Cuddling Fees

comforcuddler

The pandemic is upon and I'm finding that professional cuddlers are setting the prices too high for those of us who are struggling right now .the need for cuddling is still there but who can pay these crazy prices? I can't imagine it's very active for cuddlers right now .a few sessions a week might be better than none at all . Please some feedback here and please everyone be safe .

The thing is that professional cuddlers are also going to be struggling financially.

You can say they can lower their rates to get more cuddles going with more people to make more money but lots of cheaper meetings isn't neccesarily better than a handful of more expensive ones. It'd means considerably more travel time (and fuel costs), considerably higher risk to corona, and on average more dodgy meetings.

Most professionals seem to do this as a side gig, so lowering their prices and having to deal with the huge influx of messages and requests they'd be getting wouldn't be too feasible. It's inefficient to have to spend more time each week filtering through messages to set up meetings than they would spend actually cuddling, vs having relatively few messages from people at a higher rate.

Mike403

Probably due to the risks involved during this time. I've been seeing the same pro cuddler for 3 years who won't see me during the pandemic.

SnugglewithSam

Cuddling was my main source of income pre-pandemic. I'd been doing pretty well for myself before then. I was lucky to get self-employed unemployment pretty quickly in my state.

I'm seeing 2 people regularly a week and have been getting 2-3 additional appts set up weekly, most returning clients . A few had issues with my rates and went for my prepaid packages I offer, but otherwise I haven't seen too many issues for paying on my end if they go through with seeing me.

Especially now that unemployment is way down, I have two choices: make less than a third of my unemployment check to not get any money docked from the check or to make more than I would get weekly in unemployment. With my two current clients I'm less likely to be able to do #1, so #2 it is.

Lowering my rates without a commitment to see me more long-term would put me in a bad financial situation and probably make me a less fun cuddle because I tend to stress out about money too much when I'm not confident in it, so everyone would lose.

(and for any secret Johns reading this: That is not an invitation to be more "generous" with me for more services)

comforcuddler

I don't see how a person with no karma can justify charging $150 per hour to cuddle .I think it's just too high .

EllexxBelle

Some pro cuddlers have been doing this long before joining CC (me included). So I don't think it's fair to criticise a pro on how they set their fees.

Mike403

It's a free market and they can charge what they want. If they find that they aren't getting as many clients as they want, they'll eventually lower their rates. I personally would never see a pro who charges more than $100/hr.

comforcuddler

I don't disagree with what a pro charges that's their right but I do like to see karma .

Melancholy

I hadn't really looked at the current pro cuddlers lately, but took a peek and wow there are so many charging 120 or 140 per hour...good lord! Used to be 80 per hour, and then often a discount if you became a regular etc....but now its like twice as much. I don't think inflation was up 100% in the past 2 years.

Gaba

i agree with that. Just seems a little high.the norm was always 80.

comforcuddler

Someone just appears and us charging $150 per hour .no information in profile .I strongly disagree .

Mike403

@comforcuddler I just ignore those pros. You're given the fees up front. Seek one out that charges what you are willing to pay. If a pro wanted to charge $1,000 an hour, they can. They just might not get that many clients.

comforcuddler

I agree just stick with ones you feel are charging a fair price .

TouchSanctuary

Personally I offer a sliding scale to people with disabilities, pension cards and so on. I just take it on a case by case basis as I really want to support those who can't work due to chronic illness and disability.

JazzyPants

Great topic! My fees are rather high per hourly rate. I did platonic touch full-time (10-20 hrs/wk) before COVID. In an attempt to have more control of cash flow forecasting, I increased the hourly rate to encourage clients to purchase packages instead of one off hours. I have higher expenses than most people doing this work. I keep liability insurance and share a professional office suite with an acupuncturist in an affluent area that will sustain my pricing. There is absolutely no way that I would make any profit if I charged $80 an hour. I would have to constantly be working and would have zero time for my family. Let's not even talk about the emotional labor involved during sessions. I recognize there are a lot of cuddlers in the DC Metropolitan who charge anywhere from $60-$110 per hour. I offer an incredibly personalized experience and keep my self educated around human behavior, deep listening, NLP, trauma as well as certifications in Mental Health First Aid and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, and so on. This is my career, not my side hustle and I treat it as such. I also offer a sliding scale and bartering opportunities because I know not everyone can afford my services.

ubergigglefritz

@JazzyPants is a great example of someone justified in high rates. Both of us have been very active in education and training for this work. I know I spent thousands my first year between cuddle sanctuary training and cuddlexpo, ha, and she is even more active than me in the industry in general. She's a big name in the real world of professional cuddling. 😊

Edit: I also have monthly membership options available to my clients from other sources. I like her idea of increasing the regular rates to encourage those packages. Before COVID, my memberships were growing and were a HUGE help in leveling out my monthly income...

ubergigglefritz

*I know people will argue continually on the value of "education" in this work, but I feel it shows passion and committee to being your best for your clients. My opinion. 🤷‍♀️ I 100% think new cuddlers should be WAY less than established professionals, but of course people can charge what they want. I think I started at $50/hr (with discounts available) over three years ago and then slowly ramped up my rates as I gained experience/comfort and credentials. You pretty much never see that from other people. Unpopular opinion amongst pros, but I view pros charging way high from the getgo as definitely trying to make easy money and to get as much money as possible from people. I wouldn't pick them, but a lot of people have no options. 😞

cuddlerforu24

@JazzyPants and the other cuddlers on the cuddlist site might be a little more higher in fee than the cc pros, but they hold them selves at a higher standard for others to follow , instead of following standards set by others .

ubergigglefritz

@cuddlerforu24 There are a number of good professionals with crossover. 😉 But you're not supposed to mention that site as a source here. 😉

ubergigglefritz

I strongly prefer monthly fees. Getting clients from here isn't a top priority because of the fees involved. I pay them when I do, but I don't actively reach out here. I would prefer my other marketing tools to do most of the work. Getting a client here and there from this site does help though, and I also enjoy being a part of the community here. So I'll be around for as long as I'm welcome. 😇

ubergigglefritz

That's why I advocate a monthly option here, but Mark isn't interested. 😇 Commission based fees either disincentivize solid professionals staying or incentivize increasing prices here to compensate. Neither is good for people here looking for professionals...