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Hi all,

How many of you offer tuition discounts for 2 or more students per family?

I'm trying to decide whether to offer a discount to siblings upfront, offer it only if they ask, how much of a discount, etc. Right now I don't have do discounts for siblings, but am considering it.

Thanks for your input.

yes, I do family discounts, mainly because it's less paper work for me. I usually do about $10 off per month for families with 2 or more students. I realize it's the same amount of time for preparation, etc. but payments and paperwork and communicating with parents are all made easier when there are multiple kids in the same family. The parents have really appreciated this too.

At the studio I work at we do discounts, not only for siblings but for also kids that do more than one method (I have students who do piano, singing and guitar!). Its a loyalty thing, I think its like a 5% discount, or for each sibling/method its a special price discount. When I was teaching privately at home, I gave discounts to the family who I had two kids with, and then their cousin. It was great for me because they all came on the same afternoon and I had them all one after the other! (it was a matter of a few dollars for each as they were young and had short lessons, but they appreciated it)

I don't, because I don't work any less or spend less time with siblings than any other two children.

That said, my siblings do get other benefits. They get a longer lab time because they stay back-to-back, and they work on duets more often.

I think its fair to offer a sibling discount. Piano lessons are a big expense for most families and a little discount for the 2nd student in the same house is a nice gesture. Moreover, if you are traveling to your students house you are "saving" the commute(time & money).
As for how much, I think that 20% off the 2nd lesson is a fair discount. I specified "for the 2nd lesson..." and I suggest that you'll do the same because if you are teaching 2 students and normally charging 50$ a lesson, in this case the 2nd lesson would be discounted to 40$ which means you get paid 90$ total. Now, If one of the students is sick or have to skip a lesson for some reason you want to make sure that you'll get paid for the one lesson that you gave a full one-lesson-rate--50$ and not...90$/2 which means 45$.

Make sense ?

I Kawai Teacher,

I do not offer a discount to siblings. But just wanted to say that if you do offer a discount, I think it should be part of your policy that everyone can see. (Not just giving a discount to those who ask.)

What would be the purpose of offering a discount? Is it that you think it is really a financial burden for parents to pay for more than one child's lessons? If so, it puts you in the position of guessing someone's finances. (Not so easy to judge IMO...and I'd prefer to stay out of it.)

Why? Why would you even consider it? Does your dentist give you a family discount? How about your MD or your family lawyer? Maybe the auto garage gives you a discount on maintenance because you service all your cars there? No? Then why should piano teachers? Are we serfs?

Parents are purchasing your time, skills and knowledge. That doesn't change based on the number of students you have, whether from one family or multiple families. Furthermore, discounts announce to the world that you're not worth what you're charging, whomever is paying the regular freight are schlemiels, and everyone should negotiate the lower rate. As Ann mentioned, you don't know parents finances and it's highly presumptuous to guess. I've had families falling in the $30k income range pay full freight without complaint, and a family earning $300k grouse and whine continually about my rates. Just set your rates and stick with them.

About billing - as the computer does the work, the only savings I get for family billing is one 1st class stamp and one envelope.

The reason why I am thinking about it is because a particular family mentioned a while ago that they're financially in a difficult place. They did NOT ask for a discount nor were they trying to drop a hint; it is something I thought of myself. Their older daughter is currently my student, and their younger daughter is interested in starting lessons.

Don't we all feel like that, at least once or twice a month??

John v.d. Brook...I feel you as I'm sure every other teaching/performing musician here does. I know where its coming from and I completely sympathies. However, thank god we don't have to visit (not to mention to pay) a dentist or a lawyer or the garage every single week of the year. I think that if you went to the garage every week of the year and then started taking your scooter in addition to the car...you'd appreciate a little gesture of good will...a little discount, no ?

Its only fair, you're giving them more work, they're giving you a little break...

Back to our world...I do agree, whatever route you choose it should be a policy and shouldn't be sporadic.

I think you should trust your instincts, if you feel that siblings discount is right for you and your clients that's great and that's what you should do...and otherwise.

Looking at who is "giving" more work opens a can of worms. Then you would have to look at who referred a new student to you. And then what if the new student knows more than one family in your studio...and they both mentioned your name etc.

I think what is "fair" is to charge the same for everyone. Although I agree with an exception some have mentioned in other threads for adults who schedule during school hours.

I don't give discounts. I've been asked for them for many different things - sibling discounts, referral fees, missed lessons, hard times, etc. I learned the hard way that discounts soon start to feel like entitlements.

Folks forget that they were being given a discount. A sibling quits, and suddenly the other sibling's tuition increases and parents are surprised. I used to give a discount to folks who paid on time up front. But then paying a week late, with the full price, felt like a penalty to them and they would usually hand me a check with the discount built in, and I would have to ask for the difference. Very uncomfortable.

I started out with a "loyalty rate" - not raising tuition for 3 years if lessons continue uninterrupted. I am phasing that out. Parents have forgotten why they haven't had a tuition increase, and are dismayed by the increase, rather than being grateful for its delay.

I have two families who scrimp and scrape to pay for lessons. With one of those families, I was able to help by enrolling the student in Premier Piano's free books program (don't think it's available for new students any more). I am careful about buying new music for these two families - they are more likely to get books from my lending library, or freebies from the Internet. I also tend to have a bit more patience if they are late with a check.

Ironically, because they value what they are paying for, they are two of my best students.

I teach 4 sets of family members. In each case, they have back to back lessons. The "discount" the parent gets is that they only have to drive here once for two kids. They get an hour off, rather than 30 minutes, as the sibling hangs out here. The students play more duets, share resources, and are allowed to practice on my other piano during their sibling's lesson.

I think from a purely business point of view it doesn't make much sense. The parents aren't going to shop around for a 2nd teacher if a sibling starts piano. So you don't generate any business from your discount, you just make less money for the same work.

However, I do think that if you teach at their house, a discount for back-to-back lessons makes a lot of sense. You probably prefer only driving once even if you get $5 less and it's good for the environment too!

I agree - no discounts. Actually, for me, offering a family discount would cost me way too much; since I teach several families - it certainly wouldn't be fair to offer it to some and not others - the net result of any discount worth talking about would be the equivalent of my losing at least a couple of students.

As regards to those teachers who travel to the students' homes - a discount makes sense here, as it is not just the expense of traveling which is saved, but the time taken as well, BUT... I would be charging a premium for the visit in the first place - it would be this premium I would waive for the second student.

I second John here. I would not give a discount for a student from the same family. I used to, but then realized that each student is getting the same product form me, individualized attention, and that I could fill that discounted student with a non-family member at my regular rate.

If a family is going through a hard time, then consider doing trade out of some kind. Perhaps they live on a farm and can give you fresh eggs. I have one student whose father comes to clean my studio twice a month for a discount. Another gives me firewood for my fireplace. In each of these instances, the families fell on hard times and the students were very talented and hard-working and had been with me for many years.

Dror, there's a way around this without offering discounts, and that's to offer incentives. Incentives are one-time specials, not on-going income reduction. For example, child x has a sibling who is not studying with you. Offer the parent an incentive of $250 off the year's tuition if child y begins lessons now. This way, you've increased your student load, without a long term commitment at reducing your income.

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The reason why I am thinking about it is because a particular family mentioned a while ago that they're financially in a difficult place. They did NOT ask for a discount nor were they trying to drop a hint; it is something I thought of myself. Their older daughter is currently my student, and their younger daughter is interested in starting lessons.



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When we see someone with financial difficulties we can think "How can I help this poor soul?" We can respond by giving financially (or free lessons). The benefit we receive is that we feel like we've been a good person.

OTOH, we can allow the person the dignity of solving their own financial problems. We can still have confidence that "I am a good person". The person with financial trouble then gains dignity by solving his own problems. It may be that he needs to learn to live within his means.

I have a sister who called me years ago saying she had a friend asking for a few hundred dollars so he could pay his mortgage (my sister only rented). She felt it would be a heavy burden to come up with money for him, but she was undecided what to do. She asked my advice. I suggested she allow him the dignity of solving his own financial problems. And I think it helped her to feel OK about saying "No".

Good point, Ann. Also, the student in question is only thinking about starting lessons. This means that she may or may not want to continue. I would never start out with a discount for a new student, even within the same family. Letting them solve their own financial problems is usually the best advice. If it really means a lot to the younger sibling to start, the parents will ind a way to make it happen. If not, then perhaps it's for the best that she doens't begin.

There's definitely a lot of good suggestions & input up here.

To summarize on my part (I hope ):

A. I Think that giving a discount doesn't have anything to do with the quality of your work. The way I see it its a simple good will gesture. I'm sure that every teacher knows the quality of their work, and every client knows as well (obviously since we are talking about a house where you already teach one student).

B. reading everything above...

I really think that you should ask yourself why are you giving the discount. If its coming from a business perspective...its probably not going to "get" you anything, so there's no reason for the discount. however, if its coming from a genuine place, a gesture of good will for all the obvious reasons (You know your local customers the best)you should trust your instinct and go for it. As simple as...that

Why yes, I do get a family discount from my dentist. I didn't ask for it. They have way plenty of business and I have a feeling that the rates went up but since our family has been going there for over 40 years, we have been exempted and kept at the same rate which shows up as a discount on the bill.

I sort of get a family discount from our piano teacher. My son was already a student when I started and I get an hour for the 45 minute rate (it helps that I go during school hours). Again I didn't ask for it; it was just offered. I appreciate the gesture and try to be a trouble-free client family.

Kurt