I've been tinkering around with Backpage for the past year, mostly inquiring and learning, but occasionally taking one for the team. I've thought about posting a long Freakonomics type report about how Backpage operates, but nah ... maybe another time. This post is just about what you should know as a hobbyist.

The good -

Many women don't qualify physically to work at the typical agency, at agency rates of $300 per hour or so. Try to get a job as an African-American, or a BBW, or an Asian immigrant who can't speak English well. Backpage gives them a chance to meet the market at a lower price, say $150 per hour. The site is a good venue for that.

The bad -

Everything else.

Essentially, every female who appears superficially to be attractive by normal standards (i.e., slender, young, white) is either a fake, or upsells, or is terrible at service. Simple tools like tineye.com or phone number lookups will reveal several varieties of fakery, and the few women on the site who are reviewed tend to get 5/4s, stuff like that.

Basically, you can't get a backpage woman to commit to anything. If you push them ahead of time on services, they hang up on you or tell you they can't tell you that because you might be a cop. The latter occurring although they don't screen. Then you show up and it's oh you thought I kissed, or oh you thought you could get two shots and that I wouldn't leave immediately after your first cup 20 minutes into the meeting?

Not worth it. Skip unless TER has a positive review (bloody unlikely) or Backpage takes control and institutes some consumer-friendly policies.