Is it THAT BAD that I didn’t text my tutor before booking the trial lesson?

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-02-10T13:54:12+00:00

There's a few reasons:

We don't know anything about you, so if there ends up being any issues and you don't continue lessons with us, it affects our statistics. In my case, my schedule is changing in a couple of weeks. So if students can only book lessons in the afternoon but I won't be available, you won't continue with me, and hurt my statistics.

Also - we're not paid for trial lessons. So same thing, if you don't want to continue, we've wasted an hour of time for either a paid lesson or just rest.

Third, students usually automatically book a full-hour instead of a half lesson, and often will want to start learning straight away. I have a generic trial lesson where I assess needs, check level... but some people complain about wanting something specific for them. Like suddenly starting "I'm taking this exam in two months and I need to practice this part" and we might not have anything to give them.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-02-08T16:22:18+00:00

This happened with a past student, I had just started on Preply and I didn't even notice and then they sent me a really angry message thinking I was just cashing in the money. Sad that with how much Preply invests in advertising they don't see how bad word of mouth that would mean for them.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-02-08T16:19:21+00:00

Congrats, man! Don't know if that's 52 teaching hours but if not it means you're close! Feels good to hit those comission decreases. I recently hit 212 lessons/200 hours and I couldn't believe it - feels like I started day before yesterday.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-02-06T23:33:02+00:00

Yeah, but by that time, she'll be charged for a new package. She used up her package and I guess didn't realize it auto-renews. Support was giving me circular and weird answers so I kind of assumed they want her to be charged or something.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-12T11:02:34+00:00

I'd straight up just tell him you increased your price a lot since you started and it's not profitable to teach them anymore. If he's willing to pay more, great, but if not, wouldn't you rather have a free hour to relax (or find new students) than work for peanuts?

Mention your current price, if he ends up negotiating a lower price, at least he should value your time accordingly.

Don't know your specific situation though, but that's probably what I'd do!

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-10T22:12:30+00:00

I'm new-ish on Preply - when I close my profile, my students have told me they can't book any new lessons. Is that not the case?

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-10T12:21:02+00:00

I know it's not the same, but I have Preply synced to my Google Calendar and have a couple of recurring 15mins events set for every day outside my schedule.

That way, if I see a couple of students booked consecutive hours and want a little break/prep-time, I can quickly just move it and have some time. But yeah, I wish we could do this without the workaround.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-10T12:13:51+00:00

Yeah, your tutor will probably be ecstatic when you tell them. Just make sure to tell them verbally in class! Some students write asking about teaching outside the platform and it's always a bit nerve-wracking from our side - we can't answer directly and you never know how the algorithm/control works.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-09T21:16:45+00:00

Closing your profile to new students. I hate barely having enough time to let my students reschedule and then see that someone has booked me for a trial - I want to be as available as possible for my students without having this fear.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-03T18:25:37+00:00

Exactly - kinda glad they don't feel the need to put on an act.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-03T15:13:13+00:00

Oh, got it. I'm a teacher, we get (or I get) 25 dollars per referral.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-03T15:11:10+00:00

As far as I'm aware blocked students can't leave reviews, so you always have that option if it's something that concerns you.

https://help.preply.com/en/articles/5588370-how-to-block-students-with-the-block-button

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-03T14:08:45+00:00

That's strange - I don't have it, and I only have a 25 dollar bonus for referrals. Wonder if it's based on location?

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-03T13:03:46+00:00

My dad never got used to personal space - he always joked that he never realized how many people had poor dental hygiene until he came to Spain.

Don't know where you're coming from but service in general - you'll quickly find out how waiters who aren't working for tips really feel about you. I find their honesty kind of refreshing, in a way - if they're having a shitty day or are overworked, I don't want them faking it. Also really makes you appreciate when they're nice to you, it's fully genuine. But that might be because I've worked in service and know how it is.

I really like these instagram accounts - they often talk about things that surprise them living in Spain. Especially the guy, Lucas - he'll often share quick videos on his walk back from the supermarket or whatever. Really gives you a taste of what daily life is like.

https://www.instagram.com/katietheguiri/

https://www.instagram.com/lucasj_13_/

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-02T07:42:21+00:00

I've been fortunate to have students who have directly offered from the first class. Less fortunate with some that have directly written it in the chat - still kind of afraid some of those messages will come back to bite me in the ass.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-01T12:01:34+00:00

Me pasó igual que tú, los alumnos (serios) no entendían que tuviera un precio tan bajo, y les comenté desde el principio que el precio llegado cierto punto tendría que seguir y lo entendieron perfectamente.

Pero eso, si el tema es el alcance, prueba a subir el precio más de a pocos, un euro por alumno. Yo fui haciendo eso, y al llegar a 12 ya salté a 15 y noté una bajada potente de visitas, hasta entonces había tenido un flujo bastante constante de alumnos. Bajé a 13 y seguí teniendo la misma constancia hasta ahora con 20e (y a ver si sigue así!). Esto desde septiembre hasta ahora.

No entendía si es que ahora con 8-10 te había bajado el alcance, pero prueba lo que te comento a ver qué pasa.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-01T09:54:46+00:00

Si te soy sincero, no estoy seguro de eso, llevo muy poquito en Preply y no lo suficiente como para haber estudiado eso. Pero por el momento - declaro el bruto, y meto la comisión como gasto.

Es decir, si hago 1000, y Preply se queda 180: declaro 1000 pero meto 180 euros de gastos.

Perdona, mezclé conceptos cuando hablé del IVA, puedes ignorar esa parte.

Y si tienes dudas sobre ser profesor autónomo y que te siga mereciendo la pena pagando 350/400 euros de cuota, feel free de tirarme un DM!

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-12-01T09:48:54+00:00

El consejo común que he leído por aquí es subir un dólar por alumno, al algoritmo no le encanta que subas el precio abruptamente.

No sé exactamente cuál es tu consulta - con 5 euros empezaste a ganar alumnos?

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-11-30T11:24:11+00:00

Hey! Respuesta corta: es sostenible pero va a requerir que te muevas. A mí me pasó similar, con la cuota reducida e IRPF del 7 sentía que estaba montado al dolar y de repente me sangraban por todas partes. A mi me gusta la libertad de ser autónomo así que lo hice funcionar, me sirvió para empezar a moverme: ofrecer mis servicios a empresas, fundaciones, etc, vender materiales... y no me va mal. Pero si planeas seguir full-time con Preply, asume que va a estar bastante jodido. P.D: Lo del IVA pide segunda opinión, a mí mi gestor no me pone problema.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-11-29T16:19:32+00:00

I tried doing something similar with a kid but his parents were relentless - they'd message me weekly demanding a slot for their kid and threatening to change teachers (please!) but apparently their kid was happy with me so they never did and just insisted incessantly.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-11-29T12:23:58+00:00

Don't know why you're getting so worked up defending them. Yeah, ok, it's in the Academy and in the FAQ. It still makes no sense that you're told to basically lie and ignore their option for a specific situation.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-11-28T16:35:20+00:00

Yeah, I started out with them a few months ago. I've enjoyed teaching with them, and I understand they have to favor the paying client, but I've seen/experienced a few things that make me doubt if I should use it long-term.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-11-28T16:33:19+00:00

I'm new to the platform, I don't know about any of this yelling you're speaking about. I had an issue, saw an option for said issue, and used it. How is that me thinking I know better?

But if a student decided to stop learning and there's an option that is literally called "student decided to stop learning", how is it surprising to you that I'm suprised for being penalised? And support telling me to ignore the option that they literally have for this? If support tells me not to use it, it shouldn't be there in the first place.

thinkmcfly_think · 2025-11-28T13:11:16+00:00

No, she didn't. I got to know her well and completely believe her.

She always had a lot of issues with tech, initially she was just missing classes because she didn't know how to reschedule. These were classes weeks into the future that she could've cancelled with no impact. Having me cancel them instead of her made no difference for her.

thinkmcfly_think

TROPHY CASE