My husband wants to join the gym near his office. He tried to drive a hard bargain with the staff, but it seems he was unable to get them to budge from their initial offering. Have any of you had any luck getting gyms to waive their initiation fees or lowering their monthly prices? I’m planning on calling the gym tomorrow, but I was hoping someone out there could give me a few words of wisdom before I dial. If you have any thoughts please leave a comment.
I think if you actually go into the gym and bargain with them face to face and then show them that you would be willing to walk away until you get the right deal will help with the bargaining.
I did not negotiate my gym deal (doh!) but Hustler Money Blog has a good post on what kind of % to aim for, at least at 24hourfitness.
http://www.hustlermoneyblog.com/24-hr-gym-membership-hustle/
Although these days, I think you’ll want to make extra sure your gym is solid financially before you lock in long term.
My boyfriend and I had the gym waive the one time fee of $199 when we joined, we even had the multiple location membership (allows you to go to different location of the same gym club) at no extra charge.
Our strategy? don’t show the sales man your interest in joining.
After touring the gym, we walked away without signing any agreement and had the salesman call us back for protracted negotiation every day for 3 days.