opinions, here are mine.

1. I only know of 1 provider who has raised her rates. The agencies appear to be holding constant with theirs.

2. I suspect that would depend on the provider (or agency) in question. The one provider that I know of who raised her rates commented herself that she felt the services she offered commanded a premium.

So many newbies comming in.
Specials advertised all the time.
I think there is a downward shift on pricing.

but

For the super quality girls who have a loyal base,
raising of the rates keeps the nusance calls down.

Also, asking and gettin are two different things.

interest rates and inflation are still very low, and would not merit nor justify a price increase.

Perhaps those who raised rates are doing do to compensate for the relatively lower volume of business as a consequence of the poor economy. By raising rates, perhaps they feel they can generate an equivalent revenue stream by seeing fewer clients but charging them more.

This is pure speculation on my part.

Regardless, I doubt that the Atlanta economy and average wage levels can indefinitely sustain the higher price levels that we're seeing lately. Something has got to give.

His comment I feel is right on.

" For the super quality girls who have a loyal base,
raising of the rates keeps the nusance calls down. "

As a provider becomes more established and earns great reviews it seems fair her rates go up as long as they stay realistic.  Certainly a girl with a dozen or more reviews that are all 8-10's should charge more than a unknown or a provider with all 5-7 ratings IMHO.

Supply vs demand drives price and high quality costs more in nearly all aspects of life.

IMHO

Before opening this discussion, i would like to state the following: This is not a thread to reignite previous debate about pricing in Atlanta and whether guys should or should not be paying what they do. This is an attempt to understand generally what the opinion is about a trend. Please do not provide any comments regarding your own opinion about specifc price points or specific provider.

QUESTION: Is there an upward price shift in the ATL hobby market and if so why?

I have noticed on BP, CV etc that while there remains a wide range of providers, that there are more and more girls offering prices which are traditionally higher than previously in the ATL market.

I wonder and would like opinions on

(1) is this a trend that others see also (or am i just imagining it)?
(2) Speculation on why that is? Start of general economic recovery, more higher end providers working in ATL now, other external factors - premiums being paid for safety, reliability etc.

3 separate providers i know have advertised 10-25% price increases in the past 2 months - granted asking is different from getting, however they have advertised consistently at these levels now for 2 months.

Agencies seem to be holding constant (maybe even some specials) but i have noticed a number of newer ladies advertising at higher than "traditional" prices. My assumption (probably a bad one) is that if they keep advertising at these rates, they probably are getting them.....

seen it on EROS, indies, visitors and few at home raised theirs.

I work with min and max. Won't go below min and won't go above max for obvious reasons.

Please don't start with who has what right, blahhhhhhh..................

Although price does not indicate quality....... The only ladies I have seen raise rates are quality ladies. I would rather have quality over quanitity any day

I love how we are speculating on escort pricing in relation to GDP's and economic growth. Maybe we should set up a industrial average price index so we watch the average price of an hour go up and down in relation to world markets and demand. Who would be our 30 blue chips to watch?

My thoughts would be you need a balanced portfolio to remain diversified, some large cap-blue chips, small cap independents and maybe some internationals. Probably need a blend of "value" and "growth" (sorry that was really cheesy)

thinking an index of 10 would be better to track - perhaps call it the ATLTER Index Fun(d) - would be easy to see if the "index" is falling or rising

Would love to hear suggestions

Barbie, I think you're right.  Seems like a lot of the ATL guys would rather have a McDonalds hamburger rather than a superbly prepared tenderloin.  It just seems to me that quality is more important than quantity.  A few of the ladies I've seen have confided that they either cut their trip to ATL short or have dropped it all together.  Sometimes Sac's is much better than Wal Mart.