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

[+ DynamicUno]

Back when the US sites would allow providers including their rates in their ad, I would see one of my regulars bump up their rates occasionally.  Often if I asked them when scheduling the next time to confirm their rates, they'd tell me I could pay them old rate as an appreciated client. Not always, but it did feel nice when it happened.

I don't get the idea that guys can't raise their rates, however.  They have to be able to earn enough to make the work worthwhile.  I can certainly ask why there was an increase, but the provider doesn't owe me an answer if they don't care to explain. Conversely, if I decide to move on and not hire them again, I don't be owe them an explanation either.

I just don't get the drama about it.  Guys expecting to pay the same going rates from 10 years ago or more are living in a fantasy world.

 

 

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by DynamicUno

[Archangel]

4 hours ago, DynamicUno said:

Guys expecting to pay the same going rates from 10 years ago or more are living in a fantasy world.

How many people still are bitching about how much gas costs today compared to when Reagan or HW was president? People don’t like price increases. Sure. It goes up. We adjust. We don’t have to like it. Likewise, as it goes up, some people won’t sign on to the new price as quickly as some others. Businesspeople shouldn’t wonder why people are unhappy to pay more. As a general rule, no one likes to part with their money no matter what for.

I could see me making a remark about an increased rate. But it would be up to the provider. It would also be up to me to decline. Sometimes I’m hesitant to take a reduced rate if a provider says he’s willing to provide it. Not because I don’t think he’ll give worse service intentionally, but I don’t want to be resented.

[maninsoma]

9 hours ago, NyGold said:

Plus just an inability to comprehend how the market measures one’s value. An individual thinking they are good, or the best, doesn’t mean their market thinks so.

Deciding to put all sorts of inputs into one’s service - with costs associated -without testing what the market will tolerate,  And then using that to justify price, and wondering why that might be surprising to anyone … and why if people spend money on something completely unrelated they can’t or won’t spend on their service …  the mind boggles. 

This is not about an individuals value to society as a human being, self worth, self esteem, to one’s family and friends etc.

It’s about capitalist reality. 

 

It's really no different than a restaurant that was supposed to open in San Francisco atop the Salesforce tower.  I don't remember all of the details, but when the plans were first announced a couple of years ago it was proclaimed to be a "first class dining experience" where people had to buy non-fungible tokens to become a member (at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars if I recall correctly) that merely gave them the right to eat at said restaurant (i.e., paying tens of thousands of dollars didn't even get you a meal).  Now, I'm not of the socioeconomic status where I could have become a member even if I wanted to, but the entire thing sounded ridiculous to me and I assumed it would never come to fruition.  They just announced that the plans had been canceled due to a variety of reasons, but the bottom line is that the market spoke and told the people trying to collect all of this money for the privilege of dining somewhere that what they were proposing was not worth the money.

[Archangel]

That was a non-fungible plan! 

[Rudynate]

On 9/1/2023 at 7:45 AM, Jarrod_Uncut said:

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. 

$100.00 is a lot to raise your rate all at once, no matter what the client had been paying. I"m not saying don't raise your rates, but you should have expected pushback for a 100.00 increase.  I can't think of what you might do in your business, but a lot of times service businessess find a way to soften the impact of a big price increase by enhancing the service in small ways.

[Rudynate]

On 9/2/2023 at 7:30 AM, maninsoma said:

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.

An Indian restaurant we used to patronize nearly every week increased their prices  about 70%.  We still go there, but we are down to once in a few months. 

 

[Archangel]

I’ve noticed everything has gone up. Everything. And the cynical side of me says it’s places (providers in a broad sense) taking advantage of the boogeyman “inflation” to simply raise rates. When you look at profits of companies, many are posting record profits. How is that possible during an inflationary period if things are so rough for such enterprises? I’m not talking mom-and-pop operations. I’m talking Amazon. Netflix. YouTube. Etc. Just by way of example. Jeff Bezos is worth in the neighborhood of $180 billion. I don’t think he’s hurting for inflation.

I work in the non-profit sector and we rely on donations to keep us going. We provide services, but we don’t charge except for a few specific exceptions. Yet things have gotten more expensive for us as well. We need to pay higher rates to Comcast, for instance, along with all our donor base. We are seeing people cut their donations while our costs are going up. I’d love to charge for services from a strictly fiduciary standpoint, but we simply can’t. Yet the whole cost of operations issues is hitting us on both ends. We’re actually looking at rolling compensation back 14% next fiscal year simply to make budget with increased costs of operations with decreased donations.

The difference here, in my line of work, I understand the dynamics of why that’s happening. I don’t like it, but I don’t complain or act like I don’t get why the situation is the way it is. People simply can’t give to things like they did before when the cost of everything else is going up. And we hear that. So I’m not surprised that clients would notice an escort putting rates up and not liking it. No one does. And people notice and say – “I’m now paying more for the same thing as before. The math has skewed against me.”

[Nodalguy]

On 9/2/2023 at 8:31 PM, arnemgreeves said:

 It's kind of funny you relate to strangers this way. I guess it's some arrogant American ways you learnt as a youth. 

Just re-reading this now. You complain about Americans, even identifying particular geographical subsets that especially offend you, and yet dismissive arrogance and you are never far apart. You have got to be trolling 😂. Is it even possible for someone to hold these beliefs and spew such invective and yet be so unaware of himself?

I want to be clear I hold zero ill will toward you and do not mean to offend you. My point is that I think it may be a good idea to take a step back and reconsider your views and attitude.

[Nodalguy]

5 minutes ago, arnemgreeves said:

Well, yes. I know how mid-westerners behave. they don't offend me, but I treat them like dangerous snakes or wolves, I steer clear from dangerous stuff. If one knows the nature of something, one knows how to act accordingly. Including Mid-Westerners. 

Your ability to stay true to character is, and I'm being sincere here, remarkable.

I've always judged people on the basis of the things they do and say. And to some extent, everyone, including me, makes some assumptions or judgments based on how people look, but I am conscious of that and try to avoid it.

[Archangel]

Isn’t bigotedly maligning an entire swath of a country’s population totally off topic of this thread? I mean, I could be wrong, but I thought we were discussing market fluctuations and supply and demand expectations. Not engaging in malicious stereotyping 🤷🏼‍♂️ 

[DWnyc]

6 hours ago, Nodalguy said:

Just re-reading this now. You complain about Americans, even identifying particular geographical subsets that especially offend you, and yet dismissive arrogance and you are never far apart. You have got to be trolling 😂. Is it even possible for someone to hold these beliefs and spew such invective and yet be so unaware of himself?

I want to be clear I hold zero ill will toward you and do not mean to offend you. My point is that I think it may be a good idea to take a step back and reconsider your views and attitude.

Guys you do realize he gets off on this provocative behavior and the response that follows, and he knows full well it’s all  nonsense.

 

[Nodalguy]

32 minutes ago, DWnyc said:

Guys you do realize he gets off on this provocative behavior and the response that follows, and he knows full well it’s all  nonsense.

 

I agree and think he is trolling. But let's just say I am a little unimpressed with his efforts thus far.

[DWnyc]

I’m just chuckling at the leaps made here. Since I am apparently a midwesterner, Am I from the Midwest of Manhattan I wonder? Or the Midwest of where I was born and went to college neither of which were in this country? And somehow brother Arnie seems to know my bio better than I do myself …before we even get to the language used and references to Hitler etc. and that about sums up the credibility factor.

The OP at least gets some revenues that he references in this post - where is our collective donation received for entertaining posters who get oxygen from this kind of deliberate baiting (and not the masterful kind).

 

[DWnyc]

4 minutes ago, Nodalguy said:

I agree and think he is trolling. But let's just say I am a little unimpressed with his efforts thus far.

Well I never said he was good at it …  😝

[Archangel]

At some point, internet controversies inevitably descend to argumentum ad Hilterum. 

[+ José Soplanucas]

The pizza seems to be good.

[Archangel]

[+ DrownedBoy]

14 hours ago, Nodalguy said:

I agree and think he is trolling. But let's just say I am a little unimpressed with his efforts thus far.

I'll take your word for it.

The moment I tag a user as a troll, I block them and ignore them. However ,  the small quoted segments I see don't indicate a mature or intelligent mind.

[+ DynamicUno]

16 hours ago, DWnyc said:

Well I never said he was good at it …  😝

If you keep it up, you might get a strongly worded PM compliaining about midwestern plots...

[Archangel]

16 hours ago, José Soplanucas said:

The pizza seems to be good.

Maybe there’s an evil child sex traffic ring operated out of midwestern pizzeria basements though?! *snark*

[Archangel]

4 hours ago, DrownedBoy said:

I'll take your word for it.

The moment I tag a user as a troll, I block them and ignore them. However ,  the small quoted segments I see don't indicate a mature or intelligent mind.

That’s how I see it too. Hide someone’s comments doesn’t hide them if someone you didn’t hide quotes them. 

[DWnyc]

5 hours ago, DynamicUno said:

If you keep it up, you might get a strongly worded PM compliaining about midwestern plots...

And at some point perhaps the moderators will haul us all up for not sticking to the OP’s topic and attacking a fellow forum member and then lock this discussion… 

[Archangel]

2 hours ago, DWnyc said:

And at some point perhaps the moderators will haul us all up for not sticking to the OP’s topic and attacking a fellow forum member and then lock this discussion… 

A close reading will see that said member poked the bears first! 

[marylander1940]

On 9/2/2023 at 10:54 PM, pubic_assistance said:

In most careers you make more with experience.

But when it comes to escorting I'd probably pay more for a 21 year old than I would a 36 year old escort.

( I mean ...personally, I wouldn't even consider hiring someone that old).

So this particular career has a different valuation curve than others do.

Also let's consider that are less 21-year-old guys escorting than guys in their 30's and if someone made it to 36 and he's still escorting is because the must be good!

Back to subject! 

@Jarrod_Uncut you can charge whatever you want. Some guys won't raise their rates to their regulars while others do. At the end as implied by @pubic_assistance and others is all about supply and demand.

 

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by marylander1940

[DWnyc]

2 hours ago, marylander1940 said:

Also let's consider that are less 21-year-old guys escorting than guys in their 30's and if someone made it to 36 and he's still escorting is because the must be good!

 

Not necessarily. Just because something is on the market, priced at whatever the vendor decides, doesn’t mean the product is desired by the market at that price or at all.

There are plenty of providers on RM who list but barely have clients or who do any number of other things to keep the lights on. We don’t see the sales side so unlike say Amazon we can’t see a rank in the market.