But I just don't want to pay the 1500, especially when just back in 06 when the economy was rocking, some of these girls were at 1000-600 and hr.  

But the economy goes to crap, the housing market sinks and the price of a porn star rises?

What gives?

Well Dude, you got the economic equation right.  The girl has the right to charge whatever she thinks she is worth or can get, but we have the right to say no, fricken way!  Whenever I get the opportunity to connect with someone in that price range I always negotiate on the price.  Some will, and some wont...but I decide in the end whats fair...and I am always prepared to walk away if the price is unreasonable.

You can find Chennin Blanc for example, on here for 350 an hour.  Book her through anyone else, 1500.  

It's nuts.

Munch that is a good post, be ready to walk away and dont look back.

..but you got to do your research
also ex PS tend to be in similar price ranges as "reg" providers

That's all very true, but how many of us in the general hobby world would know who was available or would have easy access to the ladies were it not for the agencies?  They serve a purpose, hence their existence, and their cost factor. They make their money on folks willing to pay top dollar, versus volume that agencies that deal in non-famous escorts often do. Essentially, the agency is getting a finder's fee for finding clients. People pay it, or they wouldn't charge it. If anyone here thinks all the reviewers on TER can have a significant effect on cost, good luck. The market pretty much drives it, and we are only a small percentage of it. When supply exceeds demand, cost will be reduced, but not until.

Uh Mike, supply and demand as you know it from basic economics does not apply in the same way in a black market.  The sellers set the price as they like.

Since 2006 the people at the top of the economic food chain are making more and more money and that is who PS providers are marketing to.

Supply and demand still holds regardless of the market.

Illegal drug prices for example, routinely fluctuate depending on how successful, or not, authorities are in interdicting drugs from coming from other countries.

As for PSE prices, with direct booking prices are lower as the girls recognize the economic situation.

Agencies though seem to be oblivious to reality or don't care that they aren't going to make as much money by keeping prices at the same level as they were in 2003 or 04, when the economy was doing much better.

So when it comes to price inflation, the primary problem is the agencies, not the girls.

If the agencies were charging too much for the market, they wouldn't get any business, and the girls would find or create another agency with a lower cost to attract customers, or go indy and use tools like P411, etc. to screen, which some do already. Many use high dollar agencies (most use more than one) AND work independently on the side, publicly, UTR, or both.  Apparently, folks here don't realize that while the GENERAL economy is still in the doldrums, there are still folks out in the HDH market (buyers) with 6 figure incomes.

Who's to say the agencies are getting much business?

I know Lourdes recently lowered their prices, so that demonstrates a recognition that business isn't going too well in this economic climate.

As for girls who use multiple agencies and work independently, that's a recognition that one agency alone isn't sufficient to make enough money in this economy.

As for the 1%, well unless a girl gets hooked to a very wealthy guy , which is quite rare, she's going to have to work with an agency to get work from the wealthy class on a consistent basis.

Guys try to follow any PS on twitter, from there you can get an idea of her travels.

While you have valid points, I think as big a reason Lourdes lowered their prices was a function of competition, as they're not the only dog in the hunt for many of the same PSes, and when you have 2-4+ entities vying for the same agency fee, something's going to give.  It's well-established that Lourdes was on the high side of the agency market.  Once the agency rates are at/near parity, whoever has the best customer satisfaction is going to win that long term.  So, what I'm guessing is as a whole, the PS agency market is getting the talent to market at an acceptable price point.

Add to that the almost weekly addition of PS and model talent to the agencies, both currently filming/shooting and not, there's going to be a bit of supply-induced competition amongst the girls for dates. Demand for PS and models obviously isn't inelastic, but with the constant influx of new talent, that will definitely drive the lady's fee in a downward direction at some point.  

Then factor in the devaluation of the dollar to all of this, and while a PS dollar amount is maybe 15% lower, the value lost is significantly lower.

Some PSes and models have taken a third approach of paying a screener a set fee, who then passes the screened customer off to the PS or model to set up the date, and may charge about 50% of what the agencies were charging, and some maybe have a 2 hour minimum, so they get the same money.

Johnny, show him what he's won!  Somebody gets it.