Los Angeles Cuddlers and Travel Fees

geminigemstonegeminigemstone
edited February 2024 in General

Hi there! I am wondering how cuddlers feel about a travel fee? For a city known for horrible traffic like Los Angeles, as a pro cuddler I feel like it’s fair to charge a travel fee if the location is 20 miles from where the pro cuddler lives. In Los Angeles it can take an hour or more to travel 15 miles due to traffic and it’s one way.

My question is, do you think travel fee is fair?

Comments

  • geminigemstonegeminigemstone

    Thank you everyone in advance for sharing your thoughts!

  • JasonCuddlesJasonCuddles

    What I would do is find out how much it costs you to drive per km then add on how much you think you want to be paid time wise and add them together.

    I recently looked at one example and it was 30 cents per km, not including paying for road infrastructure of course, but that's getting deeper into the true cost of driving and likely beyond what you're wondering about.

  • TxTomTxTom

    Yes. However, the market will ultimately determine which hourly rate (including additional fees) are the most profitable for you. It's different in every part of the country. You'll probably find that you need to tweak you pricing at times as market conditions fluctuate.

  • Vintage_EmbraceVintage_Embrace
    edited February 2024

    Yes it is.

    But you’ll get many last minute requests and cannot get there in time due to travel/time constraints and population density.

    Anyone that pushes back on your financial boundaries for your business is not worth the risk. Imoe.
    You’ll get loads of advice from those whom have never worked in service industry jobs and therefore think they can stipulate what works for your business.

    Your rate is lower than most in the area. And I used to live in SoCal. Time is money. Money is time. Respect costs nada.

    Here is my TOC financial boundary for my Etsy.

    “My pricing allows me to make a profit.

    Which allows me to pay my bills.

    Which also allows me to stay in business.

    My pricing allows me to pay myself for the countless hours I work. I’m truly never “off the clock”.

    My pricing keeps a roof over my head and food on my table.

    I am not Walmart (a 500 billion dollar company). I’m unable to provide things at the “lowest price”, order millions of units, and still stay in business.

    Im not the “cheapest”. I’m also not “the most expensive”.

    My pricing is what it is to allow my business to keep going which allows me to keep making a positive impact.

    I will not apologize for my pricing because I shouldn't.

    No small business should.

    Thanks for understanding 😊”

    If a human does not understand any of this. Cuddling will not impact them to understand a service industry non traditional job.

    Stay safe 🤗💗& properly compensated.

  • geminigemstonegeminigemstone

    @SunshineHug thank you so much for this insight! I know things are hard for everyone but I am so tired of clients trying to low ball clients over a travel fee or just in general. I appreciate your advice and will definitely think about it this way.

  • Vintage_EmbraceVintage_Embrace

    @geminigemstone

    You’re welcome.

    While feedback is important on the forums.

    A respectful base clientele is more so.

    I offer discounts on repeat clientele not first time clients requesting I lower my rate ect.trust needs to be established.

    Respect is free.

    We have to give 15% to the house AND also have to pay taxes.

    My priority is safety and a thriving business and yes, money factors into that aspect.

    Why would I cuddle for free and damage my healing capacity and business to be expendable in a vast ever changing market ?

    Peep the locals in your area. For “cuddle comps.”

  • sg89sg89

    You've answered your own question and you don't need to justify it to anyone, only yourself. There isn't a right and wrong. I'm sure the market will allow you to charge a travel fee but how much... it's for you to gage.

  • Midnight01Midnight01

    lol, AND pay taxes?? How absurd….

  • sunnysideupsunnysideup

    I think that the common reimbursement rate is around 50 to 60 cents per mile. I don’t know LA traffic, but if it takes more than 30 mins or so to get to me I would expect to pay some kind of travel fee as a client. Maybe a dollar per mile might be more fair if traffic is brutal.

    I’ve seen some profiles require a certain cuddle length if the distance is X away instead of a travel fee, if you think that would work for you (for example 3 hr cuddle for 1 hour travel time waives travel fee?)

    As mentioned before more unsavory clients will ask you to change your rates. Better to just skip over these folks.

    Charge whatever you are comfortable with and you can always play around with prices to see how that affects how much traffic you’re getting

  • Vocalist100Vocalist100

    It's certainly fair as long as you areup front about this cost

  • TheFunCartelTheFunCartel

    I travel all over and LA is one of those markets where it makes sense to charge a travel fee. I mean if you are asking for a cuddle in Ontario and the pro is coming from Burbank then of course.

  • UREverythingUREverything

    Just about everyone pays for travel in general.

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