Cost of lessons? Why?

[Catabolism]

Hi all. Long time lurker here. I'm curious as to how instructors justify charging of upwards of $250 for 1.5 to 2.0 hour sessions. Wouldn't it make more sense to charge something reasonable and help the sport grow? Anyone with some business background knows you cannot simply unload initial capital requirements on clients and expect to be around long. If I were an instructor I would most certainly rather teach 10 people a week at $50 a session 30 weeks a year as opposed to 2 guys 15 weeks a year at $250 a session. Not only would you be building the sport but would amass a huge client base. The first thing that comes to mind when I call a place and request a quote on lessons and I get a response like the latter above is that this place is a fly by night operation and is cashing in because they don't know how much longer they'll be around. Thoughts?

[grantman54]

honestly. I believe that it has to do with the fact they don't get to kite while they teach you. In other words, you are paying for lessons and paying them for using "their riding time".
I still find it a bit expensive but worth it.

[Galeltic]

they are best thieft without getting arrest from kiting cops , lol
they forget about kite gears cost more , too
they steal people's money from pockets

[atkite]

Well have you checked out the price for gear and its not windy every day. When you teach ppl, your gear gets trashed really quick. If you destory a kite while having lessons will you offer to pay for it?
I bet the answer will be no.
Also time is not cheap, standing out in the cold water and having your balls rubbed raw from wetties and salt water not nice.
Plus the last thing you are wanna do on your day off (if windy) is go for a kite.

[dazed321]

Hi Catabolism,

If you want to come Vietnam I have a school

www.kite-n-surf.com

We charge $50 an hour )))
(our overheads would be a lot lower than in the states)

Its good to have options

[robertovillate]

they are best thieft without getting arrest from kiting cops , lol
they forget about kite gears cost more , too
they steal people's money from pockets

I take strong personal offense to statements like this. Nobody is forced to take lessons or to take up the sport. If you get good lessons the value of this will last for years, plus IMO it helps preserve access for others as well, and makes the kiting environment better for everyone as the population of riders grows.

Furthermore, try teaching for a few seasons and tell me what you think your time is worth - between scheduling around weather, peoples work schedules, cancellations, re-scheduling, sacrificing personal time and being available virtually 7 days/week, hauling around gear that you have to have for your students. Calling instructors thieves is assinine to say the least - unless they have delivered substandard lessons.

If you think instructors are getting rich from this you are obviously more clueless than you already appear to be. Perhaps some of the big lesson factories may be cashing in, but as an independent instructor I can tell you it's not that lucrative. Still, the big school/shops also invest a lot in advertising, equipment, overhead costs that nobody seems to think about. Try operating a boat or jetski for a year and tell me how many lessons you need to do to pay just for that.

Teaching more than 4 days/week is very demanding physically. I would also say that, depending on where you teach, every hour of teaching usually also involves 1-3 hours of wasted time.

To be honest, sometimes it does not seem even remotely worthwhile devoting my time to teaching - especially when I hear BS comments like this.

why don't you bother yourself more with corporate executives getting multi-million dollar bonuses for capitalizing on other peoples losses or hardships.

I'd say more...but I am biting my tongue.

[Dave_5280]

There are probably a lot of hidden costs - liability insurance, retail office equipment and space, vehicles, boat, advertising, and staff.

Also, there is a lot of downtime (no wind, seasonal, bad economy so lower travel for vacations) when lessons aren't given or taken so there's no revenue coming in to cover the costs and the minimum fees have to be higher to cover everything (revenue stops but expenses don't).

Many of the lessons are private lessons one on one and there is no leverage of the instructor's time. Private lessons in just about any activity are more expensive than group lessons.

Then there is just the higher cost of living in many of the kite locations - at least in the U.S.

Lessons are essential to learning the sport safely, but you can supplement them with some great training DVDs - I like the ones by Fat Sand.

[Davepalu]

they are best thieft without getting arrest from kiting cops , lol
they forget about kite gears cost more , too
they steal people's money from pockets

I take strong personal offense to statements like this. Nobody is forced to take lessons or to take up the sport. If you get good lessons the value of this will last for years, plus IMO it helps preserve access for others as well, and makes the kiting environment better for everyone as the population of riders grows.

Furthermore, try teaching for a few seasons and tell me what you think your time is worth - between scheduling around weather, peoples work schedules, cancellations, re-scheduling, sacrificing personal time and being available virtually 7 days/week, hauling around gear that you have to have for your students. Calling instructors thieves is assinine to say the least - unless they have delivered substandard lessons.


I'd say more...but I am biting my tongue.

Reply of the year... I too take personal offense to this comment. If you want a quality instructor in anything you pay for one. Most quality instructors havent just done an IKO course. Why do most kite schools eventually start selling kites? cause theres no money in teaching...

[tautologies]

RobertV: though I certainly sympathize with you, and I do think you are right, owever there are also scumbags teaching just trying to squeeze cash out of learners.

So to anyone wanting to learn: Take good care and choose a good reputable instructor. It doesn't even help picking a school if the instructor teaching under their umbrella is not good...so when you select a school or instructor, make sure you check the reputation of the instructor. Talk with people down at the beach...ask more than one guy.


a.

[nomorebikinis]

Being about 1 year and 4 months on this forum I learned that it is as easy as getting a drivers license as to get a license to teach people kiting. Problem is, not everyone can teach. People go for the license because they enjoy kiting but not because they enjoy teaching. If you get good lessons you will be glad to pay that USD 250, because it concerns your safety and health. So take my word for it, not the money but a good teacher is the problem. You can get USD 30 per hour and the lesson is shit. You can get a lesson for USD 250 and also get shit. So first try to find a good teacher. On this forum I found one: pdkite. (I am not a teacher, just a low intermediate apprentice. Well, even with this level, i now and then take lessons and respect + enjoy my teachers a lot )