I wish some would not say: “your prices went up” Well should it never?

[Jarrod_Uncut]

I know this should be directed at the specific people who say that, however I can’t help but bring it up because I’ve already heard it (or shall I said, read it in text messages) now like 3 times over the past year. 
 

I’m sure I don’t have to explain why prices may be a little more than before. But some of these guys saying this, haven’t seen me in a year or more. The most recent: guy is a semi-regular but we’ve not met since December. 8 months, a whole new year and age older later, we’re having a discussion about prices up.

For me: I haven’t gone up just because everything else has. In my case, it’s been a combination of increased prices and fewer bookings. Some of these guys are expecting full service sessions at $150-200 an hour. However, I need at least $250-$400 to be able to offset the cost I spend on hotels, commute, etc. So at times I have to request 90 minutes or two hour minimum. 
 

On top of that: I’ve known the industry since 2008. At that time, $220 was fairly easy to get. I was also (my own critique opinion) not as put together and attractive as I am now. But here we are 15 years later, and some seem to think rates should remain the same or go lower?

I’m spending more on everything, yet don’t have the dependable salary I would imagine many clients have. And this started before Covid and inflation. For me, my expenses have been up ever since the “rental market” started to get hot in 2016 in many cities. I remember around that time, I did a hour session: having drove from one city to another (100 miles) and booked the room to host. I was only left with like $120 after the room. And that was my only booking that weekend if I remember. That’s when I realized: 1 rate isn’t going to be doable in all situations. 
 

And even a $50-100 difference isn’t necessarily a major move. But it still has an effect. I mean, my haircuts are costing me $10-15 more. My vitamins, protein shakes, and “men’s health” products are a little more right now than before too. Do clients expect us to just eat the cost of these things, with no sort of awareness that we might also need to adjust our prices? Do clients want a malnourished, soft dick guy with bad hair and nails to service them, because we can’t afford our essentials?

Then it’s like: somehow we’re supposedly to magically be able to pop out loads…while servicing 2-3 clients (hypothetically) a day to offset the lower rate.

Fortunately there are those out there that this doesn’t apply to, and most new clients I see are accepting of the newer prices I have. And this isn’t to poke at other clients or imply they are cheap, however I think there needs to be an understanding that sex work is expensive. I’m not some loaf of bread or gallon of milk that people buy everyday. I have so many companies taking money out of my pockets every month, I’m not out here just rolling in cash.
 

If things were conducive to do so, I would be asking for $500 to 1,000 minimum for meets, until I was certain lowering it could reach a higher volume. Last thing I want to do when I’m in a region with fewer clients and more advertisers, is LOWER my sessions. Seems it would equate to less bookings for less made 🤷🏾‍♂️ 
 

I don’t think it’s right to make it seem like an escort is being greedy, when we’re not immune to the price hikes either.

Also I remind clients: our rates, or at least mine; are not permanently inscribed in stone 🪨 we have the right to adjust our prices occasionally as we see fit. Especially if it’s been a lengthy amount of time (more than 6 months) since previously met or booked. Like I’ve related to hotels and airlines (I don’t fly, but gas changes just as often): their prices change almost everyday, and I’m subject to those same fluctuations directly out of my pocket.

I change my price/rate structure every so often because I get bored repeating the same thing. What incentive is there to know you can’t change your price after a few self improvements or seasonal adjustment 🤔 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Jarrod_Uncut

[+ nycman]

1 hour ago, Jarrod_Uncut said:

Also I remind clients: our rates, or at least mine; are not permanently inscribed in stone 🪨 we have the right to adjust our prices occasionally as we see fit.

True. But the client is not obligated to accept your price hike. 

As they say, "The market will decide".

 

[ICTJOCK]

I raised my rates $50 an hour in the spring,  but I hadn't raised pricing since I first started.    I actually had a client ask me why I hadn't.

[soloyo215]

Clients are never going to like having to pay more for any product or service. That's just life.

[Jarrod_Uncut]

44 minutes ago, soloyo215 said:

Clients are never going to like having to pay more for any product or service. That's just life.

Well, here’s the thing: my price for the most recent particular person never went “up”. He was initially doing x amount anyway, but was expecting my “regulars” discount despite not having seen me in 8 months. Like, no. A regular discount has to be like, you’re seeing me every time I’m in town. This same person is usually unavailable every 2-3 times we try to arrange a visit. So therefore, a regular promo doesn’t apply. 

On top of that, there’s also options to do longer sessions. If someone can’t ever do any longer session and always wants to keep it at $200 or less…what does that say about the interaction? 
 

And then to make things more irritating, this same guy says “he’ll get back to me yesterday,” only to cancel this morning. Basically a passive aggressive way of telling me he doesn’t want to continue paying the price we been doing, but wants the cake and baby batter too 😆 Like at this point: he’s on the way to blocked and blacklisted. That’s just unacceptable a/h behavior. 

[Jarrod_Uncut]

13 hours ago, ICTJOCK said:

I raised my rates $50 an hour in the spring,  but I hadn't raised pricing since I first started.    I actually had a client ask me why I hadn't.

That’s basically what it is for me. Just an extra $50-$100 Not a lot but makes a difference. I even had one client say my rate “doubled” last year. I had to correct him on that, since when did $50-$100 equate to double? 
 

Somehow, getting less and doing fewer bookings is supposed to make more. Hmm, how does that work? On top of that, I can’t increase my volume if I wanted to, in my home area where this guy is. There’s so many last minute requested AND cancelled sessions in the area I’m in, it’s almost become a product of the environment to strive for a higher booking per client. Like I say, most days when I’m not traveling: I’m only averaging booking 1 or 2 serious clients a week. 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Jarrod_Uncut

[soloyo215]

Sorry to hear you are irritated over it.

[+ nycman]

2 hours ago, soloyo215 said:

Sorry to hear you are irritated over it.

You’re new here aren’t you?

grin 

Edited September 1, 2023 by nycman

[Jamie21]

Maybe the solution is to keep the price the same but provide less for it? Have you noticed how some groceries or chocolates / sweets (candy for our US cousins) are getting smaller? They keep the price the same but almost imperceptibly the size of the product gets smaller…

So I suggest keep your rates flat but maybe only use 80% of your dick when fucking the client? (I mean they’re still getting a lot more than average). Or in the small print of your advertising define an hour as 50 minutes?  Perhaps speed up the clock in your bedroom? Maybe when massaging your client lop 20% off the length of each effleurage stroke? I think there’s lots of options to shave the service to maintain profit margins 😉.  

Seriously though…I don’t mean to make light of the issue @Jarrod_Uncut. I think it’s a genuine problem in this business. My rates have more or less stayed the same for 4 years. I think it’s a problem because the market is competitive and clients can be fickle. My costs have increased substantially especially recently. The worry is however that if you put up rates you’ll lose business. So you put off the increase until it becomes impossible and then you apply a big increase which clients notice. Maybe the answer is to do what many businesses do any apply an increase annually.

Ultimately I think if you back the quality of what you offer then you should reflect that in the price. 
 

[jeezifonly]

Do escort reviews ever include links to this forum and providers’ written (and written and written) thoughts about their work and clients? Asking for a friend. 

[Buddy15]

16 hours ago, Jarrod_Uncut said:

I know this should be directed at the specific people who say that, however I can’t help but bring it up because I’ve already heard it (or shall I said, read it in text messages) now like 3 times over the past year. 
 

I’m sure I don’t have to explain why prices may be a little more than before. But some of these guys saying this, haven’t seen me in a year or more. The most recent: guy is a semi-regular but we’ve not met since December. 8 months, a whole new year and age older later, we’re having a discussion about prices up.

For me: I haven’t gone up just because everything else has. In my case, it’s been a combination of increased prices and fewer bookings. Some of these guys are expecting full service sessions at $150-200 an hour. However, I need at least $250-$400 to be able to offset the cost I spend on hotels, commute, etc. So at times I have to request 90 minutes or two hour minimum. 
 

On top of that: I’ve known the industry since 2008. At that time, $220 was fairly easy to get. I was also (my own critique opinion) not as put together and attractive as I am now. But here we are 15 years later, and some seem to think rates should remain the same or go lower?

I’m spending more on everything, yet don’t have the dependable salary I would imagine many clients have. And this started before Covid and inflation. For me, my expenses have been up ever since the “rental market” started to get hot in 2016 in many cities. I remember around that time, I did a hour session: having drove from one city to another (100 miles) and booked the room to host. I was only left with like $120 after the room. And that was my only booking that weekend if I remember. That’s when I realized: 1 rate isn’t going to be doable in all situations. 
 

And even a $50-100 difference isn’t necessarily a major move. But it still has an effect. I mean, my haircuts are costing me $10-15 more. My vitamins, protein shakes, and “men’s health” products are a little more right now than before too. Do clients expect us to just eat the cost of these things, with no sort of awareness that we might also need to adjust our prices? Do clients want a malnourished, soft dick guy with bad hair and nails to service them, because we can’t afford our essentials?

Then it’s like: somehow we’re supposedly to magically be able to pop out loads…while servicing 2-3 clients (hypothetically) a day to offset the lower rate.

Fortunately there are those out there that this doesn’t apply to, and most new clients I see are accepting of the newer prices I have. And this isn’t to poke at other clients or imply they are cheap, however I think there needs to be an understanding that sex work is expensive. I’m not some loaf of bread or gallon of milk that people buy everyday. I have so many companies taking money out of my pockets every month, I’m not out here just rolling in cash.
 

If things were conducive to do so, I would be asking for $500 to 1,000 minimum for meets, until I was certain lowering it could reach a higher volume. Last thing I want to do when I’m in a region with fewer clients and more advertisers, is LOWER my sessions. Seems it would equate to less bookings for less made 🤷🏾‍♂️ 
 

I don’t think it’s right to make it seem like an escort is being greedy, when we’re not immune to the price hikes either.

Also I remind clients: our rates, or at least mine; are not permanently inscribed in stone 🪨 we have the right to adjust our prices occasionally as we see fit. Especially if it’s been a lengthy amount of time (more than 6 months) since previously met or booked. Like I’ve related to hotels and airlines (I don’t fly, but gas changes just as often): their prices change almost everyday, and I’m subject to those same fluctuations directly out of my pocket.

I change my price/rate structure every so often because I get bored repeating the same thing. What incentive is there to know you can’t change your price after a few self improvements or seasonal adjustment 🤔 

Your posts remind me of the old joke about the waitress at the fancy country club.  When the meal was over she went to the guests and said "Was anything ok"?  Are you ever satisfied with anything??

[Jarrod_Uncut]

7 hours ago, Jamie21 said:

Maybe the solution is to keep the price the same but provide less for it? Have you noticed how some groceries or chocolates / sweets (candy for our US cousins) are getting smaller? They keep the price the same but almost imperceptibly the size of the product gets smaller…

So I suggest keep your rates flat but maybe only use 80% of your dick when fucking the client? (I mean they’re still getting a lot more than average). Or in the small print of your advertising define an hour as 50 minutes?  Perhaps speed up the clock in your bedroom? Maybe when massaging your client lop 20% off the length of each effleurage stroke? I think there’s lots of options to shave the service to maintain profit margins 😉.  

Seriously though…I don’t mean to make light of the issue @Jarrod_Uncut. I think it’s a genuine problem in this business. My rates have more or less stayed the same for 4 years. I think it’s a problem because the market is competitive and clients can be fickle. My costs have increased substantially especially recently. The worry is however that if you put up rates you’ll lose business. So you put off the increase until it becomes impossible and then you apply a big increase which clients notice. Maybe the answer is to do what many businesses do any apply an increase annually.

Ultimately I think if you back the quality of what you offer then you should reflect that in the price. 
 

Well that’s the thing: I’m not trying to do less work for more because, I do enjoy it for the most part.

But to me it’s just this idea that some seemed shocked about a price change. And I get it, everything has gone up and it can be annoying. I don’t think it has anything to do with any of the shit they claim it is except: “a politician wanted higher wages so now, we’re going to increase prices of everything in reaponse”. But I feel some are taking the anger out on us like: well now I’m going to pay YOU less because of it. 
 

Like dude, I’m 36 now. Were you making the same at 36 as you were at 21? For fucks sake, recognize the value of the service. My services hasn’t gone done in quality. At all. At all. 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Jarrod_Uncut

[NyGold]

 

You can’t demand compensation from the universe for what you think you deserve. 

You can aim for it and do what you can (produce and market it). But no one is obligated to write you a blank check per your own calculation of your monetary worth.

 

 

[soloyo215]

9 hours ago, nycman said:

You’re new here aren’t you?

grin 

I am. And?

[+ nycman]

Just now, soloyo215 said:

I am. And?

Sorry. It was a joke. 

Jarrod is chronically "irritated". 

[soloyo215]

I don't think that there's any solution to something that

9 hours ago, Jamie21 said:

Maybe the solution is...
 

I don't think there's anything to solve here. Prices go up, consumers complain about it. Whether the prices are perceived to be up or they are not paying a discount anymore, they are paying more than before, and there's nothing else to do if they complain, other than being irritated.

[soloyo215]

1 minute ago, nycman said:

Sorry. It was a joke. 

Jarrod is chronically "irritated". 

Got it.

[NyGold]

1 hour ago, Jarrod_Uncut said:

 

Like dude, I’m 36 now. Were you making the same at 36 as you were at 21? For fucks sake, recognize the value of the service. My services hasn’t gone done in quality. At all. At all. 

That’s the wrong question to ask and the wrong way to frame it.

It should be “what had you learnt, how much greater value could you bring etc - validated by promotions, increased responsibility, or your own ability to successfully close more / higher value deals  by the age of 36 that justified a higher salary compared to when you were 21” 

No one should be rewarded just for hanging around. 

And you saying your quality hasn’t gone down (you may be right) doesn’t mean anything if the market doesn’t recognize where you position yourself. 

 

 

[maninsoma]

I don't think anyone expects the price of something to remain the same forever.  The important thing about a price increase is that it seems reasonable and that the customer still feels like price is reasonable for the goods/service delivered. 

As has been written many times on this board before, a provider has the right to charge whatever he wants and clients have the right to decide to pay that rate or not.  While I'm not big on negotiating rates for anything, I know that others feel comfortable with that practice so don't take it as an insult that someone tries to haggle.  Just have your rate in mind and tell them no if they want to pay less than that.

This topic reminds me of a sushi restaurant I used to go to frequently that I haven't been back to for several months.  My favorite item there went from $16 to $26 over the course of about a year, with increases of a few dollars every few months.  I chalked up the first two price increases to inflation.  With the last price increase, however, I just no longer felt like what I was getting to eat was worth the cost.  The quality was the same, but after tax and tip it meant I was spending close to $35 for lunch and that's just too much for me on a regular basis when I can still get a burrito or a rice plate at a Chinese or Thai restaurant for under $20 after tax and tip.  So they basically priced themselves out of getting my business, and I assume the staff at least initially wondered what happened to me since I used to go there once per week.  Maybe they felt they had to increase their price about 66% over the period in question (though that obviously far outstrips inflation), but is it always better to have a higher profit margin even if it means lower revenues overall because some of your customers cease being your customers?  It doesn't help that I can get a similar, though not as good, item two blocks away for under $20.

Edited September 2, 2023 by maninsoma

[+ StLouisOct]

11 hours ago, soloyo215 said:

Got it.

And never accused of being succinct. 

[NJF]

13 hours ago, Jarrod_Uncut said:
 

Like dude, I’m 36 now. Were you making the same at 36 as you were at 21? For fucks sake, recognize the value of the service. My services hasn’t gone done in quality. At all. At all. 

Age may be part of the problem. Gays are the worst ageists. One of my friends just posted on facebook that he felt like 58 in gay ages lol because he just turned 29

[NyGold]

3 hours ago, arnemgreeves said:

More often than not clients aren’t reasonable. If a provider has been working for a decade or more as the OP has its reasonable to expect a price increase. 

The OP can set his price at whatever he wants. He is the producer, marketer, distributor, retailer. However he is not the purchaser, and he can’t force people to hire him, either at the price he wants or at any other rate.  Just as no one can force him to deliver service at a price he doesn’t like.

A client can be rude in response to sticker shock, demand a reduction etc and be clueless about what it takes to get to the finished product  — but not get anywhere with that and walk away … and that’s his right too.

If the price setter for one product doesn’t (choose to) realize that prices for everything at every stage of the value chain (including at the client end) are also increasing and that his supposed hardships are not solely faced by him, there isn’t much more a supportive community can do to help after many repeated efforts reiterating similar messages. 

 

What else are we talking about here? I have no idea. 
 

[NyGold]

3 hours ago, NJF said:

Age may be part of the problem. Gays are the worst ageists. One of my friends just posted on facebook that he felt like 58 in gay ages lol because he just turned 29

There’s a reason one of my favorite guys in my geography is also one of the least expensive. He came to his senses and realized he couldn’t get away with claiming to be south of 40 when he was visibly north of 50. He has also started selling mortgages and life insurance in addition to his former primary work, and I admire his foresight and being nimble. 

The idea that we are entitled — entitled — to more just by hanging around without increasing perceived value in the market - is at the root of many problems facing our economic society. 

Edited September 2, 2023 by NyGold

[DWnyc]

@Jarrod_Uncut you should be thankful to get the feedback from potential clients even if you don’t agree with what they have to say.

Large companies spend millions on market research to understand what’s on their targets’ minds. 

What you do with that information received is of course totally up to you.

[DWnyc]

1 hour ago, arnemgreeves said:

Do you need an online stranger to lecture to? I'm sorry you're this unhappy. Your sentence paragraph at the end also didn't make sense. Oh, and I can just read my undergrad and MBA notes for how supply and demand works. I make Jarrod right here - mainly since no provider has to answer for their prices. Customers or clients in this case can go elsewhere, as I stated prior. I know you take issue from me stating my views. It's amusing why, for somebody so "learned" and "wise" and socially "enabled". It's kind of funny you relate to strangers this way. I guess it's some arrogant American ways you learnt as a youth. 

Oh @arnemgreeves you’re hardly a stranger anymore 😉