

Pay Enough or Don't Pay at All - Panos
http://behind-the-enemy-lines.blogspot.com/2011/05/pay-enough-or-dont-pay-at-all.html

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corin_
Another side to think about is how people want others to see them. I happily
donate blood (in the UK, where there aren't options to get paid for doing
this), but if they started paying a small amount, I would feel that, by going
in, people would see me and think "he's so desperate for money that he's
donating blood to earn some".

Same thing, say, volunteering in a charity shop (which I haven't done for a
few years, not for reasons related to this). If I were to be offered pay, it
would be too little for me to care about getting, and again I would, sadly,
care that people would see me as the person whose job is in a charity shop,
rather than the person who is volunteering his time for a good cause.

It's a pretty petty way to think, and I don't always let the "but people will
think..." win my internal argument. but it's usually there, and fairly often
does sway my decision. (For the record, I don't care that people see me in a
positive light, I'd be just as happy donating blood in such a way that no-one
ever noticed me doing it, the bit I care about is when I feel I might be seen
in a way that I _don't_ like. Still pretty egotistical, but not quite as bad
as wanting to show off, I think/hope.)

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smallblacksun
Lawyers are the same way. They either charge normal rates or work pro-bono.
They almost never work for a reduced rate.

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ajkessler
Every firm I've worked for charges a variety of rates; they are absolutely
negotiable. Charging less than your stated rate, particularly when you outline
why you're charging that amount (as a favor, for a limited number of hours,
for this case, etc.), isn't going to reduce your perceived value.

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gyom
I learned that lesson at Halloween a long time ago. My mother helped my friend
and I sew our costumes (she basically did all the work).

When my friend offered to give her some money for her help, she just replied
that he wouldn't have enough money to pay her.

At that moment, I achieved enlightenment.

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ikono
In one of my favorite TED Talks, Barry Schwartz talks about this among other
things.

In it he tells a story about a study in Switzerland where a community was
asked whether or not they would agree to a nuclear waste facility in their
area. Amazingly 50% agreed, they then repeated the procedure but offered 6
weeks salary as well. This time only 25% agreed. He claims that as soon as the
incentive is introduced people throw out their perceived responsibilities and
instead focus on what is best for them. So instead of asking themselves
whether or not they should, they ask themselves "is this a good deal for me".

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shrikant
Maybe they tell themselves, "If they have to offer money for something they're
doing, maybe it isn't such a great thing thing after all."?

Especially if you're asking the same people, of which 50% agreed initially.

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iandanforth
I'm surprised this doesn't mention blood donation as pay-for-blood schemes
have been shown to reduce donations. This is the primary reason I'm aware of
this effect.

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Yxven
I have been working on a subscription based website that would pay 70% of its
revenue to its contributors. I'm sure the payout will be insignificant for
minor contributions. Is being subscription based savable? (I don't think
banner ads will pay enough to be worthwhile)

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jbri
Suggestion: Allow contributors to automatically donate their earnings to a
charity. Much easier for minor contributors than collecting their individual
payout and donating it themselves, probably more efficient for the charity as
well (since you can pool it from everyone into a single donation), and brings
back some of the "doing it for a good cause instead of for money" thing.

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Yxven
I think that's a good idea. Thank you.

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cdesmar
You are skipping an important step: prizes.

Free->prizes->paid.

Also things like free food, better internet, lab space are all great
motivators. The message there is I can't afford to pay you what you're worth
but I'll do what I can.

WinPhone7 has a great community in London and I know a lot of people who are
starting to express interest because MS is giving out xboxes and free phones
and buying beer.

$7/hr could have bought a lot of xboxes.

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vishaldpatel
Something to keep in mind: Not paying works best when everyone thinks that
everyone else is a volunteer.

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lionhearted
Starbucks cards are a way to hack this.

If you've got a limited budget and someone is putting in 5 hours of time for
you and you give them $20, they might be unhappy as mentioned in the article.

$20 Starbucks card? Sweet. Keeps it a social norm thing, even though it's
almost a cash equivalent.

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JoachimSchipper
From [http://www.mashmarketing.co.uk/blog/2010/02/12/friday-
inspir...](http://www.mashmarketing.co.uk/blog/2010/02/12/friday-
inspiration/), via an old HN post(?):

"Get creative with compensation–use the iPhone Payment Plan. Imagine you’re a
highly-trained software engineer. A crazy guy with a “startup” (i.e. me)
approaches you about doing some work. Scenario #1: Dude, I’ll pay you $2,000
for 150 hours of work…3-4 months from now. Scenario #2: Dude, promise to build
this and I’ll give you an iPhone right now [and] pay your phone bill. [...] We
tried both approaches [...] and [...] Scenario #2 [...] actually worked out a
lot better. There’s something about the psychology of receiving a cool gadget
that doesn’t quite equal out to the cash equivalent. Also, paying up for the
iPhone upfront fosters trust, which in turn boosts productivity."

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chopsueyar
Plus, not having to directly deal with Verizon or AT&T is an added benefit.

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premchai21
Obligatory story from the Old New Thing:
[http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2006/12/01/11847...](http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2006/12/01/1184734.aspx)

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diiq
It's probably important to remember that money is not the only way to pay
people --- I work at a job with low pay, but completely flexible hours, and
for me, that benefit is worth twice the salary.

