You may not know it yet, but yes, most gyms do charge initiation fees – more money than the typical membership fees. This happens in most gyms across the USA. And there are many reasons for this.
🫵This article is for you if you are a gym customer and are wondering why you have to spend extra money apart from an average gym membership cost, when you haven’t even started your workout yet.
🫵Read also if you are a beginner gym owner or a gym owner-to-be. You will notice several regularities and perhaps draw valuable advice from our text.
Welcome to the world of gym finance!
What is an initiation fee?
An initiation fee at a gym or to a personal trainer is a one-time charge that new members pay when they first join.
It doesn’t substitute monthly or yearly typical gym membership. It helps cover administrative payments, facility sign up process, maintenance, and onboarding services, and may also support future upgrades or improvements to the gym.
Key Takeaways
- An enrollment fee is a one-time payment required when new members join a gym or club. It is separate from the regular monthly or annual membership fees and is typically used to make up the marketing expenses.
- Paying joining fees in a gym contributes to covering partly administrative expenses, facility upkeep, and onboarding services. Additional gym owner’s benefits of the paid fees may be future gym upgrades or improvements of the equipment the gym offers.
- If a future member wants to join one of the most popular gyms or clubs in the USA, he or she must pay from $10 up to even $300.
- To secure lower enrollment fees, prospective customers should look for clubs that implement cost-saving measures like the best gym software. For example WodGuru being one of the most recommended options on the market.
Why Do Gyms Charge Initiation Fees?
As a new member you need to understand that the initiation fee gym charges is helpful for the company in several ways.
According to the calculations of a gym owner, a typical monthly membership fee may not be enough to cover all the financial needs in the budget and ensure smooth financial flows.
Fitness Industry Enrollment Fees - Benefits for the Gym Owner
- Revenue Boost: Enrollment fees provide an additional stream of revenue to cover operational expenditures or invest in equipment upgrades.
- Initial Setup Costs: It helps offset administrative expenses related to setting up a new member’s profile, issuing keycards, and scheduling initial consultations.
- Commitment Assurance: Charging an enrollment fee ensures that new members are serious about joining, reducing churn and improving member retention. This is how you can make a first screening on who your real and valuable gym target market is.
- Compensation for Discounts: Allows gyms to offer promotions, like discounted monthly rates, by making up for the loss through a one-time enrollment fee.
- Infrastructure Maintenance: The fees can contribute to maintaining or upgrading gym facilities, ensuring a high-quality experience for members.
- Profit Maximization: Gym owners can use the enrollment fee as a way to increase profitability without raising monthly dues.
- Offset Seasonal Drop-offs: In slow seasons, enrollment fees can stabilize revenue during times when memberships may decline.
- Gym Promotion and Marketing Support: It funds marketing campaigns or referral programs to attract more members.
Joining Fees in Gyms - Benefits for the Future Member
- Access to Better Facilities: Enrollment fees contribute to facility improvements, ensuring members enjoy best gym equipment brands, clean spaces, and modern amenities.
- Lower Monthly Rates: A one-time enrollment fee may lead to lower recurring monthly membership fees, saving members money in the long run.
- Exclusive Perks: Many gyms offer special perks for paying an enrollment fee, such as a free health and shape assessment, personal training sessions, or access to premium classes.
- Structured Onboarding: The fee often covers the costs of orientation, initial consultations, or personalized workout plans, helping new members get started effectively.
- Accountability and Commitment: Paying an enrollment fee can motivate future members to take their commitment more seriously, increasing the likelihood of consistent attendance.
- Community Investment: The fee helps support gym initiatives, like member events, social activities, or wellness programs, creating a more engaging community.
- Gym Membership Priority: Enrollment fees can ensure that new members have priority in accessing gym resources or services, especially in high-demand facilities.
- Comprehensive Customer Service: The fee may also cover administrative support, ensuring quick responses to inquiries, billing support, or any technical needs members may have.
- Insurance and Liability: Extra fees contribute to covering gym insurance and other protective measures for member safety.
What Are the Enrollment Fees at Gyms Across the USA?
Here’s a list of example initial fees for several popular gym brands across the USA. Keep in mind that fees can vary by location and membership type.
Enrollment Fees in Most Popular Gyms
Remember these fees can fluctuate due to promotions, membership plans, or special deals the gym offers, so it’s advisable to check with the specific gym for the most accurate information.
Gym | Enrollment Fees Ranges | Notes |
Planet Fitness | $1 to $49 | Planet Fitness prices vary by promotion and membership tier (Basic vs. Black Card). |
LA Fitness | $0 to $99 | Varies based on location and gym membership offers (personal training, group classes, walk-in workout). |
Equinox | $100 to $300 | High-end gym with varying fees based on location. Read more about expensive gyms, Equinox among others. |
Gold’s Gym | $0 to $99 | May offer promotions or discounts for new membership purchases. |
24 Hour Fitness | $0 to $49 | Often waived during promotional periods. |
Crunch Fitness | $10 to $50 | Lower for basic plans; varies by club location. |
YMCA | $0 to $75 | Prices vary by club location and membership type (family, individual). |
Anytime Fitness | $50 to $100 | Include a key fob for unlimited access to 24/7 club locations. |
Enrollment Fees in Less Popular Gym Brands
Where is a future member also obliged to spend extra money, apart from the typical membership, at the beginning of their sport and health journey?
Below we present a list of other gyms (less popular ones) across the USA that charge initiation fees.
- Blink Fitness: $0 to $49 – vary based on location and membership plan.
- Chuze Fitness: $0 to $49 – Low-cost gym with cardio equipment and occasional membership promotions.
- Retro Fitness: $0 to $49 – depends on membership type and location.
- The Edge Clubs: $1 to $99 – can fluctuate based on promotions and locations.
- Snap Fitness: $25 to $99 – include an access card for 24/7 locations.
- VASA Fitness: $50 to $75 – varies by location; offers affordable memberships.
- YouFit: $10 to $49 – Regular promotions may reduce or waive the initial fee.
- Charter Fitness: $0 to $99 – can vary; special promotions often available.
- Workout Anytime: $0 to $49 – Some locations offer free or discounted sign-up during specials.
How to Reach a Lower Sign Up Fee
Use gym software to be able to offer competitive prices!
Save time and money wasted on inefficient customer service, managing your classes calendar, memberships and payments. Maybe then you will be able to fight for a new club member with favorable prices?
As a gym owner or a trainer, you can introduce SaaS solutions like WodGuru to make administrative tasks easier, automate member management, and reduce manual work.
This not only saves time and money. It cuts one member’s cost. So it also allows you to lower both initiation and monthly membership fees while maintaining efficient management of gym memberships.
Useful Hint:
Consider running a time-limited promotional campaign to attract new members with reduced fees!
Don’t hesitate any more and start using all the helpful features:
- gym scheduling software for facilitating the bookings, cancellations and making up,
- data-driven decision-making thanks to gym reports,
- user-friendly interface and amazing support,
- seamless integration with social media platforms, websites and external tools,
- gym booking system for automated class scheduling,
- gym member management system,
- and more.
These features help gym owners save time and reduce operational costs and thus – average gym membership cost. It’s then made easier to offer competitive gym pricing and enhance overall member satisfaction.
We have great news for you. You can download a great ebook right now. It’s our Cost Reducer. It will help you organize your finances at the gym.
Positive Sides of Extra Money to Spend
Apart from yearly or monthly membership fees, paying the enrollment fee means for a future member a bit more dollars to spend. However, the positive side is that it’s paid only once.
Signing a Gym Contract
What’s more, this extra fee doesn’t come as a surprise. Many gyms have it written in their gym contract templates. While reading and signing that, the customers accept cooperation conditions.
Also remember that when signing a contract with a gym or with personal trainers, you have a guarantee that their entrepreneurships are reliable and have all the required gym licenses and permits. Additionally, the contract protects both parties and establishes rights and obligations. It’s good to have everything clear on paper, right?
Additional Motivation
Personal trainers might not mention this, but it’s also a strategy to motivate members to train consistently. By having a financial commitment, members are less likely to quit after the first setback, as they’d be losing both time and money.
Actually this extra fee cost turns out to be a present for customers! It contributes to their motivation and a systematic striving to get fit, lose weight or regain health.
FAQ
The sign up fee helps cover the initial administrative expenses involved in setting up your gym membership and direct debit agreement. Perhaps the personal trainers will not tell you this, but it is also a way of motivating you to train systematically. This way, the members don’t give up at the first failure, because in addition to time, they would also lose money 🙂
Yes, gym joining fees, added once to the base membership, are legal. Gyms are allowed to be paid these fees as part of their business model, typically to cover administrative outcomes, onboarding, and facility maintenance.
However, sport and health businesses must clearly provide such information in the terms of cooperation, contract or other document applicable in their company, with obligatory signing. Only then the gyms can require a given number of dollars at the beginning of the member’s sign up process.
The point of the extra fees in the fitness industry, apart from gym membership, is to cover initial administrative costs, onboarding services, and facility maintenance, helping the gym manage new member setup and operational expenses. Walk in the gym owner’s shoes and you will surely understand the concept.
As a gym owner or a trainer you can use SaaS solutions like WodGuru to streamline administrative tasks, automate member management, and reduce manual work. This saves both time and money, allowing you to lower joining fees and a monthly membership fee while maintaining efficiency in managing gym memberships.
To obtain lower joining fees, gym members-to-be should choose a fitness center that introduces money saving improvements. One of such solutions is a gym management system, whilst the most recommended software on the market is WodGuru. This SaaS solution saves the gym owner a lot of time on administrative tasks. Thanks to this, he can use his time differently, earning money and not having to establish expensive enrollment fees.
