MrMattBig

If clients are explicit, expect an escort to ask for a face picture to ensure someone else doesn't show up and bust them.

I understand wanting an escort that doesn't care what you look like. I don't understand the level of anger and disdain displayed in the OP that a particular escort doesn't operate that way -- especially given the reality that BaronArtz mentions above. Being able to see the beauty in every individual, no matter what they look like, is a wonderful thing to aspire to. But I see no reason to bar anyone who isn't able to achieve that standard from the profession entirely.
 
I also think it's worth pointing out that, in the same way clients get a read on an escort's personality, reliability, etc. from initial conversations, the same thing is also happening in reverse. If initial chatter makes an escort think, "gosh, this guy is going to be high maintenance" then the whole proposition might start to feel less attractive... leading them to resort to questions they might not normally ask.

Squeaky clean outside doesn't mean the same inside. He could have been gassy, constipated, etc.

There is also that pesky practical issue of being cleaned out and ready to go. Douching is not particularly good for you. Certainly not douching one or more times per day. For the client, it's no big deal. It's a special occasion. But it can be a lot of work for an escort to bottom regularly, and God forbid there be the least little mess, he would get shredded for being unprofessional!
 
As for the cause of the OPs rant... anyone who would say he is not "top enough" for me because he has bottomed at one time or another, is an asshole. And not the good kind.

I may be outdated, the research in human sexuality is hard to keep up with nowadays, but the whole concept of "top" and "bottom" doesn't really have a biological basis. They're culturally constructed concepts based on a whole host of biases, assumptions, and ideas around gender, sexuality, power, pleasure, and more.
 
Physiologically, generally speaking, pretty much any man is capable of "topping" or "bottoming." Psychologically, it's a very different matter because cultural/environmental experiences are more powerful.
 
For example, and speaking in a grossly general way, research is leading to an idea about psychological issues and their psychosomatic expressions as a driver in ED cases, though that doesn't minimize physiological causes. I contend "psychological issues" drive stated preferences for "topping" or "bottoming."
 
Personally, my "kink" preference for "straight guys" is coupled with a very deep and vexing complex of issues I've been working on for many years around wanting to "submit" to a "real man." Thanks to this forum, this hobby, and my experiences, I have made a great deal of personal growth around these issues. Thank you to everyone on this forum for being part of this personal journey.

We need a lobby to explain that it's not commercial sex that's the problem but coerced sex and trafficking.
 
A Twitter friend of mine has a teenage son who's autistic. She is fine with the idea of hiring a sex worker when he's old enough (he's not 18 yet) rather than fumbling through bad experiences exacerbated by his reduced ability to read social cues.

Appointment quantity limits, lube, toys, travel (gas, rental car flights) rent/morgage, testing, risk of exposure etc

With that being said, if the added difficulty of connecting through advertising and back office type work results in more costs and time spent for escorts, prices will go up.

This really could not have been said any better.
There is no change in supply and demand,but rather the enabling vehicle. Prices will neither go up or down in an overall sense. Rather, there will be experimentation sporadically accross the board to adjust for the added difficulty of connecting consumer with provider.

It’s an interesting biological/developmental question. One could make a case-at least using pop psychology/looking at it as a layman as opposed to using scientific rigorous knowledge-that men in general should be inclined to be tops as that’s what biologically we are mostly designed to be. Of course then you get the question of where does homosexuality come from unless homosexuality somehow strengthened pack/tribal bonds or was a way of showing submission to a dominant male. Of course in that last scenario the basis of bottoming isn’t difficult to figure out.
 
Gman

I knew people were going to ignore my first paragraph, lol.
 
I’m not asking for anything to be fair, I’m asking for people to do what they don’t want.
 
Basically, my point can be boiled down to the following, “take the win!”
 
As someone who has accepted there being not as many bottoms and verse guys to choose from, I find it crazy that a guy can advertise as a Top, put in his ad that he will only Top, and someone can just say pass because they saw him bottom once.

That's exactly what I am referring to
Either side of an issue can be pinpointed as being on the wrong side of an issue . However it all depends on perspective.
Hypocrisy abounds just as much on this forum as it does in real life.

It was more than adequate.

Yes, you should be cautious.
No, you should not proceed any further.
 

See my answer above.
 
Anyone who reads your very well written ad knows all that
they need to know. You reaffirmed that your into the things
he lists as his interests. There real isn’t a need for any further
sexual discussions until you meet IMHO.

You would be surprised at the number of inquires I get asking if I am still in town in cities I haven't visited in almost a year. The possibility of this happening and it actually happening is what can lead to an escort feeling awkward about someone asking to save your number, because we will feel apprehensive that you will waste our time when you do contact us.
What I say is not indicative of you, or anyone specifically. It's more like a preemptive PSA.
Because there are some bad apples in every bunch.

Get 2 beautiful people on screen, saying they want to be that, but are not allowed by the state’s interference. I am worried that just a series of guys saying “i am a John” will look creepy, like they are admitting to a crime. Especially old ugly-faced blokes that look like me. Persuasion of the masses is important and if they have something they find unattractive to look at, while listening to the message, it will do the opposite of the intended effect, they will associate negatively with the message.
 
Also being on your own on screen, people will just think, “well i too want sex with beautiful people, but that is not how it works, you don’t just get to fuck who you want in life”, but 2 people saying “we want to have sex and the government is forbidding it” that should resonate with anyone who is in favour of sexual freedom.

It is not awkward, but please try to book in advance, if you don't, don't be surprised or upset when you finally do try to schedule something that said escort is already booked or unavailable.
It becomes awkward and uncomfortable when a prospective client becomes upset when this happens after they saved your number for future reference. It makes us feel guilty and helpless because we can't control who booked when and how long before you contacted us.

Anytime someone pesters anyone in this industry for more explicit details after a initial response has been given, CAUTION/AVOID
Interesting enough, that seems to be the sentiment here, but I was damn near persecuted for taking the same precautions when I first joined this site.

Not a fan of discount bin prices when it comes to guys, I'm always suspicious of anyone with a rate under $200...

"What I am into" is indicative of describing interests, which in turn is describing attributes of oneself.
This is no different than listing stats.
What crosses the line of sexual acts or implied sexual acts would be listing a "menu" or "services".
RM does give the option to list "boyfriend experience" under "available for".
This is probably the most substantial thing that can get RM in trouble.

I do agree with one sentiment expressed by clients on this thread, which is that raising rates across the board is not a universal solution for every escort, and it shouldn’t be pushed on everyone as something that we ALL need to do. It’s actually not necessary to stigmatise the practice of charging less in order to create room within the industry for charging more.
 
Let’s go back to economics and hobbying and Maslov’s hierarchy of needs and income disparities. Some clients hire for entertainment... some hire for healing, needed sexual release, or even to relieve loneliness. These are definitely all NEEDS, not merely hobbies or entertainment. So while I think its absolutely right that escorts should have the same opportunity to earn a good living like all other professionals, there’s not a one-size-fits-all prescription for that. Don’t clients who only earn $20K a year also deserve to meet their sexual needs, and aren’t some escorts happy to live on $20K a year because their living expenses may be lower? Sure. Don’t some escorts enjoy seeing 40 clients a month because their life circumstances are conducive to it? Sure. And a $200 or even $160 an hour rate may serve certain scorts in certain situations and their client base very well. And there’s no shame in any of that and no reason to stigmatise escorts who choose that type of business model over people who don’t. As noted previously, in the age of SESTA/FOSTA, existing client retention and private referrals will be key, so I could see why plenty of people wouldn’t want to change their rate at this time.
 
At the same time, clients will be pressured to continue to see the escorts they already know and have good relationships with in an era where escorts can’t advertise. So someone talented with a strong client base of regulars could easily raise their rates during this time. We certainly hear plenty of arguments made by clients about how no one would EVER hire an escort who charges above $X, so I think it only makes sense that some escorts who have learned firsthand the possible success of having higher rates would want to encourage other colleagues to feel like they also have the option of charging more for their time. We are tired of seing our craft de-valued. Our work is criminalised so we don’t have a union. Spreading messages like this isn’t a “money grab”, it’s organising to expand the possibilities within our industry in the only way available to us.
 
At the end of the day, it’s a free market and people are going to continue to charge anywhere from $5 to $5000 for intimacy and sexual services, in various forms of hustles from sugar babying to massage to escorting. What I find problematic about the current state of the m4m escort side of the industry is not the prevalence of people charging relatively lower rates, but the idea that there is a “ceiling” above which gay male escorts cannot charge.
 
There’s room for all types of rates within the industry and I think Blake’s efforts are just trying to create room for a wider range of price options. For a lot of escorts it will be the difference between making just enough for things to feel worthwhile and making enough money to really thrive, which honestly means more career longevity and a higher standard of service for clients in the long run.
 
And really, nothing is ever gonna stop there from being escorts who charge lower rates either, and that’s good because that’s all some clients can afford to budget out for it. I think we get this kind of reactive blanket encouragement for escorts to charge MORE tho because there’s a lot of forces in society that devalue our labor and generally don’t care whether we earn a respectable living or not. We gotta advocate for ourselves and sometimes it comes out STRONG.
 
But yes I do ultimately agree that its not necessary for every escort to raise their rate. Tho it is a good idea that I strongly encourage escorts to evaluate, taking their client base, availability, and desired income level into consideration.
 
And I encourage clients to stand up against ideas being spread by other clients that its ridiculous for a gay male escort to charge more than $X amount. Vote with your dollars in the free market economy that is capitalism. Don’t spread propaganda that is ultimately based in the devaluation of our sexual labor or the disregard for our economic well being. And stand up against it if you see someone else doing the same...

I’m not gonna raise my rates because I feel like I’m already ahead of the curve on this one. That said, my rate is already hundreds above average. I do agree with the premise of the letter and Blake’s sentiments tho.
 
Being an escort is risky work. We lack benefits and social support. We lack legal rights related to our work. We are often ostracised from family and community support because of what we do. Sometimes we can’t find lovers, or our lovers tokenise us because they find it “sexy” what we do for a living (a completely unsustainable dynamic in the long term). We do not charge $200 or $300 or $500 an hour because we EARN that much per hour. That is merely a BILLING rate for BILLABLE hours. Our work is comprised of SO much more that is necessary and also non-billable. The risks we take and the social consequences we face due to stigma can also not be assigned a dollar value. We deserve to be compensated more than we are. As much as we can manage to charge. Why should sexual professionals be making $20-30K per year when the clients we serve often make $50-100K per year? There’s absolutely no reason for any client to take on the attitude that we don’t deserve to increase billing rate from $200 to $300 per hour or whatever. That’s not a 33% increase in our wage. To claim so displays a distorted and naive view of economics.
 
Anyone who thinks demand is going to decrease with SESTA/FOSTA is very mistaken. We are not in an acute economic crisis, nor are clients being more heavily criminalised by this law. Clients will ALWAYS want sex as long as they have money. What’s decreasing is the SUPPLY in this case, the availability of escort ads. The demand is not going ANYWHERE. We have seen this pattern over and over again as various escort ad venues have been shut. Clients stick with their regulars and look for new ways to find escorts. Escorts who have their shit together and keep a mailing list or are constantly finding new ways to advertise are going to be fine.
 
But the loss of ad venues, review boards, and screening resources means more marketing expenses for us. More risk. More labor as we explore new ways to reach our client base. These are all the “non billable” aspects of pur labor. When we see our non-billable expenses increasing, why the hell wouldn’t we raise our rates for billable hours?? Literally any industry would do the same.
 
If you as a client can’t afford to book as often due to increased rates- here’s an idea: book less often. Here’s another idea: get a 2nd job. Make an investment into something income-generating so you can use the proceeds to supplement your escort budget. These are all things that people have to do when they participate in any expensive hobby on a limited budget.
 
The only reason that clients who shop RM think that rates higher than $250 or $300 are “ridiculous” is simply market norms. Once male escorts widely start to raise rates above these levels, the market will adjust. It’s common for female escorts to charge $500 and I promise you that frequent renters make the EXACT SAME comments on those boards implying that they will stop hiring or that the demand will drain out of the market due to the high rates. It hasn’t happened. The market adjusts as rates increase and escorts who charge higher rates continue to earn well in a lower volume business model.
 
I have been experimenting with offering $500/hr sessions, but my minimum was $1000 (or more) for two hours for years, and it continues to be my most often-booked session. Yes, I could see 20 clients a month for $200 each, or I could see 4 clients a month for $1000 each. Which business model do you think is more successful for me? Which business model do you think will suffer less in an era where all our advertising sites (including this website and RM) disappear?

Not to go into the whole issue here, but if you are stating you feel the emphasis is to crackdown on underage prostitution and those forced into it, wouldn't that apply to investigation for such cases on RentMen and gay sites full of adult males as well?
Identification can be faked.

Notice it is from the Human Trafficking Team. Once again equating prostitution with trafficking.

My humble advice...
 
1. delete any and all communication
2. block all emails coming in
3. go to Starbucks and get a tall latte with a lemon loaf, and press the reset button on your day.
4. laugh a little, and realize that there are crazier people out there in the world than @BOZO T CLOWN ...
5. go find a cute Thai boy and get a beach massage....
6. repeat #5 as needed

Put them in a nicely gift wrapped box and ship them to the US Naval Observatory, Washington DC, attn: Michael R Pence.
Enclosed a handwritten note that says “Mike, I found these at our apartment in Indianapolis. Are they yours? Hugs and kisses, Blake. “