I keep seeing posts about recession, fewer bookings, “dead weeks,” and all the usual panic that hits the board every few months. And yes, I’ve felt the quiet days too. But the more I watch client behaviour, the more convinced I am that the industry isn’t slowing down it’s transforming.

Clients are more selective now. They don’t book because they’re bored; they book because they feel a genuine connection or curiosity. Reviews matter more. Authentic photos matter more. Personality matters more. The days of “hot body + basic service = automatic booking” are fading fast.

Another shift I noticed is timing. Bookings come later, more last-minute. Men are waiting until they really feel like treating themselves. And when they do, they want quality. They want someone who makes them feel relaxed, wanted, excited not rushed. A lot of providers complain about slow periods, but honestly, the ones adapting are still keeping busy.

I also think the industry got more honest. Clients are quicker to avoid girls who ghost, cancel, upsell, or deliver cold, mechanical sessions. Word travels fast nowadays. When the market tightens, service becomes the deciding factor.

So is it a recession? Maybe. But from my POV, it’s more of a reshuffle. The clients didn’t disappear they just became more intentional. They want genuine chemistry, good energy, proper enthusiasm. And the providers who offer that are still fully booked.

Curious to hear other experiences
Has your schedule changed? Do you feel it’s slower, or just different?

I need time for vetting, planning the play date and preparing, so my bookings are always made way in advance. I’ve been around for decades. I learned to adapt. It’s not the old-school days. Evolve.

Connection that’s genuine and repeatable is the goal. I love to enjoy my time with the select few I share my energy with! I absolutely adore my friends who give me something to look forward to on my calendar.

I am always searching for an arrangement, &/or an exclusive one that takes me off the market. Simplicity & stability is priceless. I’m a hopeless romantic. Someday my princess will come. 😁

My line of work has been booming, so its harder for me to line up appoimtments ahead of time. Its more of a "oh, my noon-4 appointment just fell through, i can go to the gym AND get a bj"  

So it has been a lot of last minute sessions lately.  

That being said, there are different gals for different time frames. My k orgs can usally accomodate last minute where my more high priced gals wouldnt be able to do so, nor would i bother them and ask.

END OF MESSAGE

I’m truly bi-sexual, but unfortunately have never had a female client. Hopefully, that will change. I am always welcoming a Sugar Mama, &/or Daddy! The real connection has to be there regardless because it definitely matters most.

Maybe I'm the exception rather than the rule - but I don't do last minute bookings at all any more.  Those sessions are just never as good as the ones that are planned ahead of time.  But I also pretty much just stick to a handful of providers that I know provide excellent service these days as well (and each of those providers requires 24-48 hours notice to book).  

Something worth mentioning, those providers that ask for the advance notice also tend to tailor the session to my desires.  They've figured out what makes me tick, and give me exactly the experience that I'm looking for.  That kind of service is never going to be found from someone you booked a couple of hours before the session, and can really only be found through repeat visits with fantastic providers.  

Likewise, I think there is more incentive than ever to stick with known good providers.  A lot of the ad sites are filled to the brim with scammers and onlyfans girls.  The amount of effort it takes to sort through the chaff to MAYBE find someone worth the time and money can be exhausting.  

Fewer reviewed woman and with skyrocketing fees, not worth the risk or time.  Most want deposits, photos among other info.  Next, it will be copies of your W-2 and three years of tax returns.  I have less time so I am picky.  No web presence and/or having a snotty description?  Next!

Where? With whom?

Even with ladies I've known a long time, last-minute appointments are rare. Over the last few years, I've had the pleasure to know 3 ladies who--due to our longstanding relationship--could accommodate me on ~ 5 hours notice. Sometimes. Far more often I needed at least 24 hours notice.

 I'd love to have a couple of ladies who could routinely see me on an hour or two's notice, but have not found that in LA.

OP is an agency, and it is usually easier to secure last minute bookings with an agency vs an independent.

You're not the first poster I'm seeing complain about a "recession". How I see it, gents would rather stick with who's been great with them rather than taking a gamble with someone new. That being said; maybe the new folks are at loss or there's an uneven provider to client ratio

It’s the deposits.  There are plenty of women I would try if they didn’t want hundreds of dollars in advance.  

The original poster gives a great description of the industry today in my view. It cost a lot now days to take a chance and see someone with iffy reviews.  Some providers put more hurdles in the way to take a chance on them with extreme verifications policies. I used to take a chance on someone new every month. Currently I spending more time on finding great, well reviewed providers coming to my area and seeing them for longer time periods.    

I’ve been following these “recession vs slowdown” threads for a while now, and from what I’ve seen, things haven't collapsed but they have reorganized. The money hasn't vanished. It's just started choosing more carefully.

 
Between scam ads, OF only ads, clients aren’t booking less per se; they’re booking more intentionally. I'd argue the primary client base, are simply gravitating toward the women who feel consistent, real, and reliable. That isn’t recession behavior, that’s understandable self-protection and most of us would do the same in their position.

 
The increase in last-minute bookings is human nature, a younger generation of clients coming into the market, and I genuinely believe it's also a COVID-era hangover. Yes, some of it is psychological. Men book when life finally gives them a breath of air and they feel grounded enough to treat themselves.  But I also think we have to be honest about the industry-wide spillover effect from COVID. For a few years there,  providers announced tours, didn’t get enough pre-bookings, and canceled the day before arrival. Clients noticed this! And the market adapted. A lot of men started waiting until we were physically in the city before booking simply because they didn’t want to get burned by last-minute cancellations. That feedback loop allows last minute bookings to become normalized.  So yes, last-minute interest is human nature and it won't go away. But it’s also a pattern we unintentionally trained into the market and now we’re retraining them back into pre-booking culture. It’s a mix of psychology and self-inflicted market conditioning.

 
With respect to deposits and screening; I wish these weren't seen as obstacles and more so as reassurance. I *KNOW* these can feel like “hurdles,” and I do empathize with that reaction. But they’re also the structures that allow many of us to stay safe, organized, and fully present for the clients who do follow through. And in my experience, shared by many colleagues, men who can clear screening rarely mind the process. Men who can’t clear it tend to be the most vocal about disliking it. It’s not judgment, it’s simply the pattern we see. Same with deposits. Overhead is not imaginary. We’re not charging deposits for fun. We’re charging deposits because relying on “good faith” is how you go out of business.

 
The U.S. is for sure in a K-shaped economy but based on the Black Friday/weekend shopping data and data coming out about US home values for 2026, a recession is looking more and more likely. But a K-shaped economy is abundant right now. We can see it clearly in this thread: some men are last-minute because work is booming, some men are cautious because they feel squeezed, some men are consolidating around known providers, some men are avoiding risk entirely
That’s the K economy: the top spends as usual; the bottom tightens. Providers who cater to the upper K? Still busy and often busier.

 
I agree that the market didn’t shrink either... it refined. Obviously men want to be attracted but as Millennials and the younger generations, who can be quite emotionally avoidant, replace the Boomers and the Latch-Key Generation as clients, they are seeking authenticity, connection, and steadiness. So not necessarily perfection but just realness and an experience that feels unrushed. And honestly, that makes the industry healthier for everyone.

 
Also, providers face the same fork clients do. It comes down to two equally valid models: high volume + lower rates which could equate to less screening, more churn, higher burnout. Or lower volume + higher rates, safer interactions, better availability, more sustainable energy. Most of us are simply choosing the path that lets us show up well for ourselves and for the clients who value the experience we offer.

 
All in all, it feels like a reshuffle toward clarity, quality, and intention and I doubt that's a bad thing.

some mongers are simply taking their power back.  Ridiculously high deposit demands, overly invasive screening (you want me to put my DL in the envelope?), blatantly rude ads/websites (if your donation isn't organized in a front-facing manner your an asshole) or incomplete websites(no prices/menu) etc...certainly makes me not want to bother with large swaths of providers.  I imagine I'm not the only one.

Put me down in the cautious category.

Good analysis - same with the OP.  Thoughtful observations.  

Those type that you speak who used to book just a pretty face were also booking lower end and currently they are the ones struggling so they dropped out of the game . Still get the occasional idiot but know what they want when they book me because they want an experience not just a lady who does what every other lady does out there.

It's survival of the fittest.  Be as attractive as you can, offer the best experience that you can, provide the least onerous screening requirements/deposits.price points that you can.  Let's see what happens.  If that doesn't work, then the girl can pivot to niche markets.  This ain't rocket surgery.

I hear you. And I actually agree with part of what you’re naming; there are ads that come off abrasive, screening that’s clumsy rather than thoughtful, and providers who haven’t been taught how to build rapport with clients. That absolutely exists.

 
But I’d offer a gentle reframe: what you’re calling ‘mongers taking their power back’ is, on the provider side, simply… market sorting itself. Clients are choosing the women whose processes feel respectful. Providers are choosing the clients whose approach feels safe. Everyone is gravitating toward the people who match their comfort level. That’s not power being taken back. That’s just alignment.

 
And screening/deposits only feel invasive when they’re paired with poor communication. The same DL request that feels outrageous to one client when interacting with Provider A feels totally reasonable when interacting with Provider B who knows how to hold rapport, explain her process, and reassures with competence rather than commands. Structure isn’t the problem; tone is.

 
And I’ll be honest in the same spirit you are: most of us aren’t asking for DLs in envelopes, and the majority of providers asking for deposits are doing so because the no-show rate is unsustainable. I’ll say this softly, because I’m not here to shame anyone, when a client says screening or deposits "turn him off" what that person often means is "I want all the safety, all the reliability, all the labor… without feeling like I’m being asked for anything. Just trust I'm a good person and I'll show up." That’s human. Desire without friction is a universal fantasy. But in practice, the providers who run sustainably need the very things some men resent because the alternative is relying on "good faith" which in turn can lead to burnout, inconsistency, or leaving the industry entirely which hurts clients too.  

 
And in the same vein, sure, some providers overdo it. But that's their business. They can. You do not have to support them. Why? Because you have ENDLESS options with providers who keep things much lighter. So simply go to the providers who match your threshold. That’s not a power shift... it's just the market doing what markets do: SORTING.

While I appreciate your polite tone, my response was made to offer feedback to Babylon Girls.  If this is how you feel, then my post will hold no value for you.

That's fair. I appreciate the dismissal wrapped in civility; however, this is a public forum and my reply was directly relevant to the conversation. That is the nature of the public forum and dialogue.  

 
My intent wasn't to redirect your feedback. It was to show empathy while also contextualizing your feedback. We are both describing the same shift from different vantage points. Your experience is not being disputed.  

 
Regardless, I appreciate the clarification. All good on my end.

-- Modified on 12/14/2025 11:47:10 AM

My sincerest congratulations.

Your responses are always professional, detailed, and much appreciated.