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How to Price Your Golf Simulator Studio
A pricing framework that fills your calendar and maximizes revenue per hour — cost floor, market rates, peak/off-peak tiers, memberships, group pricing, and when to raise prices.
Pricing is the single lever that affects every booking you take. Too low and you leave money on the table; too high and your bays sit empty. Here’s a framework for setting prices that fill your calendar and maximize revenue per hour.
Start with your cost per hour
Know your floor. Add up fixed monthly costs — rent, utilities, equipment payments, software, insurance — and divide by total bookable hours in a month. That’s your break-even rate, and your price needs to be above it at a realistic occupancy of 40–60%. Example: $8,000/month ÷ 200 bookable hours = a $40/hour floor, so you need to charge more than $40 at 50% occupancy to be profitable.
Typical market rates
Budget/small market runs $25–$35/hour (1–2 bay studios in smaller cities), mid-market $35–$50 (most common for suburban and mid-size cities), and premium/urban $50–$75+ (high-rent markets, premium equipment). Check what existing studios in your market charge before setting your rate — you don’t need to undercut them, just be competitive while communicating your value clearly.
Peak vs. off-peak
Not all hours are equal — Friday and Saturday evenings fill themselves; Tuesday at 2 PM does not. A simple two-tier structure works: peak (weekends, weekday evenings after 5 PM) at full rate, off-peak (weekday mornings and afternoons) at a 15–25% discount. Birdie’s utilization dashboard shows exactly which slots underperform, so you know where to apply discounts and where you don’t need to.
Memberships and groups
Membership pricing should reflect the discount a committed customer earns — typically 15–25% off the standard rate (a $40/hour walk-in rate makes a 10-hour membership $300–$340). The trade-off is cash flow vs. margin: hour banks bring revenue upfront, which most studios find worthwhile — just don’t price so aggressively that your best members cost you money. Groups of 3–4 sharing a bay are your best customers per session; price them explicitly (e.g. $60–$80/hour flat for up to 4 players), and add checkout add-ons like BYOB ($10–$15), club rental ($25–$50), and extra time in 30-minute increments to lift average transaction value.
When to raise prices
If your bays are consistently above 70% occupied with a peak-hour waitlist, raise prices — most studios are undercharging. A $5/hour increase across 200 monthly bookings is $1,000/month at zero added cost. Raise gradually (10–15% at a time), monitor booking rates, and your regulars will accept modest increases if the experience is good.