Only pay what you think it's worth massage

[Eds]

There's a discussion about this over on the Money Saving Expert board.

I've never heard of this before. Has anyone else?

 

[Sappho]

It's quite common to see this at events/exhibitions. Therapists offer short (say 10 mins) head/neck & shoulder massage on a stool & people are invited to pay what they think it's worth, usually £5 or £10. There was a stand offering this at the Vitality Show last year.

We don't do it but some companies pay to take a stand at all sorts of events & offer therapists the opportunity to be there and take a cut of what they earn.

Depending on the event & the therapist can work well but some events are very quiet and/or the attendees less generous so may not always be successful.

 

[DanFersoo]

My reply to this insulting nonsense is, try it on your dentist or lawyer! They have set fees so that they can make a living and run their professional offices, pay their professional indemnity insurance and pay their professional bodies.

The issue of being paid for practising complementary and alternative therapies runs and runs. We pay for our training, we pay to run a business and we are now expected to pay in order to jump through the voluntary regulatory hoops. We are expected to be professional and so we are entitled to charge professional fees.

Oh, and my husband's a chartered accountant. His fees vary from £150-£200 per hour and he has plenty of clients, so I don't feel at all awkward about my £35 per hour and nor should any other therapist.

 

[madonna_toller]

If you take the time to read the thread on mse you will see it's just another business model, i.e. if it didn't pay more being voluntary/what you think it's worth they wouldn't bother, making money being the prime motivator?

The example given is staffed by pretty women and the 'suggested' amount of money is £10 for ten minutes.

That's £60 an hour roughly if they get their 'suggested' £10/10 minutes for back rubs in a shopping mall.

Just another business model, no big deal.