Sibling Discount

[delferka]

Wondering what everyone does when a parent of one of your kids has another child. What would you charge? Thanks

[Cradle2crayons]

Same thing. Except I have a higher rate for infants. Kids are expensive yanno

[Josiegirl]

Some in my area give discounts, some don't. I do but am thinking of changing that.

[Michael]

More threads on sibling discounts: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...bling+discount

[MyAngels]

I used to do a sib discount, but when I multiplied it out per year I realized I was losing a lot of money for no real reason at all. Besides that, you don't give less care to a second child, right?

[itlw8]

if you want to give discounts the money has to come from somewhere. So to give a discount to some you need to raise everyones rates to allow for room to discount.

[Starburst]

I plan on starting my rates at the lower end and increasing the rates every year or 2, so I probably wont offer a sibling discount in the beginning because my rates would already be lower than other providers in the area. Maybe after a while when I have increased my rates to a comfortable level I would offer a discount just to keep a competitive price.

[Willow]

I do and think it's makes FANTASTIC marketing sense.

I have two hourly rates. The higher hourly rate applies to the youngest child, the lower of the two applies to the older child. My lower of the two rates still more than covers the level of income I'd like to bring in so parents still see it as getting a bargain, but my bottom line falls well above what I need to be profitable.

I'm not offering discounted care, just arranging what I charge in a way that makes parents feel good about paying it. Might sound silly but I'm telling you, it makes a difference. I do think it's one of the reasons I never have open spots.

I have no idea why more providers don't consider it.

[EchoMom]

I charge 160 for children over age 2 and 180 for infants under age 2. So I have a 2.5 year old that will have a new infant sib joining us soon. I offered the mom a sibling discount to charge 160 for each instead of 160+180.

However, I allowed her zero discount for her 12 week maternity leave. She has paid the full amount even though the 2.5year old has only been coming a few days a week instead of FT.

To me, a discount for EXISTING customers is totally worth it. Because if they can't afford it and leave, I have to spend HOURS and HOURS and HOURS of my time and energy advertising, emailing, phone calls, interviews, cleaning, prep, then transition in a new child, lose a familiar friend, transition in new parents (that's the worst!). So to me, the discount is TOTALLY worth it. Although I don't really lose much since I simply lower the infant price to toddler price.

[EchoMom]

I do and think it's makes FANTASTIC marketing sense.

I have two hourly rates. The higher hourly rate applies to the youngest child, the lower of the two applies to the older child. My lower of the two rates still more than covers the level of income I'd like to bring in so parents still see it as getting a bargain, but my bottom line falls well above what I need to be profitable.

I'm not offering discounted care, just arranging what I charge in a way that makes parents feel good about paying it. Might sound silly but I'm telling you, it makes a difference. I do think it's one of the reasons I never have open spots.

I have no idea why more providers don't consider it.

Very well said!

[Willow]

if you want to give discounts the money has to come from somewhere. So to give a discount to some you need to raise everyones rates to allow for room to discount.

You could go that route to make up the difference but it's not by a long shot the only option.

[AnneCordelia]

I do and think it's makes FANTASTIC marketing sense.

I have two hourly rates. The higher hourly rate applies to the youngest child, the lower of the two applies to the older child. My lower of the two rates still more than covers the level of income I'd like to bring in so parents still see it as getting a bargain, but my bottom line falls well above what I need to be profitable.

I'm not offering discounted care, just arranging what I charge in a way that makes parents feel good about paying it. Might sound silly but I'm telling you, it makes a difference. I do think it's one of the reasons I never have open spots.

I have no idea why more providers don't consider it.

I don't consider it because I can fill my spots without offering it. Everyone at the same rate, and I do have two sets of siblings in care. I charge $35/day...I guess I could charge the younger $37.50 and charge the older $32.50 to even out, and give the appearance of a discount without cutting into my profits. But its easier for me to have everyone the same.

[Blackcat31]

I don't consider it because I can fill my spots without offering it. Everyone at the same rate, and I do have two sets of siblings in care. I charge $35/day...I guess I could charge the younger $37.50 and charge the older $32.50 to even out, and give the appearance of a discount without cutting into my profits. But its easier for me to have everyone the same.

Same here. I've never offered a sibling discount and have never suffer from lack of children to fill my spaces.

My entire budget and financial business plan is based off the number of available spaces I have. There is no room in there to account for siblings or multiples from one family. NOT my personal issue as to how many kids a family choose to have.

If providers in a specific area have to offer a sibling discount to stay competitive, then I'd do it too but so far, I haven't had to.