Hi everybody. So here is my next question. It is concerning pricing and the market that one is in?

How does one know what is the goal range of pricing for your area? What criteria should I follow?

I'm in Miami and when I check sites, the ranges are a little all of the place in the ranges. There are some 400 hour ladies, some 300-350 and some 250 as well. The backpage girls seem to have a rate of 160-180 with myself having a $200 ad there myself, I think I went for that rate because I didnt know if I could/would get calls with a price much higher than the ladies on that adsite. [Of course there are a lot of $100 specials there from other providers/persons. the rate I posted on my first site was 250.

Now the $200 does draw some people but they have not been the type of customers as of yet that are members of verification sites or review boards and the screening is a chore so I dont see nearly as many from the ad if I could if I chose to be careless and risky (Heck Naw!)..

So I am stepping my game up and developing a better website and going to Eros as well but I cant do that without a set of realistic yet worthy prices.

I am an attractive(pretty),near 40 year old light skinned black spanish speaking (bilnigual) lady with a graduate degree. I am not skinny nor "fat". I wear between size 10-12 (trying hard to stay at a 10...LOL). I can bill myself as fullfigured but necessarily as BBW (or can I?)

As an accommodating female, men friends offered and gave more than 200 but there was no ad competition, those were private interest one and one situation/arrangements.

Fairly, I think $700 three hour package for me is a great newcomer rate and deciding to break it down from there. I originally thought a little higher but I dont have reviews posted as of yet.
What do you all think?

Im looking forward to your responses and help. Thanks
Maddie

Maddie good for you doing your homework on others in the MIA area.
Your price of $200 is very reasonable since you have no reviews.  An upscale websight on EROS will definitely get you attention and business.  I would stay at the $200 rate till you get reviews then go up from there.
Go on the MIA board and make yourself known as a newbie provider.  I'm sure the gents there will take good care of you.  Just be sure to follow the rules and guidelines for advertising on the discussion boards.
As far as the $700/3 hr rate.  Things are very tight out there and $700 is alot for a non-reviewed provider, no matter how many hrs.  Your rate of $200/hr x 3 is only $600 so why the added $100???  It should work the other way ie. 3 hr for $550....
Good luck!

You might want to revisit your 3 hour rate, and first establish a good 1 hour rate, then work up from there. Keep posting on your local board, and posiibly offer some specials. Once you get the local guys interested, the reviews will start coming in. It just takes time.

Definitely put together a website, even the template type work very well. (rare-escort)

Good Luck, Maddie.

Really depends on what your financial goals are, other sources of income, what type of lifestyle you want to live, etc.  The main thing you should take away from MY post is that none of these guys that answer are really going to give you a reply not based on their own experiences and limitations - and when it comes to paying for sex, no one is more clueless than the buyer.  For every 5 guys that pay 200 there's probably 1 guy who will pay 1000.  Maybe gentlemen who pay more are more prone to repeat, maybe this is only true for people who pay less.  Some people think $200 is a lot of money for an hour and some people think it's an obvious indicator of a low-quality experience.  It took me years to realize that there were providers worth seeing who charged less $2000 for ANYTHING (I only found out about this site within the last year).  

We're not really enough alike to give you a good answer, nor do we know enough about you, your personality, or your situation.  You should tailor your rates to your wants/needs and go from there.  Perhaps the ladies can help, but none of us would have a damn clue - whether we think we do or not.

Tier your offerings. Start at 1 hour, but offer rates for 2, 3 or 4 hours. Give discounts for more hours. Stay away from 30 minute specials, no top tier lady that I have seen does that.

Above all, honestly market yourself in terms of age, weight, ect. There is a market for every lady. The ladies that do not do well are the ones that use deception to draw in clients.

I read an extensive paper on all aspects of "the hobby" that suggested provider rates are roughly the same as for attorneys in the area!

After I picked myself up from the floor, I figured out that this was not too bad a rule of thumb.

If you do raise your rate, don't be surprised if your regular clients drop you and see someone else. Resist the temptation to use the leverage of a sugardaddy to charge a higher rate to your other customers. If the suggardaddy goes you will have to lower your prices to get the old customers back.

I know a provider right now who went from $200 to $300. Then from $300 to $400. She is not back at $300. To get guys back she has to have specials.

Hi Maddie,

IMHO, If you start your rates out low and raise them later. Grandfather the old clients in at your old rate. That is fair. There are gentlemen out there, who have differing opinions about what an escort should charge, new or established. But they're not a provider. I say look at the average rate in your area and start there. Once again, if you raise your rates later, keep the former clients granfathered in, and you will not lose them. Some clients are going to think you charge too much, know matter what, but there are many clients out there, who have the ability to afford upscale prices.  

It's simple, there are low priced shops like Walmart and Sears, then you have, department stores, such as Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue. I don't see the high end department stores going out of business yet, because their prices are high. This is example is not an exact reference, but you get the idea.

There's something out there for everyone. You'll do just fine.

Good luck!

Mackenzi

Bottom line Maddie is you have to figure out whats good for you..You don't want to be so high in price that you put yourself right out of the market, but you have to post what YOU feel is a good hourly rate for you, and not let it become a lets make a deal, your price is your price and if your too expensive for some, then there are others that they can see for the price that seek!
Multi hour dates can be and are usually negotiable if you feel the need to do so.
My prices are what they are, and the only time i change them is if i'm running a special which is very few and far between, because i don't have too..being low volume affords me to do this when and with who i want too, and if a Hobbyist contacts me with constantly trying to lower my price i will not see that gentleman. My Price is My Price..a very simple concept.
and Yes, i get appts. all the time, and more if i choose too but with my "real" job and other things i do ..i'm lucky enough where i don't have to, so the gentlemen that know me and desire to see me, never ask me to give them the bargin basement rate, they can find 160hr girls on CL or HX   hell, i've seen ads for 100hr.  thats not me nor is it my style..
So the bottom line is you have to do whats good for you!
Jay

You are the only one who can decide YOUR worth. Ask yourself some questions when doing so. Do you want to charge similar to the backpage girls that you referenced? If you feel they are your competition, then go for it. However, if you feel otherwise, then start to decide the range you want to be in and if it is a good fit for you. Remember, there will always be guys who are willing to see you if they like what they see. Likewise, there will always be guys outside of the TER community that will see you regardless of how established you are with reviews. These are the ONLY clients that I get. (Unfortunately). However, I do this part time and do not rely on this as my sole income. Will you rely on this as your sole income? Consider that when you take a stance on what your time is worth. You may want to go for a lower rate at first, if you NEED to bring in a boatload of TER members or just clients in general.

Now, to gauge what YOUR time is worth, take a look at the woman in your area. What are the other full-figured or “thick” (IMO, you are not BBW at a size 10) women charging for their time? Other brown-skinned providers? Other 40 year old ladies or MILFs (Yummy)? Other GRADUATE educated women? Other women with a similar look (average, pretty, stunning)? Use the competition as a guide to determine your rate! I caution using the “consumer” solely as your guide to what your time is worth. Some might steer you in a direction that will benefit them and not you. Consider this: would a new shoe company ask prior to their debut what the consumer thinks they should pay for their shoes? Probably not.  Just decide what type of shoe you think you are. Remember, there needs to be shoes for everyone. So, what is your market? The Payless shoe market, Nike or Prada? Low, middle, high.  Where do you want to be? What is realistic for the qualities you are working with?

Personally, if I went off of comments I had heard when I first debuted online, I would charge only $. I had to decide if the comments I was getting (e.g., “you’re not worth it,” “go back to where you came from,” etc.) were warranted. If it had not been for my ATF, as well as my first TER encounter (from actually an ex-banned member!), I would have not believed that my time was indeed worth what I had requested ($$$). (Thank goodness for those two gentlemen!). For those gentlemen who felt otherwise, they were welcome to find a different provider.

Now, before you consider my nonchalant stance about gentlemen who will not pay what you desire, determine how much business do you want. If you want or need to bring in lots of clients to meet your income needs, then maybe you should go for a lower price at first, until you are established, instead of forcing yourself out the game.  Then, increase your rates after you decide you have the backing you need to do so.

Just my thoughts, but I may be unique. However, being unique works for me.

IMHO, I think ALL ladies should raise their prices, forcing a new rate structure!!!!


Always,
Giamarie

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and so is Maddie and every other successful business owner.

Aside from that the rest of your advice has merit. Of course I would disagree that all providers should raise their rates, the same way that I am sure you would disagree that oil prices should be higher (I am in the oil business). lol

the salary wizard on www.salary.com to give me an idea of how much attorneys make in my area. Wow, I certainly want to use that as my guide!

I also recommend finding someone whose business model you like and use that as a point of reference.

Also, I know from experience that rate increases or higher rates do NOT necessarily mean you will receive fewer inquiries and have fewer dates. That was one of my goals at my last increase, and it ended up backfiring. (I'm not exactly complaining, though!)