[Note: Article was originally published on iGrad.com's website on June 3, 2010. You can find it here.]
My little sister moved in with me just two weeks after her college graduation. And even though she’s a “poor college graduate” with no immediate prospects for income and may have no idea what she “wants to do with her life” (and I mean really, she has no idea), she informed me that the first thing she wanted to do when she moved in with me: get a gym membership.
My initial reaction was, “Are you crazy? Gym memberships are expensive and riddled with complicated contractual agreements!”
To which she replied, “I’m going to get it for under $30/month and if I get a job and move away I can cancel it, no problem”
“Ok…”
Somewhere along the way, she convinced me (or maybe I just realized myself) that I should probably join the gym with her. I’d been meaning to get into better shape after two years at a desk job with a worsening heart condition (SVT). Now would be the perfect time, and we could give each other the motivation and support we needed.
We were both still a little concerned about price. We’d always used the Student Recreation Center in college. I had even used the free on-campus gyms at my workplace from time to time (usually when it was convenient or a coworker went with me).
To be honest, I’m very frugal, so I don’t like to pay for anything unless I have to. That can only work for so long, though, until you realize that that something is a priority. Sometimes, you need to pay a little more for your priorities – provided you still aim for the best deal you can get!
Weighing the Options
So one hot, sunny afternoon after lunch, we began our four-hour long quest for the perfect gym. We started with a recommendation. During lunch that day a friend had mentioned the gym she belonged to was very cheap (about $10/month). It was on the way to the 2 other gyms we were going to check out, so we started with the cheapest option—which ended up working to our advantage, because we could mention to the other gyms that we’d already seen the cheapest option in town.
Option One: Bare bones. Proclaimed the “judgment-free zone” for general physical fitness. Lots of cardio machines and open space. Massage chairs and tanning rooms (strange perks for a bare bones gym, no?). Great price: a $20/month no-contract membership. No negotiation necessary!
- Lesson A: Always ask about guest privileges. This particular gym offered unlimited free guest privileges, which basically meant that if you were always going to the gym with someone else (in my case with my sister), you could completely share the membership and split the cost in half. Gym membership cost then came down to $10/month per person. It really doesn’t get much cheaper than that!
Option 2: The 4-star hotel of gyms. Guided tour of all sections: treadmills, Stairmasters, and bikes, oh my! All new 2011 versions with personal TVs and iPod/iPhone connectors on all equipment. Blacklight cycling class room, quiet yoga room, mixed martial arts and boxing ring (for an additional fee), a large studio fitness class room, and a private women-only workout room. Not only that, but there’s a chiropractor and nutritionist on location (with whom you’re given a free consultation/information session), and they throw in 3 free personal training sessions. Don’t forget the free Wi-Fi lounge, child care, tanning beds, and smoothie bar. All for just $25/month…but only with a 2-year contract and at a student rate.
- Lesson B: Ask about a student discount, even if you’re not a student anymore. They knew we weren’t students anymore (but offered it to us anyways because we still had student IDs), but most of the time the salespeople are just looking for excuses to give you “a deal” so that they can make the sale. See if you can get $5/month off your membership that way.
- Lesson C: Contracts aren’t really contracts if you’re planning on moving to another city soon. Ask about the cancellation policy. Almost all gyms with 1- or 2-year contracts will allow you to cancel your membership for no fee if you can provide proof that you’re moving more than 10-30 miles from the gym’s location. So if you’re a recent graduate worried about signing a contract because you might take a job in another city, make sure to read the fine print!
Option 3: Last stop of the day. We made it clear that we’d already been to two other gyms and were getting tired, so they promised a quick tour that wouldn’t waste our time. If Option 2 was a 4-star hotel, this one was the 2.5-star hotel. It had everything that bare bones Option 1 had, plus one personal trainer, group fitness classes, and a snazzy movie theater workout room. It was also seriously convenient: we could walk there from our house in under 3 minutes. At first, they could only offer us $29/month, until…
- Lesson D: Competition is good. It only hurts the businesses when you expose what deals the competition is offering. It is REALLY GREAT for you, the consumer. Tell them what you love about the other gym (e.g. I’m concerned about my heart, so I told them the other gym was offering me 3 free personal training sessions to see if they would throw that in). Don’t be afraid to tell them what the other gyms were offering ($25 or $10/month) if it’s lower than what they’re offering you ($29/month).
Shopping Around is Key – and Competition is Priceless
We left all the gyms that afternoon to go home and deliberate.
Tip: you will not get the best deal unless you shop around.
Together we decided that Option 2 was the best choice for both of us. My sister really wanted group fitness classes and I valued the individualized personal training sessions. It made sense. We signed up that night.
Tip: Like I said before, the salesmen are always going to make it look like they’re giving you a great deal, so if they don’t waive at least the enrollment fee, processing fee, or annual membership fee, act surprised and tell them that the other gym offered to waive blankety-blank fee (whichever fee is higher).
The next day, the salesperson at Option 3 called me to ask what we had decided. When I mentioned that we went with their competition, he immediately asked me what the deciding factor was – and how much they ended up offering us. I was completely honest, and 15 minutes later, he called me back.
After “speaking with his manager,” he said, he was able to offer us a deal at $19/month each. In other words, they dropped $10 off our monthly fee just for engaging in a little local competition!
I explained that we already signed a contract with the other guys. He called back five minutes later (for the 3rd time!) to explain that there should be a 3-day contract cancellation periodthat would void our contract with their competition for no cost, just in case we were still interested.
Another win for the consumer: we wouldn’t have known about the cancellation period if Option 3 wasn’t so desperate for our business!
Now you know just about everything I didn’t know going in. Get out there and negotiate your way into the cheapest gym membership you can get. Good luck!
