Hey Steve and All,
This has been an interesting conversation. In my experience, most people
are willing to support goods and services they truly value. There are
those who don't want to pay for anything and expect everything for free.
Frankly, few are real winners in the marketplace in my opinion. Those
who focus on obtaining goods and services for free from people highly
motivated not to sell for free don't have the time to actually do
business. Fortunately these people seem to be in the minority.
It's the job of the service provider to make sure the business model
makes people pay for what they get and so they don't drag the business
down for those who are more cooperative. I'm sorry your market
experience has been what it has been. My business charges more than any
of my competitors for the same service. My customers can easily buy
similar services for less. They don't because they prefer the way we do
it. It's hard to define sometimes but delivering a product and/or
service in a way that is perceived as better definitely merits a higher
price in the market place.
I say if people won't pay for something of value, they are either unable
to perceive value, make a rational economic choice, or the product may
actually be not worth very much to them. If customers won't pay for a
product or service, the producer must wake up and smell the coffee. It's
either the product itself or the business model.
If people don't think something of real value to them is worth it and
they suffer later from their bad decision to not support it, that's not
a reason to endorse taxation. That's a thing of beauty. The justice of
the marketplace is something to be seen and appreciated. I say voluntary
contributions are the only way to go...for better or for worse. In the
end, we will get the best value for the goods and service we truly
desire only when they are prepared to voluntary pay for them.
IMHO
Mike