11/06/2025
Why does no one ever complain about the price of a Rolls-Royce, lobster, diamonds, or a FabergĂŠ egg? Or about tickets to the Grand Opera?
Yet when it comes to the modest services of a massage therapist, suddenly everyone objects.
Or to the price of a small basket of strawberries an old woman grew and sells at the market?
Even someone who just finished oysters in a luxurious restaurant will scold her:
âWhat outrageous prices, Grandma!â
The same person who paid a thousand dollars to a courtesan will lecture a humble manicurist:
âWhat are these prices, dear? Have you lost your mind?â
What a paradox, isnât it?
Itâs not about being rich or poor â and itâs not about quality, either.
A street musician receives a few coins.
But for a concert by a famous violinist, people are willing to pay a fortune.
And sometimes, itâs the very same violinist.
It all depends on where you are, who surrounds you, and the price you set for yourself.
A hundred dollars? âToo expensive!â
Ten thousand? âReasonable.â
A hundred thousand? âNormal.â
A million? âPerfectly fair.â
A hundred million? âNow thatâs prestige.â
When Dr. Freud understood this, he set his session fee at $25 â the price of a fine manâs suit at the time.
Soon princes, duchesses, famous actors, and bestselling writers were lining up to see him â
people who also knew the value of their own work.
âOh, but itâs so wrong to charge a high price for your talent and effort!â
Really?
Something costs exactly what someone is willing to pay for it â provided itâs not essential to survival.
So itâs up to you to decide how much your diamonds, your art, or your craft are worth.
And how much youâll work for, too.
But hereâs the irony: the lower the price you set, the less respect youâll get â
and the more likely someone will still tell you,
âAre you crazy? Half of that is plenty. Donât be so greedy!â
The cheaper you value your work, the more people will accuse you of overcharging.
Thatâs just how it goes.
And if you still hear reproaches about being âtoo greedy,â
it only means you havenât yet left the marketplace â
or the subway tunnel where youâve been playing your violin for pocket change.
When youâve had enough of the scolding, itâs time to move
