Why is gym membership so expensive?

photome

arcon5 wrote: »

And just in case you missed my post... I want a running machine and the use of a pool up to twice a week local to me.

To be fair you didnt say that, I thought you were just expressing disgust at the high cost.

If all you want is a running machine and a pool, it may be cheaper to buy the running machine and then use your local pool

lisyloo

for a haircut and women paying £100+ for a weekly restyle is common.

No it isn't (unless you hang out with A-listers or royals).
I answered the MSE poll on this.
I spend £30 about every 6-8 weeks. I was in the most popular group for women of £25-£50 every 4-8 weeks.

You can go to the gym ANY time so you're paying for that.
There are cheaper ways to exercise.
Walking or running outside are free.
I have some exercise DVDs which cost £5-£10 and those are very cost effective and you can do them in any weather.
One of the things I like is that I wear what I like, so if want to exercise in bra and pants (or whatever) in my bedroom then I can.
I'm not a nudist or anything, but sometimes it's nice to be completely comfortable and not have to worry about anyone else.

If you don't want to pay for the facilities then don't.
You can exrecise on the streets or in your own home for free.

arcon5

darrensurrey wrote: »

Find me a restaurant that gives you 2 meals for £10 a month whenever you want to eat.

I know what you mean, though - gyms are expensive so I just put the money towards my own kit.

I didn't say unlimited for a month. I'm putting their prices in to perspective. In that for £40 you could eat a cooked meal out 4 times - an expensive affair for a restaurant, labour intensive, not particularly low cost of sales and high overheads. A gym is supplying access to capital equipment which id hazard to say is low maintenance as well as keeping a single medium pool clean. They're not particularly labour intensive and every time you visit incurs them minimal additional costs since most costs are overheads (ie admin staff, building, f&f etc).

Same with the insurance company example, for £500 per year they'll indemnify you from damage you cause to your asset possibly worth anything. Typically £5k? They'll also indemnify you if you injure somebody or kill somebody - a cost running in to thousands possible hundreds of thousands in more serious cases.

For £2.50 I can have a member of staff take my order and manually make me a drink (COS about 30p) and will spend half hour or so taking up space in their building costing them about £100k per year including rates (significantly varies according to location and area of course).

Yet I cannot use a treadmill, possibly a few weights and a half hour swim - none of which requires a member of staff to see to me - of which the EXTRA cost of my visit to them is limited to wear and tear and electricity - without paying silly money.

arcon5

photome wrote: »

To be fair you didnt say that, I thought you were just expressing disgust at the high cost.

If all you want is a running machine and a pool, it may be cheaper to buy the running machine and then use your local pool

I thought it was obvious from my post - obviously not so fair enough.

Probably is, the want for a gym though is down to convenience and space. Just surprised at the cost of it all.

I wonder if I go in to one of them how far I can push to price down before they send me packing

arcon5

As an aside my hair cuts are free as my OH does it

But locally you can get a gents haircut for the derisory sum of £5 .
Womans trim £10 - although you'd have to be brave to take them up on it?!

hollydays

I remember reading about a woman who couldn't afford the gym so turned her home into an assault course!

arcon5

hollydays wrote: »

I remember reading about a woman who couldn't afford the gym so turned her home into an assault course!

Ours is already an assault course - thanks to having a child a year and a half ago. Worked out more expensive though and the podge hasn't disappeared

hollydays

Try hurdling over stair gates apparently,:D

bluenoseam

Their costs won't be cheap. Think about it, it's an exercise place so they'll need liability insurance incase someone has a heart attack or other serious injury/health event. Their clientel can be anywhere from fit & healthy 18 year olds to pensioners, inclusive of high risk category clients which insurers just LOVE, which is reflected in the costs.

Then there's staffing, trained staff aren't cheap and you need them in to cover your opening hours, so potentially a staffed presence from 8am (if not earlier) to 10pm (if not later!). At any given time you'll need 2 of them at a bare minimum - that'll soon add up.

Equipment is neither cheap nor is it cheap to maintain, your average piece of cardio equipment may need a checkup every month, perhaps repairs 2-3 times a year. They don't have an infinite life, they'll need replacing every now and again, even at a conservative guess perhaps every 10 years they'll need upgrading - and well, unless it's a tiny place they rarely only have 1 of every piece of equipment!

Most gyms will play music, in order to do so they need the relevant license, which isn't peanuts. On top of that they'll need the equipment which again, like everything else needs to be maintained, unlike your average home stereo it's on constantly on a daily basis.

Then there's the little things, paper towels, the anti-bac sprays, cleaning etc.

Sure they have thousands of members, sure it's expensive, but so is running the place!

aqua111

ringo_24601 wrote: »

My wife's David lloyd gym is more like a social club than a gym. I guess the high costs keeps the clientele as the 'right kind' as well as pay for nice facilities and the cheap kids classes.

It's got a nice restaurant/cafe, a softplay, a nice 'adults room' THAT shows the football and has free wifi.. They are also not very observant when we sneak a few extra guests in to go swimming

Are the only "right kind" of clientele those with plenty of money¡¡¡¡¡¡¡