In Celebration of a New Maxwell Product, a Look at How They

[Burris]

As most long-time readers at FJ know, Steve and Teri Maxwell – but mostly Steve, since he’s the undisputed God-King of that family – have a very ungenerous attitude toward those who want to learn from Maxwell materials without paying for the information. (These non-payers include, but are not limited to, people who check books out at the local library - those bastards!)

 

Since the Maxwells are introducing a new product they believe every ‘courtship-minded’ family will want, I thought this would be a good time to review how miserly the Maxwells can be in sharing what they believe to be important information – and just how condescending they are to those who can’t afford to pay for grossly overpriced courseware in another way than by instalments.

 

While the below paragraph no longer seems to appear on the Maxwells` product pages, it had been there for a long time:

 

 

Quote

Please Note: Since the book and accompanying forms are copyrighted, they aren't suitable for a library. It would be like ordering a school planner for a library. Multiple people can't use it without violating the copyrighted forms. If the book did go in the library, the ChorePack would need to be removed, and the Chore forms would need a note written on each one that says they are copyright and can't be copied. The group would not have ethical access to the ChorePacks website as well.

 

They seem almost haunted by the idea that some undeserving individual – a person who didn’t pay in Caesar’s coin – may read through a Maxwell publication without immediately enriching the author(s).

 

Likely the largest group of people interested in accessing Maxwell products, and who would prefer to do so without having to pay, are parents with limited incomes who borrow books from friends or from the library.

 

(Hopefully most people in those circumstances, frustrated in their effort to find books by any of the Maxwells at a local library, will simply choose a better alternative from among the available books.)

 

Not only do the Maxwells fret that anyone should benefit in any way by their work without having to pay for it, but they’re also unkind to paying (and potential) customers in at least two ways:

 

The first way, of course, is in how much more they charge than other vendors – especially when it comes to courseware at ITonRamp. There are so many places both online and locally that offer these courses at a significantly lower price.

 

And the reason for these high prices can be found in the company vision statement:

 

 

Quote

To accomplish this [training] in a Christ-centered learning environment without having to ingest humanistic, ungodly information in pursuit of a career or diploma.

 

In other words, the Maxwells reinvented the wheel here and expect customers to pick up all that extra cost for the time invested in Jesusifying computer training resources. (And so it seems that, as with all things wedding for example, the price tag for an otherwise average product can be marked up significantly by invoking The Lawd!)

 

The second way the Maxwells mistreat customers – and this doesn’t even include the ridiculous gender segregation at ITOnRamp – is by condescending to those who can’t afford to pay in a lump sum.

 

From the FAQ:

 

 

Quote

Do you have a payment plan?

 

Yes, but it's not what you're thinking. Break the course fee down into the size and quantity of payments you are comfortable with. Then, we would encourage you to take each payment, put it in an envelope and set it aside. When you have the tuition amount in your envelope, deposit it in your bank and register for the course online. You will have learned your first valuable lesson from your association with ITonRamp.

 

From itonramp.com/faq/

 

I can understand why the Maxwells wouldn’t want to do all the paperwork required of a company that offers split payments. It would be perfectly acceptable for the site to say no: `Sorry. We do not offer payment plans.`

 

They don't stop there, however, but go on to offer advice so condescending and simplistic that I can't imagine why even the most hard-core fundie would still want to buy material from these guys.

 

I, for one, can hardly wait until the Maxwells' latest product comes out. I'm so sure it won't be a whitewash of all the problems the Maxwells have had with the courtship model, followed by yet more drivel about how Steve has discovered a way to make courtship more likely to succeed.

[Marian the Librarian]

[hoipolloi]

And then there's this little gem, also from the FAQ (itonramp.com/faq/)

Whoa, so some guy is going to be spending time on the phone with my twenty-one-year-old daughter "mentoring" her? I don't like the sound of that!

At this point we anticipate the mentors to be men. To enable propriety and no possibility of defrauding, direct phone conversations will be from a person of the same gender. Therefore, if there are ladies in a track, the phone call to them will be via a female mentor assistant. The mentor assistant will not have the technical experience that the mentor has, but she will provide the one-on-one personal encouragement that the mentor would have provided. Since, the forum is the place for technical questions, this will not be a hindrance in any way.

:wtf:

ETA: Burris, you rock. As usual, this is out of the park! :text-thankyoublue:

[Dru]

Super condescending answer to the payment plan question, yet they take credit cards. So really they just couldn't pass up the opportunity to be smug jackasses.

[ceg045]

This makes me want to initiate another lyricbombing.

[Verin Sedai]

:shifty-kitty: Ooh, that means the copy of Managers of their Homes I inherited from my mom is illicit? I feel so naughty.

[Marian the Librarian]

:shifty-kitty: Ooh, that means the copy of Managers of their Homes I inherited from my mom is illicit? I feel so naughty.

You are being reported to the Stevus Lordicus Branch of the Copyright Police, even as we speak...

:lol:

[YPestis]

I agree that their products are overpriced but I don't think the family is making all that more on them. Steve's need for control means that he will never be able to expand or go outside his family circle for his business needs. Instead, his family has to produce, from scratch, every single product---and they charge accordingly. Their competition include larger, better equipped companies which can produce the same product for much lower prices due to economy of size. As a result, the Maxwells' products appear overpriced when compared to those competitors'. I don't know if the family will eventually be priced out by the market. Their target audience is tiny already, and many are budget-minded since they are large families, so the Maxwells may find few takers when there are so many, cheaper alternatives.

The ITonRamp business can't be doing all that well. The family, once again, decided to "reinvent the wheel" and write their own textbooks and charge accordingly for such labor-intensive products. Anyone capable of using google could find the same curriculum for little or no money---and still be able to stay home! But Steve and Nathan, in their infinite wisdom, figure that people will want to pay for the privilege of having the Maxwells reproduce these cheaper products and sell it to them at a premium.

Steve's problem is that his obsession with keeping his family "sheltered" has overrode his business sense. If he hopes to stay competitive, he can't continue to ignore the larger companies who command larger resources and produce for less. Neither can he expect people to shell out that extra cost just because they are the Maxwells. Perhaps all this sheltering has made Steve ignorant of the fact that in the world of big box marts, small businesses only stay competitive by producing UNIQUE products, not a rehash of preexisting products which can be bought at the fraction of the price.

[Chibi Author]

From the FAQ:

:angry-screaming: Assholes. They are so bad at phrasing things, I can't even...

And I agree. Thank you, Burris!

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

YPestis-what makes you think Itonramp isn't doing well? Considering how many more reasonably priced or free products are on offer I'm sure your right but was wondering if you had inside knowledge :)

[GodsKnickers]

I'm thinking that the insane control he's trying to keep over all this, isn't necessarily a bad thing. It means his product will do shit all, they'll make very little money and it absolutely cannot be a bad thing that he is unable to disseminate this garbage much farther than the end of his nose.

[alba]

While the below paragraph no longer seems to appear on the Maxwells` product pages, it had been there for a long time:

This is why libraries have this nifty machine called a photocopier.

Steve is really quite ignorant of copyright law, specifically fair use and the doctrine of first sale (which isn't directly related to this, but I'm sure I've seen him complain about buying his shit at a second-hand store).

[SheWhoIsObeyed]

So let me get this straight. Their material isn't appropriate for libraries because its copyrighted? Have they ever BEEN to a library? Do they know anything about copyrights? Their ignorance is breathtaking.

:angry-banghead:

Edited because its early and my brain isn't really enaged

[johnhugh]

Steve is really quite ignorant of copyright law, specifically fair use and the doctrine of first sale (which isn't directly related to this, but I'm sure I've seen him complain about buying his shit at a second-hand store).

I suppose that once a woman stops having blessings or the children have finished SOTDRT it makes "Home Schooling with a weak and caffeine free spirit" superfluous. Therefore their fans pass the books on or give them to a charity shop. Hence the Stevie warnings about copyright and going to hell.

[nelliebelle1197]

While I think from the perspective of a normal consumer, all this criticism is right on, from the perspective of a fundamentalist, the very fact that these materials are produced by people LIKE THEM and the products are sheltered from the evil world makes all of the Maxwell rules and conditions a good thing. The people I grew up around in the 80s would have happily paid more for this stuff even if something cheaper or better was around because Maxwell materials are made with love by God (not).

I went to a skirts-only fundy baptist school until 10th grade (mostly because it was the only private school in town, and I was weird and smart, and they agreed to design a special curriculum for me, not because my family believed this stuff). These were Maranatha Bible College and Bob Jones-educated teachers. To a person, they only approved of the God-stamped stuff and would be pleased to pay a premium. There was no choice in colleges but Bible colleges, for example, no matter the cost. This was the 1980s when so much of this craziness was just taking wing. I shudder to think where those people are now. Anyway....

In short, I just don't think the Maxwell customers CARE about the cost or the condescension because they are pleased to be purchasing these "righteous", unsullied materials from people just like them.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

The main thing the Maxwell books are selling is the part that seems superfluous to secular readers - it's all the endless Bible verses. The books provide reassurance from the cult leader that yes, in fact, God wants you to live this lifestyle, complete with citations.

God wants you to discipline like this. God commands you to keep a tight schedule and here's why - and oh yeah, here are some helpful tips on how, too. Most importantly, God is okay with Mom using the "lazy" way of textbooks for home schooling. You don't need to feel inadequate among all those "classical trivium" and Charlotte Mason moms, you can use textbooks and it's okay, please please PLEASE don't give up and put the kids in school outside the home and damn them to hell.

ITOnRamp seems a weirder sell. They've Jesus-ized the curriculum, I guess, and removed any secular problematic topics (though as a programmer myself I can't recall anything that explicitly denies religion, unlike if this were a biology class). Though if they are trying to use their normal model on it, then probably a big part of the attraction is just the ability to study IT topics and feel like you're doing a ministry at the same time, so you don't feel that you're wasting time on secular studies or heaven forbid fun. Maybe it has the Bible verses too about learning a career and providing for your family (reuse some of the "Preparing Sons" citations?), but anyway all along you're getting some reassurance that yes, this is a Godly activity that will please Jesus. Dunno. But if you're fully into the Cult o' Steve, you're supposed to be serving the Lord 24/7, so some reassurance that studying IT is still doing that might be popular.

[thoughtful]

"Jesusifying" is a fine new verb. Thank you, Burris!

Steve is such a strange mix of rigid control freak and naive doofus. I wonder if, at this point, the isolation has affected his ability to see what goes on in the real world. He may be disapproving of some things that he probably hasn't even seen or experienced in decades.

And, as others have said, he may be oblivious to how much is available for free, or of much better quality than what he offers. His isolation may affect whatever business savvy he had in the first place, and that may not have been all that great.

But, sadly, I agree that the fact that the products are churned out by a family that some consider Godly is enough to account for some sales.

Resistance is futile. You will buy our shit.

[sewingmom2]

Re: how well Maxwells are doing. According to the county assessor, the house is appraised at around $400,000. Not too shabby, imo. Especially in a neighborhood that averages not a penny more than $200,000, if that. I can't imagine the businesses being lucrative, but it's coming from somewhere.....

[kpmom]

Re: how well Maxwells are doing. According to the county assessor, the house is appraised at around $400,000. Not too shabby, imo. Especially in a neighborhood that averages not a penny more than $200,000, if that. I can't imagine the businesses being lucrative, but it's coming from somewhere.....

$400, 000? Not bad. Of course they did most of the work themselves so it didn't come close to costing them that. Not a bad return on their investment.

And for all intents and purposes, Nathan and Christopher and Joseph's houses belong to the Maxwell empire too. So all together the Maxwells own probably close to, if not over, a million dollars of real estate.

[Justme]

Re: how well Maxwells are doing. According to the county assessor, the house is appraised at around $400,000. Not too shabby, imo. Especially in a neighborhood that averages not a penny more than $200,000, if that. I can't imagine the businesses being lucrative, but it's coming from somewhere.....

Appraisal value doesn't mean much. It's just what they could possibly sell for. We know they ain't selling.... They built the house themselves, so it was quite a bit cheaper than using a contractor.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Let's hope the proofreader can do something about such awkward prose as this:

" We have felt this resource is extremely important and something every family will want. Most are interested in the topic of courtship, however, this resource has to do with an all important component, sadly lacking in most youth and a prerequisite for courtship."

[quinoa]

Not sure exactly how it works in Kansas, but I would think that appraisal value would at lease affect property taxes. Where I live, that can be a pretty big chunk of change.

[Tish Cook]

Therefore, if there are ladies in a track, the phone call to them will be via a female mentor assistant. The mentor assistant will not have the technical experience that the mentor has, but she will provide the one-on-one personal encouragement that the mentor would have provided.

And there's this.........such tools!!!!! :pull-hair:

[Jezebel]

And then there's this little gem, also from the FAQ (itonramp.com/faq/)

So women will receive inferior assistance, from someone less knowledgeable--while paying the same price for the course as men do?

Fuck that noise.

[Jezebel]

Appraisal value doesn't mean much. It's just what they could possibly sell for. We know they ain't selling.... They built the house themselves, so it was quite a bit cheaper than using a contractor.

I can't remember how big the house is, but extra bedrooms and bathrooms, more square footage, a bigger garage, and a finished basement will bump up the appraisal value.

I doubt they ever took the possibility of selling it into consideration--they liked the neighborhood, so they built there, and they plan on staying. Passing it down to the next generation is no doubt part of the plan. But if they ever did try? They'd have to find a buyer who needed a huge house like that, was able to pay for it, and was willing to purchase a house that was way overbuilt for the neighborhood it's in and twice as expensive as anything around it.

Now that I think about it, I'm honestly surprised Steve didn't go the Duggar route and buy acreage where his sons could build homes, thus creating a family compound.