Do You Tip at Stretch Zone? Ultimate Guide

Stretch Zone is one of the largest stretch flex franchises in the US with over 150 studios nationwide.

If you’re due to start stretch sessions at Stretch Zone or perhaps you’re already there and have just finished your slot, you might be wondering what the common custom is for tipping.

Do not worry – we’ve got you covered and will go over in detail the etiquette for tipping at Stretch Zone, how much to tip (if anything), how much their employees earn, and much more.

Keep reading to find out more.

Do You Tip at Stretch Zone? The Short Answer

In short, there are no rigid rules when it comes to tipping at Stretch Zone, some people do and some don’t. However, given their employee’s fairly modest salaries we think it is in good conscious to offer a tip and we’d propose about $5-$20.

How Much Do Stretch Zone Employees Earn?

What an employee earns is normally a key factor for most people when considering how much to tip.

We’re all familiar with the idea that some people earn such a low base salary that they need tips to boost their income to make their income more palatable.

You know the ones – delivery workers, pizza guys, coffee shop workers etc… they rely on tips to make ends meet.

But what about Stretch Zone workers?

We’ve examined the data and can confirm that Stretch Zone employees earn:

Role	Earnings
Fitness Specialist	$22.36 per hour ($46,508 per year based on 40 hour work week)
Instructor	$34,151 per year
Personal Trainer	$22.36 per hour ($46,508 per year based on 40 hour work week)
Fitness Manager	$52,258 per year

Given that the median salary in the US is about $54,000 per year, it’s really only management at Stretch Zone who are earning that on the above figures.

According to the above data, instructors are earning much lower than that at about $34k per year.

On that basis, it seems Stretch Zone employees are earning fairly modest salaries below the management level, albeit not as low as, say, servers in a restaurant.

How Much Does Stretch Zone Cost

Most people also like to look at the value for money they’re receiving when deciding whether to tip.

So how much does Stretch Zone cost?

We’ve pulled up the figures for you (costs may vary state-by-state):

Session	Cost
30 minute	$55
60 minute	$100

Stretch Zone prices are fairly typical and in line with its main competitor, Stretch Lab, at about $1.50 – $1.85 per minute depending on the length of the session you choose.

So, we wouldn’t say you’re getting ripped off when you compare Stretch Zone’s pricing to the main competition, although we wouldn’t class either as particularly cheap.

How Much to Tip Your Trainer at Stretch Zone

The going rate in the USA is 10-20% of the total value of the goods or services.

Applying that here could work as 10-20% of $55 (for a 30-minute session) would be $5-10 which is perfectly fine as a tip.

An alternative is just to pay a fixed amount and we’d propose $5-$20 as being plenty.

The bottom line is that Stretch Zone employees aren’t usually expecting tips so any amount is likely to go down well.

However, we generally avoid tipping below $3 which starts to look rather cheap in our view.

Remember that some workers at Stretch Zone might be registered practitioners such as physiotherapists or other medically qualified people and they don’t generally accept tips due to ethical reasons within the medical profession.

So if your tip gets turned down, don’t take this the wrong way – it could be that they’re not allowed to accept tips due to their code of conduct.

Non-Monetary Ways to Tip

As monetary tips aren’t really expected, you can show your gratitude in other ways.

For example, you could:

• Offer verbal praise
• Write a Google review
• Buy them flowers or a small gift
• Refer a family member or friend
• Offer a thank you card

Any demonstration of thanks is likely to go down very well at Stretch Zone.

When to Tip More or Not at All at Stretch Zone

There will of course be occasions when you might want to dip further into your wallet than usual.

This might be:

• If you’ve received excellent service
• If the worker has gone beyond the call of duty
• If it’s around the holidays
• If you’re making use of a promotion

On the flip side you might decide not to tip if:

• The Stretch Zone employee is rude or unprofessional
• They’ve done a poor job
• The session was not what was expected
• You sustain an injury

Final Thoughts

Tipping at Stretch Zone is entirely up to you.

It’s simply not an industry where tipping is customary, although according to our research many people do tip Stretch Zone employees.

We’d agree that it is worth tipping at Stretch Zone as their employees don’t earn great money and a tip will certainly brighten up a worker’s day.

We think $5-20 is adequate but even a simple thank you or non-monetary tip will be better than nothing.