To Include a Baton In Your Class Price or Not?

Are you including the cost of a baton in your class or do you have parents purchase one in addition to the cost of their class? This blog post breaks down the benefits of both approaches. 

For our Summer Session classes, we do include the  cost of the baton in the class. Our Summer Session classes are usually 3-6 weeks in length and often the cost of the baton can be half the cost of the entire class. In this case, we increased the cost of the class to cover the baton and feedback from parents was positive. Parents shared that it was nice to not have to pay an additional fee at the first class.  Our teachers felt that there was a benefit to every student having a baton to take home on their first day.  The kids were excited to get something new and we taped the batons with sparkle tape to really make them happy! 

For our combination baton and dance classes, we have used the annual registration fee towards the student's baton. This has been a great way for families that do not know much about baton to see their child practicing their baton skills at  home. This is a new approach for us so we will know more at our end of the year survey. 

Many groups have the cost of baton as an additional fee or supply which can provide an additional revenue source for the group. Be sure to ask your baton supplier if there's a bulk or group discount (message us if you're interested in learning about ours).  

Having the baton be a separate cost can also be advantage if you have returning students that already have a baton. 

Share with us what you do as far as including supplies or having them be an additional purchase. We're interested to hear why you choose to include or not include supplies.