Price Gouging

December 2021

I live in California. I noticed when I joined 2 years ago, prices around my area were reasonable, in the $80 to $100 range. Seemingly out of no where I’m seeing the normal range rise to $120 to $180. Some profiles even advertise $200 to $300, which seems like pure greed.

My gut just doesn’t sit right with this, and it seems to go against the spirit of cuddling, in my mind - an activity that’s holistic and beneficial for both parties. It’s held me back from booking substantially, since I can’t justify the prices, and there are way less profiles to choose from, as a lot of people have hopped on this trend.

When I book sessions, I like to book around 3 hours. It’s enough time for me to get in the zone of cuddling, and it also makes it more worth it for the professional. This means currently I’d have to spend on average $450 per session, which really gets my budget gears turning, compared to the $300 I was more comfortable spending 2 years ago.

What are your thoughts about the price hikes? Is it justified by the demand? Are we just keeping up with inflation?

I’m probably going to get responses saying “you don’t have to buy” or “take it or leave it”, something to that effect. But when I look at this new pervasive wave of expensive professionals, I see few karma reviews, if any at all. Assuming their volume is low, wouldn’t the natural thing to do be to lower prices in order meet the true demand?

CuddleDuncan · December 2021

This may come as a shock, but the person who sets a professional's price is them. Not you. That's it. The end. Nobody else gets a say, just the person actually doing the work.

Your [completely unjustified] complaint is all the more galling given how very, very rich you are. There are many people here who cannot afford even one hour of low-priced cuddling. If you actually cared about the spirit of cuddling - and you very obviously don't - you would set up a fund to help people less fortunate than you to pay for the cuddles that they need.

What you do have is a very strong sense of entitlement.

The reason prices are drifting upwards is because, as the industry matures, professionals are becoming ever more exhausted by having to deal with people like you. Or to put it another way, the low prices that prevailed to attract customers into a new industry are being replaced by prices that more accurately reflect the challenges of the work.

Sorry to be so blunt, I just want to reduce the chance of misunderstanding.

December 2021

Interesting insight, thank you for the feedback!

_marC · December 2021

I agree prices have definitely gone up! During the start of pandemic when I joined the prices were 60 to 80 on average. Now it is over 100.

SuperManCuddles · December 2021

@LikeMike91 I understand your views and have noticed similar things. I have seen pro prices range current/in many areas from $40 to over $200 per hour. I have cuddled with some of the best pros on this site, they typically offer 3 hours at the rate between $240 to $300 (within your price range).Here is my strategy. I look at many profiles (free enthusiasts and pros), evaluate if the quality of service/prices are reasonable, if yes I plan to book but if not find other options (free enthusiasts or other pros). I did some research in a 20 mile radius of your city. Many pros on the search and in your friends list are within the price range. I also saw many free female enthusiasts too. You could message many women, possibly get free and or paid cuddles with more activity. These strategies have been highly successfully for me.

CuddleWho · December 2021

If you actually cared about the spirit of cuddling - and you very obviously don't - you would set up a fund to help people less fortunate than you to pay for the cuddles that they need.

Uh... what?

The reason prices are drifting upwards is because, as the industry matures, professionals are becoming ever more exhausted by having to deal with people like you.

As the industry matures? In what way is this industry the slightest bit more mature than it was a couple years ago?

AFAICT most (not all) of the very expensive cuddlers, in the $200+ range, are brand new with little to no experience. They're not charging extreme prices because they're seasoned professionals and have figured out what they're worth. They're charging extreme prices because they're new and clueless and just hope to quickly fleece a few people.

low prices that prevailed to attract customers into a new industry are being replaced by prices that more accurately reflect the challenges of the work.

Multiple pros have told me straight up that the reason they do pro cuddling is because it's the easiest way to make decent money that they can find.

All that said... in basically every area where I search with a decent number of pros, including near OP, there are still many pros in the $100 range. Search results can be misleading, given how many pros are basically impossible to book with, but still, I think OP can probably still find reasonably priced cuddles.

cuddlerforu24 · December 2021

@CuddleDuncan where is the fund you set up ?

Sheena123 · December 2021

@CuddleDuncan

As much as I don’t like threads talking negatively about pros and their prices, and I know you care deeply about this site and everyone on it, I feel you were more than blunt with OP. It came off really rude to me. I think he’s just thinking what a lot of others are thinking and it’s a normal thought process. Gas used to be this price, now its this higher price. It’s normal. And I think because of his process of having 3 hour snuggles so he can get into absolute zen mode, it lets me know that he actually DOES care about cuddling. I like having you on the forum for peace of mind but when someone is asking a very normal (just annoying because it’s so frequent) kind of question, maybe say less things like “you obviously don’t care” “professionals are exhausted from dealing with people like you” and talking about him being rich. Thanks for helping though 🙂

@LikeMike91 we do get a lot of threads talking about this so that’s why you may have a lot of comments saying you’re entitled and whatnot. It’s just constant with these kinds of threads but it’s a justified thought. I don’t think what you said was overtly rude or attacking on pros, it’s just what market is I guess. Places like California are going to be more and unfortunately when new pros sign up, they see the prices of other pros and simply copy what they have. So if you’re a new pro and you notice every single pro around you is charging $150-$300, you’re going to choose a price based on that. And of course, as long as cuddlers are paying that price, that price will stay.
I’ve been here over 2 and a half years and I have never gone above $80 but that’s because I get enough cuddlers to keep a busy week.
Maybe some of these more expensive pros have a full time job and just want to have a sprinkling of cuddles but still have it be worth their time 🤷🏼‍♀️
There are so many reasons but just keep looking around. Maybe find some outside of your area.
Good luck

December 2021

The price for cuddling is whatever the market will bear. There is likely way more demand than supply. If someone is charging a high price and getting little to no business, they will lower the price or shut down. While pros, I believe, treasure what they can bring to others, they are running a business, not a charity, so why shouldn't they ask for what they can get, especially since no one is being forced to use them?

nurturingman · December 2021

You went way overboard in your assessment of this person you don’t know, @CuddleDuncan . I’m amazed that his response to your « j’accuse » was “Interesting insight, thank you for the feedback!” That’s class.

I agree with the OP’s thoughts and questions, and I agree with @CuddleWho ‘s observation that “most (not all) of the very expensive cuddlers, in the $200+ range, are brand new with little to no experience.” I think this current “market” is insane with everyone going pro, and people signing up for pro accounts with no training or experience. I see it in female pros’ profiles when I do look at them, and I see it in male pros’ profiles all the time: they sign up as pros and they never even log back on— because they’re not getting any requests, of course. (I can tell they’re new and inactive when I look at their profile the fourth week of November and their stats show they joined in November and last logged in four weeks ago.) It’s clear that these men never bothered to learn about the nascent market for male pros, and when I say "nascent," and I mean as newborn as puppies with their eyes still closed (not that the people who hire male pros are like blind puppies, haha). They don’t seem to care to learn from these forum discussions (unless they’re reading them without logging in) and they clearly don’t participate in them— except maybe when they first sign up and announce that they’re God’s latest and greatest gift to women, “hmu for a good time, baby.”

Whence I speak: 😉

I'm Cuddlist-certified, and I didn't even go pro on Cuddle Comfort until I had been on the site for eight months, had read and written in the forum, hired a couple of pros, cuddled with a few enthusiasts, gotten several Karma reviews, and completed the Cuddlist training. I did not go pro to make money, because I knew it was unlikely I would make much; I went pro to help people heal. Sadly for me, all my training and certification, which cost me a lot of money, has been worthless if you only look at it only in terms of financial return on investment. It hasn't been worthless in terms of my understanding as a cuddler, though, and except for the fact that I haven't recouped my investment, I'm glad I invested in it. I believe every cuddler should take some sort of training, such as what is offered by Cuddlist or Cuddle Sanctuary (the trainings alone aren't that expensive) so they can understand the sensitivity a cuddler needs, the savvy to screen out cuddle partners that are likely to overstep your boundaries, the ability to ask for what you want, and the ability to say no to what you don't want. There's even more to it than that, including trauma-informed care and awareness of privilege and oppression. Anyway, that's what I did, and I think if anyone has reason to call himself a pro it is someone like me— not because I'm making much money but because I can justifiably profess to be qualified. Honestly, I am debating how much longer it makes sense for me to pay monthly fees to be a Pro, though… whether I should quit at the end of the year and make my New Year's resolution to be to "stop the madness" or to give it a good year and quit before I turn 55. I believe in cuddling and I believe there is a place for professional cuddlers— not nearly the place that's being taken up by these "pros" who have no experience or training and are charging too much money and making none, but a place for professionals to be there for clients who want a professional-client relationship that's all about the client's comfort and healing, and not a relationship in which reciprocity is expected and there might be expectations of an ongoing personal relationship. I'm even thinking of keeping on being a "Pro" if only for the sake of balancing the untrained, inexperienced, money-eyed 🤑 male pro market with training, experience, and altruism— even if it costs me to do so. And maybe because I feel like I'll be damned if I let other guys call themselves a pro when I don't. 🤨

sunnysideup · December 2021

All consumers wish prices were lower, but Supply and demand sets the price. If it’s too expensive to be profitable, savvy professionals will adjust accordingly. Some might argue that certain things should be affordable, like clean water for all. But it is not the governments job to provide affordable cuddling for all.

You may have to find alternate sources of human touch if prices are too high. If you have a regular they may accept the previous rate if you have no other option, don’t hurt to ask as long as you’re respectful. Sports, enthusiast? If you can’t find as an enthusiast cuddler maybe try dating apps .. hang in there and persevere!

carino · December 2021

Well all i can say is pros will set the price that they want obviously and who's willing to pay for it that's pretty much.worst case scenario you can ask for a reduce rate and it's up to them if they choose too or if they have some kind of of discount rate going on. Worst thing that they can say is no reduce rate but I agree prices have gone up since 2 yrs ago. People see other profile with higher rates and they see they get karmas, so of course they'll do the same thing so that they won't miss out on their pay day.

carino · December 2021

At the end of the day you have cuddlers that are genuine and then like Mike says there are cuddlers that are in it for the money greed and yes like everyone else we all have sene prices of 200 even 300 I sincerely doubt anyone would pay for a session

mainsailor · December 2021

It's covid, there is inflation - and rent is high as hell in California - and honestly a lot of the creepy men in the world have caused people to raise prices.

herby357 · December 2021

There is a max-price option on the search page. Put in your max comfortable price, and search that way.

I posted something similar a few months back and have found this solved my issue. At the end of the day, folks are going to pay what they want/can afford. Personally, my activity has dropped significantly due to the price hikes, but that's my issue, not the providers.

HangTheDJ · December 2021

Supply and demand. The fact of the matter is that many women on here can simply charge whatever they want (within reason of course, nobody is paying $500/hour to cuddle) and still get clients.

In my very populous area (NYC), many women are charging $150-200/hour and are still getting more demand than they can even keep up with and often have a long "waiting list" of guys who want to book with them. So why the heck would they charge $100/hour then?

I've talked to multiple cuddlers who have raised their rates specifically cause they couldn't keep up with the requests and thought it would make it more manageable, but it hasn't slowed things much at all. It's all based on what men will pay them so unless men decide they won't pay higher prices en masse (extremely unlikely to happen unless we have another 2008-type event where there is a big recession w/ mass job loss), then nothing will change.

December 2021

I’m sure the prices were significantly lower two years ago-I would keep in mind prices change over time. You can understand like gas, for example, it fluctuates

TheFriendlyFae · December 2021

Hello there! I just wanted to share my perspective as a professional with rates a bit on the higher side. I have been cuddling for three years but it was on another platform that took 40% so when I made the shift I lowered the price a little from 200 an hour to 180. In my experiance being on the higher end of the market weeds out those that go into cuddling with ulterior intentions and those that meet with you are genuinely so excited and sweet! Not that you can't have the same experience with lower prices, but it makes me more comfortable and I am confident in the service I provide based off the feedback of my clients. Everyone's time is valuable and rates don't determine a person's worth, there's nothing wrong with being on either end of the spectrum. You just have to find a partner that works for you that fits your emotional and financial perimeters 🖤

NicoSnuggs · December 2021

*Not to take away from CuddleComfort, but I have said before and I will say again that massage and massage therapy services are available for $80 to $140 an hour throughout places I have lived on the east coast.

If you are desperate for touch while seeking out cuddles for a price which you can afford with a person you connect with (and who connects with you), then I strongly encourage seeing a massage therapist at a local public location in the meantime while you are communicating and seeking connection with a cuddle enthusiast or a Pro whom you can afford.

Chris04 · December 2021

I always said if a pro cuddler wants to charge a gazillion per hr. Thats their right.

cuddleversed · December 2021

Prices have gone up yes but in no way can that be characterized as price gouging, that is something else entirely.
Providers can charge what they want and there are plenty of providers everywhere that charge the lower end of the pricing spectrum. And for the most part those really high price pros don’t last for too long which means the market regulates the price and there aren’t too many people paying those high prices and those pros move on fairly quickly so no need to pay all of that too much attention to them.
Now, California is gonna be more expensive than other major metropolitan areas but even there I’ve seen reasonably priced pros.

In the end there’s always something for everybody and these threads bashing prices are not productive and it just makes pros think that there are a lot of clients unhappy with the prices which I don’t think is the case.

And personally I’ve never paid anymore than what I wanted to pay because instead of complaining about prices I perform a search and only contact pros that have the price that I’m willing to pay. It’s not that difficult really.

MrMarkAndrew · December 2021

"Professionals", lol...until someone can point to actual industry standards of practice, state licensing requirements, and legally regulating bodies for Cuddling, it's all a bunch of individually subjective pricing. At this point, unlike massage therapists or Yoga instructors, anyone here can deem themselves a "professional", hang up a digital sign, and charge whatever they want. Call yourself whatever you like, but you are in no way, shape, or form a "Professional". You are simply trying to monetize people's desire for human touch without putting in the educational work necessary.

cuddles_ndream · December 2021

What are your thoughts about the price hikes? Is it justified by the demand? Are we just keeping up with inflation?

My thoughts on prices (In general) is that this is the price the cuddler is willing to cuddle for, what is worth it to them, it has nothing to do with demand or keeping up with inflation.

Assuming their volume is low, wouldn’t the natural thing to do be to lower prices in order meet the true demand?

Nope, & this is the part that most people don't understand I feel … let’s take a job for example

You have those that love this particular job & those that hate it & those that are somewhere inbetween (Let’s call it ABC corp) …

You have person 1 who loves the job & makes $30 an hour - if management goes to person 1 tomorrow & says sorry, we’re only willing to pay $18 an hour, person one (even though they love it) will say “screw that” & not accept it

Person 2 hates the job, is making $30 an hour … & might accept $18 out of pure need/necessity …

Person 3 might love or hate the job, but is ok with $15 an hour

Person 4 is a volunteer & does the same job

Person 5 is per diem but will only do the job if the demand is there & they are willing to pay $50 an hour, person 5 doesn’t care if the job only calls once a week , or once a month , once a year or ever … they will only do the job for $50 an hour so it is indifferent to them wether there’s demand or not

*** important to note - only because the volunteer is a volunteer doesn’t mean they love the job or have the best experiences doing the work / only because the person who is ok charging $18 or heck $15 doesn’t meant they are less professional at their jobs & might possibly even do a better job … & Vice versa … there are endless combinations , but for your specific questions, think of it as there being many per diems here (person #5)

SleepySheep1 · December 2021

Just to provide a counter perspective, when my prices were $75 two years ago I never got hassled about pricing.

With the pandemic and other such financial burdens people have had to face I started offering more discounts and have kept my rate down to $45-55 (or less at times) and now I'm constantly being asked to go lower.

It's a fine balancing act between barring access to those who really need it, and increasing the risk of low-effort/bad-intentioned people messaging or meeting with me.

In addition everyone in my area charges more and still gets around the same number of clients/bookings (at least those I've spoken with), so it's hard to not see the inherent loss I take compared to others. I can see why many would raise their rates as well.

SleepySheep1 · December 2021

@MrMarkAndrew People have brought up multiple valid counterpoints to you on this topic already.
https://www.cuddlecomfort.com/forum/discussion/comment/137553#Comment_137553

In addition your generalizations don't apply to everyone. The pro I was with for awhile was certified and did training, as well as having CPR and first aid certification training (as do I!).

And we could play semantics games all day about what "professional" means but ultimately it's just meant to denote individuals who charge on this site-which for some without this option would not be able to find someone otherwise.
It's not meant to show experience, credentials, or anything else. All of those things can be mentioned/elaborated on via DM's, biographies, or karma if it's important to you.

CuddleDuncan · December 2021

Thank you @Sheena123. Kind and right as usual.

I lost track of the comment but whoever said that the OP's response to my previous was 'class' was, in my opinion, spot on.

@cuddlerforu24 you've caught me off guard, I thought I hadn't mentioned that before. I've only done the very early work and it's not a long way past the idea stage. I do have one other person interested, I'm happy to say. Neither of us have the emotional resources to launch it internationally so it would only be here in the UK at first. Don't hold your breath, it's not going to happen for a while.

I would like to donate money informally to professionals to use with clients who would benefit from it, and I have talked about this to a couple of professionals I know well. Of course it turned out they were already giving heavily discounted sessions to people who wouldn't otherwise have them, off their own bat. Unfortunately I'm not financially able to do it - the longest paid cuddle session I've ever had is an hour and a half, with lower-priced people i.e. the ones doing it for love.

Chris04 · December 2021

@MrMarkAndrew
Yes I Strongly agree.

MrMarkAndrew · December 2021

@SleepySheep1 multiple yes, but hardly valid. If the economy were booming would they be lowering prices accordingly? I highly doubt that. Nonetheless, until there is universally recognized training and licensing, similar or a massage or Yoga practitioner, then you are not a "professional."

SleepySheep1 · December 2021

@MrMarkAndrew
I don't know about that, seeming as you weren't able to produce rebuttals to many of the comments in that thread.

To address your points again, there are plenty of places where licensing isn't necessary to become a massage therapist and the like.

Do you believe anyone here calls themselves a professional outside of CC? Additionally whether they do or don't isn't really valid as an indepent worker. It is simply a term to denote those who charge and those who don't. Do you propose CC just take it out entirely? Because that doesn't seem like it'd be helpful for either end of users.

Licensing was necessary to become a taxi driver previously, now anyone can work for Uber or Lyft and that's a valid profession. No one requires your approval to do this as a profession- and doing this as a profession is all that's required to make them a 'pro' cuddler opposed to an 'enthusiast', and again without such many people would be unable to get the services they want.

In fact forcing people to adhere to such a standard would have us right back at square one- not enough enthusiasts or pros for the demand which is something us pros already deal with.

No ones forcing anyone to pay for a pro cuddler, if the name is what bothers you they could simply change it in theory- but I don't see why semantics should bother someone so much to comment on it multiple times.

If someone wants someone with credentials (as I preferred) you can simply seek it out. Perhaps even a filter can be added for such.

Edit: Also a quick search as also confirmed what I already suspected- In the USA there is absolutely no regulation on yoga teachers. You do not need to be certified, registered, or licensed. In fact there is a community yoga group near me, and I believe the teacher (a 26 year old grad student) has no credentials besides enjoying it himself and still charges.

SleepySheep1 · December 2021

While we're on the topic the best certification I have found is the "Cuddle Sanctuary Professional Cuddler Certification Program" which can be done online or irl for those who are interested in such things.

nurturingman · December 2021

@MrMarkAndrew I invite you to take the Cuddlist training (however many weeks it takes you to complete it) and then come back here and tell us how pros “are simply trying to monetize people's desire for human touch without putting in the educational work necessary.”

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