And both are gone.....
Thank you @ubergigglefritz and @CreativeCuddles for keeping things honest and respectable.
Always a treat to hear from pros who aren't cash-grabbers.
If all I cared about was making money, I would have kept my corporate job. =P I want to make a difference and have meaning and purpose in my life (while also getting my bills paid)...
That's what I call fast service. Yay mods.
Clients should try the 100 per hour cuddler and then try the 80 and see what the difference is.
I feel like a hypocrite. Just changed my price structure again. I have an ad coming out this month and know it will be much more difficult to change prices once that happens. And I've been feeling the CC fee hit more as I've had a couple of poor months, I need every dollar I earn. Wish it were a monthly fee like cuddlist. As I get more business through other avenues, this site will become less attractive to utilize. I also realized I've been pricing for what I need to make outside CC and need to factor in those fees more in my rate. And want to be able to afford to continue offering all the opportunities for savings I currently do. Also changed to evenings being a premium instead of Fridays because I want to encourage more people to try to make daytime hours work since that's what I prefer to fill first. So those are some of my thought processes. Business growing pains and realizations. I prefer to have the same prices on every site, but I'm not sure if that will ever change. I will always be transparent in my prices and if they ever change though :-/ So I don't know. Pricing is a fickle thing in business and most people running a business just want to survive. There are also always going to be disingenuous people here charging a variety of rates. Though it's usually pretty easy to differentiate based on profile, pics, conversation, and how their price compares to those things. Choose your poison ;-)
I don't normally post in the forums, but this topic struck a chord in me.
I think professional cuddlers have the right to choose what their services are worth. I also think location, supply and demand, are also variables when factoring the price. I live in an expensive part of California (California has the highest income state taxes in the US) after you set aside money for taxes, CC's fee, candle and refreshment expenses for clients, I barely have enough to pay my bills. I charge $100 per hour, but I discount my rate for each extra hour clients cuddle with me.
I saw a few comments that people have made on here saying that if a pro charges $100 or more she doesn't care about the clients. This statement couldn't be more wrong. I 1000% deeply care for my clients and I'm not doing this for the money, I'm doing this because I truly care about helping people! Helping people is my passion!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Happy cuddling!
@AutumnLovesYa I don’t remember who said it but someone did mention the area one lives in may or may not increase or decrease the price of your cuddles it’s up the the cuddler. You being in California I don’t think 100$ is unreasonable at all because people make more there and the cost of living is higher. Everything is more expensive than say Harrisburg which is the closest city to me which is why my price is $65 and that price is negotiable. Any reasonable offer I take into consideration because it’s just who I am. I am sure there are those that could afford 100$ here but I want to make it affordable for the area I live. I cuddle a 79 year old man for 5$ an hour because it’s what I choose to do and only because he refuses to let me do it for free. We all do this for different reasons and all make our prices for our own reasons. When I referenced the 150-200$ I was referring to the people that come on here and don’t know anything about cuddling except they think it’s just holding someone and you get paid for it and they look at it like a job. I researched things before I started and found a mentor because you need to know more than it’s just holding someone and the first time one of the new people cuddle w someone thinking of it like a job the person that paid them to cuddle will surely feel that. It takes alot of time both physically and mentally doing this. I try and read new profiles and many are comical because they look at this like a job, their profile is nothing about how they want to make another feel or how this benefits both parties it’s all about them and the big $ they can make. It’s “fun.” They get a rude awakening very quickly. Yes they may have made a couple hundred dollars but how did they make their cuddler feel and believe me I’m not only speaking of the higher priced ones. I have heard stories from cuddlers that have paid much lower prices and their cuddlers were obviously not there for what the cuddler neeed. Sometimes we generalize things in the forums and don’t necessarily mean it how it comes across to every cuddler reading. So again, I don’t think your price is unreasonable.
I personally only charge $60 an hour because I'm so unavailable and have difficult hours to work with. For the cuddlers that charge $100+, I totally agree with your price points as you live in heavy traffic areas and your living expenses may be higher. I try to make myself available for those less able to afford cuddle services and I've even offered discounts at even $50 an hour to repeat clients because I didn't want to break their bank.
That's very understanding and kind of you @jade25
Why do some people charge 180 for one hour and you can find as low as 40??
Tried to message you possible reasons but you have for some reason blocked me? I guess the world will never know...
Hey pmvines...I'm blocked also:-)
You're right, we will never know!
@amazing1969 From the FAQ:
Professionals are free to choose their own rates. Some charge much higher than the standard $80 per hour, but this puts a limit on the number of clients who will seek out their services. Others start at a lower than average rate then increase it gradually as they become more established.
To add to that, some people also charge lower rates to make sure they are affordable to more people; some people charge higher rates because they live in an area with a higher cost of living. There are all kinds of reasons.
And @pmvines and @OhioMike are both nice people who wouldn't have ulterior motives for visiting your profile, if that's why you blocked them. That's mentioned in the FAQ too, under Why are all these people looking at my profile?
@respectful Hey you never know, I could be attempting to steal his soul for my stocking stuffer voodoo doll collection...
@OhioMike We are a special lot I suppose lol
@pmvines and @OhioMike : I read in another thread that new profiles may have some sort of messaging restriction from other users farther than a certain limited radius. Or did you actually get a message saying that you were blocked?
@calineur, I understand what you are referring to, but in my situation I received a message back showing I was blocked and had the chance to block back as an option. I haven't blocked anyone on this site btw. So yes I got the message saying I was blocked. Curiously @amazing1969 visited my profile a few hours after blocking me. It's not a big deal. Was just trying to help someone and I didn't expect the response. I cannot speak for @pmvines.
There are cuddlers for various price points. I am not sure why people feel the need to complain about cuddlers with a higher price point being "cash grabbers" or whatever. If you can't afford it that's fine, I'm sure you all can find something you can afford. Do you expect every pro cuddler to pander to people on a tight budget? Do you go to your mechanic and criticize them for not caring about you when they charge you for an oil change?
Cuddling is more than just the actual cuddling . I see alot of great cuddlers who seem to put alot into it & deserve the money for their effort
& don't forget travel fees & the fee for the site either that we pay . If people only charged 50 bucks an hour , take home pay is only about 30 bucks minus gas / site fee etc . Not worth the time or effort . If you can't afford to pay 100 bucks like twice a month then this isn't the hobby for you . & just like anyone else in their career / craft etc , they can raise their prices eventually . For example : when I started to get more seasoned , gain more of a following & earn more 5 star reviews etc , I am allowed to raise my prices if I want
There is a disparity in price because all the pro cuddlers are independent contractors, not employees of Cuddle Comfort, which gives them the freedom to charge whatever they think they're worth and whatever the market will bear.
I totally support charging as you feel you are worth when in service industry. It is not the same as a product or commodity
I haven’t seen a pro in around 4 months. I have had my account deactivated for the most part since then mostly because of the issues with pricing. I came back though and decided to give it a shot again. I approached a fairly new pro that I’m interested in and she said it’s $100 an hour with a $100 travel fee... and on that note, I think I’m officially done paying for cuddles.
@Morpheus Too bad. Same total would have got you 2 hours hosted with an experienced pro.
Just ignore the people who are too expensive or just here for money. In any service, there are people that fall in that bucket. Silly to quit using a service entirely just because some people aren't a match for you ?☹️
My cheapest membership is $99 for one 90 minute session a month ($129 for one 2-hour session a month). $15 more will get me 30 miles travel. We are all different.
It just feels that’s the direction that this business has moved and it’s unfortunate.
I agree. It feels like a natural progression though. It was new and no one had heard of it. Now more people are hearing about it as an "easy way to make good money", which brings in an influx of people here for that sole reason. Over time though, MORE people will be coming into the work with genuine intentions (and a desire to have affordable options for people - which was my primary motivation for making a package under $100). Competition will fix a lot of the current problems, and that only happens once the service becomes more known across the country. The stage we're in right now is a lot of people coming for money, but it's still before it gets regulated effectively through competition, so those people are allowed to pretty much run rampant from lack of competition from legitimate providers (because there just AREN'T enough legitimate providers in most areas). That's my opinion anyway. Hopefully we'll get through this hump relatively soon, but it will probably take a number of years...
If you're bitter about how pros price, check out the thread "Suggestions on how men might get more cuddle partners" It offers a lot of insight.