Is it me, or are prices going up?

In wartime, I thought that some uncertainty would cloud the stock markets, but what I've seen reported so far is that they're up by 13%. Likewise, as law enforcement efforts would be turned toward real criminals in this new age of homeland security, I thought that a market dynamic might emerge that could benefit me, the client. But evidently it's still a seller's market.

Now, mind you, I'm not keen on attaching a moral judgment to any market decision. If a lady thinks she deserves a given amount, and finds that she can get it, then I'm all for it. I'm just pointing out a few trends that I've perceived, and I'm poking a bit around underneath them for some of the more subtle reasons behind them.

Here's what I've experienced in my home town. In the past five years, there's been a general increase in the overall cost of an online provider's hourly rate -- an increase much larger than the general level of inflation in the economy as a whole. Considering largely "classy" women who have decent websites, are in the business for a longer period of time rather than a shorter, and entertain their customers professionally and in an upstanding manner, I'd have to say that I've seen an increase of from 100% to 200% in the last five years or so. Around about 1995, in my neighborhood, I could find a decent internet provider -- I might even find a review or two of her on Usenet, for example -- for around $150 or, at the most, $200 per hour. Now a similar provider, with a similar level of attraction to the general clientele out there, goes for about $350.

I'm using generalizations here, of course. "Similar level of attraction," "professionally," "classy," and so on. I think you all know what I mean, although of course those are subjective judgments. I don't mean to be offensive toward anyone with them. I'm simply trying to exclude the "trashy" end of the business, where I (and most members of this website) choose not to go. If I want a lower level of price, I'm sure I can find a lower level of professionalism and a lower level of service as well on some ghetto street corner in the middle of the night. But that's not my point. My point is that a HIGHER level of service and professionalism has gone through a remarkable change.

In your cities and neighborhoods, the base amounts might be higher or lower, but I'm guessing that the overall percentage increase is probably similar. My experiences in changing cities a few times in the last decade bear this out, although of course it could just be idiosyncratic, and therefore a totally misrepresentative sample. That's why I'm bringing it up for discussion.

In the long run, this trend is probably pricing lots of guys out of the market. I don't begrudge anyone their right to make a living, or to charge whatever she wants. But I wonder if there won't be a market backlash some time soon; or if the vaunted Adam-Smith-ian "free market" doesn't always lead to the type of invisible hand that Smith would have claimed. It's my subjective impression that "free market" dynamics aren't necessarily at work here. I suspect that the notion of the business becoming "more upscale" is largely what's going on. Whereas it used to be hidden in dark alleys, there's more of a flavor of high-class bordellos and family theme parks. That's a good thing, for the safety and wellbeing of the ladies ... but not necessarily a good thing for the profession as a whole.

First, it begins to be more exclusionary, as it moves from Saturn to Volkswagen and on to Lexus. We get miniature elitisms working their way into the profession -- have you seen someone I know? are you in the "in" club? are you the "right" race? These types of exclusionary principles run directly afoul of one of the basic elements of the provider-client relationship, that there can be no judgment of anyone's lifestyle. Second, it begins to risk GREATER rather than lesser government attention, as potentially unreported taxable income skyrockets. Third, it will send many former clients elsewhere. For example, there's a growing interest among young men in traveling for hobbying. Flying to Tijuana, or Bangkok, or Rio de Janeiro, or even Amsterdam, and hobbying there, is almost becoming less expensive than seeing a single provider here in the 'States WITHOUT paying the airfare. What odd kind of flip-flops are happening in the marketplace?

I personally don't want to try to keep up with it. I probably CAN, but I don't WANT to. The price of stay-at-home hobbying has rapidly outstripped most similarly priced aspects of our service industry. Paying to have a nice luxury car detailed used to cost about the same as an hour with a clean, polite provider whom you could meet through the usual internet channels. Now it's gotten to where the lady costs about as much as a car payment. Many can't afford that change in pricing -- which is fine; so the market has left them behind, they suffer unaffordability with equanimity, there's no moral call for a "right" to people lowering their prices just for the benefit of the client alone, obviously.

But even though I COULD afford that change in pricing, I don't think I WANT to. In my experience, the ladies who over-price themselves generally display a mistaken attitude, that "classy" means "snooty and elitist." And I never enjoyed playing with those girls in the first place. I'm getting the impression that the new pricing structures are as much a product of insecurity and a need to boost self-esteem, perhaps at the expense of others, as they are anything else. Maybe the women think that the MEN need that level of elitism, and so change their advertising (and their rates) to reflect it? Remember when lap-dances were $10 a song? Then over about five years they jumped to $20, but very few people doubled their income in the same time frame. Meanwhile, the lap-dance industry stopped attracting good ole boys from the boon docks, and started making inroads among conventioneers and salesmen and executives.

Anyone see what I'm getting at here? Is the hobby becoming a luxury profession, in which the market dynamics of supply and demand are largely outweighed (at least in recent developments) by the more subtle dynamics of elitism, advertising, and conspicuous consumerism pricing? Is this a typical American development? Or am I missing some part of the picture. I would hate to see the usual hourly rate remain at its current levels, which I view to be excessive (from a strictly subjective point of view, a kind of price-earnings ratio without numbers). There's a type of egalitarianism, and devil-may care cameraderie, that we're losing, as we leave behind the boon docks and start wearing Gap khaki's to all our dates.

I think you are seeing them at work right before your eyes.  See those who are going for the $1000+ pere hour figure?  I won't be seeing them.  But then again I won't be buying a new Rolls either.  I might dine on a Filet Mignon form time to time, but don't often wash it down with a bottle Chateau LeBucks.

The prices will find their own level.  There will always be a bell curve.  I'll have a Big Mac once in a while too.

Keep in minde, a girl who charges $1000 an hour doesn't need to see very many clients and therefore there is a lot less wear and tear on her body and mind.  Men who can afford those prices realize that and are willing to pay high prices in exchange for seeing a provider who isn't seeing a lot of men.

I haven't been in the 'biz long enough to give you rate comparisons, but I can tell you that I've spoken to ladies who say that 10 years ago the median price was about $200... and today, the median price is still about $200... except that gentlemen expect much more for their money, largely in part due to sites like this one where you no longer have to buy someone "sight unseen" so to speak. (In the past year and half that I've been in the 'biz, I've seen rates fluctuate wildly... some ladies go up a little, some go WAY down.)  

These days, your investment, whatever the hourly rate, has a much higher chance of turning out to your satisfaction, don't you think? Moreso, ten years ago from what I understand, in the heyday of the HIV virus, people weren't so demanding for certain things... whereas these days, if a lady doesn't provide certain things she cannot even be reviewed above a certain level.

"We get miniature elitisms working their way into the profession -- have you seen someone I know? are you in the "in" club? are you the "right" race? "

I think this is nonsense... to say that because we screen, we are elitist.  You are purporting a double standard here, saying that you don't want the "ghetto" thing, but on the other hand penalizing us for protecting ourselves. Race does not come into my screening process, and I'd venture to guess that those ladies who make choices based on race would do so regardless of price, and regardless of whether we're talking about now or ten years ago.  Screening on the other hand, and asking for a reference... well that midnight booty call on a street corner certainly won't ask for a reference. I will.

I do not personally care whether a gent coming to see me is someone who has been pinching pennies for months to save up the price of a session with me, or someone who doesn't blink at tossing down $300 for an hour of entertainment... what matters to me is.. is he safe? Is he a gentleman?  Will I walk out of here intact and in one piece?  

I have a feeling you are talking in large part about the "high dollar hotties" running around... and I won't comment on that except to say that as long as they can find someone willing to pay their rate, whatever it might be, more power to them!

Hugs*
Nicole

Book_Guy,

I agree with you with the whole price thing. I think it is unfair.
I am obviously a provider.

When I first started, I was charging 150 - 200 per hour (for local outcall.)
I had the worst clients for real.

A lot of my clients told me to increase my fees  (in which I did)
I didn't increase them a lot, just 50 bucks.

Also, I started incall and my fees are still on the lower end.

It has been a year since I changed my fees, I don't see me changing them anytime soon.

I believe that this should be a fair business.

Some men are paying for the face and body, others are paying for good time.

I just offer a great service at a price that won't hurt the wallet...

Shaye

Yup... Sad but true I'm with you. But I tell you what.... If Ryan Conner or Lisa Storm ever came down below $400.... Oh Yeah!

I'm neither wealthy or poor. I equate the cost of a Provider to a very expensive date with a Non-provider(pun intended).
I'm not a trophy hunter. I'm looking to have an enjoyable time with a beautiful woman. Should that woman look favorably on me and perhaps propose something below retail for future return visits my full attention is garnered as well as my loyalty.
 I don't mind so much a Provider going for what the market will bear. It is a precious and intimate service they offer and one where their personal safety from both sides of the law is a constant concern. I also feel that after a gentleman has proved himself as just that; Certain fiscal considerations on the part of the provider can prove mutually very bennificial over the course of time.
 I don't think there is a hobbyist reading this board who doesn't want the reputible providers out there to be successful. We would rather not loose the farm in our patronage of you either.

 "God must love the common man. For he made so many of them"
                                              Abraham Lincoln.  

"These days, your investment, whatever the hourly rate, has a much higher chance of turning out to your satisfaction, don't you think? Moreso, ten years ago from what I understand, in the heyday of the HIV virus, people weren't so demanding for certain things... whereas these days, if a lady doesn't provide certain things she cannot even be reviewed above a certain level. "

This is an excellent point. Most respondents seem to miss the gist of my argument -- that supply-demand economics is NOT the salient factor in changing prices recently. (They seem to think an adequate response is, "hey, prices are going up" to the question "why are prices going up?" LOL!) But your comment indicates an actual understanding of the subtleties of the situation. This suggestion, that although prices rise, "return" rises as well, is something I hadn't quite put my finger on.

Your point about my elitism comment is also well said. I hadn't meant to imply that screening in itself would be elitist or inappropriate. I know plenty of people who screen, and I find that entirely intelligent and egalitarian of them. I wasn't exactly speaking of the true screening of otherwise anonymous applicants. Here there are also "clubs" and "coteries" developing (at least where I live) in which girls give "special" rates to friends of friends (and get in trouble from LE if the linkages are made too explicitly!) despite the newcomer not necessarily being any more SAFE or CLEAN. It's becoming a High-Schooly sort of "he said she said" club here and there. Not to a great extent, but enough to be noticeable.

My overall beef is with the "attitude" thing. America is turning into a conformist consumer culture of corporate pre-digested easy-listening McDonalds'-style "safety commodities." Is providing and the whole hobby going in the same direction?

Still, I really don't think the average prices for an escort by the hour have gone up much...

BUT I will grant you that there are more and more ladies of the High Dollar Hottie variety... OR, maybe we just know about them more now than we did back in the day?

I don't think I've really experienced what you're talking about re: cliques per se, so I'm not going to comment on that.

Hugs*
Nicole

Clearly, price fluctuation is a product of supply and demand.  When I started hobbying (about 1992) the average price was $110/hr in Midtown.  Prices did start to take off ($110-$140-150-180-200+) in no time.  I think they have leveled off the last several years and will continue to do so.