Has cuddling always been this expensive? (Within 50 miles of NYC)

luv2cudl2

I’ll likely receive criticism on this topic from “professionals” but I’m still curious to see what’s said. In my opinion, I feel charging $100+/hour is very expensive. That said, have the prices always been around this rate? I’m wondering how the very first “pros” decided on a price.... I know it’s not a typical 40 hour week, but $100/hr would be $208,000/year. Do you think a 1hour cuddle session should be more than a professional massage at a spa?

I’ve seen one person at $60/hr, which I feel is perfect. It’s not too high and not too low. Actually, this person has the most Karma I’ve seen. Maybe that’s the magic #.... I don’t know.

Maybe the cuddling business is booming right now and everyone is booked to full capacity. In that case, these rates of $100+/hr are accurate. However, are you booking all the appointments you’d like each week? If not, why do you think that is?

Honestly, I’m fascinated by the cuddle business and just learning all about it. Therefore, please understand that this is just my opinion and I could be way off with thinking $100/hr is too high.

Answers to the 4 questions above would be very helpful. Thanks in advance to those who reply.

BoomerSpooner

For most pros this is a supplementary income and not a full time gig. Also, it is NYC. It is a very expensive area to live in and their prices reflect that. You will see a lot of the same thing in San Francisco as well. Finally, it comes down to a personal choice for you and the pro—she can charge more and get fewer clients and you can not bother with her and find someone that fits your budget.

BoomerSpooner

I would add though that some charge full bore on the first time seeing them to see how things will go but if you’re cool and become a regular some will work with you on price. Emphasis on some. I can afford it but I have been offered lower rates on repeats.

ubergigglefritz

You are right in that this is not something you would ever do 40 hours a week. I know all the big shots in the industry and I think that for them 20 hours a week is a LOT, 15 might be more normal. My personal goal is 10 hours. There is a LOT of time involved in running your own business which is not compensated for.

Personally, I agree with that being a lot for most people. I know people who have been doing this for years, have gone through multiple training programs, and have the experience to back up charging more money. At the same time, NYC is a very expensive place to live...

I started at I think $50/hr when I was just starting and slowly raised the price as I got more experience and more karma. Use your judgment. Some cuddlers are definitely worth and SHOULD charge the higher prices, but there are also a lot of people who think this is easy money and figure they're hot enough to charge that much, even if they don't know much about the work =(

People have the right to charge whatever they want, but I do have opinions about people jumping into this at $100+/hr. I know people who have been doing this for years stress about the decision to raise their rates to $100/hr. I'm always up for hearing someone's opinion and their story, as we all have a story to tell, but my initial impression of someone who charges a lot of money without any experience or qualifications is not the best =(

For me, I find a bigger problem than the price is that people don't understand the value of a quality professional. They don't want to pay ANYthing. Virtually everyone I have seen sees me again, so the value is there, our society just doesn't quite get it yet...

UKGuy

I just did a quick survey in my locality (a major metro area). $100/hr is not uncommon. One pro was charging $150/hr. Most were $80/hr with a couple being $50/$60. I think the highest I have seen was $200/hr. Since very few pros have any Karma posts, it's impossible to say how much business they do. I doubt you will get many responses from professionals. The ones in my area almost never post to the forums.

Melancholy

My first cuddle site was thesnugglebuddies and they charged a fixed fee of 80 per hour and the pro cuddlers only got half of that.
But then I came here and the same girls wanted 80 but only paid 15 percent to the site. So same girls but totally different rates.
They will charge whatever you guys are willing to pay. Don't blame them. Blame the rich clients who have more money to spend.

luv2cudl2

@ubergigglefritz Thanks for such a detailed answer and sharing your story. To be honest, I wish everyone who’s just getting started was required to read your history in this. Furthermore, I wish they were required to go the same route as you did.

In my eyes, I can see cuddling services becoming very popular. I bet less than 1% of the general public knows it even exists. With the right software, there’s no reason why a person wouldn’t be able to make a successful career out of this and work 20+ hours. A great example is the “Uber Driver” app, which does all the long admin “work” for people. The drivers literally just drive and collect.

HOWEVER, if everyone plans on charging $80+ right from the start, this industry will go nowhere. It will be the same minuscule amount of people who come on these sites over and over again. It’s just sad that so many people refuse to understand this. Everyones main goal at this point should be building up their clientele and eventually having consistent repeat business.

On this site alone, the ratio of pros to non-pros is probably at least 5:1. Therefore, if I was a new professional knowing this, it would be common sense to see what the competition is charging and then make sure I’m lower than all of them. Then, just like you did @ubergigglefritz, I’d slowly raise my rates as my clientele builds. However, I find that those younger than 25, believe it will all come easy with no work. Unfortunately, that will never happen in a service industry.

So @ubergigglefritz, I’m ready to make you the spokesperson of cuddling. Nobody wants to hear any of this coming from a “mans” mouth. That I’m sure of. :-)

ubergigglefritz

@luv2cudl2 Thanks! The industry is actually really growing. The big people and businesses in the industry are developing more and more training programs and are proactively working on building up business standards for the industry. Much like any other industry has. What will eventually happen, much like the massage industry, is as society becomes more aware of our existence and we come up with certification protocols for the industry, it will be easier to find legitimate professionals. People actually looking for the service as it is will be able to find these professionals and people will not be hiring the illegitimate professionals unless they're looking for other services. I foresee eventually it being a legal requirement to have a certification in order to practice, much like any other industry. Where we are at right now is very similar to when massage first started. No one really understanding what it is or where to find it, people practicing who really don't know what they're doing, and professionals who are offering other types of service under the guise of "massage". There are so many legitimate professionals across the country. I think it was 50 who attended cuddlexpo last fall (only a handful of those are on this site). The problem is not enough people who need the service know that it exists and when they do find out it exists they have a hard time finding them. We'll get there though 😊