I think there is more emotional energy invested by massage therapists than one might realize. Besides having to deal with the occasional client who has poor boundaries or is rude . . . I’ve worked with clients who were sexually abused who were referred by their psychotherapist and if you don’t think that takes an enormous amount of emotional energy . . . I’ve worked with clients who were so fearful of touch that they were afraid to come to my office and so we had to engage in an unbelievably gradual process of them becoming comfortable with touch, starting with them just driving by my office, having a phone conversation, stopping by my office and chatting with me for 10 minutes, until finally they were comfortable with getting on the table, fully clothed, for 10 minutes. (Over a period of months that person made huge progress but it was a lot of work on both our parts.) I work a lot with people living with chronic pain and spend a lot of time listening to their stories. Many of the people who come to us are there because of stress and we get to hear about that. We get to hear about the deaths of their loved ones, their messy divorces, their drug addicted children who died of an overdose or committed suicide, their miscarriages, their abusive relationships. We get to deal with people with mental health problems, both diagnosed and undiagnosed. We often have regular clients for a decade or two and we watch them go from being brilliant and capable to being unable to carry on a conversation. Several long term clients who had become almost like family have died. Sometimes we get clients who are racist, sexist, homophobic, Isamophobic, neoNazi, anti-Semitic, etc. and because of our professional ethics it is our duty to treat them anyway and not discriminate against them. We get clients with racist or vulgar or neoNazi tattoos. We get clients who want to date us and have to deal with that.
There’s a very high turnover in the field and the 3 main reasons are physical burnout, financial burnout, and emotional burnout. A lot of MTs can’t cope with seeing that much of their clients’ lives.
This is not to dismiss the investment that pro cuddlers may have in their profession or their clients but simply an attempt to shed some light on the emotional demands faced by massage therapists who take their profession seriously. It takes emotional strength, stability, and maturity, to navigate those relationships successfully.
I have started seeing pricing at 150 or 155 an hour? WNTW is going on? I get the gas prices are higher, but I dont get paid gas money for going to my job. Then some want a 2 hour minimum, I am just shocked by some of this when I see a range between some at 80 an hour which I find fair to the top range I am wondering if anyone else is concerned by this?
@mike1974 https://www.cuddlecomfort.com/forum/discussion/4600/why-is-there-such-a-disparity-in-price-price-mega-thread
This isn't new. Higher priced cuddlers have always been around, and especially during the pandemic a lot of cuddlers started appearing charging $150, and even the higher prices like $200 and $300 were showing up more often.
I actually started briefly wondering if $150 was going to be the new standard price, which honestly I wasn't thrilled with.
But it's leveled off and dropped back down again. $100 and under seems to be much more common, and $200+ is back to being very rare. AFAICT the large majority of $200+ cuddlers get close to 0 clients, and $150 often leads to a big enough drop in clients that it's not worth it.
It's a free market and the higher prices do work for many professionals. That being said, when I think about using my own professional, I am in sync with you. I would absolutely be looking for under $100/hr rates. I have kept my rates mostly in that range and even dropped them when I went back to stationary and stopped mostly traveling. As is likely described in massive detail in the link Rezz shared, there are so many reasons for people choosing the rates they do. The best you can do is choose a professional with rates you are comfortable with.
For all the griping I hear about high price pro cuddlers, there are still a lot of them that charge very reasonable rates. I travel and I always find cuddle pros that are within my desired price range. My last trip I had two sessions with two different cuddlers that charged $60 an hour. So they’re there and the sessions I had at that price point were excellent, wonderful people that enjoyed the cuddles just as much as I did. On a recent trip though, I treated myself to a higher priced cuddle pro and I was happy to spend the money because she gave me a session that was above and beyond anything I had experienced before but let’s call that a special occasion. Back to the point though, just find a cuddle pro that is in your desired price range as there are MANY of them out there and forget about the higher priced ones, further more, set your search parameters with the price you’re willing to pay and go cuddle!
@cuddleversed excellent observations and great advice. 👍
This thread (and merged ones) goes back like almost 4 years ! So much has changed in so little time .
Today with soaring costs for everything and labor shortages especially in service fields , I am so glad to see our Professional Cuddlers active here. You are so appreciated by so many. I for one am so happy you are part of this wonderful community 😊
For everyone talking about rates, please keep in mind that cuddle comfort only lets us put one price at the top of our profile and not everyone has a flat rate. Many lower priced pros have travel fees and not all of them host. I am considered on the high end in my area if you look at the number on the top but my cost per hour goes way down for longer sessions and I have an office to host in. I get tired of getting overlooked because people just look at the one number at the top and not the total cost of the session.
@xandriarain that is unfortunately one benefit to using that strategy, advertising low, then final is higher. 😔 Same reason I list at my weekday rate even though my weekend rate is higher (and like you, there are options for e lower). Usually I'm all about offering discounts over fees, but with the restrictions on this site, it makes going the other direction more needed. You need to get people to talk to you and they won't talk to you if you don't even show up. 😔 With your rate structure I can see how you couldn't do what I do, but what about putting at the very top, first thing, something like "STEEP discounts available for M-Th and multi-hour sessions!"?
Thanks for the positive outlook on Pro Cuddlers @OhioMike!
Like a lot of people have said. Pro's prices depend on what the cost of living is like around them and the general rates in their area. $60 goes much further in Indianapolis than Seattle or San Francisco, you know? While I personally don't want to charge folks $200/hour, I can total understand people that do, and completely respect their decision. With my experience, attention to who I'm cuddling with and positive reviews, I could totally charge upwards of $150 and know that you're truly getting what you pay for.
I think in the past I have not valued my time much, but I'm trying to balance life and cuddles. I think a lot of us are. I take a lot of pride and happiness in the experience I provide, so $90/hr and up seems SUPER reasonable to me. For the area I'm in, the experience, and the physical work I put into actively cuddling, trying out different positions and constantly being in tune with my fellow cuddler. 100%
Price difference is more about the cost of living in the Professional’s area, as well as personal needs. Someone who maybe still lives at home with their parents for example, may not have to nor want to charge more per hour. There are so many variables that are unique to the individual.
It isn’t about one being better than the other. What I charge has allowed me to quit my job at the laboratory and still make the same amount at home, based on my schedule and my children’s needs. I also put a great amount of time, effort and money into the cuddling environment I provide. I am also a medical professional of 11 years. I have also taken courses on how to calculate what you should be charging to run your business. I don’t do this for the money, but I have to take money in order to do this. When I was doing this while working at the lab it was pretty much impossible. I love what I do and my kids are happy to have their mommy around more.
I think the pricing is out of control per hour. Then a lot of times the professionals want money to come to you. Why dont you give me a discount for driving to you? I dont get paid to drive to work, that comes out of my check every payday. Most are already getting at least 80 to 100 dollars an hour to cuddle. Pricing, extra for gas and some want deposits. It is out of control
Price per hour seems to be very stable nowadays. There was a point during the pandemic when it seemed like it was getting a little out of hand, but today even in my high cost of living area there are plenty of pros today in the $80-$100 range, which is where cuddle prices were at years ago. Considering inflation, this is about as good as one could reasonably expect.
Travel fees are perfectly reasonable. If you ask a plumber to travel an hour to your location, they will very likely charge a travel fee.
Ultimately, in general, people will charge what the market will bear. If there are clients willing to pay $100/hr (and there certainly are), you can't expect many people to charge dramatically less than that.
I agree with you... I think the fix to this out of control problem is for us to STOP contacting anyone over 100 dollars. If we all pledge to stop paying over a certain amount and actually follow through with it they will be forced to charge a more reasonable price. That's my two cents...lol
I charge $80 an hour but remember you’re not paying for cuddling your paying for time if I have to go two hours there and two hours back that’s four hours +2 hours cuddling I make more money at eight hour day job. Plus the gas cost about $60 round-trip to go 4 hours. So if you don’t pay for gas and you don’t pay at least $20 an hour for their driving time sometimes you lose money. Plus for me I hate to drive. So I don’t like driving to people. I only drive 10 minutes to work. I always ask my cuddlers why don’t you drive to me. You’ll save money, I’ll host😬
I’m not a very sought after pro, but for the ones that are very busy if you’re asking them to travel for long distances that means they miss out on other cuddling opportunities
People sometimes have regular jobs. So they still have family and friends and other obligations so when they’re taking a long time to drive somewhere to come see you that’s a big chunk of their day where they could be with friends and family or making money, at another job. It’s kind of a sacrifice to come. Then remember that 12% is getting taken out when you book
One of my clients when I charge $70 he would give me $100 an hour. He said I deserved it. So I guess you have to put the value on it if it’s important to you
80-100 isn’t bad, 150 seems to be the standard these days and beyond. It does get expensive, but it’s not mandatory. If you can’t afford it cuddles regularly, just save up.
The price is whatever someone is willing to pay. If a pro is priced higher than my budget, I book with someone who I can afford. Also it's quite customary to charge a travel fee. If I can't afford the total cost, I book someone who I can afford.
It's hard to understand how another thread about pricing being too high got started. But I really enjoy reading and I look forward to the posts that arrive on this thread.
I don't think anyone who thinks they will boycott is gonna make any change of any kind, here or anywhere else. Your time and effort will be spent more wisely on most anything else. I realize the boycott post may be totally kidding, but it will not come across that way.
Edited to add that respondents here are being very charitable to some who don't understand seem to understand finances, free market, productive ways to possibly achieve desired goals or anything else. You are fortunate to get such responses.
To the current posters disgruntled with pricing: Btw, charming and effectual profiles. /s
yawn Say no thank you and decline. Book with those who don't have travel/gas/toll rates. You're welcome.
Moving this to the pricing megathread.
I don't think consumers can change pricing- there's a demand and pple can afford it. $70 to 110/hr appear to be the industrial standard - anything above or below will stand out from the market price .
Private one on one sessions will always be pricy. As a martial arts teacher , I can charge between $75 to 150/hr if I wanted to. As a former chess coach and resume writer, the same holds. Some services charge $800-1100 for a single resume revision- it takes takes 3-5 hours and others only 45 mins to 1.5 hours.
A price is how a small husiness owner makes a living- for all of those services above except for chess, people will haggle, but they'll never haggle w businesses that don't need that single transaction like Amazon or Target.
If you can find me a professional that will charge for private services for $25 or 40/hr, I'll be damned! A private tutor, which I've also done, can charge a lot too. A former company I worked w that taught executive functioning skills and organization and study skills charged clients $110 per session. Consultants with high specialization might charge far more.
Heck, babysitters charge about $75/hr. Compare that to training and certifications and risk for a pro cuddler.
@cylee1180 I've learned some more things. Thanks! So people don't haggle over chess coach prices? Makes sense. Care to elaborate after a good night's sleep? Or now is fine, of course.
@achetocuddle Rich parents that want private violin , tennis, and chess lessons for their future prodigy kids rarely haggle - they open up their wallets and are appreciative.
@cylee1180 A random guy at the coffee shop last Sunday asked me if I wanted to play chest one of the best three hours I’ve spend. So much fun not a dull moment. Yeah my friend teaches dance lessons and he charges $90-$120 an hour for a private lesson. I have a friend who is a professional golfer he charges 250. He used to charge 200 but he was so overwhelmed with clients that he raised his prices to 250, He has more than ever. He’s booked three months out in advance. He’s tired and worn out but people keep bugging him because he’s so good. Like they say where there’s a demand the price can stay what it wants.
@KozyKim Imagine making $200/hr! Sheesh! But yeah, private sessions are and will always be pricy and yes. When I first started playing chess, I would play for 13 hours straight during Thanksgiving holidays. Lol
Yay more of these threads. If they arent in your price range then hire someone else. People will always do what works for them. If the average rate were 40 people would still complain that its not 20, and just as many people would still be resentful that folks even charge at all.
@KozyKim Instead of seeing that client who gives you 100 when you only asked for 70 as someone who simply values what you give him, maybe realize that he's probably someone with a lot more disposable income than most people. That doesn't mean other clients don't value you too. Now I feel other clients of yours will feel bad if they can only afford to give you what you asked for.
Prices have nothing to do with cost of living in an area. It has to do with what someone is willing to accept for money in exchange for cuddling. Factors that affect that could be whether they enjoy cuddling with you more than others, or whether they want you to remain a loyal client and never seek other pro cuddlers...or whether this is just a side job and they aren't depending on every dollar to make rent each month.