Professional Cuddling & CC's Minimum Hourly Rate Rubbish

Not to devalue other professional cuddlers pricing, but I find it odd that professional cuddlers are foced by the cuddler contract to charge a minimum of $40 an hour, especially considering the become a pro page says:

"We let you choose the price and location of your cuddle services. The market rate is around $80/hour, but ultimately, you can charge whatever you want on any given day. "

Almost a bit scammy to say there that they can charge what they want, yet there is a minimum in the contract. This site also only shows "50/hour" on profiles, not clarifying if that is USD or my local currency, and what happens if currency fluctuations bring the minimum below $40 when converted?

While I appriciate that $40 is on the cheaper side and I wouldn't expect many to charge that, it just seems odd to me that they say you can charge what you want, but really, you can't. And on that point, with some of the crazy prices I see, there should also be a maximum if there is a minimum

sasquatch231

@Mark

Does this minimum really still exist? I was under the impression that the minimum had been lowered or removed.

There's an obvious motivation for CuddleComfort to have a minimum price: the lower the price, the less they make on each cuddle. In normal times when in-person cuddling is actually happening, it would be kind of weird for someone to be charging, say, $20/hour, and if I were running CuddleComfort I would be suspicious that the cuddler was doing something sneaky to avoid paying the CC fee (like maybe the cuddler is upselling the client on tons of stuff offsite or something).

There doesn't seem to be any equivalent motivation for CuddleComfort to put a maximum on prices. If some cuddler can get away with charging $200/hr or something silly like that (or if they want to just have a profile charging $200/hr and never get clients), why should that bother CuddleComfort?

Sheena123

Exactly ☺️ They let us lower the price right now during this tough time, which is awesome. I’m sure they will have us put it back up again but until then, doing Skype calls super cheap seems to be helping a fair bit.

For me, I take the price changes into account. I live half the year in Florida and the other half in Canada. Right now I’m just doing Skype calls at $15/hour but pre-pandemic, I was at the normal cuddling price of $80/hour for cuddle sessions in Canada but I lower it to $70/hour in Florida, because of the exchange rate.

Mark

I would be suspicious that the cuddler was doing something sneaky to avoid paying the CC fee (like maybe the cuddler is upselling the client on tons of stuff offsite or something).

Yeah, I think so too. But a really important factor here is the issue of Pros not taking this job seriously.

In my experience, usually (there are a few exceptions on here) those that want an hourly rate below $40 USD do not take this seriously at all. You know, like the avid TikToker that just heard about this funny cuddle thing and wants to give it a shot because it sounds fun. We do sadly already have a few of those but it could be much worse which would impact the overall client experience.

From a moderator and administrative perspective, it wouldn't be sensible for our resources to be spent on the inevitable increase in client-pro disputes that would come from the spread of unprofessionalism. Particularly when you're talking about the negligible session amounts (e.g. 15% of $10) involved.

And for the Pros already here who actually do this for a living, I'm not sure they would appreciate a downward pressure on market price as a result of those coming here without any respect for the industry.

Taking a step back, I think it's worth noting this part of the contract has not been at all controversial. I've seen maybe three or four people complain about it in all the years we've been doing this. So while a part of me finds it being there slightly uncomfortable, I'm not inclined to give it that much consideration.

pmvines

If there is a clear floor to the bottom price it keeps the market in check and elimimates risk of pros being out priced. I realize many people would love it if pros only charged five or ten or twenty bucks an hour , but then nobody would be able to continue to offer consistent or continuous se vices for that . We like to think of it in terms of a.forth hour a week job but reality is a lot of these pros might get one or.two clients a week if that , whereas many might go weeks at a time without a client . So that bottom line rate makes sense.to me

ubergigglefritz

@mark
"In my experience, usually (there are a few exceptions on here) those that want an hourly rate below $40 USD do not take this seriously at all. You know, like the avid TikToker that just heard about this funny cuddle thing and wants to give it a shot because it sounds fun."

This really surprises me, because I actually find the people who come on here charging grossly inflated prices are the more unprofessional in general. I would be inclined to think the people coming here wanting to charge $20/hr would be people who don't really care about the money as much, which I would MUCH prefer to the professionals who seem to only care about money. I would identify so much more with $20/hr professionals than $200/hr ones and would rather see more of the former here than the latter.

@pmvines
"If there is a clear floor to the bottom price it keeps the market in check and elimimates risk of pros being out priced."

I have no problem with the free market actually occurring. 🤷 And wow would I rather see newer professional pricing lower. Can you imagine a world where a professional's rate actually were indicative of experience? I would love it if there were no minimum and our profile image in searches indicated review rate and number. Maybe new professionals would be free marketed down some, even if more experienced professionals got free marketed down a bit, I think it would be less than the new professionals and the benefit to the industry would be worth it.

But I don't think that would happen. People are greedy. If I were someone looking for a professional, I would actually use high price as a filter. I know no professional cuddler in the real world (ie, not here, has their own website or otherwise generates their own business and takes this very seriously) with a rate higher than $125/hr, and that rate is generally reserved for the very experienced with significant training and competition for their time. And no offense intended to those charging crazy high prices. I guess if it works it works, and I know everyone has their own reasons. Just being honest in what I see and knowing there are typically just as good or better options at better prices. 🤷

Mark

"I actually find the people who come on here charging grossly inflated prices are the more unprofessional in general"

Yeah, I agree with that also. Thankfully they price themselves out of the market and will often leave.

It's also useful from a moderator perspective to spot this because it's a red flag for non-platonic services.

ubergigglefritz

I still don't understand the problem with lower rates. 😇 Ha.

BoomerSpooner

I absolutely see the problem with rates that are real low. As someone who cuddles both pros and non-pros I have different perceptions of each. With non-pros I come into it in service mode in that it is absolutely a cooperative endeavor. I come into it with the idea that I am going to out-cuddle my partner to the point she will be in her own universe and even forget I am there. Hopefully it will be reciprocated.

With a pro I come as a client. I turn myself over to them because it is what I need at the time. I am not saying I do not reciprocate the hugs and touches, but if I do want to just lay there and be acted upon and not worry about reciprocation, that option is available guilt-free. I use a pro when my energy is low and my stress is high and I want to strip myself of all notions of control or decision making.

But a great pro takes natural talent. She does not get her talent from a course or a drug but is endowed with a gaggle of human intuition. She is not trying to impress with how much she knows, but rather how much she cares and understands your energy at that moment. A great pro is a rare thing and worth every penny.

But I have found a pricing sweet spot with pros. Anything above 100 tends to encompass something more than just platonic cuddling. The 80 to 100 dollar an hour range is where most of them are. Sometimes 70 to 80. But whenever I see anything below 70 my antenna goes up. My thoughts are A) they are beginners, B they like cuddling so it sounds like easy money, or C) they really suck at it so they go low in hopes of capturing the bargain hunters. The only one I would accept is A. I know not everyone evaluates it like that, but a lot of people do. Anyone who has ever car shopped knows you wonder why a car in the same class as other cars is $10,000 less. Then you drive it and find the seat cuts you off at mid-thigh, every square inch of the cabin is plastic, and plastic constitutes half the engine. There are numerous platitudes regarding this. My personal favorite is “the joy of a great price is outlived by the pain of poor quality.” A great cuddler knows her worth.

ubergigglefritz

@FunCartel I agree with most everything you say, but none if it explains what is wrong with people being allowed to charge lower rates.

A: they are beginners. I wish this were the case. I see mist beginners on here charging $80, or the crazy high amounts. Beginners SHOULD be less, and maybe you're not a customer for them, but they for sure should be charging on the lower end, since they are, well, beginners. 😇

B: If they like cuddling and it sounds like easy money, I find they are much more likely to be trying to get more money, thus charging higher rates. I disagree with you here...

C: They really suck. Lol. Maybe. Maybe not. But if they do, they sure as heck better be a lower rate. 😆

So, again, you are bringing examples as to why you might not be interested in being a client, but no reason as to why it shouldn't be allowed. All of those are people who SHOULD be charging less. There's something wrong if beginners, hobby cuddlers, bad professionals, and good professionals are ALL charging about the same rates
There's a reason for industries to have a wide price range if available professionals or products. 🤷

BoomerSpooner

I qualified it as MY experience and opinion. In addition, I said I do accept beginners. I think, if anything, beginners should be able to charge less, but after a few months there should be a minimum. The bad ones will be quickly weeded out when they have to compete head-to-head with great pros. Besides, it’s Mark’s site and quality should be his concern, not whether the poor pros have niche market. In addition, there are accounting and business concerns at work. It doesn’t make sense that those who charge more are subsidizing those pros on the site who do not bring in as much. Hardly fair to the great pros who charge their worth. If you are a pro, then pull your weight for the site.

I forgot how tedious the forum can be.

ubergigglefritz

Ok. Agree to disagree. I'm for a free market so have no problem with people charging whatever they want, even if that resulted in my needing to reassess my in rates. If that's what the market indicated, then so be it. I have more concern / issues with beginners and crummy professionals charging the same amount. Most people have few or no options, or they are so new to this world they don't even know what to look for. You mentioned cheap cars... I WISH people could at least have a price to go on to gauge quality. The way it is right now, it's more like Let's Make a Deal. 😉 I just grow very tired of hearing people feel like they wasted their money or getting treated poorly by people who don't know what they're doing or care. Sour grapes. 😆

BoomerSpooner

If someone is going to charge less then they should have to pay 25% of their booking fee versus the 15% going rate. Then it would be somewhat equitable to those charging more. And then it would be worth the website’s while.

ubergigglefritz

That's the opposite of a free market. Penalizing people if they choose to charge a lower rate. But I'm for a monthly rate so every professional contributes a flat amount, so that's a completely different discussion. 😆 Anyway, you're not making any sense to me at this point. Like a regressive tax system? 😵 I don't think we're getting anywhere trying to converse on this subject together...

BoomerSpooner

No it is not the opposite of a free market. The website is a business that is in the free market. As a contractor you agree to their rules. One of their rules is you will charge this minimum. If there was no minimum, you would have someone charging 30 an hour of which $4.50 goes to the site while an 80 an hour pro is contributing $12 per hour to the site. Yet you both get the same benefits from the site. The reason lower priced cuddlers should be charged a higher percentage is it is the only way Mark could make it more equal to what the higher priced cuddlers contribute to the site. I think the only reason you can’t see this is you won’t see it. It is basic math. You just want your cake and eat it too. And it is a free market because you are in effect a contractor and you can always go to work at some other website or out on your own. No one is making you stay under some Draconian premise.

If you were your own company you would have your own website and not be reliant on CC or any other site to attract clients. You would pay for placement on searches or ads on other sites. As it is you are a contractor for a site that operates in a free market. I think Mark does a fantastic job making it equitable for all while paying the bills.

ubergigglefritz

You are right. The conversation here was about the reasoning behind having a minimum. I disagree with it. If your answer is so that Mark can still get an expected minimum from female professionals each month, then ok. Touche. 😊 And you are right in your final thought as well. I put forth a lot of effort to develop myself outside of this site exactly because of the % fee. I can't charge people a higher rate just because of where they find me, though I have considered it, and the fee adds up. I like staying here because I care though. I hope to always have a presence here. 🤷 I know very few legitimate professionals in the industry who are here though. Most have their own website or use other sites with a monthly fee. I actually pay the other site I'm on six months at a time and my personal website is annual of course. I much prefer it to a perpetual finder's fee since it allows me to freely use my own resources I have created, website, business email, intake forms, etc, but all sites operate differently as you point out...

BoomerSpooner

No it is not about Mark making his minimum. That is tangential to the reason I am trying to highlight. It is not fair to those who charge more and contribute more to the site. Someone would eventually come along and produce a website that had a minimum and pull those higher pros away. Great pros that are disgruntled because they contribute more for the same benefits is not a good business model for success. That is one of the biggest reasons for the minimum. Mark has to look at all pros, not just you. If you had a few hundred contractors to manage you would see things differently in that regard.

ubergigglefritz

Er 🤔 Lol. You're back to making no sense. But ok. I'll jump on board. So everyone should pay the same for the same service? Monthly payments it is! 😆 If you want the same per hour, then everyone should charge the same rate. From YOUR logic, why should one professional pay $30 off a $200 hr and another pay $15 off a $100 hr. That is equally unfair as a professional paying $3 off a $20 hr. Your logic doesn't hold unless you are going to keep everyone at the same rate or charge everyone a flat amount. If you can't see that hypocrisy... After all "it is not fair to those who charge more and contribute more to the site." 🤷

But anyway, if I had a few hundred contractors to manage, I would do monthly payments to reduce administrative work and increase efficiency. There could be different categories at different rates, but monthly payments is usually the best way to go if you're talking about profitability, efficiency, and minimizing turnover. I have WAY fewer clients than that, and monthly memberships drastically decreases administrative work involved in my business, in addition to increasing commitment and services provided. 🤷

BoomerSpooner

No it is not equally unfair because Mark also stated that those charging $200 tend to price themselves out or get themselves banned. And he is right. Most 150 on up are gone quickly unless they live in NYC or they want very few clients. But yeah you could reduce it for those charging 150 or more. Make it say 10%.

If you were talking a for profit site then memberships would be the way to go, but I don’t think Mark is doing this as a source of income. I see the benefits for him doing it on a percentage basis. But it has to be worth his while. If he collects a membership fee on the front end then there is no incentive to monitor flakes and no shows for the booked appointments—that would be on the cuddlers. At least taking a percentage there is a paper trail so to speak and everyone is on record. Oftentimes when a company makes a move for “efficiency” sake, quality and service suffer, and the larger you are the more this is true depending on the move made. In short, be careful what you wish for because you might not like the result. I think Mark will tolerate if one or two leave because they can’t charge below the floor minimum. I know I wouldn’t give it a second thought. What it comes down to is you do not have leverage as a contractor at this point in time. The site has grown by leaps and bounds and there is no reason to turn it into a Dollar General store to make one pro happy.

Besides Mark gave his answer and I agree with him. Those charging less are very amateurish or whimsical about cuddling. In the words of Geoffrey Rush to the king in “The King’s Speech” it is “My castle, my rules”. Pretty simple.

ubergigglefritz

"Oftentimes when a company makes a move for 'efficiency' sake, quality and service suffer..." Eh, all a matter of the efficiency product/choice and the reasons for the change. In my last corporate job I automated an entire process into Excel and Access, virtually eliminating 100% of user errors. Think the quality of my service suffered? 🤷 I have a headache. We have completely different opinions on business, lol. Oh well.

deefine

I'm just gonna leave my 2 cents here. During the lockdowns, I've gotten irritated that there isn't a selection for virtual cuddles at the price and time pros specify for them in bios. These options should be selectable. Maybe it's just an interface change, I don't know, but it feels silly to book someone for a virtual chat at physical prices.