sit ups, 3km run, and 10 minutes stretching. Challenging, requires zero thought or planning (other than wearing a warm top on cold days) and costs $0/month.

I’m happy for you, but this is kind of phrased a little overly smugly to me. As someone who lifts weights, it sounds like “I don’t go to the grocery, I just eat potatoes and eggs from my backyard farm”. It’s certainly something you can do and get good results, but it’s also a limitation. If you want to build muscle or strength past a certain point it will be very inefficient not to use free weights. Maybe you don’t w…

It's more relief than smugness. Gyms always seemed to let me down: onerous contracts, complex or buggy booking platforms/procedures, unhygienic, stuffy, rigid class start times and open hours. Gaining self-sufficiency made me incredibly happy/relieved.

The final straw was when I wanted to pause the membership the gym required "supporting documentation" (i.e. flight or hotel itinerary). I cringed so hard. When I cancelled they charged 2 weeks because that's just normal. Stripe and apple subscriptions let you finish your currently billing period when you cancel, but certainly don't charge you for the next 2 billing periods. I found it so backward. Charging people for what they're clearly not using is kinda sleazy IMO (I know the article sheds light on why gyms do that - that's how they make most their money!)

Also, at least half of the utility of exercise for me is mental (as opposed to physical). So clicking on poorly made apps and dealing with contracts was the opposite effect I was hoping to experience, meanwhile breathing fresh air in nature while working out is very mentally relaxing and pleasant.

Tl;dr I got bitten a bunch of times by super lame or unnecessarily onerous gym processes, hence why becoming self sufficient made me so happy.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#76

Post by Gigachad »

tanseydavid wrote: post #60
klipt wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess the most economically efficient model would be for gyms to charge per use with surge pricing. 4-5am? $2. 5-6pm? $10!

From the article: "There are many commercial gyms that won’t let you in on a ‘pay-as- you-go’ basis at all, even if you beg."

Pay as you go in general is not popular. It creates an incentive to not use the product or service and makes people feel bad about using it. Meanwhile upfront payments make you feel good about using the service. You already paid for it, using it is getting your monies worth.

And if you can’t build a habit around using their service, you won’t stay a customer for long.

The ideal customer is someone who pays but doesn’t use it. But these people tend to not renew their subscriptions. So realistically you want someone who habitually uses it and will remain a customer forever.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#77

Post by Gigachad »

verbify wrote: post #5

Agree with the general economics, but this caught my eye: > a gym customer needs quite a bit more space compared to the retail customers in the rest of the high street Where I live, the two gyms nearest to me are not on a high street - they are effectively in residential areas, which I believe has lower rents. The gyms that are on the high street are 'super gyms' that are significantly more expensive.

Probably good to have the gyms closer to where people live as well. Retail stores benefit from the incidental visits of people who are already there. But no one is going to just pop in to the gym while buying clothes.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#78

Post by Gigachad »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #17
verbify wrote: post #5

Agree with the general economics, but this caught my eye: > a gym customer needs quite a bit more space compared to the retail customers in the rest of the high street Where I live, the two gyms nearest to me are not on a high street - they are effectively in residential areas, which I believe has lower rents. The gyms that are on the high street are 'super gyms' that are significantly more expensive.

I have seen “high street” gyms use office space and even basement space. While being a short minute walk from the high street. My current gym is upstairs. Upstairs entry is not something most shops want (unless you are niche maybe like a wedding shop). There are tricks to get lower rent.

Yeah I used to subscribe to one of those basement gyms. They had the place lit up with almost gamer themed LED lighting strips and it was pretty cool.

Only they didn’t run the air con so it would be roasting in summer.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#79

Post by xrd »

I'm surprised no one has compared Peloton. And, also surprised that Peloton can get away with charging ~$50/mo. But, then again, that's not so far off. I see activity on the Peloton tapering off a bit after the first few months of usage, and that in person colleague effect seems powerful. It isn't the same when you are seeing random people on the leaderboards.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#80

Post by Dr_Birdbrain »

unsignedint wrote: post #67

I've had two past experiences with joining gyms. The first time, I canceled before even visiting, thanks to a state law allowing no-questions-asked cancellations within a certain period. The second time, I didn't proceed with signing up due to high-pressure sales tactics and an uncomfortable environment that included shaming and mocking. These experiences left a bitter taste. However, since changing jobs, I've been w…

Yeah the signup can be rough. I remember they insist on offering you a “free session” with a trainer—it’s a trap, one must adamantly decline it, insist on just wanting a basic subscription. They’ll want to ask you lots of questions to “try to understand your goals”, one must insist on just a basic subscription.

It’s quite obnoxious :P but, that’s the only time one interacts with sales staff or even trainers. After that it’s pretty smooth sailing.

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