If it's helpful....here's how our gift economy model has evolved

• Idea #1 [there was no external support or funding at this stage - just me running an experiment on my weekends]
  
• This was literally a large mason jar where people could donate after having received a bike service or a lesson in bike maintenance (originally, there were four courses; intro, basic, intermediate, advanced)
•  I didn't differentiate between parts (many new) or labour
• Results
• Takings after 8months (weekends only) came to around £2000, once parts were factored in, this more than halved
  
• Only those well versed with cycling (and some mechanical knowledge) knew the value of servicing.  The perceived value of maintenance training varied even more widely
• Some people HATED the donation jar and idea of 'pay what you feel', some loved it.  Most people who hated it appeared time poor and cash rich [I felt they wanted a simple transaction]
  
• Idea #2 [now with some funding]
  
• parts had to be paid for, even used parts [these have been fully cleaned, inspected, lubed/etc and where necessary - fitted, test ridden and removed - i.e not just a box of random parts that have been stripped and left]
• there was now a bank account [people were given details and left to pay as and when they felt like it and how much they felt]
• Results
• A glass jar gave pressure for people for give then and there, also some people don't use cash (others only use cash) - for those who use cash, this has and will always be acceptable too
• I refused to ask people to tick boxes on what disability they had or what ethnic group or sexual orientation or age they were...for same reasons previously given
• Gifting roughly doubled
• Idea #3 [how it's been running for the last couple years]
• We have a 'value list' for servicing and training clearly laid out on the door of the workshop and (less clearly!) on the website
• People pay what and when they feel called to.  There are no demands for payment.  If people ask why we operate this way, I explain about 'gift economics' and sharing economies (the workshop is adjacent to some of the most expensive bits of real estate in London - yet also within 15minutes walk of some of the poorest with 2nd highest rate of homelessness and child deprivation in the whole country)
• If people haven't gifted anything and said they would, I will sometimes send them an email or call a few weeks later.  Sometimes they've forgotten, sometimes they just won't want to gift anything...in almost five years of trading, a only a few people have done this.  We're known as the highest quality bike servicing enterprise in the area (we've serviced bikes for Olympic Medal winners) and our training is also second to none
• We also have Paypal (linked to our account) and Coupay.  We are considering adding a crypto account for Etherium and Bitcoin when the business scales up
  
• Results
• From servicing, we take roughly 85-90% of what a 'normal' workshop would make.  We gift bikes to victims of crime whenever we can (building up bikes from scratch is good practice for volunteers) and our community knows and likes what we do with many high earners 'overpaying' for the value of services and many people gifting parts and offering to gift skills and services (which often, we can gift on by bridging community connections)
  
• We're the ONLY workshop that has not yet been broken into in the area.
• Funding largely comes from revenue, not grants/donations, but this is good as it doesn't require intensive form filling....we are looking at digitising impact measurement and added value though
  

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Earn-a-Bike Programs (Nicole Muratore)
      (cyclista@inventati.org)
   2. Re: Budget Bikes (cyclista@inventati.org)

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