Stop Letting Your Competitors Set Your Martial Arts School’s Prices

If I could fix one number on most school owners’ P&Ls, it would be their pricing — and not because they charge too much. Almost everyone charges too little, for a reason that sounds responsible but is quietly keeping them broke: they set their prices by looking at what everyone else in town charges.

The mistake almost everyone makes

Here’s the pattern I’ve watched for 40 years. An owner surveys the local market, sees what the other schools charge, and then slots themselves into the middle or maybe at the “top” of that pack. They’re using their competitors as the reference point for their own value. The problem is that the school down the street is very likely broke too — so you’ve just anchored your business to someone else’s bad decisions.

Your prospects are not price-shopping you

The whole strategy rests on a false belief: that prospects are out there comparing five schools on price. They’re not. My schools enrolled more than 30,000 people. The share who ever checked out five schools was tiny — somewhere between 3 and 5%. And here’s the part that matters: the few who did shop around weren’t looking for the cheapest. They were looking for the best.

When a parent shops, they’re looking for the people they like the most, the highest-quality instruction, the place their kid will thrive — and then they figure out whether they can afford it. Nobody’s hunting for the discount dojo unless they’re truly struggling to afford bus tokens to get there, in which case they were never your customer anyway. Price was never the deciding factor for the people you actually want.

Charge for value, not for the market average

So what should you do instead? Forget what anyone else charges. The only thing that determines what you can charge is the level of value you deliver — the quality of instruction, the experience, the results, the relationship. If your marketing is done right, prospects show up already wanting you, not a comparison chart.

This is straight out of Dan Kennedy’s playbook: whatever everybody else is doing, do the opposite. Everybody else is racing toward the middle of the local price range. The opportunity is to build so much value that price becomes an afterthought. To make that real, you have to do the marketing that brings in enough of the right prospects, and you have to nail the in-person enrollment conversation so the right people say yes for the right reasons.

The math is on your side

Raising your value and your price is the fastest path to the kind of school I help my members build. One of the BJJ schools I work with did $1.3 million last year — $820,000 net — in 2,400 square feet with about 340 active students. That doesn’t happen at bargain pricing. It happens when an owner stops competing on price and starts competing on value. See more million-dollar school examples and how the numbers work.

And one more thing, while we’re on money: don’t play the surcharge game. I see schools (and restaurants) tacking on “market adjustment fees” and processing surcharges. I hate that stuff — it just annoys good customers. If you need more revenue, raise your prices honestly and deliver more value. Don’t nickel-and-dime the people who trust you.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much should a martial arts school charge?

Charge based on the value you deliver, not on what other schools in your area charge. Most owners under-price by anchoring to broke competitors. Your prospects overwhelmingly choose the best school, not the cheapest, so build value and price to it.

Do martial arts prospects really compare schools on price?

Rarely. Out of more than 30,000 enrollments in my schools, only about 3 to 5% ever shopped multiple schools — and those who did were looking for the highest quality, then deciding if they could afford it. Price is almost never the deciding factor for the families you want.

I’m Stephen Oliver — founder of Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, and I’ve been coaching school owners for more than 30 years. If you want the systems my members use to double and triple their net income, grab my free books and register for the next training at MartialArtsWealth.com. You can also see real, named client results here.