I was reading a post by Andy Traub today which did a good job of introducing his readers to Donald Miller’s newest installment, Storyline, and at the same time bringing the discussion of pricing products into the picture.

The topic of pricing would not have come up of course had Storyline not been priced at $29.99.

A 95 page paperback workbook for thirty bucks!

I don’t want to get into whether or not Don’s new book is worth $30 or not – I love Don’s writing and believe that the value to be found in the those pages is probably is worth that price, and if it changes your life, it’s probably worth a whole lot more.

But I want rather to discuss pricing.

I am an online entrepreneur.  I am working to make a living through guide sales, affiliate links, an upcoming online course and through language coaching.

In all of that, I have to set prices on my products and services.

The world would say that you price products at the maximum price that the market will bear.

So we have music CDs that sell for nearly $20.00.

We have digital products by popular bloggers selling for hundreds of dollars.

And Don Miller can sell a 95 page workbook for $30.00.  (His tribe is big enough that he could have sold it for a lot more)

Pricing is based on a premiss – make as much money as you possibly can.

It is of course not the only premiss, it is far more complicated than that.  But it is a major factor.

That is the way of the world.  That is why I saw a headline a few years ago about 3M laying off 5,000 workers when their profits were not as high as expected.  They laid off 5,000 workers and they were profitable!?!

But I get that.  It’s business.  Business as usual.

It’s just that I can’t live by the premiss that the goal is to make as much money as I can.

First it doesn’t resonate with my sense of propriety.  Asking what is going to make the most money is not the right question for me.   Asking instead, What is the proper price for me and for my customers.

Second, I guess as someone who reads the Bible and has decided to believe it to be true and to both obey Jesus’s teachings and to follow the examples that I find in the pages, I can’t seem to get past 2 Corinthians 8: 13-15:

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.  At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

Again in the 30th chapter of Proverbs this is reiterated, albeit a bit differently.

“Two things I ask of you, Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

I guess my struggle is that our pricing structures in some way reflect our hearts.  And I want my pricing to reflect a Biblical heart.

And boy is it a struggle.

Everyone always says that Christians’ lives should look different than the world.  I guess I had always missed the small print – except when it comes to making money.

I remember reading a biography of Rich Mullins.  He was a hugely popular Christian recording artist in the 90’s.  Superstar huge.  And yet amidst his fame (and fortune, but more on that  later) he moved to an Indian reservation in Arizona where he taught music to Native American Kids while living in a trailer house.

When asked about how much money he made from his music by a journalist, Rich responded truthfully that he didn’t know.  You see Rich had his studio send all of his checks to his church and had the church pay him a salary that was at the time, around $24,000 a year.  (Read about it here)

Rich, like my Bible reading habit, challenge me.

I don’t in any way want to walk in condemnation of others and how they price their products.  I price my products too and if I were to condemn, then the proverbial log is in my eye.

I guess I just want to see a conversation take place, to see some reflection and, to get some help in understanding it all myself.  I am trying to walk this out well and proper and in good conscience.

Rich Mullins and the Bible keep me uncomfortable though.  So uncomfortable that I do things like give all of the proceeds of my guide sales this month to Blood:Water Mission to fight HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.  [read about it now]

Andy, in the blog post that prompted this exploration, ended his post by asking, “Would you spend $30.00 on a book?”

And for me it led me to my own question, “Would I charge $30.00 for a book?”

If you are looking for a great Christmas present for someone you know, check out Rich Mullins: A Devotional Biography: An Arrow Pointing Toward Heaven (That is an affiliate link).

I read a chapter from Wendell Berry’s book Life is a Miracle*  last week that has set me to thinking about the questions we ask ourselves when endeavoring to live a “successful” life and specifically when we think in terms of personal economics.

Berry’s second chapter, Propriety, is no walk in the park, but with the patience to read and possibly to re-read certain sections, I stumbled into a deeper understanding of an issue I’ve long wondered about and questioned.  It is also not directly written toward the idea of personal economy but is much larger in scope taking in technology, innovation and especially, science.  From it however, I’ve found new insight and begun to ask new questions.

It seems that modern American ideals of personal economics are driven by two main questions:

1. How much do I make? (the goal being to make more and more)
2. How much does a service or product cost me? (the goal being to pay as little as possible)

These are the two questions that drive personal economics for most with the goal being to earn more money – preferably a lot more – than is spent.  Money can then be saved or spent however one wants which most believe leads to personal happiness.

But this, even as I have acquiesced to it in my own life, has always bothered me.  It seems a short-sighted and somewhat selfish way to live that eventually comes back to haunt us all.

We have bought into the whole notion of upward mobility and the American dream without stopping to consider the ramifications.  We have lived for the pursuit of individual happiness above all else.

How does this work out in life?

• We drive thirty miles to shop for our groceries where it is “cheaper” rather than getting our groceries from our local grocery store.
• Our farms get bigger and bigger so we can grow more and more and we no longer have any neighbors.
• We order online from the cheapest distributer rather than from a local merchant.

And of course in rural America we are paying a terrible price for our reliance on these two questions, these two bastions of capitalism.

• Our grocery stores are closing down.
• Our schools are closing.
• Our churches are closing.
• Our towns are dying.

Please don’t get me wrong.  I am not against capitalism – I think it is perhaps our best system to live within as far as economics go.  But capitalism based only on t the two goals of making more money and paying less money will always lead to the breakdown of communities.

And that is why, as Berry asserts, a third question must be added and that is the question of propriety.

Is it proper?  Is it appropriate?  Is it good for me and for the community?

Without this question guiding us we will always strive for more rather than enough.  I may save a few dollars paying online, but what am I loosing?

A few months back I stumbled upon a journal from one of the local farmers around our area in Southeast South Dakota.  In it she recorded a bit of each day in that year – 1968.

It snowed a lot that year and so snow removal sets the theme for much of the early months.  The drakes were butchered regularly.  Preparations were made for planting.  Gardens were tended. Doctors were visited.  All the normal mundane things that have happened on farms from time immemorial and many of which still happen today were recorded in her journal.

But there was one recurring entry that impacted me more than any other.  And it went like this:

• We went to visit the Smith family tonight.  Had a wonderful time.
• The James family visited Sunday afternoon.
• Mrs. Frank Thomas came with a pie.  We had a nice visit.

I’ve changed the names to protect the innocent but the theme persisted all year long.  People were coming to visit and going to visit on a weekly basis.

The idea of community was alive and well.

And it is something that, at least in our rural communities, is being lost.

There are many factors we could blame for this of course and I won’t be so naive as to say that our economic choices are the only cause.  But they are part of the cause.

When we begin to ask what is proper, what is appropriate and what is good for the community before we look only to making the most money or getting the cheapest prices, then we will begin to make the choices that will help to sustain our communities.

And that will be good for us as well.

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You can find Life is a Miracle at Freeman Public Library like I did, at your local bookstore or at Amazon*.

Read a great review of Life is a Miracle at Against Nothingness.

*Affiliate Link