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Do you or don't you?

I've done it both ways -- at first stating my rates, but then changing my mind and removing that information from my website.

But I'm always thinking and rethinking my decisions...

What are your thoughts? I'm interested in hearing both from a business owner's and a consumer's perspective. For the former, do you ever feel like announcing your rates keeps people too focused on price and not enough on the quality of your service? For the latter, if you're looking online for a service, is it an annoying extra step to have to contact the service provider to find out the rates?

Any additional impressions / experiences to share?

Just FYI, the AGO (American Guild of Organists) posted standard rates for per service performances.

They lost a court case claiming price fixing and were forced to remove all references to fees on their website.

I'm not suggesting that would apply to individual piano teachers but I found it interesting.

Yeah, that wouldn't apply to individuals.

I'm rather surprised the AGO had thought they could get away with it. I guess they didn't have good legal advice!

As a student, I would not necessarily have a positive impression about the posting of rates, because I think it gives them too much prominence. Bet those overpaid lawyers aren't posting their rates! I am probably not typical, though.

As a student, I have a negative bias against professionals who post their rates. If it is just for a limited purpose from a non-professional, , such as someone to install a ceiling fan, or mow the grass, I like knowing what would be charged. But those are not professional services, as with private music lessons.

I would not factor in ‘but he’s cheaper’ in my decision of which piano teacher to choose. If someone were significantly less than the standard rate, I would not contact them unless I received a positive evaluation from a student

My singing teacher's website has both her rates (complicated by how many lessons the student commits to, and how long they are), _and_ her booking / cancellation policy, on her website.

It made my life easier.

I find it annoying when people (not just piano teachers) don’t post their rates. But that’s solved just by asking the question when I contact them, so no big problem.

I want people to be interested initially in my teaching values as reflected in my ads or on a website, not my unpublished fees. If they want to know about my fees before asking anything else about me, the chances are good that we won't end up working together, since we are mismatched.

I would never publish my rates on my website.

But my website is almost useless, anyway. In the past 12 years it has generated a total of 6 students.

As a parent I’d want your website to include both price and teacher qualifications. I find it annoying when I can’t find that sort of information on the web. It’s a great way for parents to filter out teachers they wouldn’t want. I would think teachers would feel the same way as they don’t waste their time talking with uninterested parents.

I'm curious how long ago that court case was. Not that I think that would affect independent teachers. I agree with you and Tyrone that it's a different situation than individual teachers posting rates.



I was thinking similarly when I took down the rate information from my site.




This is an interesting viewpoint. My rates tend to be middle of the road. A bit on the low side of what studios with multiple teachers advertise, and more on the higher end of what teachers like me (who work from home) charge in my area. So I tended to wonder if my higher-than-the-"standard"-rate in that teacher demographic would make people not bother to contact me in the first place.

OTOH, I considered that not posting my rates at all might be viewed as, "She must be too expensive if she doesn't want to post her rates."




Interesting, your use of the word complicated. I offer lessons of various lengths and number of sessions per week, too, but after a while, I thought all of that on a web page might look rather complicated to someone who was just beginning their search for a piano teacher.



Thanks for this feedback, that you contact them anyway. I wonder if you're in the majority or minority of people who don't like when rates are posted, but follow through with contact, nonetheless.




This comes closest to the feeling I had just before I decided to take my prices down. Your comment made me say "Yes" out loud, so it may just be the thing that will keep me from waffling anymore on this issue.



About the same percentage for me -- the website's brought me 1 student in the almost 2 years since I started it. That student started only this year. My site renews next month, and I almost deleted it, since, at the time I was getting really frustrated with the cost and lack of yield, it had brought only one inquiry, but no student (they wanted a teacher willing to travel). But now I do have a student I acquired through my website, so it will pay for itself in 3-4 months of lessons with that student. So... I'm going to renew, anyway.



That was some of my reasoning when I first put my rates on my site--if people consider me too expensive, they won't contact me. But it really doesn't take much of my time to get a phone or email inquiry asking me what my rates are, and then have them hang up on me or never write back.

Just kidding. (Partly--no one's hung up on me.)

Further contact beyond the website, though, does give me a chance to share more specifics about my qualifications and offerings (which I put a little of on my site). If I put everything on my website--prices, studio policy, etc.--and I get hits on my site but no inquiries, then it's hard to determine what stopped the follow-through. Saving some information for the phone consultation helps me hear how people respond to various aspects of the information I give, and makes me more aware of what people are looking for in piano lessons today.

Here are two takes on the AGO case:

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_comments/2017/05/00013-140686.pdf


https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/november-december-2018/the-case-for-small-business-collusion/

https://www.antitrustalert.com/2017...allenged-professional-association-rules/

Thought-provoking articles.

I’ve just spent over a week researching lots of piano teachers in my city. The only thing I found irritating were teachers who don’t write anything about themselves.

For people like me a price listing doesn’t matter either way because my first criteria are a list of qualifications, experience, and knowledge of the industry. When I’ve made my shortlist only them does price play the final factor.

The teacher whose website profile impressed me immediately was one with a long list of qualifications, very impressive list of student achievements, and long list of involvement in the profession (eg.being an external examiner). Her high fee was listed at the bottom of the page.

The only teacher whose price info scared me away was one who listed her price then had the brackets “(plus tax”). I found this to be shifty, because in Australia tax is always incorporated into the price. I thought “if she’s already trying to mislead me about money, what other unexpected fees will she come up with down the line?”

But I don’t think most parents put as much research and effort into finding a teacher as I do. For people who see piano as just a hobby to try out I think price and convenient location would be the main criteria.

I wish more people would do as you do--take time to make a well-informed choice, instead of just go to the cheap teacher down the street, whatever his/her skills and qualifications.

I guess I'm old fashioned, but I think posting rates is tacky. I suppose being tacky is part of being modern or current or hot or with it or whatever we are calling it now.

I've seen literally dozens of piano teachers' websites in my area, and only a handful of teachers posted their rates online for the world to see.

If few people find out about you via the web, then the discussion is rather academic, n'est-ce pas? Maybe you could do something to raise the profile of your web page?

I don't see an absolute right and wrong answer to the posted price question. It will rub some people the wrong way, and others will be put off if there is NO price information. And we've seen evidence of these contrary views right here in this thread.

There are ways to post price that are informative without being in the reader's face. If you want to post price, that would seem the way to go. Bury the information on a secondary link for people who venture that far. The main page should be about your studio, your happy and successful students, and your philosophy.

I'm a kind of person who likes to have a general idea of costs before I buy something (whether a material item, a service, an experience) so I can't let my website be useless in that regard. On my long policy page, I list a few examples of student levels and the corresponding semester tuition. It's there to find if you're into thorough research.

I located 1 of my current teachers online and a big reason why I chose him was because he listed prices on his studio web site. I dont mind emailing a teacher to inquire about rates if their web site doesnt list it, but honestly its an extra step I have to deal with when deciding what teacher to choose. When selecting a teacher, I focused primarily on their credentials (wanted someone with at least a BA or B.Music degree from a reputable college/university) followed by performance or musical/academic accomplishments, and location/accessibility, then pricing. So when prices are listed on their web page, I tend to view that teacher more favorably and appreciate the time he or she saved me by giving me the info.