What can one do when the local market is charging low-ball rates?

[Michael Wayne]

are we a high end car (negociation on price is common at a dealership) or a prime filet mignon (if you ask the chef or server for a price break you will be asked to leave)???? Which are we??

[JoeyBryant]

are we a high end car (negociation on price is common at a dealership) or a prime filet mignon (if you ask the chef or server for a price break you will be asked to leave)???? Which are we??

 

Yeah I would never want to be a car. You get negotiated, then depreciated, then abused. 5 years later, it's old news. Then the younger clients get ahold of it...

 

But the point I was making was comparing rentboy to a higher end dealership and what buyers have to spend when going to one.

 

Being a piece of meat (steak) would be even more disastrous. I don't think one would be asked to leave if they asked for a price break on the steak. A good server would probably just refer you to the Halibut or a different cut. In fact, I was at a resturaunt where 2 guys in my group were complaining of a steak being overcooked and one was larger than the other. The manager came to the table and took 2 steaks off the bill. This is at a relatively high end resturaunt too.

[JoeyBryant]

This is a chicken or the egg discussion. It's possible that other escorts have had this type of problem and have lowered their rate to pull in more consistent clients. You seem to believe that the escorts at lower rates have caused the problem. It wouldn't surprise me if this is a reaction.

 

I can see how that would be something to consider and it absolutely makes sense. However, it's not quite the case because I have not seen the consistent advertisers lowering their rates...the advertisers I mentioned seem to have popped up overnight. I have not seen them before. They're coming and going. Not even sure if they live here or somewhere else in the state...that too could be a factor.

 

The reason why I don't believe it's the other way around is because more often than not, when an escort has a hard time getting the rate they want, it's always preceded or is followed by "so and so charges X amount...so because so and so charges that, that's what I want to pay".

 

I learned that from day 1. My first client from rentboy years ago hired me and another guy. Other guy wanted 150. I wanted 200. But because other guy was asking 150, client wanted me to meet for 150 as well. Now, 150 isn't bad at the moment as some areas aren't $200 markets, but when I started out I was not charging 150. But when we start talking 140 for 2 hours and 125...just know that we have the power to set a precedent for ourselves and future escorts.

[Atomicshawn]

Hey dude, have you thought about including half hour rates? There might be clients looking for a quick meet which would be less in the short term but perhaps by volume more in the long run? That way you could still manage a decent competitive 1/2 hr rate and maybe upsell a client wishing to stay longer with you? Just a random idea.

[JoeyBryant]

Hey dude, have you thought about including half hour rates? There might be clients looking for a quick meet which would be less in the short term but perhaps by volume more in the long run? That way you could still manage a decent competitive 1/2 hr rate and maybe upsell a client wishing to stay longer with you? Just a random idea.

 

Good idea and yes I have tried it out. However, I haven't really found them to work as well as I expected...probably due to pricing. some people suggest that a half hour isn't half of your hourly rate, but something like 125/hh and 200/hr. But I just haven't found more than 100 for half hour to work. I have heard they work in larger European markets.

[corndog]

Hey dude, have you thought about including half hour rates?

 

As a client, I'm thinking that the opposite thinking might work. I guess it depends on your style and comfort level, but if you're not busy, perhaps a thing to try would be a two-hour rate. For example, offer 2 Hours for $250. If you're good at offering the "boyfriend experience" this might appeal to clients who would like a little more get-to-know-you time, and an unrushed session. Assuming that you're not trying to schedule 5 clients a day, the extra time probably wouldn't be physically taxing, as most clients won't be having sex longer, just taking more time for chatting or perhaps cuddling. In addition, I suspect that, if you can pull this off successfully, clients who like this kind of arrangement are much more likely to become regulars than the wham-bam-thank-you-sir 1/2 hour clients.

[+ Travis69]

Some clients have to account to someone else for their expenditures. They might have a spouse or partner who is asking questions about all of their ATM withdrawls. It's not always about being cheap but sometimes about what they can get away with spending without getting caught.

[Nvr2Thick]

I learned that from day 1. My first client from rentboy years ago hired me and another guy. Other guy wanted 150. I wanted 200. But because other guy was asking 150, client wanted me to meet for 150 as well. Now, 150 isn't bad at the moment as some areas aren't $200 markets, but when I started out I was not charging 150. But when we start talking 140 for 2 hours and 125...just know that we have the power to set a precedent for ourselves and future escorts.

 

There was recently another thread regarding "affordable" men in NYC. After much foot-stomping and purses flying there was no conclusion. Some believed that the men with lower rates were just the Backpage crack-hos (another discussion -- plenty of good men on Backpage). Others believed that there are just some guys out there who don't feel a need to charge as much as others.

 

One of the differentiators in NYC is that there are dozens of men available and that some are clearly establishing themselves as the A-List -- deservedly in some cases. I'm sure these $250-$300/hr guys are subject to haggling, but they have the ability to coexist with $150/hr men. If you were a licensed home improvement contractor you'd have a legitimate beef. But for the line of work you're pursuing you're out of luck. If there are a few guys in Denver who don't feel a need to charge $200/hr it's just too bad. You can't really say that they're lowballing or ruining the industry -- it could just be that it's all that they want for their services, not that they're out to cut into your business. You started at $200 and settled in at what the market may bear. Other guys may have just thought $150 is a pretty good take for an occasional escort call. You could try to emulate some of the marketing of the best of the best in NYC, but with 13 escorts on Rentboy, establishing the Denver A-List is going to be unrealistic.

 

I've joked about unionizing, but some of your discussion above implies exactly that. You're viewing the rates that escorts set as some sort of precedent for the industry. I don't believe that every escort approaches this line of work with the same eye toward marketing. Hell, some don't even approach it as a line of work.

[JoeyBryant]

One of the differentiators in NYC is that there are dozens of men available and that some are clearly establishing themselves as the A-List -- deservedly in some cases. I'm sure these $250-$300/hr guys are subject to haggling, but they have the ability to coexist with $150/hr men. If you were a licensed home improvement contractor you'd have a legitimate beef. But for the line of work you're pursuing you're out of luck. If there are a few guys in Denver who don't feel a need to charge $200/hr it's just too bad. You can't really say that they're lowballing or ruining the industry -- it could just be that it's all that they want for their services, not that they're out to cut into your business. You started at $200 and settled in at what the market may bear. Other guys may have just thought $150 is a pretty good take for an occasional escort call. You could try to emulate some of the marketing of the best of the best in NYC, but with 13 escorts on Rentboy, establishing the Denver A-List is going to be unrealistic.

 

I've joked about unionizing, but some of your discussion above implies exactly that. You're viewing the rates that escorts set as some sort of precedent for the industry. I don't believe that every escort approaches this line of work with the same eye toward marketing. Hell, some don't even approach it as a line of work.

 

Excellent points. Rates are just so subjective as it is, like you say the reasons could vary across the board. Like I say, that's why I don't have an interest in contacting anyone to suggest they change their rates. I'm more focused on what I can do, not in trying to persuade someone else into doing something.

 

Someone in this thread mentioned earlier to mention what I offer versus what the others don't. It's actually helped out quite a bit by pointing those things out. Granted I know what I offer and I hear clients often tell me what other escorts don't do..i think clients are willing to pay a bit more for that.

 

the only reason I say that it sets a precedent is because there's some areas where they all list $200-250. So when I go there...I don't run into much resistance with 200+. Because there's not guys popping up asking much lower than 200. It's a fact. When you get enough guys offering X amount for a long enough period of time...it becomes the norm.