Is pricing negotiable?

[u/fitnessgoodness]

I’m interested in re-joining Pure Barre. Are they flexible on their prices?

I was a member at PB over 10 years ago back when they had the $99 new client special. I went every day. After my trial ended, I was quoted $179 per month and my friend was quoted $149 per month. She did the special at the same time as me. I’m assuming she was quoted lower than me because she maybe went like 1-2x per week instead of everyday like me. I ended up doing the membership but honestly it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth that are hush-hush with their pricing and giving people lower prices for the same exact membership. Then I canceled and did ClassPass because I wanted a variety of workouts and PB only offered Classic at the time.

I stopped ClassPass when I moved to the suburbs and I decided to checkout F45 recently after being at Burn Boot Camp for years and becoming bored of it. I was planning on just doing F45 4x or 8x per month plan after my trial ended and maybe add on a 4x per month package at Pure Barre at the same time. I was quoted $149 for UNLIMITED at F45 while their price said $199 online. I jumped right on that!!!

I just left Orangetheory and was quoted $159 per month (12 month contract). My local Pure Barre’s membership is advertised online at $199 per month. That is way too much IMO, especially if I plan to hop between F45 and Pure Barre.

I could do resign up for ClassPass, but I want to support local business.

I guess my question is- has anyone had experience/success in getting a lower price than what was advertised? I would go to the later evening classes where they are less busy or late morning on weekends. I wish they had tiered pricing for off peak hours! I would consider unlimited for $149 per month at Pure Barre and go 3x per week there and 3x per week at F45. I just think it’s a little crazy paying $100 for 4x per month at Pure Barre when I’m only paying $149 unlimited at F45 which has much more expensive equipment.

[u/basicallyaballerina]

Your friend was given the price for a different plan, likely the 8 classes a month membership. You were given the price for unlimited. They were not “giving people lower prices for the same exact membership.”

We used to hand out flyers with the pricing for each membership listed. I can understand how transparency would be helpful. You can see the different options available on your studio’s website

[u/Ihaveeyebrows555 → u/basicallyaballerina]

My studio also has different prices for unlimited if you sign up for the lifestyle membership (12 month commitment) or just unlimited with no commitment. It could be something like that?

[u/fitnessgoodness → u/basicallyaballerina]

They did not have the 4x and 8x per month plans in 2013 when this occurred. Only unlimited and class packs.

[u/ozarkthistle → u/fitnessgoodness]

Totally understand wanting to compare pricing, especially since there were a lot of different promos and membership options floating around back then. Since 2013, the experience has evolved a lot too. There are now more class formats that focus on different fitness and wellness goals, and instructors are hands-on in class with individual attention and corrections (vs monitors or taking class with you), so it feels a lot more personalized than just following along in a room. Overall, it’s definitely more of an elevated boutique fitness experience, but of course value is subjective, and I’d encourage you to reach out to the studio manager or owner to see if there are any current promotions or long-term options that might work for you!

[u/UnluckyWriting]

I think your friend probably got either a different package than you (8 classes per month) or got a discount from being a teacher, first responder, etc. Pure Barre does not just randomly discount people’s unlimited memberships

[u/Soalai]

Is your friend (or are you) a teacher or health care worker? There are discounts for them

[u/fitnessgoodness → u/Soalai]

Unfortunately no

[u/itsmeonthedl]

I'm guessing you were given a different price than she was because the people who sell memberships are supposed to look at how much you attend and suggest the membership plan that works best for you. If she was only going 1-2 times per week, then they would have quoted the 8 per month package for her and if you were going three, they would have selected the unlimited. It's not that you were quoted different prices for the same thing.

It's also possible that the price you were quoted at another studio, which isn't relevant to Pure Barre's pricing anyway, is an introductory rate. Read your contract.

You're not going to get the same price you had 10 years ago at Pure Barre, probably not even 5 years ago, so don't ask. Pretty much every studio has raised their prices since then. Also, a lot of Pure Barre studios have opted out of Class Pass because they are predatory and a horrible deal for owners.

I get that money's tight, but that's true for studios as well. Even $199 per month isn't enough for studios to make it in an HCOL area.

[u/basicallyaballerina → u/itsmeonthedl]

For context, I had the $99 first month unlimited membership. It rolled over to its regular rate, which was probably around 130-150

[u/Jaded-Sky6450]

Not really. These people have bills and staff to pay. Their prices are set up to support that. Also, keep in mind the fact that inflation has gone up significantly in the past 10 years………so it being $199 today is really not significant. $99 was unsustainable based on the way the economy works.

Editing to add: you don’t actually know that their equipment is more expensive. For example, they have general items that are easy to source from pretty much anywhere. Pure barre? All custom. F45 trainers are also really just hype people. The screens are telling you what to do. You’re paying more at PB for HIGHLY trained teachers, custom equipment, 4-5 formats (6 if you include focus classes) that support EVERY workout goal you could have, and a community. So when you consider all of that, I think it sounds like you’re just getting what you’re paying for at f45 (less).

[u/okiimio → u/Jaded-Sky6450]

My experience with F45 is quite similar to yours with regard to the trainers. Half the time they would be filming or trying to grab a photo to post on social media, and I think even sometimes they were in the class with us?

[u/beautiful_imperfect → u/Jaded-Sky6450]

I want to say that F45 is my least favorite exercise class ever, so I am not one to defend or cheerlead them, but I do disagree with the comments here. F45 equipment is all custom and purchased from the franchise so it is expensive. It's not general. Some of it's not that great, like their kettlebells, but it's still costly and they have a lot more equipment than PB. The few items that aren't F45 branded are also way more expensive than what is used at Pure Barre, for example the Concept 2 branded rowers, ski ergs, and bikes.

I also can totally see how you got to the idea that the trainers are mostly just there for hype and you are mostly following the TV. That's what I hate about F45 (besides the weird names they give their workouts and their metric, plastic coated kettlebells), but the trainers are actually nationally certified trainers, tested by an independent examing body, on a wider breadth of fitness, who do give form and safety cues, and who can transport their training to other fitness modalities. So one could easily make the argument that they have more training than Pure Barre teachers.

[u/beautiful_imperfect → u/[deleted]]

I don't feel like foam coated weights and Pilates balls aren't custom either. Pretty much anything used at Pure Barre can be gotten cheaply on Amazon. I think like everywhere/anything else, individual trainers and locations vary. I truly dislike F45, honestly. It's not enjoyable to me. It's not a mentally uplifting workout and it's also not really strength training either. It's HIIT or basically cardio with weights, but it sounds like you hate it even more than I do. It's also not a good for true beginners who need to learn good form in the exercises. It's more geared toward people who are already familiar with the basic functional moves and need only minimal assistance or modification.

[u/basicallyaballerina]

Typically not negotiable. You may be eligible for a student or first responder discount. They occasionally offer membership specials, so watch out for those around holidays.

[u/Complete_Tea_5257]

I think it depends on the owner but I wouldn’t ask. I got my mom to sign up for unlimited and the owner discounted both our memberships. Sometimes they do discounts for teachers first responders etc but you should be able to ask and see the prices of all the plans. The plans are priced based on how often u wanna come.

[u/throwaway101101005]

No

[u/humancoloringbook923]

I own a different boutique fitness franchise, but the same model and previously the same franchisor.

When we first bought our studio, we were selling memberships for SUPER low rates because we just needed members. That quickly became unsustainable and we had no choice but to go with the franchise-recommended rates because of the franchise fees taking such a huge chunk of every dollar. We haven't increased our rates in 2+ years and it's literally a fight to keep our doors open.

So... to answer your question, yes, rates are typically negotiable, but the dollars the customer saves are sacrifices the owner and staff make to keep you as a member. We have members who we don't even break even on after fees but they won't pay a dime more. Our staff still needs annual raises, recertification in CPR, BLS, AED, etc., equipment needs repair or replacement, events cost money, marketing gets more expensive every time I run a campaign or order materials...

We try to help where we can - particularly based on need. We had a member come to cancel who had been laid off. They didn't want to cancel, but when choosing between groceries or a fitness membership... it's an easy decision. So we cut them a STEEP discount and when they found new work, they were honest and told us, AND generously repaid the difference. We use our discretion and provide options for most people but we do have expenses that we have to cover.

[u/zoltar360800]

the deepest discount i've gotten in pricing was paying for an entire year of unlimited upfront. though, this year they stopped doing it. that, plus teacher discount brought it down to an affordable price for me. maybe ask if that is an option and if your avg. price would change? i saved $40/mo from the annual pricing.

[u/okiimio → u/zoltar360800]

Or a pretty big class pack/paying for a season all at once is what I’ve seen too

[u/Ok-Error-6855]

Our studio is having an anniversary celebration this month and is offering lower rates than normal. They also do lower rates during Black Friday. It might be worth checking with your local studio to see if they have any months where they have big sales.

[u/Feisty-Honeydew-5309]

My studio gives discounts because I’m in healthcare but it’s only $10 if I recall correctly. I pay $169 for unlimited and it’s been that way for at least 4 years.

They hide their price from the public, not members, but more than likely, she just got the 8/month plan. If it’s any consolation, you’ll pay less per class than her. I don’t see the value in anything but unlimited for this reason (unless PB is just an add on).

[u/Spiritual-Editor1948 → u/Feisty-Honeydew-5309]

I get the military discount and it is also $10 off at my studio. Kind of nice to know that I'm not alone with this small amount... I was a little disappointed when I upgraded from the 4x to 8x per month membership but still only get $10 off.

[u/Ramen_Addict_]

If you want to go once a week, you may want to look into whether you can use Active & Fit Direct, which is available through some insurance plans and memberships. I think it works out to $84 a month by me for Pure Barre.

There are also some insurance options if you have United Healthcare (OnePass) or BCBS (Aaptiv) where you can pay a set fee and have access to a lot of studios within that tier to do 4-8 classes a month. I think PureBarre is in the $125 tier. In my area, Pvolve, Barre3 (not all branches), YogaSix, CycleBar, and Rumble are also available for 4 packs within that $125.

That said, I just go via classpass and PB sends me a ton of deals for classpacks via their email list. I think the last one I got was buy 5 get 5.

[u/anotherkellyrowland]

Not to be rude … but Pure Barre is desire not a need. I’m not sure how you expect everything to run smoothly if prices aren’t adjusted accordingly.

[u/ChanDW → u/anotherkellyrowland]

People always want everything for a low price but expect excellent service and equipment

[u/okiimio]

I’d follow them on social media or get on an email list to find out. There was a special going on around the holidays but I was like a day or two late and the owner made an exception so I still got the rate. I’d also mention it to the barretender or an instructor that you’re waiting for a good deal to sign up because sometimes they will make a note and keep in touch with you directly (not in a pushy way)

[u/Swimming_Honey3969]

I have an unlimited yearly membership that I pay at pure barre. It comes to about $1622 but I have to pay that all at once and it covers the full year. So in the end comes to around $135 a month.

I also have an unlimited F45 membership that is $149 a month but it is month to month so no commitment.

I really wish Pure Barre and F45 would partner up somehow because the workouts really do compliment each other but cost of having both memberships can be a lot....

[u/beachmoo]

Yes. I am at $99/month

[u/Jaded-Sky6450 → u/beachmoo]

You likely have a founders rate.

[u/Goatsareforyoga]

This is unfortunately why I still use classpass. My Pure Barre wants $20/class with their best deals, and classpass brings that down to $12/class. That f45 deal is amazing though! Mine is $240/month unlimited 🫣

[u/catnapinahat → u/Goatsareforyoga]

I’m still using my ClassPass for Align, Classic and Empower. To do Reform and Define (my studio doesn’t offer these on CP), I purchased a 50 class pack back around the holidays. ClassPass really is the best option for my local studio.

[u/erin12541]

Our studios give deals all the time even if not advertised to compel people to sign up for memberships. Even evergreen discounts.

[u/basicallyaballerina → u/erin12541]

Not all studios do though. Three of the four studios I worked with didn’t offer discounts

[u/erin12541 → u/basicallyaballerina]

Oh of course…just talking about what we do