In the stock market we have the 'Efficient Market Hypothesis - EMH'

In the old days, most escorts were considered fungible and treated as commodities. And commodities markets are very efficient (a relative term) as per your definition. Recently, we have seen escorts marketing themselves as non-fungible luxury items and not commodities. Luxury markets are notoriously inefficient per your definition.  

Very thoughtful response. I've always looked at it as a fungible unregulated commodity market. IMO ,The reason for the market inefficiencies are the lapdogs who think they are buying rare gems. There is no scarcity in this market. Tall leggy brunette # 102 can be replaced by tall leggy brunette # 237. Big tit blonde # 34 can be replaced by big tit blonde #189 etc.

I don't disagree with what you say. But the primary reason for inefficiency in the hobby market is that it remains illegal in most markets in the US. Because in the past prices may or may not have been more uniform doesn't mean there was an efficient market. Those uniform prices were themselves artificially elevated because the supply of willing providers and clients was effected by externalities -- legal risk and social stigma to name just two. The modern availability of informationhas had iits effect on the market.  Superior methods of comparing relative values will change the uniformity of price in a market.  But don't think that the market will ever be efficient so long as externalities continue to exist.

I have yet to see any evidence that legalizing prostitution would lower prices. The fact that it's illegal makes it an unregulated market.

There are still some commodified(?) areas of the market. The Eastern European/South American Agencies and the K-Girls have a pricing structure that is much more based on an assumption of fungibility. Though prices there are rising in the face of general economic malaise.

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She charges what she wants.  It doesn't have to make sense, and trying to analyze it doesn't change the price.  You pay what you want.  End of story.  But enjoy contemplating your navel.
Also bear in mind that most places in the world have legalized prostitution and the prices still reflect the local economy.

That would seem to be a comparable fit. Stick with the lower price on a good value till the value is widely recognized in the market. The rate increases due to higher market desirability value (higher demand) and the value hobbyist goes back to the drawing board or TER in this case, to find a lower rate on good value/service.

That should have said aescetic.  

I see women advertising at a grand an hour that don't look a bit better, nor does their menu offer anything more than women at a third of that rate, and yet "some" of those women manage to keep a rather full dance card.

Pricing has much more to do with the local economy than anything. Just use this country as an example, prices in NYC are much higher than out in cow country. It's no more legal in Texas than it is in NY or LA, but the average prices are a good 25-40% lower here.

so comparing this market to the stock market is like apples and spaceships... forget oranges lol. For instance, some guys feel any escort above 25 and over 110 lbs. should not be charging over 250-300, but look at all the HDH crowd who gets double that and they are well into their late 30s... some mid 40s. If you have other means of income, you will never be a so called victim of the marekt. If you absolutely need to see 10 guys a week, every week at x rate to get by, well yes... you will have an issue because you have to conform to what that many guys are willing to pay you. Houston is a perfect example of a saturated market where the rates are kept down.  

We've probably all heard about the economics experiment where people thought wine tasted better based on price?  The average consumer is better off buying a cheap bottle of wine, and in fact they actually slightly preferred cheap wine! The caveat to that study (and one rarely noted in the news) is that this didn't apply to experts; there was a positive correlation between price and enjoyment.  While the experts usually preferred more expensive wines, it's also known that their ratings are not consistent; one day they may give out an 86 and another a 94, which you oenophiles out there know puts those in rather different categories.  Experts can also be fooled by label switching.

That's aesthetic

tautological arguments, ie what proves something as valuable is that it sells for more, ergo it is worth more (Until it doesn't. )

Yes, that is the problem, isn't it? Much of "value" is based on subjective, wishy-washy criteria. I like objective and consistent criteria, but I don't think it's possible to have that for shared intimate experiences.  Sometimes there are intangibles that add so much to an encounter, but one can't even find words to describe them.

Even with wine there must be a price point where you reach diminishing returns. It happens in almost every area of life.

A car has residual value. A hooker is just like a bottle of wine, you savor it, you taste it, you enjoy it over a period of an hour or so and at the end all you have is a memory. Is the experience of drinking a thousand dollar bottle of wine really worth as much to you as perhaps drinking two bottles of a five hundred dollar wine, or three bottles of a three hundred dollar vintage, with money left over for snacks? lol

Great memories are life's ultimate reward.

Is not going to change it into a Chateau Lafite  Rothchild.

Dear Ms. Anderson:
Also a fair question would be where would you be located?  And if you were to raise your prices how much will the market bare?  I ask these two fundamental questions because depending where you are will dictate if you are in a white collar or a blue collar community.  That also translates into how much disposable income your current and potential clients would have to interact with you.  This leads me to my second question is how much will the market bare.  This is a essential question because now if you raise it substantially will you eliminate your current client base.  If so, will you change where you advertise so that you can attract those within a certain economic demographic so that you can sustain your business.  
 
Finally are you going to grandfather in your regulars, so you can continue to retain the current client base? I ask this question because old business is just as critical as new business. Especially in communities that would be considered blue collar.  Those customers would be the life blood of an adult companionship provider because she can consistently depend on that income.  This would even be resonated in places like Houston or Austin to where there would be so many providers working as well.  These are fair and real questions that should be persued even further for women on the providers only board.

I do and always have, considered the valuable and real points you make. That second and personal part of my post was my verbalization of my frustrations of recent rise in expenses.

Agreed regarding the efficiency/sole source of income correlation, and you're right... has nothing to do with efficiency but everything to do with possibly why some rates are low and others are high which would add to your theory of the market being efficient or not in some areas.  

LR posted:

price means nothing to them...  if they want you, they pay...there are girls in Nevada brothels that charge $3000+ an hour....as in the stock market ...a savy investor takes advantage of every opportunity to make money...

there is no efficiency and it is possible to beat the market simply avoiding bad days. Since early August for example cash, the dollar and bonds outperformed the stock market, and most likely will continue until the evidence, supply demand dictates otherwise.