What is your personal Time Worth helping others?

[KFC911]

I help others for free .... if they wanna pay me... I quote some outrageous amount .

For grateful, appreciative folks tho' .... emit a "bad vibe" ... then it's nope

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

I do it for free.

But now I'm older and better at saying no, I only do free labour and knowledge for friends who shout diner and drinks.

A good hot meal is enough pay for me. (depending on her (the customers) looks)

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

You have to be kidding?!

Penalize those that can make a difference.

Not kidding.

Apparently, if you do not charge people a co pay, they are going to overutilize my services, or something. I do not know what the enforcement mechanism is, or even if it is more an insurance thing or legal thing.

I may or may not have an unwritten policy that does not align with this.

I do free stuff for little old ladies on the regular. Folks of a certain generation are not hip to you "giving" them anything, so I have to be creative.


"You only have one foot, so I have to charge you half price," or whatever I come up with.

It never occurs to an 80 year old that a doctor would straight up lie to them like that, so it works.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I think the key modifier is "stranger" so I agree. Let it go.

In my rural area we share equipment, loan equipment and help those who need it but there is an understanding of sharing with responsibility.

Perfect example: I have a dump trailer that I loan to at least 5 folks. It is perfect for mulch, 3 tons of gravel, etc. and I use it maybe five times a YEAR. I bought it used over 20 years ago and it still hums.

My buddy asked to borrow it for a week, all local runs and he is great with equipment. There was an issue with the wiring I was unaware of and he fixed it without hesitation on his dime, maybe $40 dollars and his time. Try and rent a dump trailer for a week for $40 scooters.

It is a circle of trust.

I also have a really nice log splitter, Honda motor, lots of tonnage. A few years ago a new guy moved in and asked, after he got to know the folks here, if he could borrow the splitter.

I said sure, but my splitter policy is one log for me for every 10 split logs you keep. Just set them aside I'll come get them.

He took umbrage at my policy...for about an hour after he tried to buy one or rent one. I got my split logs.

So many stories.

Pretty much the way it happens here..

[Jeff Higgins]

My help and advice are always free, but almost never worth what they pay for it.

[MMARSH]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Not kidding.

Apparently, if you do not charge people a co pay, they are going to overutilize my services, or something. I do not know what the enforcement mechanism is, or even if it is more an insurance thing or legal thing.

I may or may not have an unwritten policy that does not align with this.

I do free stuff for little old ladies on the regular. Folks of a certain generation are not hip to you "giving" them anything, so I have to be creative.


"You only have one foot, so I have to charge you half price," or whatever I come up with.

It never occurs to an 80 year old that a doctor would straight up lie to them like that, so it works.

Completely different context to the OPs post ...

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

My help and advice are always free, but almost never worth what they pay for it.

Same here. Actually I never ask for money, just a burger and beer sometime soon. That is what friends do.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by MMARSH

Completely different context to the OPs post ...

All the free stuff I do at the hospital, for example, what is happening in about 15 minutes, lo mismo

[zakthor]

Originally Posted by KC911

I help others for free .... if they wanna pay me... I quote some outrageous amount .

For grateful, appreciative folks tho' .... emit a "bad vibe" ... then it's nope

Thats about it for me as well.

A few times a complete stranger has done me very convenient kindness so i feel obligated to pay that forward.

Getting paid for helping a random person? Naww. I'll walk away when it isn't 'fun' any more.

Except for printers. I don't help with printers. Folks think I'm kidding but I'm not. Go buy another printer or something. Or get some tracing paper. Edit: mayyybe I'd do printer help for $5000/hour.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I also have a really nice log splitter, Honda motor, lots of tonnage. A few years ago a new guy moved in and asked, after he got to know the folks here, if he could borrow the splitter.

I said sure, but my splitter policy is one log for me for every 10 split logs you keep. Just set them aside I'll come get them.

He took umbrage at my policy...for about an hour after he tried to buy one or rent one. I got my split logs.

"Did I say 10%?"

[Otter74]

Obviously I will give my time for friends and people I care about; if it involves cars I’ll often give it to friends-of, etc. A while back a friend asked me if I could help a friend of hers find a new car, which I gladly did. They periodically ask me about some symptom or a CEL code or etc. and I’m happy to help as my time allows. Last time they tried to pay me, no way am I taking money for that. Then I helped a friend of *hers* find a car that she was very happy with.

Random strangers, sometimes, if I think the circumstances call for it. But on those rare occasions when people start expecting more and more, I know how to set limits and say no.

But about 16-17 years ago when I was helping to organize and guide bike rides around Detroit, a couple showed up about 5 minutes before the start of the ride with one bike (hers) that was ready to go and one bike (his) that just…so wasn’t. He asked me if I could help figure it out and I did, foolishly. I spent 20 minutes on it before realizing it was hopeless and telling them they weren’t riding anywhere. Then I spent the entire rest of the ride trying, unsuccessfully, to chase the ride down. They were a dumpster fire. That taught me to learn how to say no right quick if time was important and help was going to take too much of it.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by JavaBrewer

Same here. Actually I never ask for money, just a burger and beer sometime soon. That is what friends do.

Yeah, that's what we do, for friends. In defense of Rusty Heap, though, it sounds like this guy was just someone on Faceplant that he had never actually met. Someone with a common interest, looking for help, and maybe taking a bit of advantage of this Faceplant group.

I've earned a bit of a reputation around these parts for certain specific areas of expertise on old 911's, guns, motorcycles, and what not. It's kinda weird, I think, but I actually get randomly pinged sometimes on various platforms (this forum included) asking for help. I will always offer my free (and mostly useless) advice, even sometimes getting to be a real "commitment", time-wise.

Sometimes, though, it turns into a "can you stop by and help" kind of thing. From someone I've never met. I've found that much of the time these folks have approached the local professionals, have gotten estimates, and would just rather not pay whatever it will cost to fix their woes. They think they can buy me lunch, or a beer, and avoid a pretty healthy bill from a local professional. I used to get sucked in, help out a new "friend", and never hear from them again.

I'm a lot pickier these days. My real friends simply cannot pay me, asking to do so is sort of an insult. And they know it. They already have, through their friendship.

Speaking of which, David (Rusty Heap), when are we gonna cram my LM1 up your side by side's tailpipe and get some A/F readings? Let's do it soon, I need it back to help a buddy tune his recently completed MFI motor.