56harrisond

Absolutely. I hire other massage therapists for a couple reasons: therapeutic massage and market research.
I like to know who is providing what so I can invest in my own development and stay competitive. I can’t and won’t give exactly the same massage as someone else, but it really helps to understand my competitors’ work and helps me give informed recommendations for those who may fit better with another provider. Sometimes it’s nice to offer an alternate for when I’m unavailable during the time a client requests.
In addition to my chiropractor appointments, I need regular therapeutic work since my job is so physically demanding. I also just really enjoy massages. The percentage of providers I will see for regular massages is very, very small. There’s a lot of nonsense in the business. Even among some of the good people, I am quite picky about massages. It’s expensive as you all know, so I want to spend my $ where it counts.
Some massage therapists hire me regularly because they recognize and appreciate - better than anyone - a high quality experience for a good value. I also collaborate with other therapists on 4-hand massages for clients that request it. For 4-hand, I have to know if the other provider and I work well together, if they’re reliable, what quality they deliver, etc.
Trading massage is a gamble. You never know how good it’s going to be with a new provider or if they are the right provider for you. It saves money, to be sure, but costs time (and availability, which = potential $). The best case scenario is to trade when each person is less busy, or less likely to be booked. I prefer to hire. If the therapist is a good fit for my needs and likes my work too, that’s the best case scenario for a trade.
I don’t hire for escort service (no interest or need), but I completely understand the reliability factor of being able to hire. My clients share horror stories of how much time they spend (and waste) on unreliable and/or bad connections on apps and websites. If you have to spend half your week doing that and it’s still bad, economically it makes sense to spend a few hundred dollars to get exactly what you want with who you want, when you want. It works no differently for providers.
We’re people too, with human needs and time limitations, no matter our level of conventional attractiveness. Sure some of us have more “options” as it were, but not all of them are options we actually want. We also value safety, quality of experience, compatibility, and reliability.