Rate hike... Lord, I need a glass of water.

[devonhunter]

Child... I finally did it. I had to. I raised my rates. I hadn't touched them since 2010, but it just wasn't working anymore. Between price increases for airlines, hotels, ads, food, gas, rent, etc... I had no choice. Hopefully it goes without too much ranting and tearing of wigs.

[instudiocity]

Better to raise your rates than raise your frequency.

[+ Just Sayin]

A consultant I saw last summer told me my office hourly rates were way too low for my level of expertise; I raised them without a whimper from clients; stay the course!

[whipped guy]

Yep, over the years I have been forced to raise the rates in my line of work as well. Yes, a few will grump and they might lead you to believe that there will be some "tearing of wigs". There won't be. However, in the final analysis they want YOU because of the person that YOU are, and they want YOUR services. Thirty nine years in business tells me this and if you treat your clients with respect and make them feel special (and from your reputation I am sure that is indeed the case) there will be no significant adverse repercussions. After all, you need to be fair to yourself as well as your clients.

[RadioRob]

Do what you need to do. You'll make up any that you lose. Stay focused on quality and having a great time and you'll be fine. :-)

[jimboivyo]

work smarter, not harder

 

quality escorts should charge accordingly. if you get push back, those aren't the clients you want any way

[devonhunter]

Thanks, y'all... All of this affirms what I was already thinking. xoxo

[bigvalboy]

Always take care of #1 first....everything else will take care of itself.

[instudiocity]

Always take care of #1 first....everything else will take care of itself.

Yeah, I find that pissing before a long drive, long movie, or long dick sex, makes for a more enjoyable time myself.

 

Speaking of all three, oh Devon, when are you coming to see me?

[TruHart1]

Child... I finally did it. I had to. I raised my rates. I hadn't touched them since 2010, but it just wasn't working anymore. Between price increases for airlines, hotels, ads, food, gas, rent, etc... I had no choice. Hopefully it goes without too much ranting and tearing of wigs.

Thanks, y'all... All of this affirms what I was already thinking. xoxo

 

Devon, I know from personal experience that you are definitely worth whatever you need to charge to continue being the quality escort you've always been! Move forward and never look back, you hot southern gentleman! (...and visit my area soon! )

 

TruHart1

[+ Gar1eth]

I guess I might be the only one to bring it up. But even if I still had a job and career, I am not sure how much I would be hiring if people's base rate is going to routinely be $300 dollars an hour. Soon that means $350 and just a little beyond that $400 per hour as the 'New Normal'. When I started hiring in 2002-a not out of the ordinary donation was $150. And if you say that was on the low side then let's say $180 was more normal. Let's now take $300 as the possible new base rate. So 300/180. Isn't that a 167 % increase over my -well let's say my 15 year familiarity with hiring since I'm not hiring anymore? I'm just wondering how many of y'all out there in Client Land have had a 167% increase in wages over 15 years.

 

Gman

[mike carey]

From $180 to $300 is an increase of $120, which is a 67% increase.

 

Devon will find out soon enough if his clientele are prepared to pay his new rates. Also, some of the cost increases he's faced may change, for example another airline might start to fly from Charlotte and provide competitive pressure on US/American. Not everyone will want to pay the new rates, but some certainly will.

[+ Gar1eth]

From $180 to $300 is an increase of $120, which is a 67% increase.

 

Devon will find out soon enough if his clientele are prepared to pay his new rates. Also, some of the cost increases he's faced may change, for example another airline might start to fly from Charlotte and provide competitive pressure on US/American. Not everyone will want to pay the new rates, but some certainly will.

 

Whoops- you are right.

 

Gman

[down_to_business]

Good luck with your business plan. When all is said and done, I imagine you will work a little less and make about the same. I would expect multi-hour hires to decrease dramatically, and 1 hour appointments to increase. I don't know if I would stop seeing someone over this, but I would definitely be more likely to explore other options if faced with such a shocking bump. Being under a general salary freeze for over 10 years at my job, I definitely understand the desire and need to make more.

[Kevin Slater]

When I started hiring in 2002-a not out of the ordinary donation was... let's say $180... Let's now take $300 as the possible new base rate.

 

From $180 to $300 is an increase of $120, which is a 67% increase.

 

About half of which is eaten up by inflation. ($1 in 2002 = $1.32 today.) http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

 

Not making any specific point, just throwing my 2¢ (3¢ in 2015 dollars) out there.

 

Kevin Slater

[+ sf westcoaster]

I firmly believe that a provider should charge what the market can bear and if that is $300 for Devon then that is what he should charge. However, for me personally the $300 level means less hires and when I do hire it will be for an hour rather than two.

[bigvalboy]

Yeah, I find that pissing before a long drive, long movie, or long dick sex, makes for a more enjoyable time myself....

 

lol...otherwise...

 

http://images.inmagine.com/600wm/rubberball/rbv025/rbv0250060.jpg

[ZhenXBear]

I don't particularly think that Devon's decision is a bad one. He's clearly laid out the reasons for the necessary price increases and it seems to be to maintain his existing standard of living. If clients can afford this, then they'll pay.

 

I think my only concern would be that wages have been relatively stagnant for a lengthy period of time. Since the economic down turn and the Great Recession, the labor market seems to be recovering, however, the wages offered up on these new jobs are still on average less than they were before the Recession. It also depends somewhat on the affluence and job sectors his clients work in and how much additional money they can afford. He may see client frequency decrease in some areas, but remain the same in others; Local clients may baulk more, since the cost associated with that structure is cheaper than traveling; time will tell if it produces the desired affect.

 

The great part about it is, that he will have the ability throughout the whole process to modulate the rates. Perhaps $275/hour instead of $300, or some other inventive multi-hour package that people find appealing, yet still cover his associated costs.

[Decatur Guy]

I got a 5% raise this year, and I was thrilled. Biggest one in years. It's usually been in the 1% to 3% range.

 

So, bottom line for me: If I have $600 a quarter I can spare for this -- and I can hire Guy A at $200 an hour for three times or Guy B for $300 an hour for two times -- I'm gonna go with Guy A unless Guy B is an exceptionally better experience. That's an one additional fuck more per quarter!

 

It does seem $300 an hour is becoming the new baseline around here, and it's definitely going to cut into my hiring. I just can't keep up with my paltry raises, especially these $50 jumps. At $300 an hour, someone is going to be a special treat for me, not a regular.

 

But if I were an escort and I could increase my cash flow or work less for the same cash flow, of course I do it!

[instudiocity]

Three years ago, my regular guy and I were talking about rates in general. He was at $275. His comments were, if a guy hires me once, he'll be back, because I'm better than a $200 fuck... Once he's seen me three times, he's tipping me to $300, because ATMs kick out $20's and not $5's or $10's. I'd rather have 5 guys at $300 than 7 guys at $200. I always get my rate

[dcguy20]

When I left my job of 10 years last year, I was able to see where I started out salary wise, and where I ended. My raises the first few years were excellent, the highest being around 7%. I was lucky if I saw a 1.5% increase in the latter years. That being said, I've had to forgo seeing two guys I have seen several times over the course of a few years since they raised their rates to $300. I just don't see myself ever paying that.

[jackpack]

$300 an hour would include my tip ! I guess it depends on the market and supply and demand! Hotels and airlines do keep going up- and condoms and lube!

[ZhenXBear]

I got a 5% raise this year, and I was thrilled. Biggest one in years. It's usually been in the 1% to 3% range.

 

So, bottom line for me: If I have $600 a quarter I can spare for this -- and I can hire Guy A at $200 an hour for three times or Guy B for $300 an hour for two times -- I'm gonna go with Guy A unless Guy B is an exceptionally better experience. That's an one additional fuck more per quarter!

 

It does seem $300 an hour is becoming the new baseline around here, and it's definitely going to cut into my hiring. I just can't keep up with my paltry raises, especially these $50 jumps. At $300 an hour, someone is going to be a special treat for me, not a regular.

 

But if I were an escort and I could increase my cash flow or work less for the same cash flow, of course I do it!

 

The standard rate increase for healthcare in the Bay Area (if your healthcare company is offering raises) has been 2.5% for nearly 4 years now, unfortunately.

[curiousnomore]

Devon, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you, but any serious client will gladly pay whatever you value your time to be worth.

[BSR]

I'm glad to see so much positive feedback for Devon about his rate increase. The question everyone asks himself in any transaction, whether hiring an escort or buying a sweater, or whether you're the client or provider, is: "What's it worth to ya?" If $250 for an hour session just isn't worth it to the escort, then he should raise his rates. He might take a loss in client hours, but at least that would allow him more free time, something most of us hard-working folks feel like there's never enough of. Devon, I wish you all the best and hope the rate increase works out for you.

 

I am boggled when I see any escort listing for less than $300 in high-cost-of-living cities like NYC or San Francisco. Unless you're one of those lucky bastards who scored a $500/mo rent-stabilized apartment (and even with low rent, the cost of everything else in NYC is sky-high), I don't see how you make ends meet. And I don't care if you live in Podunk, Iowa, I don't get how any escort charges $200 and feels like it's worth his while. We gays are so damn lucky in this sense. If you compare how much our straight counterparts pay for working girls, we gay clients are getting a helluva discount across the board!!