My thoughts are if someone is a International Qigong Master and has experience to share then sure he or she should charge a reasonable fee. Remember, they have bills too. If someone isn't as qualified then perhaps they can offer a free workshop then perhaps a reasonable fee.

There must always be and exchange . . . you can make that exchange consciously or not, it is your will . . .

It is kind of hard to reconcile in our capitalist society... it's so healing, and yet... how can one afford to continue to eat healthy and study qigong if one just gives away what one has paid much money and time to cultivate (at least that's my position)?

I like the legendary monetary system i heard about chinese medicine, where the patients would pay while they were well, but would recieve treatment for free if sick... now this is sometimes interpreted to be a reflection on the doctors skill - that if they want to get paid they should keep their patients healthy, but I also think it's a way to deal with things like qigong. If a person is sick and can benefit, i'll teach them whatever I can, if they are well and can afford it then they have to pay for my time and education... it's what I've come to think of as fair and as karmicly meritorious for all parties involved.

I'm of the opinion that you have to choose where you are focusing your energy. If you're interested in material things, then you focus your energy on that, and you can manifest external results. If you're interested in developing inner power, you focus your energy on that, and that's what you'll get. All of the best qi gong experts I know live lives that are the equivalent of a taking a vow of poverty. They, and I include myself in this list., just don't have the time to waste making and spending money, when there's so much internal cultivation to do. Once you examine what you actually need, it's not much. It's almost nothing. I think teaching should be given away for free, or at least on a gift basis. You're not teaching for the money, or you're missing the point, so why bring the money into it to muddy your own intentions? Doing actual healing work may be another matter. A massage, for instance, deserves reasonable compensation. All this being said, I will say that I manage to make a bare bones living as a practitioner of Qi Gong in terms of raw income, but in terms of lifestyle I live pretty good. I eat only organic food, never want for clothes or warmth, and keep a roof over my baby's head. Because I give the people that work with me hundreds of hours of instruction at basically no charge, I never have a problem simply asking any of them a favor if I ever need it, and I've never been turned down. I can't afford a car, but I have plenty of students who have a car who would let me use it at a moment's notice, for instance. Food just comes my way without me even having to look for it. I've never been hard up for a place to sleep, someone's always got at least a couch or a backyard for me, and usually I can find pretty sweet deals on rooms or apartments. Not only that, but my skills and training translate superbly to any of a number of actually marketable skills. I can do any form of physical labor you can imagine, and do it for hours and hours, and not exert any effort. It's just a part of my Qi Gong training, at this point. My skills at concentration allow me to focus on any task that needs doing. I make an excellent watchman, because I can sit perfectly still for hours without getting bored. In a pinch, I've even made what I need going down to a popular part of town, spraypainting myself grey and standing still like a statue for hours for tips. I don't charge for teaching, but I have a free pass to most of the festivals I want to go to, I just exchange teaching for a pass. There's an argument that you have to charge for people to think it's worthwhile. I don't agree. People get massive value out of going to Church, and I've never been to a church that charged admission. If what you have to teach is worthwhile, the right people will appreciate it, and what are you wasting your time with the rest for anyway? These skills are not for everyone, only the ones that value them enough to put the effort in, and are wise enough to recognize what's real. The list of creative ways I have made a living as a Qi Gong practitioner while not actually having to sully my integrity by charging for instruction goes on and on. I'm convinced you don't have to charge for your art to make a living with it, and those who think they do are either greedy, lazy, or just not creative enough to be called a real master.

Selling the teachings is always bad. But I do think that full time instructors should make a living.
Most centers don't work like churches here and temples in the east.So, it is often pay as you go. Which is a shame. It is pragmatic, but it just demonstrates our situation. Best if some wealthy donor or donors can foot the main bill and the rest be by contribution. It is good to give to the temple, good for full time instructors to make a living. There is another form of capitalist in the west, and that is the get something for free capitalist, who is convinced he or she is not a capitalist, just because they aren't affluent. They will preach that things should be free, but they just want free things.
Then, there are people who are just broke, can't afford the teachings. For an interested individual to not receive the teachings is worst of all. If someone is humble and says they are just broke, then they should receive the teachings. Lots of larger centers have work exchange, sliding scales and ways to work it out. A little experience with people will allow one to discriminate who is just broke and who is set upon receiving things for free.
What is said of exchange of energy is oversimplified, I think. Myself, if I give, I give. I think I am happier if someone passes the energy along instead of giving me back what I gave, unless there is some specific agreement, in which case I am selling or trading, not giving
Modern Western spirituality has a way of using dodgy new-age speak when dealing with this sort of thing. It may just be the pragmatic solution, but the pay as you go system just seems like selling teachings.
It could best be alleviated by wealthy donors, who just cover the teachers salary and costs of the center, under the condition that the teachings are free or by voluntary donation.

I think it's a great question. The way I see it, you pay for the teaching once, then it's free for you to use the rest of your life. So I don't see anything wrong with paying someone to learn something you'll have for the rest of your life.

Qigong is one of the few that doesn't inheritly develop repeat customers. I have paid a good amount for my teachings at different places, but now I have those teachings for the rest of my life. Think about how much other people spend on other non-effective methods of stress release and healing?

So I would say the energy is free, but someone's time to show you how to manipulate the energy is not.

But it's always your choice. If you choose to pay someone for a teaching you think will seriously benefit your life, what's the problem?