AI skills, as launched by Anthropic in 2025, have become an open standard, allowing anyone to create and distribute them. Despite their potential, monetizing these skills remains elusive. Direct sales are undermined by the ease of replication, while hosting services merely resell infrastructure. Using skills as a marketing tool for APIs offers indirect benefits but doesn't generate direct revenue. The inherent nature of skills, which transform implicit knowledge into explicit instructions for AI, eliminates traditional profit avenues by making the skills themselves too cheap to charge for. The challenge extends beyond direct monetization. Skills disrupt the data flywheel model by severing feedback loops, leaving creators without insights into usage or performance. This disconnects them from valuable data that could improve future iterations. As AI makes code, text, and other outputs abundant, the scarcity shifts to human relationships, real-time information, physical interactions, and judgment. These areas, untouched by AI, present new opportunities for profit. Ultimately, skills serve as a business card rather than a product, enhancing personal brands and service capabilities rather than generating direct income.