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Comment by _Codemonkeyism | Hacker News Reader

They probably think this works like gyms,

"I should go more to the movies"

then people don't go after some months but keep the subscription.

Gyms have high fixed costs and low marginal costs. You don't cost them very much money every time you go.

Isn't the same true of movies?

(On the other hand, I'm pretty sure more people skip going to the gym than skip going to a movie!)

It's true of movie theaters. It's not true of people buying tickets at retail (which is what MoviePass is doing).

Source: I run a SaaS business for gyms and have spent 1000+ hours talking to gym owners about their priorities...

You do cost the gym money every time you go. But only after a certain point (anything more than light use) and if you go at peak times.

Basically, the space you take up at peak time is another membership they can't sell because of potential overcrowding.

> Basically, the space you take up at peak time is another membership they can't sell because of potential overcrowding.

Is that really a thing? I've _never- found a gym that has said "no sorry, we can't sell you a membership because we're full"

I’ve definitely tried out a gym and not joined because it was too crowded when I wanted to go

I've canceled a gym membership because it was too crowded at the times I wanted to go.

Yeah, except that this is a gym that you can only go to 3 times a month. So much more likely it will be used.