Sellin' out!

I'm selling out! That's right! Not becoming a wholly owned subsidiary, but...

I got an email this morning:

"Hi Bob, I'm interested in buying an ad on http://evergreenlife.org/2005/08/next-emergent-facial-hair-style.html. I can pay $30. The ad is for a company that sells luxury shaving kits (good for beard maintenance...) Let me know if you are interested and I will send the ad. Thanks!"

Huh, thinks I... Is this legit? Or will I have some guy in an internet cafe' in Lagos, Nigeria asking for my bank account so they can wire the money directly to me...

I answered

Tell you what- that's my old blog- my new one is at http://
bobhyatt.typepad.com. I get around 12-14,000 unique visitors a month.

you send me $30 and I'll happily re-run that blog post and include an
ad for your luxury shaving kit

:)

(I think that's where the actual transaction for my soul took place... pressing "send" on that email...

The reply came:

"Hi Bob,

Thanks for your quick reply. I'm still interested in putting an ad on your old blog for $30, if you can do it (that's how I found it and I think that's how users would find it.) But also, if you want, I'll have the shaving stuff sent to you for free and you can review it on your new blog. Let me know what you think. :)"

So... why don't YOU let me know what you think? Am I ethically challenged?? Have I pimped myself out for a luxury shaving kit and $30? Or is this a perfectly reasonable return on the effort of creating a blog a few people read? Does the fact that I am a pastor in any way enter into this? Or is this just good ol' capitalism at work?