Analogy to cuddler prices

[Deleted User]CuddleMeLater (deleted user)
in General

The price of pro cuddlers is a recurring topic. One particular highly discussed thing is the fact that a few cuddlers have prices well outside the norm - $200, $300, or more. Sometimes discussions of this issue become heated.

I just noticed something similar on another platform. While browsing AirBnB, I found a few stays with extreme prices. Over $1000, in some cases $5000 a night. Some of them are clearly offering luxury experiences and targeting wealthy vacationers. Fine, nothing surprising there. But the ones that are interesting to me look completely plain, not distinguishable in any way from places costing $70 or less per night.

For instance, I’m currently looking at a guy offering the second bedroom of his mundane and cramped apartment for $4500 per night.

I’m assuming the psychology is similar on both platforms - people either decide they don’t particularly care if they get any bookings (maybe temporarily), or they just have some confused ideas about the market they are targeting.

Comments

  • nolez2020nolez2020

    It's definitely the 1st scenario you mentioned in last paragraph. I assume most pros on here do this as a side job for extra cash and won't be out on the streets if nobody's interested.

    I also believe this is a niche service and it probably involves a lot of risk. That's why I'm all for someone charging whatever they want. Plus, I'd rather pay a little more to be with someone who cuddles 1 person every few days compared to someone who cuddles a few people every day.

  • sunnysideupsunnysideup
    edited February 2021

    Hmm, I'm going to guess that this sort of similar pattern will exist in almost any free market with a lot of independent vendors.

    Though, both cuddling and renting out one room of your living space both incur some level of risk to your safety, (in the case of renting, more financial risk in terms of damages) so it might be that they don't care about a steady flow of income, but rather treat it as bonus cash if they are able to land any clients.

  • cuddles_ndreamcuddles_ndream
    edited February 2021

    Out of the 2 options > people either decide they don’t particularly care if they get any bookings (maybe temporarily), or they just have some confused ideas about the market they are targeting.

    I would choose the 1st, but I don’t think its even that, if it is listed ofcourse they care, but it comes down to what the person is willing to accept to render such service , in your case cuddling or renting.

  • [Deleted User]CuddleMeLater (deleted user)

    @sunnysideup

    Hmm, I'm going to guess that this sort of similar pattern will exist in almost any free market with a lot of independent vendors.

    I'm not so sure. I think there are particular attributes of certain online markets that make this kind of pricing possible - notably the almost complete lack of overhead or effort required to enter and advertise on the market. It costs essentially nothing to list an extra bedroom for $4500 on AirBnB, so someone's going to come along and do it. Same thing with cuddlers.

    OTOH imagine an in-person flea market... It's hard to imagine a vendor bringing their inventory in every day and manning their station and charging a massive premium over what all the people around them charge. That's just a huge timesink for what's very unlikely to be a good payoff.

  • GallowglassGallowglass

    If someone can afford to list their place, at that level, then there is something creating the market for that place.
    If a cuddler can take advantage of a certain level, then there is that much value there. Otherwise their customers would dry-up or they would drop their prices.

    If you like conspiracy, ... Maybe, the place is being shown, but at a price they know, will keep people from renting. What are they hiding?

  • [Deleted User]CuddleMeLater (deleted user)
    edited February 2021

    @Gallowglass

    If someone can afford to list their place

    There is no charge to list on AirBnB, nor for (female) pro cuddlers to have a profile here.

    I think the simplest explanation is the most likely: no one is renting this $4500 bedroom, and he’s listing at that price either because he’s not really serious about renting it out or he’s not all there in the head.

  • xandriarainxandriarain

    I saw one cuddler on the forums who intentionally jacked up her prices because she wanted to take a break.

  • GallowglassGallowglass
    edited February 2021

    I'm talking about markets (financial/transactional).

    Cuddling is a service. A health service, like physical therapy. Where the outcome and the potential # of visits has not limiting factors. Some therapists are crap. Or maybe they're great, but setting up an appointment is a hassle. Some are great, easy to work with, possibly meeting some of our hidden, attraction-factors, possibly with years of experience, with different personalities, different skillsets, different levels of emotional or "smarts" intelligence. The point is that there are more variables in finding a cuddler, than taking one off the self.

    If a producer/creator/provider goes into the market to sell, they will look around and keep trying to find the ceiling, for how much they are able to get, then they will continue to charge that. This is a normal, healthy chasing-my-bag.

    But, there is also the consumer side. The more things feel-right, and work-right, and provide the most serotonin, the more a consumer is willing to pay. This is normal market/human behavior.

  • [Deleted User]CuddleMeLater (deleted user)

    @xandriarain

    Yeah this was what I figured some people do. It seems a little counterintuitive - why not just deactivate your account or write that you're not available for now? But OK.

    @Gallowglass

    I'm familiar with two cases of pros who had prices above the norm. One I was a client of; the other was a friend of a pro I was a client of. One charged $300. She never got a client at that price. Not one. The other charged $150. She got an occasional client, but eventually lowered her price to $100 so she could get regulars. I am very confident that $300 cuddlers are not a normal part of the market the way you describe -- they are people who either don't actually want to participate in the market, or they are people who are behaving irrationally.

    Same thing with $4500 bedrooms in cramped apartments. There's no need to speculate or come up with some kind of strained reasoning why people are paying $4500 a night for that shitty bedroom. The simplest (and almost certainly true) explanation is that no one is paying that much for that bedroom.

  • sunnysideupsunnysideup
    edited February 2021

    @CuddleMeLater That's true, I agree with you there. It might still happen, but those outliers are much, much, more likely to go out of business much sooner (assuming there are types of the "they just have some confused ideas about the market they are targeting") variety.

    The lack of overhead does likely produce this effect - I recall browsing through craigslist ads for used computers/computer parts. Some are so grossly overpriced, you're better off buying a new computer even if you're on a tight budget. I'm wondering what the motivation of the seller is - that they just don't understand the value of the item, or that they don't care to sell the item unless they can get a significant return on it. I suppose that pricing of used goods is more volatile than the pricing structure of a service or living space rental (apart from housing crashes and holiday seasons lol). This observation, combined with the likelihood that these used goods sellers are probably selling their particular type of item for the first time online, leads me to think that sellers of these used goods fall more under the camp of not knowing the value of their item. Computer parts tend to lose their value faster than other used goods markets, and the widely variable condition of used cars creates a gigantic range of value for the same model, to name a couple of examples.

  • GallowglassGallowglass

    So, they are outliers that will eventually get a clue, or never get a clue. Yep. That fits what I'm talking about, too.
    @xandriarain It's in long-term parking. I could see how a house is a service and in either case, I can see wanting to keep your presence listed, but at a level that would put the service on hold.

  • SideonSideon
    edited February 2021

    Pros dictate their rates. This forum is not for venting or complaining about professional cuddlers and their rates.

    I'll leave this thread, but note I'm likely to move additional threads offline if these kinds of threads continue.

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