Competition costs

Stillharbor

Stillharbor

New Member
I'm so bummed!! :( I've been training and getting ready for a comp. at the end of March. That's been my goal since October and I've really been looking forward to it. :headwall: Now there're rumors of how much the comp. is going to cost and everybody is reeling. :shock: At this point the studio hasn't even handed out the actual cost, just told us ballpark figures, which has all of us thinking that no one's going to the comp. You would think that with the economy so bad-the comp. organizers would drop or keep the comp prices the same to encourage competitors to attend.

Has anyone competed lately? If you don't mind me asking, how have the cost of comps compared to the last year or so? I know smaller comps will cost less than the larger ones, so lets compare midrange comps.
 
Well, we can certainly talk in general terms. These are rough estimates but...

$25-40 Cost per heat
$75-125 Cost for a scholarship or multidance event
$100-200 cost per night at the hotel
$100-400 cost to travel to the comp
$100-300 cost for food (or more depending!)

So let's say you did a scholarship and the comp requires you to do at least 5 heats if you are dancing a scholarship.
This is roughly $35 times 5 for the heats, $100 for the scholarship, $150 for the hotel, and a couple hundred for travel plus food.
I count not more than $600 not counting travel, or markup for the instructor and/or studio.

It's good for you to know what costs should run, so you can be an educated consumer, as this is an area that can receive massive markup.
One consideration for the studio is the cost of getting the instructors there, plus the cost of not having the instructors teaching at the studio during the competition. If you had 10-15 students going with 3-4 instructors, there would be room for low markup, but if it were just a couple of students and an instructor, it could be as much an additional 150% in order for the studio to cover their cost (so maybe as much as $1500, instead of the $600).

Now, if they start taking about $3000+, then that starts to approach 500% markup, and something is probably not right, but first use my above figures to get a base cost. Let's say you were going to do 40 heats and 3 scholarships. That is more like a $2000 base cost, and you could easily pay twice that. But just to go to the competition and dance 5-10 times, should not run you much higher than around $1500, unless there is something exceptional about the cost structure, such as traveling to an exotic location.
 
I am planning to go to St. Louis Starball, and it looks like its fees are about the same compared to the last year (entries & package). I haven't looked at Heart of America costs (this is another one of my local comps), they've changed the venue, so I wonder how that would affect their package price.

P.S. You can go directly to the competition website, and they might have prices up there, so you could price out their portion of the costs.
 
Comps are expensive. They're a special purchase you save up for. My partner and I are planning to limit ourselves to three comps a year: a west coast/hustle event that's mostly workshops and parties with limited opportunities to toss money at heats, a same-sex event that's (comparatively) dirt cheap because of that fact, and one "real" ballroom comp. What we save goes back into lessons so we can show better when the judges are watching.
 
I might add that when we compete as an amateur couple, we almost always are able to keep our costs below $1000 total for 2 people.
 
I don't see prices dropping and I don't expect to see them drop...but I do take personal responsibility for knowing what number I can spend and conveying that to the folks who need to know...
 
Stillharbor said:
I'm so bummed!! :( I've been training and getting ready for a comp. at the end of March. That's been my goal since October and I've really been looking forward to it. :headwall: Now there're rumors of how much the comp. is going to cost and everybody is reeling. :shock: At this point the studio hasn't even handed out the actual cost, just told us ballpark figures, which has all of us thinking that no one's going to the comp. You would think that with the economy so bad-the comp. organizers would drop or keep the comp prices the same to encourage competitors to attend.

Has anyone competed lately? If you don't mind me asking, how have the cost of comps compared to the last year or so? I know smaller comps will cost less than the larger ones, so lets compare midrange comps.
Click to expand...

It would help if you mention what you will be competing in and if you are going from an independent or a franchise studio.

Did you get a breakdown of the costs? I always ask for one. for most competitions you can look up the entry costs for the competition yourself on line (franchises are often an exception and there are also special rates for pros/am coaches that you may not be party to). The reason I ask is that much of the cost is often from the studio, not the competition. Are hotels included? Ballroom entry? food? coach travel, coach 'time away from studio' etc etc. They mount up very quickly and there may be a markup on any of them.

One way round is to make your own travel/hotel arangements and just ask for the dancing costs.
 
i sat down w/ pro today...he had the package in hand from the organizer which I was free to peruse...we looked at it, we discussed what I would do ...we each tabulated what it would come to....I would not dance with anyone who could not or would not do the same
 
DanceMentor said:
Now, if they start taking about $3000+, then that starts to approach 500% markup, and something is probably not right, but first use my above figures to get a base cost. Let's say you were going to do 40 heats and 3 scholarships. That is more like a $2000 base cost, and you could easily pay twice that. But just to go to the competition and dance 5-10 times, should not run you much higher than around $1500, unless there is something exceptional about the cost structure, such as traveling to an exotic location.
Click to expand...

Wow! If your studio does come to you with such huge markups, is there any way to get around that or get them to bring down the price? Of course you can just not go....but...
 
As an amateur couple we compete in 16 dances, not including recalls, and pay $95 to $100 for all our entries and getting into the event. We pay $150 or less for gas, staying over and food. In total for the two of us its about $250.00 for everything.
 
In the future, if your studio does charge more than normal, find out why? Are the pro's worth it? If not, I suggest taking your business elsewhere (if you can).
 
Yeah csfl, but you're spooiled, you have isabellle. And I guess larinda too, but mainly isabelle. :) An dthat beautiful view out windows of her studio.
 
Stillharbor said:
Wow! If your studio does come to you with such huge markups, is there any way to get around that or get them to bring down the price? Of course you can just not go....but...
Click to expand...

Well, telling them the price is to high, and that you are not going might bring about a change on their part. A good approach is what fascination said. Tell them you need a full breakdown on paper of the prices. Without that, I would tell them there is nothing to discuss. Then you can see if items like cost per heat, and hotel, are priced reasonably. Ask for:

Cost per heat
hotel cost
travel cost
instructor fees
studio fees
 
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