Fee Levels and The Price of Eggs


It started out as a simple question about fee levels, what could he charge, what was reasonable, what were others charging…and I said he could charge as much or as little as he wanted to, it was a simple question of finding a willing buyer at the price point he  wanted to set.

My answer didn’t satisfy him, because like many of us, we find it hard to trust our own judgement when more eggsit comes to the question of valuing our services. And of course, while it is true that a therapist can charge what they like, (in the sense that there is no regulation or control of the pricing) in practice for most of us it’s nothing like as simple as that.

There is a miriad of issues and objections that arise, including whether the client can pay. However, that’s for another day.

Whatever you are buying, whether it is a product or a service, there are nearly always choices available to the buyer. You can buy your eggs in Lidl or you can buy them in Marks and Spencer, you can buy eggs from battery hens, free range, organic, or calcium enriched.

One of your choices is how much you pay for what you believe you are getting. For every product, there is a market price range, within which there are variations. Within that range, for most people there’s a limit below and above which the price feels off for them. This is true for eggs, and it’s also true for handbags, TVs, books or any other product or service, including therapy.

There’s nothing to stop you from selling your counselling or therapy services for anything from €0 to €000s if you can find clients who are willing to pay you what you ask for. However, the expectation that the market range creates, (for example that therapy fees will fall in the range of €40 to €70 per hour) will probably determine where most of the buyers will end up. There’s nothing to stop you going grocery standsignificantly above or below the range, but you may have some convincing of your client ahead. You may end up having to work a bit harder to justify why you are charging so much more than your competitors. You may have to present yourself in a way that appeals to those who are willing to pay more.

Or, if you charge a good deal less than those around you, you may be convincing them that what you are offering is as good as the pricier choice. A good example of this recently was when the supermarkets were selling off fruit and vegetables at very low prices. While many shoppers were happy to buy them, rejoicing in the good value they were getting, some people refused to buy them on the grounds that sellers were obviously being exploited, and others held back suspicious about the quality.

As so often with these issues, I end up by saying that we have no control over how others see us. We have no control over what they may read into the way we present ourselves, the amount we charge, or the way in which we structure the services we provide. We could charge just €10 for an hour’s work, and a client could still feel exploited, or that they are not getting good value for money.

What we do have control over is being clear about what we want, and from there, deciding how best to go about it. Too often though, we get lost in a muddle of what our potential clients (or referrers, or colleagues) will think about us, and as they are not an homogenous bunch, that space gets muddled very quickly, and the ground under our feet starts to crumble. A good question to ask is not “How will the client (or anyone else) see what I charge?” but rather “How do I feel about what I charge?” and to set your fee levels at a range or value that feels right for you.

You cannot please (or satisfy) all of the people all of the time. But you can please yourself! And pleasing yourself helps to create ground for you to stand on. Time enough then to explore your beliefs about what you charge to see if they serve you.

If you struggle with the complexities of setting fee levels that are right for you, I’d love to help you. Email me with your queries, or contact me here for a free 20 minute consultation.