Gosh we are working hard this month – trying to deliver several projects and take off the last week of the month.
We made it to the beach today just at sunset. Lots of kids doing their running workouts on the beach. I am musing about my yoga teacher’s new plan to accept donations only — instead of a fixed price — and all the issues that raises. Plus a sneak peek at Secret Cameraman walking backwards and an ocean full of kitesurfers: like butterflies.
Hawaiian Word:
Hāʻawi: _to give_
Hāʻawi manawaleʻa: to give freely
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Rox, interesting comment about paying by donation. A couple of the plant clubs I belong to have found they get more money on an “admission by donation” basis than they do by charging a set fee for their annual shows.
Gareth
@Gareth – thank you for sharing this data. I was hoping others would have had similar experience and be able to provide some more real life numbers. This doesn’t surprise me, and I continue to be amazed at the quirkiness of the human mind and human and heart.
Hi Rox, In Florida we have lots of yoga on the beach. Most classes don’t have a set fee, but do publish a low “suggested donation” in their flyers and advertisements as a guide for those who may have no idea what is appropriate. I don’t know if that has the same effect as just asking for whatever the student wants to give, but I think it cultivates a similar spirit, which is very “yoga” and very “beach.”
Pay What You Want: Businesses that Give their Goods Away
Thanks to the joys of a capitalist society, when you want something, you usually have to pay for it. And, unless you’re shopping on eBay or you’re a master haggler at flea markets, the price you pay is determined in advance – no arguments allowed.
But what if, instead of sticking to the number on a price tag, you could pay what something is worth to you based on the value it provides? Sure, some people might be cheapskates and try to get something for nothing – but most of the time, you’ll probably find that people are willing to pay more than they’d otherwise have to when they’re trusted to do the right thing.
Don’t believe us? Here are a few examples of businesses that take advantage of karma instead of commerce – and have seen it pay off.
Click To Continue…
http://www.gimundo.com/Articles/Daily/748/Pay_What_You_Want
:_Businesses_that_Give_their_Goods_Away
First visit, enjoyed watching a few ‘Beach Walk’ episodes, and saying a heartfelt thank you to Tony Blake for directing me here.
The ‘pay what you like’ model didn’t work when I tried it (but it has to do with the niche I’m in, which is ‘make money online’ – a more or less ‘greedy and grasping’ niche where generosity and selflessness are less prevalent, and therefore viewed with greater skepticism than elsewhere.
I wonder too what the psychology might be. A certain element of guilt, perhaps, for enjoying something and not being able to simply walk away without paying for it – and not being sure how much would be ‘enough’?!
Plus, the sight of other $20 bills in the bowl send a subtle message! 😉
All success
Dr.Mani
For a couple years, I organized classes for a couple of traveling teachers. The class fees were based on a sliding scale – each participant chose where to pay on the scale themselves. Typical scale for a 3 day class was $60 – $150. From that, I had to fly in the teachers, lodge them, secure a site, pay their fee and feed them. The most I ever made myself for months and months of work was two dollars.
I wouldn’t have minded except for the students dropping hundreds of dollars in the gift shop of the store location we were in; one student telling me she had purchased a used book for $300 the day before; another paying the very bottom yet driving up in an SUV with an integral ice chest in the vehicle’s bed and an address in an exclusive gated community.
Our sliding scale (all ends of it very low) was conceived to allow people with more means to help keep the class going for people with less means. Most took subsequent classes, so I know the material was valued. Yet, when given the choice, the vast majority chose to pay the lowest, even when they could afford to pay more.
It was disappointing. Eventually I quit organizing it, because it was a ton of work for me that felt taken for granted.
@Sally – that is an interesting blog post and I LOVE when these things coincide with a BW episode without my conscious prior knowledge.
@Dr. Mani and @Celeste – I can understand both situations. We used to have clients that would do things like show off a $40,000 one stall bathroom in their new office, yet balk at paying a few hundred dollar monthly web bill for custom services rendered.
Part of it is that people seem to be more comfortable paying for tangible stuff in many cases than for intangible services. However, I am toying with the idea that at least some of what I get back is a quantum reflection of my own aura and expectation. That is both huge and liberating for me.
I hope to have my yoga teacher Martin on BW soon – he is an atypical guy in many ways.