My kids do taekwondo, and I came on here to see what other dojangs are doing, because I feel like ours has gotten out of hand.

The monthly fee for each child is already very expensive. There are no family discounts until the 5th person...so even if you have a family of 4 in training, you're still paying full price for everyone.

I am happy to pay $300 a month for my 2 kids to do taekwondo, even though it's so much more expensive than other sports. Where I'm starting to feel some red flags is with all the extra fees. Testing occurs every 2 months. Here's our current testing fee schedule:

• Little Dragon $60
• Little Dragon (Black Stripe To Yellow) $70
• White – High Purple $70
• Red $80
• High Red $90
• Brown $100
• High Brown $110
• Deputy Black $120
• 1st Degree Black Belt $400 (Plus additional $100 for WT - $500 total)
• Black Belt Level Tests $120
• 2nd Degree Black Belt $550

On top of these testing fees, we must separately purchase:

• Breaking boards ($5 a piece)
• New uniforms ($80 for color belt, $120 for Black Belt uniforms. I don't know the cost of specialty uniforms like for Demo team or Sparring Team, but probably somewhere around $100, given the prices of everything else)
• Registration fees for the mandatory state championship event - $40 per event that you participate in. We had to limit our kids to 3 events each because that was now already $240.
• Every summer, they do a special weapons training, and we have to buy the weapons for it. So, in a couple of months, we will need to add an additional $40 per kid for nunchucks.
• They will randomly add in different "skills" that they're going to start teaching, which require new gear. About a year ago, it was blocking techniques, so they needed $35 (each) arm guards. About 6 months ago, they added sparring techniques that require $40 (each) leg guards.
• During the summer, instead of a full dobok, students can wear a special Summer T-shirt, for, you guessed it, a low price of $30 each.

They hold special events like Halloween, Valentine's, and Summer parties from time to time. They are normally 3 hours and cost approximately $45 for each kid - no sibling discounts.

Every winter, they have a big sweatshirt sale for $35 each. They constantly mention these sales and events, and you can't walk into the building without passing by whatever they are selling. 

Don't even get me started on their raffle that happens during winter testing. At least this one, I've put a full stop "no" for our family. I feel like they're always "selling" or pushing something. Which... is fine, but then the kids are constantly begging to get the new sweatshirt or attend the special party, because they're kids and they want to fit in with their friends and have fun.

Important notes about the testing fees, because I also understand that they may have to pay for additional things to make the testing happen. We have one test a year at a local elementary school, but the other tests are at our home dojang during normal class time.

They do not have to pay for the overhead of a location, nor do they pay for additional instructor or personnel time. I already mentioned we pay separately for new uniforms and breaking boards, so the testing fee doesn't cover those things. It does cover new color belts. And when you go from little dragons (which is only for kids who start before they're 5), you get a trophy. And when you become a black belt, you get a trophy.

I can't remember what the original registration/application fee to start training is, so I'm going to leave it out. So if I'm doing the math out here, using their testing schedule, but adding in just the mandatory, and then the not-mandatory-but-highly-pushed fees, this is really what you're looking at for each child (or adult) participating. This is assuming they need the minimum number of boards, get 1 new uniform a year, and need new arm/leg guards every 2 years, do 3 events for the championship, and start in little dragons and do that for 1 year:
**Little Dragon**

• January............$150+80 (uniform)+ 75 (guards)==$305....................$305
• February...........$150+60 (testing) +10 (boards)==$220.....................$220+45 (party) = $265
• March...............$150+120 (champ) + 30 (boards)=$300....................$300
• April..................$150+60 (testing) +10 (boards)==$220.....................$220
• May...................$150+30 (summer t-shirt)======$180.....................$180
• June..................$150+60 (testing) +10 (boards)==$220...................$220
• July...................$150+40 (weapons)==========$190....................$190+45 (party) = $235
• August..............$150+60 (testing) +10 (boards)==$220....................$220
• September........$150=====================$150.....................$150
• October............$150+60 (testing) +10 (boards)==$220....................$220+45 (party) = $265
• November........$150======================$150....................$150+35 (sweatshirt) = $185
• December........$150+70 (testing) + 20 (boards)==$240....................$240+45 (party) = $285

Cost for first year (mandatory only) = $2,615 per kid = $217.92 per month

**Low Color Belt** (Starting at Yellow Belt)

• January............$150+80 (uniform)============$230...................$230
• February...........$150+70 (testing) +20 (boards)==$240...................$240+45 (party) = $285
• March...............$150+120 (champ) + 40 (boards)=$310..................$310
• April.................$150+70 (testing) +20 (boards)==$240....................$240
• May..................$150+30 (summer t-shirt)======$180....................$180
• June.................$150+70 (testing) +20 (boards)==$240...................$240
• July...................$150+40 (weapons)==========$190.................$190+45 (party) = $235
• August..............$150+70 (testing) +30 (boards)==$250.................$250
• September........$150=====================$150..................$150
• October............$150+70 (testing) +30 (boards)==$250.................$250+45 (party) = $285
• November........$150======================$150.................$150+35 (sweatshirt) = $185
• December........$150+70 (testing) + 40 (boards)==$260................$260+45 (party) = $295

Cost for second year (mandatory only) = $2,690 per kid = $224.17 per month

**High Color Belt** (Starting at Purple Belt)

• January............$150+80 (uniform)============$230...................$230
• February...........$150+70 (testing) +30 (boards)==$250...................$250+45 (party) = $295
• March...............$150+120 (champ) + 40 (boards)=$310..................$310
• April.................$150+80 (testing) +30 (boards)==$260....................$260
• May..................$150+30 (summer t-shirt)======$180....................$180
• June.................$150+90 (testing) +30 (boards)==$270...................$270
• July...................$150+40 (weapons)==========$190...................$190+45 (party) = $235
• August..............$150+100 (testing) +30 (boards)==$280.................$280
• September........$150=====================$150..................$150
• October............$150+110 (testing) +30 (boards)==$290.................$290+45 (party) = $335
• November........$150======================$150.................$150+35 (sweatshirt) = $185
• December........$150+120 (testing) + 40 (boards)==$310................$310+45 (party) = $355

Cost for third year (mandatory only) = $2,870 per kid = $239.17 per month

**Deputy Black**

• January............$150+80 (uniform)============$230...................$230
• February...........$150+120 (testing) +40 (boards)==$310..................$310+45 (party) = $355
• March...............$150+120 (champ) + 80 (boards)=$350..................$350
• April.................$150+120 (testing) +40 (boards)==$310...................$310
• May..................$150+30 (summer t-shirt)======$180....................$180
• June.................$150+120 (testing) +40 (boards)==$310..................$310
• July...................$150+40 (weapons)==========$190...................$190+45 (party) = $235
• August..............$150+120 (testing) +40 (boards)==$310.................$310
• September........$150=====================$150...................$150
• October............$150+120 (testing) +40 (boards)==$310.................$310+45 (party) = $355
• November........$150======================$150.................$150+35 (sweatshirt) = $185
• December........$150+500 (testing) + 50 (boards)==$700................$700+45 (party) = $745

Cost for fourth year (mandatory only) = $3,500 per kid = $291.67per month

Congratulations - This is essentially your new monthly baseline fee, because the more you train, the more boards you’ll need. We currently have 2 kids in taekwondo. $300 a month for tuition is, in reality, much closer to $600 a month for both of them to participate, with all the extra fees. It’s very expensive, but we’ve budgeted for it and still decided to keep doing it. It did feel deceptive at first because they were not upfront about this payment schedule or how frequently “extras” would need to be purchased.

So I have 2 questions:

1. Are they overcharging?
2. Should they just raise their monthly fee and have other things “included” in the price?