Pay as you feel…

…means asking people to pay what they feel, or think, is appropriate for your work, service, or product, instead of having a set price.

This might seem a very odd concept in our capitalist based society where everything has a price and competition is (almost) more important then the quality, or value, of the thing.

‘Pay as you feel’ is most commonly found with some non mainstream high quality restaurants where  food is served without prices. The customer would then pay, or not pay, what they feel is appropriate.  In some cases this could be only what they can afford.

Real Junk Food operate on this principle and so far it have proved to be successful in so far as they are covering their costs.

Occasionally I also use a ‘pay as you feel’ principle with some of my clients, especially where they are not very well off, the work is necessary, and other contractors would have a very high call out charge.

An example of this was a visit to an elderly client who had a blocked gully outside their kitchen. The issue was simply that pea gravel from the garden had washed down in heavy rain, past the loose grid. A gloved hand to scoop it out before replacing the grid was all that was needed.  For all of about 30 minutes all in, including travel time, my client paid me £30 for this job.

During a recent visit to the same client, where I also used ‘pay as you feel’ we stopped to talk about it. He showed me an invoice from a plumber for repairing a leaky tap. The job was listed as 29 minutes and came to £170, £35 of which was materials. Granted the plumber is in the business of making money, just as I am, but sometimes it does feel a little excessive for a pensioner to afford.

I guess I will never get rich from my day to day domestic clients, but then again having enough income is enough for me.