Snake Oil

Early medieval tradition recognised three professions – divinity, medicine, and law. These Professions realised that not all good ideas are good business ideas. The “learned professions” all work in areas that are difficult to commodify (standardise) and where there is clearly unequal negotiating power. You can put a price on anything. It is just a form of communication that lets two people swap something. There is no right answer. Pricing something works best when there is standardisation and lots of people who are both buying, and selling the thing. Pricing is dangerous when the product/service is bespoke. Then what matters is the story. Our obsession with specially tailored solutions that meet our needs as unique snowflakes, opens the door for Snake Oil Salesmen. If you want a rule of thumb that can stop you getting taken advantage of, it is to only buy democratic goods. Things that lots of people can afford. The original professions had “higher callings”. They were paid enough to meet their expenses. That required financing. Capital or patrons that recognised the value, but didn’t pretend to price the priceless.