The first scenario: when I was in graduate school for psychology, the ethics course covered handling payment for services. One professor explained that she used a collection agency and disclosed that to patients in case payment became another unresolved issue in the therapy room. People had many questions about when and how to accept payment without compromising the work going on in the relationship between the professional provider and the client. It was an issue that left many people uncomfortable for a range of reasons, not the least of which was the practical aspect of it.

The second scenario: when I worked freelance during and after college as an editor and a writing tutor, setting rates and handling collection in a one-on-one setting also presented problems, including in one case, a near non-payment of a fair sized bill (to a college student, every dollar mattered).

Once I became familiar with the Internet (I was almost 27: think “Luddite”) and later when I increasingly began to use the Internet for income-related projects, I wondered how these issues would play out. Apparently other people did, too, and Ether sure capitalized on it. Ether essentially guarantees the payment before the service and also sets boundaries in this way so that the professional doesn’t have to do it personally with collection.