ClassPass: For the anti-MMM types

[OneDollarAtATime]

An article this morning caught my eye -- about a company called ClassPass that is increasing their pricing to $180 per month.  Holy hell.

I was curious and looked up their website (and am still confused about how they work) -- there's a "3x per month" cap on how many times you can visit the studio, but "unlimited reservations."  If a studio has more than one location in a city, it still counts as one studio.

And you get charged $15 for late cancellation and $20 for missing a class.  So if you're one of those traveling workers with a meeting that runs late, you could be looking at $200 - $250 a month depending on how many classes you miss. 

These guys do $60m revenue per year with 17m reservations.  They let you sign up for a class, then pay the studio half of the class fee rate (presumably out of the $180 / month). 

If any ClassPass members are interested, I will let them pay me $125 a month and I will offer various 'studio' workouts (lawn mowing, weed pulling, house cleaning, furniture moving, riding bikes to the store to get groceries).

[mm1970]

I've done a bit of reading on this.  I think Class Pass is a good deal for only a very small sliver of people.

And by this, I mean people who go to a lot of exercise classes, and like variety, and live somewhere expensive.

I used to go to a lot of workout classes.  Of course, they were almost always classes WITHIN my gym.  And only ones that were included.  Step classes, aerobics classes, etc.  When spin was "new", the gym charged extra.  I didn't go.  When it was old hat, it was included, and I went.

I see the same at the YMCA.  Most classes are included, but each year there are one or two new classes that cost money.  Awhile later, they are included.

For a brief period of time, I did yoga at a studio on Sundays, and it worked out to $10 a class.

Most classes in expensive places can cost way more than that.  If you are paying $25+ a class, and you go 5x a week, something like this is a no-brainer.

But that's a very small sliver.

[LouLou]

Well the point of Class pass is that you can visit many, many studios in your city. You can go to each one just 3x a month, but you can go to any studio.

That cost us really high though. You have to really really love a variety of fancy types of exercise for that to make any sense.

I don't have it, but I know people who pay just as much to go to just one studio type place each month. The activities you listed are great, but they are really nothing like boxing or doing pilates on those machines.

[I'm a red panda]

I have a few friends at work (in city locations) who use this. They rave about it.

I think it is because I'm from a small city that I can't imagine how this works.  I pay $40 a month for a gym that I can go to as many classes as I want, reservations not required.

[the_gastropod]

I also have a bunch of friends that are really into it. They rave about how they "save money" by doing this (which drives me a little crazy). To their credit, most of them do use it several times per week. I guess when you're spending that kind of money, it's easy to motivate yourself to use the thing.

[I'm a red panda]

I just went to their website and that $180 is only for Boston.

NYC for instance unlimited is $125. Austin it is $90. Kansas City is $79.

So Boston must have a lot of "power users" and not that many studios- hence a supply/demand problem that requires a higher price.

They also sell 5 packs of classes- in Austin it is 5/$50, Kansas City 5/$45 - which is less than most places charge for a drop in even in a small city.

This overall doesn't seem that crazy to me.

I actually miss some of my studio classes over going to a regular gym (I don't do well with at home workouts, I've tried).  But I couldn't stomach the cost.  Assuming you lived/worked somewhere that going to lots of studios make sense; this seems to be a GOOD deal, if you use it. (And don't live in Boston)

[Samsam]

My wife had this for a year (it was $79 / month though!).  She worked out everyday doing different classes - yoga, barre, jazzercise, etc.  It was a good deal because each studio was about 80 - 100 a month and you only got that one studio and that one type of exercise.  We looked at the ymca but that was more expensive (about $100 / month).  Now once she got pregnant she couldn't do most of the classes so she went down to just a jazzercise membership. 

[Logic_Lady]

I'm doing a ClassPass trial right now ($19 for two weeks) although I plan to cancel before they start charging full price, $119/month in my city. It's actually pretty great and I'd probably continue if it was a bit cheaper. As it is I liked the opportunity to try out different studios. One thing you may be overlooking is that classes aren't just about physical fitness and socializing, many people are practicing a specific thing (martial arts, tennis, yoga) where you need instruction to advance. Of course for this to work with ClassPass there have to be multiple studios for that thing in your area. I do circus arts (aerial silks and aerial hoop/Lyra) so working out on my own is a supplement to classes but can't take their place. I'm afraid mowing a lawn won't help me master the double star drop :-).

[mm1970]

I have a few friends at work (in city locations) who use this. They rave about it.

I think it is because I'm from a small city that I can't imagine how this works.  I pay $40 a month for a gym that I can go to as many classes as I want, reservations not required.

Some of it is wanting a certain lifestyle, going to particular places and particular studios.

I have a Y membership, mostly for the pool.  I like to swim, and we take the kids sometimes.  It's an indoor pool.

My friends joined a different gym for the summer to use the pool.  It's much more exclusive and expensive ($250/mo vs $100/mo for the Y).  Outdoor pool, kids' pool, you  have to pay for childcare (Y is free).  But, it's a lifestyle thing.  Drive an extra 4 miles from home past the Y to get that lifestyle.