by Primus Aurelius Timavus on Sun Dec 19, 2004 11:07 pm
Consider the question of what to charge from a (modern) economic point of view: How much would I have to pay you to give up an hour of your leisure time each week?
Your wage rate is equal to your marginal price of leisure. Marginal just means considering each successive hour on its own.
For example, let's say that you earn $10/hour at your current job. Since you are already busy with school as well as work, I might have to pay you $15 to get you to give up an additional hour a week, an hour that you might otherwise spend watching TV, reading for pleasure, visiting friends, etc. $15 is your marginal rate for that one additional hour.
As your leisure continues to disappear, it becomes more and more valuable to you. To get you to work a second hour per week for me, I might have to pay you $17 for that additional hour, and so on.
Since, as has been pointed out, you enjoy teaching Latin and also gain some experience in instruction which is valuable to you, you can deduct the value of your enjoyment and learning from the amounts that you arrive at when considering the loss of your leisure time. Thus you might only charge $12 for the first hour and $14 for the second.
After you explain this "sliding scale" to your prospective student, it should be easy for her to decide how many hours she wants to study with you. After all, the first hour per week is likely to be the most useful, and yet be the most economical. The second and third are likely to be of declining importance yet be more and more expensive. Where ever you end up at in your negotiations, you are both likely to feel that you not sacrificing too much or being taken advantage of.
Tergestus
(Future candidate for Quaestor)
Primus Aurelius Timavus
Curator, Rogator, Praetor et Patricius
Civis Romanus Sum