Prices and Negotiations (ie. “Haggling”)

[Jaroslav]

In fact, I suggest, if prices were publicly listed for a sundry activities, negotiation would greatly decrease. The very fact that price is so shrouded in secrecy makes negotiating more likely. A client is going to want to know he’s not overpaying for the same experience someone else got. If client A was quoted $2500 for a weekend, client B doesn’t want to pay $5000. But if “Weekend” isn’t listed publicly, and clients need to ask for a weekend rate, the door opens for negotiating. I would like it if prices were clearly listed so I didn’t have to ask. It really detracts from the experience for me.

[DWnyc]

38 minutes ago, arnemgreeves said:

Nope. It's not on in escorting. If they have a stated price, then pay it. It's payment for sex, not buying veg or fruit in a market. 

Isn’t the point of the industry we are discussing to make sex as accessible as veg or fruit in the market? 

I simply do not understand the logic of “it’s not on in escorting”. We live in a commercial world where the price of delivering babies and burying the dead and every aspect of human existence in between has a price determined by negotiation. What makes escorting different?

[Jaroslav]

Absent a public list of what the going rates are for things, people are always going to wonder if they’re being traken advantage of. @DWnychits the nail on the head by pointing this out when he says that providers can communicate with one another more easily than clients. This forum is important for that, but it’s one of the only places I know of it happening, and both the kind of provider and kind of client is skewed in a particular direction here. This forum even doesn’t offer a good opportunity to have a clear picture of what the going rate is for particular times and activities. And I would surmise that having something here that did delineate that, while clearing up a lot of confusion and ridding a lot of headache, would be objected to by both clients and providers precisely because the secrecy of pricing allows for haggling to get the best deal on both sides. Open information would eliminate that satisfaction of having “made out.”

[Jaroslav]

4 minutes ago, DWnyc said:

Isn’t the point of the industry we are discussing to make sex as accessible as veg or fruit in the market?

I’ve been thinking on that too. For some reason, some clients here seem to enjoy paying exorbitant prices for escorts. That’s a function of so-called luxury goods. A Lexus, for example. For a Mercedes. Jewelry. People will brag about much they spent on these things for two reasons: 1) they have acquired the status of Lexus owner by buying a Lexus and 2) they have the means to purchase something at a crazy price without it impacting them negatively and that also puts them in a “tier.” This is all part of the experience. And it’s a class thing as well. “I don’t negotiate with escorts because I don’t have to. I can throw money around like a toddler splashing in the pool.” That’s the nature of luxury goods. And escorts, for some, fall into that category.

Now, some escorts want to think they’re a 2024 Mercedes GLE when in fact they’re a 1999 Ford Fiesta! 😆 

[+ poolboy48220]

I don't haggle with escorts/masseurs. For something that involves personal service, I feel that if I ask for less than what they're offering, I'm going to get less than their best. If they quote a price that's above my range, I thank them and move on. 

Edited April 15, 2023 by poolboy48220

[Jamie21]

5 minutes ago, Jaroslav said:

I’ve been thinking on that too. For some reason, some clients here seem to enjoy paying exorbitant prices for escorts. That’s a function of so-called luxury goods. A Lexus, for example. For a Mercedes. Jewelry. People will brag about much they spent on these things for two reasons: 1) they have acquired the status of Lexus owner by buying a Lexus and 2) they have the means to purchase something at a crazy price without it impacting them negatively and that also puts them in a “tier.” This is all part of the experience. And it’s a class thing as well. “I don’t negotiate with escorts because I don’t have to. I can throw money around like a toddler splashing in the pool.” That’s the nature of luxury goods. And escorts, for some, fall into that category.

Now, some escorts want to think they’re a 2024 Mercedes GLE when in fact they’re a 1999 Ford Fiesta! 😆 

And some clients want to buy a 2024 Mercedes GLE with 1999 Ford Fiesta money 🙂. 

I’m certainly not a 2024 Mercedes (tbh I don’t know what one of those is!!) but I guess I have my attractions because I’ve been working steadily for years and have seen over a thousand clients. Everyone has a market…

Anyway, the problem of clients asking for things they can’t afford happened twice today already. First client wants an out call which is over an hour drive each way. It’s beyond my normal area but he asked for the visit so I quoted a rate but he can’t afford it. So he keeps asking for a keener price…

Another guy has phoned twice asking about what’s included (it’s all on the website). Then he asks the rate (also on the website) and hey… he says he can’t afford it. 

Both clients have walked into the wrong shop. It’s surely not difficult to see the published rates and think ‘ok perhaps that’s not in my range, I’ll look in the Ford dealership instead of the Mercedes dealership’? 
 

 

[Jaroslav]

@Jamie21, that’s not so much negotiation and stupidity. Asking price can also be an indicator if your negotiating range is a nonstarter as well. As you say, don’t approach a Mercedes dealer with Ford buying expectations. Though if you don’t anything about the market, it makes it tougher.

[DWnyc]

1 hour ago, arnemgreeves said:

Haggling doesn’t exist in every industry or environment. Escorting is or imho should be such. 

I disagree that it doesn’t exist in every environment, and again “haggling” is the wrong word - it’s negotiating.

You’ve not said anything to back up your statement other than said it’s your opinion, which you’re entitled to, but that alone doesn’t make the point.

What makes escorting stand out? 

[DWnyc]

50 minutes ago, arnemgreeves said:

Haggling isn't really common in most places, unless it's a forum where there's traditionally more flexibility and less regulation. A plane flight, train ride, cinema ticket, fast food meal, or a pair of shoes, aren't subject to haggling. Like who goes to an airline and says "i know you say it's $300 to fly from NYC to Houston, but can I pay $200?" You'd be told where to go, and that would be Delta or United's full prerogative to do so. 

 

 

You’re comparing an oligopoly led by a few multibillion dollar companies with individual escorts?

 

[Jaroslav]

Delta and United also are competing with each other and other airlines with clearly posted prices. And please – give me a more UNregulated market than an illegal one, such as escorting. 

[Jaroslav]

@DWnyc, calling it haggling allows you to discount it. 

[+ Billsboy4]

In the words of Joan Rivers:  Ya don't know, if ya don't ask!

[Jaroslav]

A coworker told me I should write off the cost of escorts on my taxes as business-related expenses because it’s “self care retreat time” necessitated by our work. Imagine that! If that were allowable, even conceivably possible, I’d consider escorts a regulated commodity. As such, it’s neither. 

[DWnyc]

1 hour ago, arnemgreeves said:

I guess it depends the country but then the most reputable escorts would state their prices openly. 

They can’t, legally, in the US

And it’s not uncommon for premium products (using your framework) to be marketed as “ask for further details …” both as discussing $ around such products can be seen as distasteful and precisely because there is no set price.

Edited April 15, 2023 by DWnyc
Typo

[Jaroslav]

@dwnyc

[+ José Soplanucas]

Some people here talk like they were savvy adventurous travelers who have experienced it all but they actually never left their privileged neighborhood. 

[+ Lucky]

13 minutes ago, José Soplanucas said:

Some people here talk like they were savvy adventurous travelers who have experienced it all but they actually never left their privileged neighborhood. 

Who, who, who? Spill! 😀

[+ Lucky]

21 hours ago, Marc in Calif said:

Absolutely wrong!

I don't do that at all in my professional work. I also don't haggle at Best Buy or with the plumber.

Either pay the set fee or go home. 

Speaking of Best Buy they are laying off thousands of store employees. But how will the customer even know since the employees were never around when needed anyway?

[Jaroslav]

But seriously…who still goes to Best Buy? 

[Jaroslav]

While we’re talking about huge corporations that have set public prices: cruise lines. They advertise deals all the time. Upgrade packages, etc. When are escorts going to give clients a limited time discount? Where’s my upgrade offer? Come on! This is what businesses do! If you want me to think you’re a business like any other, I want my promotional junk mail in the USPS and my email inbox! Where’s my buy-one-get-the-second-free offer like Norwegian Cruises offers?! 😂 

Edited April 15, 2023 by Jaroslav

[56harrisond]

1 hour ago, Jaroslav said:

But seriously…who still goes to Best Buy? 

Best Buy aka Amazon's showroom 

55 minutes ago, Jaroslav said:

Where’s my buy-one-get-the-second-free offer like Norwegian Cruises offers?! 😂 

Like a Frequent Fucking Card? 9 fucks and the 10th is free!

[DWnyc]

1 hour ago, Lucky said:

Speaking of Best Buy they are laying off thousands of store employees. But how will the customer even know since the employees were never around when needed anyway?

Partly because of successive rounds of layoffs in prior years 

And the economy aside that’s partly because of other business models (eg online, outsourcing) decimating theirs while they stubbornly ignored market trends and set their prices and made business models because they thought they could.

Market trends …ah yes, that factor in this topic discussion that several seem to ignore while growling at those referring to it for the escorting industry and pricing, 

Edited April 15, 2023 by DWnyc
I hit save too early

[DWnyc]

2 hours ago, Jaroslav said:

A coworker told me I should write off the cost of escorts on my taxes as business-related expenses because it’s “self care retreat time” necessitated by our work. Imagine that! If that were allowable, even conceivably possible, I’d consider escorts a regulated commodity. As such, it’s neither. 

Wait … you discuss your hobby with your coworker? 🥳

[DWnyc]

5 hours ago, Jaroslav said:

In fact, I suggest, if prices were publicly listed for a sundry activities, negotiation would greatly decrease. The very fact that price is so shrouded in secrecy makes negotiating more likely. A client is going to want to know he’s not overpaying for the same experience someone else got. If client A was quoted $2500 for a weekend, client B doesn’t want to pay $5000. But if “Weekend” isn’t listed publicly, and clients need to ask for a weekend rate, the door opens for negotiating. I would like it if prices were clearly listed so I didn’t have to ask. It really detracts from the experience for me.

Yes, would allow those who don’t want to negotiate (and I actually fall into that category myself) to follow that pricing but I think those wanting to negotiate would still try. And I think many of those would be successful. 

[SirBillybob]

My masturbation to internal fantasies rates 7.0/10 and costs the price of a wipe. To erotica 7.5/10 and the upcharge of a few minutes of bandwidth. Getting off with an escort 8.0/10, equivalent to a year’s supply of wipes and bandwidth. But it rates the best. Time is money. Much of life is oriented to conserving both. These attempts are visibly externalized. Let me know when the rules of engagement are set. The discussion thus far is zero-sum to infinity.

Edited April 15, 2023 by SirBillybob