Should psychics/mediums charge for readings?

This came up in the other thread, with a couple of people saying they don't charge for readings, and I thought it would be interesting to get other peoples' points of view.

In the other thread I said this:

I think we all have unique gifts and talents and if we can make our living from using them, then that makes for a passionate, fulfilling and purposeful life (with the bonus of enriching other peoples' lives too). Better than wasting away behind a desk for 40 hours a week and only getting to do what you love in the odd spare moment, y'know?

What do you think? Is it wrong to charge?

Hi Cosmic

Where do we start look at it another way we all have bills to pay & I think that instead of looking at it in the sense that you are paying for a reading look at it in the sense that you are paying for their time.

You would not go into a beauty salon, a solicitors or expect someone to work in a care home for free or any profession it matters not whether it is a medium everyone has to pay the piper in some way they are no different to anyone else.

Just my humble opinion xx

I agree MF that your paying for someones time.
I paint. I sell my paintings. I do commission work sometimes. How much do I charge for my canvas?
Will the fee go up the more I sell?

OPf course..I'm not expecting anyone to answer those questions!!

How do you put a price on 'it?'. Its a hard one me thinks.

[daisy]

another gift, but this is different again imo

I guess where I'm coming from is that some people have a belief that to charge for readings is maybe not very spiritual?? Like it's a gift that should be shared with the world and not for material gain.. or something like that (Daisy, help me out!)

What I believe is that we all have gifts.
A neurosurgeon has a gift, and if I happen to need brain surgery, I don't expect to get it for free. I'm paying for expertise.

A hairdresser has a gift, and also spends years in training. Some are better than others and charge more for their services.

An architect has a gift and if I want a good one to design my house, I expect to pay.

A medium has a gift, and the very good ones spend years perfecting their craft. If I want to access their particular services, I don't expect it for free either.

ALL our gifts are God-given, and ALL those who are very good at what they do have invested time, effort, energy and probably money too, to develop their skills. I don't think a medium/psychic should be expected to give away their services for free, just like I don't think anyone else should either.

Sorry for rambling.. again..

[daisy]

Originally Posted by cosmic

I guess where I'm coming from is that some people have a belief that to charge for readings is maybe not very spiritual?? Like it's a gift that should be shared with the world and not for material gain.. or something like that (Daisy, help me out!)

What I believe is that we all have gifts.
A neurosurgeon has a gift, and if I happen to need brain surgery, I don't expect to get it for free. I'm paying for expertise.

A hairdresser has a gift, and also spends years in training. Some are better than others and charge more for their services.

An architect has a gift and if I want a good one to design my house, I expect to pay.

A medium has a gift, and the very good ones spend years perfecting their craft. If I want to access their particular services, I don't expect it for free either.

ALL our gifts are God-given, and ALL those who are very good at what they do have invested time, effort, energy and probably money too, to develop their skills. I don't think a medium/psychic should be expected to give away their services for free, just like I don't think anyone else should either.

Sorry for rambling.. again..

excellent points cosmic, and yes for me personally it feels wrong to charge people for readings, but as i said earlier though, some people either have to, or want to charge and i don't have a problem with that it's just not for me personally,

its the rip off people i have a problem with and we've all seen the ads 'pay me 50 quid and i'll help you avert a major disaster in your life, do it now, do it for your children' etc etc disgusting, or 80 quid for a 30minute reading????
going onto other gifts, if you create something you want to sell i don't have a problem with that either (but again just don't rip people off)
all those others you listed too are gifted and naturally you would expect to pay for their services and quite rightly so.
you wouldn't pay ten grand for a five grand op from a brain surgeon would you that's the point i was trying to make

Hi Guys,

This sort of discussion is a personal one I think.

I guess that a psychic or medium in training should not charge a fee for their service or time. As I am training myself, I don't fully trust my abilities yet but offer readings to friends and family as further practical work for myself. I would definately not charge a cent as this is experience for me. Knowing that I have helped someone in some way or validated a connection with a crossed party is reward enough for me.

However I would work on word of mouth for my advertising and I guess that as I became better and was able to fully understand my gift, I would be getting more and more requests from people. This would of course take up more of my time and if it did become a big part of my time then - yes definately I would charge a fee.

I also don't think much of the Rip Off people as Daisy put it. Some of them maybe true but it is hard to differ. Thats why I would only charge a fee after my clients have come to me from word of mouth.

Just my opinion.

Richie

Just my opinion.

Richie

And a darned good one too!

I was thinking today..I dont want to dismiss the $400 p/h readers as wrong. Its not wrong to charge that much (who am I to judge)...it just limits your audience.