Don't want to work by donation?

[Valentina Burton]

Fundies

Another reason I work with an assistant is I can leave my table and take a break!

I had a horrible, scary time once in public with a lady who was probably having severe mental issues; when I later spoke about it to a Reader friend, she said "why didn't you just take a break, get up and leave?" Brilliant!

They want your attention. If they don't get your attention, game over.
I'm a Southern gal, I believe in good manners, and you CAN simply smile, excuse yourself politely and take a break. Sometimes I will even say that management has requested me in the private dining area for a celebrity client, and unfortunately I must step away from this riveting conversation. It works wonders, and it's so simple!

I don't get too many fundies in my hotel, it's a decadent environment where that sort of behaviour is seen as very uncool...thankfully!

I LOVE the idea of starting to do a reading for them! Hilarious!

Love,
Valentina

 

[NateSean]

I'm so glad this discussion got dragged out of mothballs.

In the week since I moved back to Bennington I met these lovely shop owners in Woodford. They run an antiques business by the name of Picadilly Hutch and recently added a new age section to their store. They put an advertisement in a few places for tarot readers and now I am one of their readers.

I can honestly say that charging just twenty dollars for a 15 minute reading, I have made more in one weekend than I made sitting on Church Street all month.

right now you couldn't make me do a donations based reading if you put a gun to my head.

 

[Rosanne]

Interesting thread.
If you are in a country where, like here in New Zealand KOHA is an acceptable and understandable process- then you are comfortable with the donation scheme.

Koha is a reciprocal arrangement. I read for 25 years using a Koha basket.
Giving koha is the practice of bestowing an unconditional gift where the recipient has neither stipulated that it be given, nor has any expectation of receiving it. Maori regard the act of giving Koha and the manner in which it is given as taking precedence over the actual value of the gift. For example, in the days when war raged between Maori tribes, Koha may have been offered in the form of waiata (song), in gratitude for refuge. Its value would be placed in the lyrics, composition and delivery. In earlier times at marae gatherings, food was often given as koha. Today the gift is often monetary.

I have received non money items and food- but most often cash. If the sitter cannot afford cash- that is OK. It is not discussed what, if anything is in the basket and I have never been let down. My Waiata- the reading, has never been undervalued and I like the system very much. It seems in the spirit of Tarot somehow- but it has to be understood as a concept to work I guess.

I have had my lawns mowed once as payment- sort of like green dollars
~Rosanne

 

[Nevada]

I can honestly say that charging just twenty dollars for a 15 minute reading, I have made more in one weekend than I made sitting on Church Street all month.

right now you couldn't make me do a donations based reading if you put a gun to my head.

That's great, and I can see and respect why you feel this way.

But honestly if I weren't so broke I think I'd be happy to read for free on a limited basis. But I am broke, so my motivations are different. The mortgage still has to be paid, I still need a better car. Those are powerful motivators. Even broke, I'd love to read for donations if the majority of people I read for would donate. I don't mind the occasional free reading for someone who can't afford even $5. I figure that each person who didn't pay thought they were the only one not paying.

But human nature is what it is -- and I think it's different in different cultures.

Interesting thread.
If you are in a country where, like here in New Zealand KOHA is an acceptable and understandable process- then you are comfortable with the donation scheme.

Koha is a reciprocal arrangement. I read for 25 years using a Koha basket.
Giving koha is the practice of bestowing an unconditional gift where the recipient has neither stipulated that it be given, nor has any expectation of receiving it. Maori regard the act of giving Koha and the manner in which it is given as taking precedence over the actual value of the gift. For example, in the days when war raged between Maori tribes, Koha may have been offered in the form of waiata (song), in gratitude for refuge. Its value would be placed in the lyrics, composition and delivery. In earlier times at marae gatherings, food was often given as koha. Today the gift is often monetary.

I have received non money items and food- but most often cash. If the sitter cannot afford cash- that is OK. It is not discussed what, if anything is in the basket and I have never been let down. My Waiata- the reading, has never been undervalued and I like the system very much. It seems in the spirit of Tarot somehow- but it has to be understood as a concept to work I guess.

I have had my lawns mowed once as payment- sort of like green dollars
~Rosanne

What a beautiful custom.

There was a time in the US when people did things out of the goodness of their hearts and knew they could also depend on the same from their neighbors if they needed it. My parents told some amazing stories about that, from their early years during the Depression and later their first years living in Oregon. When I was growing up we rarely locked our door. My parents were also always generous and giving, didn't worry about getting anything in return.

But this was never universal where I live, even in the past. I'm sure there were always excluded groups, and so forth. Today, where I live, it's much harder even to know one's neighbors by name.

What I love most about Tarot reading is the interaction, in a sense an energy exchange takes place that is usually positive even if the reading isn't. Even in an email reading you can have that. But what I found with the people who didn't donate was that they didn't interact either, in fact I often felt while reading for them as if I was staring at a blank wall, so it was a double loss for me. And I wondered what they felt they got out of the reading in that case. So maybe it was a triple loss. It's too bad, anyway. If my income was about a quarter more than what it is, I could afford to keep doing that, but it's not. I hoped to be able to make enough off the donation readings to pay for a license so I can charge set fees. Didn't happen. So either I'll scrape together the cash some other way, or when I want to read for people I'll go to the reading exchange. Or I'll do both.

Again, I'm sure this works differently face to face than online. But that's my experience.

I like this thread too.

 

[mac22]

That's great, and I can see and respect why you feel this way.

But honestly if I weren't so broke I think I'd be happy to read for free on a limited basis. But I am broke, so my motivations are different. The mortgage still has to be paid, I still need a better car. Those are powerful motivators. Even broke, I'd love to read for donations if the majority of people I read for would donate. I don't mind the occasional free reading for someone who can't afford even $5. I figure that each person who didn't pay thought they were the only one not paying.

But human nature is what it is -- and I think it's different in different cultures.

What a beautiful custom.

There was a time in the US when people did things out of the goodness of their hearts and knew they could also depend on the same from their neighbors if they needed it. My parents told some amazing stories about that, from their early years during the Depression and later their first years living in Oregon. When I was growing up we rarely locked our door. My parents were also always generous and giving, didn't worry about getting anything in return.

But this was never universal where I live, even in the past. I'm sure there were always excluded groups, and so forth. Today, where I live, it's much harder even to know one's neighbors by name.

What I love most about Tarot reading is the interaction, in a sense an energy exchange takes place that is usually positive even if the reading isn't. Even in an email reading you can have that. But what I found with the people who didn't donate was that they didn't interact either, in fact I often felt while reading for them as if I was staring at a blank wall, so it was a double loss for me. And I wondered what they felt they got out of the reading in that case. So maybe it was a triple loss. It's too bad, anyway. If my income was about a quarter more than what it is, I could afford to keep doing that, but it's not. I hoped to be able to make enough off the donation readings to pay for a license so I can charge set fees. Didn't happen. So either I'll scrape together the cash some other way, or when I want to read for people I'll go to the reading exchange. Or I'll do both.

Again, I'm sure this works differently face to face than online. But that's my experience.

I like this thread too.

Nevada, koha, the golden rule, neighbor helping neighbor, begins with YOU If it's not the custom in your location start the ball rolling.

Mac22

 

[Nevada]

Nevada, koha, the golden rule, neighbor helping neighbor, begins with YOU If it's not the custom in your location start the ball rolling.

I'd love to be the one to begin. Wait -- I already give away an entire novel to read for free on the Internet. That took quite some time and energy to write. Does that count?

I believe in open source -- I use Firefox, Thunderbird, and Wordpress. We're slowly moving our home computers toward Linux. All that free work by programmers that I take advantage of is the reason I decided to put my novel up for free. I've gotten hundreds of nice comments on it, so I know people are enjoying it.

I've always liked Star Trek because of the whole idea of no need for money. Tribal societies managed to do without money for eons before modern culture invented it. But it's very difficult to attempt this in a culture that doesn't understand and requires people to have money for everything. I would love to see it turn around. But ... I think change in that direction will either be very slow, with people like you and me doing things for no return, or it will depend on a catastrophic collapse of economies that will result first in a lot of hardship (not the version of change I'm hoping for). Meanwhile ... Gotta eat, pay bills, repair the house and car. Unfortunately Home Depot and my creditors don't understand Koha. So I have to make a choice as to how much to give away, how much energy and time I can afford to donate. So the novel stays up, but my readings for donations offer came down.

 

[Rosanne]

Meanwhile ... Gotta eat, pay bills, repair the house and car. Unfortunately Home Depot and my creditors don't understand Koha. So I have to make a choice as to how much to give away, how much energy and time I can afford to donate. So the novel stays up, but my readings for donations offer came down.

That is fair enough Nevada- everyday is hard financially these-a-days.
Nope- Corporations do not understand Koha- they do not have a conscience.
Our world would not work if run on Koha concepts unfortunately.
I thought about your post last night- and need to say that although I made a reasonable living from reading and the Koha Basket- it was not my only source of income most of the time- so I could afford the Koha concept if you get my drift. I think you can be a little flexible though- because the good always comes back to you somehow, someway. I guess it might be a bit like Pro Bono publico work for lawyers- sting some and do some free.(well really not sting )
~Rosanne

 

[Mallah]

nothing like bringing an old thread back to life

I've been reading this as I've been looking at reading for donations recently.

The topic was about reading for donations, and mentioned were the folks who do not or can not make one.

Another thing you can do, if you are working in a public venue, (or even online) and people can't donate, (I'd do this after they say they can't, or even after they start to walk away...) is ask them to write you a one sentence "plaudit" that you might use in promotional materials someday. (You never know when your brochure or website is going to need sprucing up.) When I was starting out as a pro musician, I did this for a summer...free performances in exchange for a letter of recommendation. Yes, a whole letter on letterhead (It was, after all a 45 minute music performance where I was lugging a PA and instruments...). I ended up "harvesting" their comments for the best of the best.

To bring this back to your reading table, have some slips of paper and a pen handy...have them write a praise or two, if they liked their reading (hey, even if they didn't..."critiques" you could take to heart and maybe address to your reading style if revelant...). They could drop THAT in the jar, eh? You can get a LOT of mileage out of someone's words...

 

[Grizabella]

What a great idea, Mallah! Thanks so much for sharing it with us! I'm sure it would work just great.

 

[Grizabella]

Coming back to this thread after trying this on my blog -- doing readings for donations. I'm afraid that online it doesn't work. I found that more than half of the people I did readings for never paid.

The thing about reading online seems to be that there are a lot of compulsive, addictive types getting readings. I saw that when I read for one of the places that pay you a percentage to read for them. People would max their credit cards till they ran out of money and then they'd start going around begging the readers for free readings or else challenging the readers which would mean the money they seemed to have paid would then be taken back. It's because you're behind computer screens, not looking eye-to-eye. If you're sitting there with a tip jar and the person is actually there in front of you, very few have the cajones to actually get up and walk off without giving you at least something. Once in awhile someone will genuinely not have the money but be desperate for the reading, but usually those who can't afford to leave a tip will just go on by and not get a reading.