15 Oct
Appropriate Fees
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Here is perhaps one of the touchiest subjects in all of Energy Work, or Reiki: “How much do you charge for such and such?”
There is such a wide range of answers that there is really no way to say the average is xy.zz dollars. For example, here in the Southwest there is a rough average of $60.00, but one state over, on the west coast, the average is roughly $85.00. In New York the average is closer to$125.00. Even here in Tucson we have a very wide range of prices. It can range from $45.00 to well over one hundred dollars for a 50 minute session. (For the benefit of all my students out there, I prefer Chicken, but we’ll get to that in just a few minutes.)
When my wife and I decided to return to the industry, we decided it was high time to bring back some checks and balances and see if we couldn’t charge a bit more realistically, so we developed a sliding scale which is based on someone’s ability to pay. We love this ethical concept because it still empowers someone to take responsibility for their own healing, yet it also provides us a bit of pocket change and an affirmation that our service was appreciated. In several cases we have accepted only the tip and no fee, in others we have accepted exchanges. When I was living in Los Angeles many year ago, one of my regular clients would bring me a couple packages of chicken. It was all they could afford, and I didn’t have to worry about going out to buy food. It was a perfect arrangement. In a few cases, we didn’t charge the individual at all, but instead accepted their thanks and hugs as our payment.
My wife and I also teach Reiki to others, and have become outcasts in our own society simply because we refuse to charge huge dollar amounts to teach people what they do naturally anyway. At the moment, we teach a three day workshop (3 consecutive Saturdays) through our local community college (the student actually receives college credit for these courses) for both the Reiki I and Reiki II. We’ve also developed an intro to energy work and healing which our students must take BEFORE they are allowed to take either Reiki class (we cover ethics and other healing modalities in the class.) It costs a mere $64.00 to take our class through the college. Yup, Sixty Four Dollars. We teach Reiki III out of our home and even provide a manual, for less that $150.00. Yes, you read that right: less than One Hundred Fifty dollars.
When I took classes for Reiki and Energy Work, fees were upwards of Ten Thousand Dollars and one year’s apprenticeship.
Today, many feel they are able to gouge others because of the popularity of Reiki. The new average to take classes is roughly $150 – $300.00 for Reiki I and II and $350.00 – $750.00 for Reiki III. If you want the teacher level, for those who teach it separately, be prepared to pay upwards of $1,000.00 or more.
There is simply no reason to charge that much money other than having a huge superiority complex. Big name people often charge big name prices because their time suddenly becomes valuable. You would think they would learn about the concept of fast nickels as opposed to slow dimes. In other words, if you charge higher prices, you won’t get as much business as you would charging lower prices.
One of the 5 mantras in Reiki is “Earn your living Honestly.” One could easily equate this to not lying, cheating or stealing. When you gouge people through pricing, you are in essence doing all three, and thereby circumventing the mantra entirely. It’s quite easy to confuse yourself into thinking, “I deserve to charge higher prices,” but then you are essentially telling a whole group of people they are unworthy of your services because they can’t afford you.
Is that really what Reiki is about?
K
Posted by Ken Nelan on 15.10.09 at 8:52 am
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