I've been noticing a lot of providers raising their prices over the last few months from $$$ to $$$$.  

Good for you if you can get it, but I think you're being a bit short sighted ladies.  

I'm a multi-hour kind of guy, but your new rates are making that difficult to do.  You can make $$$$ for one hour or $$$$$$ for two, with less work (no having to get ready for another client, no wasted dead space, etc..), but I can't afford $$$$$$$$ for 2 hours.  So you're either only going to get 2/3 of what you could otherwise make, or i'm just going to stay home because 1 hour just isn't enough for me.

I'm not trying to tell you what you are worth, i'm merely trying to tell you the realities of guys like me... and the fact that your losing out on money because of it.  Maybe you have all the business you can handle.  I doubt it, though.  I think the price increase is to try and compensate for a smaller market and more providers taking customers away.  The thinking is if you get more money from a smaller pool, you work less and make the same amount of money.  That's not how it works (for very long).

I see this in restaurants all the time.  A restaurant opens, with great food and great prices.  They make a killing, but after a while business starts to taper off.. and to compensate for the lost revenue, they raise prices.. this leads to more customers going elsewhere which lowers revenue even more.. which causes more price raising... They then decide they can't raise prices more, so they start cutting the quality of the food, that leads to more customers leaving... until they're eventually out of business.

In any event, just consider this a friendly observation... take it or leave it...

Even if it's Chef Ramsey's platter, it's not a fair comparison.    

You do not determine a ladies value.  Nor does the guy that sees her every single week like clockwork.    
Each lady determines her own value and it is up to men to accept it for what it is. There are ladies at  
every price point from $40 to $1000 or more.  See the ones you can afford and don't complain about the ones you cannot.

I am curious, sir, if you were selling the most intimate parts of your self, your beauty and your being, would you put a price tag of $40 or $400.

One of the great things about the hobby - at least with reviewed providers - is that it's an almost classic perfect market, much like the stock market:  there's plenty of transparency in terms of what you're getting; there's lots of actual and potential competition because of low barriers to entry; and there are few constraints on changing prices.  If the market can bear higher prices, that's because of the clients' demand.  

It's most definitely not like a restaurant, where food and labor costs alone account for more than 50 percent of the price of an item, and overhead is going to account for another 20 to 30 percent.  The restaurant owner has nowhere near the flexibility on pricing that a provider has.

Think back a couple of years.  Pre-recession, the top end here was pretty much $$$.  The recession came and there were specials all over the place.

One thing you're missing:  While some providers have taken their prices up, they've created room for others to fill the $$$ bracket.  Look around.

And the example he used was to illustrate his point, not to say that escorts are like a piece of meat.  He's not the first fellow to wonder if such rate increases really end up putting more money in the lady's pockets and there is nothing wrong with pointing that possibility out.  We all know that in the end any given escort will charge what she chooses to charge and the market will decide if her chosen rate works or not.

complaining about it will not get them to change. My suggestion is to vote with your $$$$

I prefer outcall but can't justify $400, $450 or $500 that some want to come to me even if I can afford it.

I have found a couple real GFE providers at $300 that have acceptable and convenient incall locations that I am fine with and see them frequently. Getting a provider to release her incall location prior to a confirmed appointment is impossible. Next thing I know is I am faced with an hour, hour and a half drive even in the metro area to her incall which is not good for me. Biggest reason I avoid incalls even if a provider is at $350.

During the Spring and Summer months, there are several touring providers both independent and agencies that visit the area in the $300 - $350 range. I end up visiting many of them partly because I already have a good idea where their incall location is and can plan accordingly. Any upscale hotel downtown is usually just a three of four block difference.

I have become accustomed to ignoring specials, discounts and don't even pay any attention to those anymore. I am not going to go out of my way to see a lady just because she is offering a $50 discount off her standard rate. If she is around and available when I want to see her at a rate I am willing to pay, fine otherwise I move on.

Things were great six or seven years ago when most providers had a $300 rate incall / outcall but times have changed. Now we have to spend a bit more time doing research and finding what we want. I am ok with that

Putting the topic of a ladies value aside for a moment, does this mean that it would be wrong for me to try to live out my fantasy of having a lovely local provider actually display herself on an actual giant platter when I walk through the hotel room door? I just think that imagery seems kinda hot! Just imagine a giant silver platter with Poppy revealed as the steaming hot entree under the shiny cover, maybe some Portia on the side with a garnish of Melissa. If that's wrong, I don't want to be right.

I have said it before, the cure for high prices are high prices. Like the Pollen man said, we have a very free market with low, low barriers to entry, so we should really see a spread of price points, but we do not because the providers tacitly collude and price fix like a cartel. If it were really free, then prices would be falling in an attempt to garner more market share.  

As the provider's prices collectively increase (collusion), the market may start to soften for their services and prices will drop. Natalie was smart when this was brought up before, she lowered her rate. I do not know if her business increased, but it should have.

Get what you can ladies because you are worth it.

YES!!!!  On a platter garnished with strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate syrup!!

and absolutely nothing wrong with it.    Indeed!   That would be a platter worth devouring.  A feast fit for a king (or a MN gent named HibbyHoober).

the hobbyist has the provider sit on his dining room table with her feet on his chair.  The hobbyist , sitting in the chair with a cloth napkin in his lap, leans forward and feasts on the sweet garden.  Similar to the 'Poppy on the Platter' of which you write.

I won’t bore the group with the details of that, but Pollenbroker stated it well (I’m thinking we might be separated at birth after reading his review of Poppy!)

Removing the intimacy from the equation there is a financial goal and for some a frequency goal. (I.E. they really do like what they do). Let’s say a provider hates what she does, but needs to make $100k a year. She might want to spend the majority of her time working on her body, her skin her hair, etc… and market herself to Saudi Princes for a one-time $100k paycheck. Risky, but feasible.

Alternately, let’s say she loves what she does, and her ideal scenario would be to maintain a “one client a day” goal the $400 pricepoint hits the spot.

Economics and pricing are complicated, and unfortunately the emotional brain kicks in (if Sally is charging $400 then I should charge $450) rather than the logical brain that considers the cause and effect of change.

This is a REALLY emotional subject with many providers. This whole thread will get a number of their blood boiling with the “how dare you try to tell us what to charge mantra.

I will gladly dispense my expert advice (I do this for a living) to any provider that wants it but I suspect my mailbox will remain empty.

Here’s one I will give out to all: Ladies, avoid the sale pricing. An occasional discount may not be harmful, but consumers are quick to latch on to a new anchor price. If something can be had for $250, it’s hard for them to pay $300 if they think that it will go back down again. There is a lot more to it than that, but the advice remains the same.

I'll end my post with this: Providers: You ARE absolutely entitled to charge whatever you want to charge, but if economics come to play at all think about your goals and expectations and lead with your head, not your heart. Large corporations have struggled with this same issue, (JCPenny) so don't take pricing lightly

I hear this economic aspect all the time and I feel it works only on certain brackets. Recessions do not affect everybody but just the lower brackets. High end goods rarely feel the slowdown and so are high end escorts, those charging $1,000/hr never lower their prices because their clientele is not affected by the economy or other market forces...perhaps the girls charging lower prices want to cater to better off guys who are less affected by the economy or they just want less clients