You must have a lot of time on your hands.
As a platonic pro cuddler in this range, I set my fees to reflect what I believe is a fair price for my services.
While I would love to cuddle more people, the current cost of living and the fact that cuddling is a side income rather than my full-time employment mean I need to consider the opportunity cost.
I don't believe there is any correlation.
Lol @WriterGF
Maybe they want to do less cuddles and make a similar amount. Sometimes in business raising your price can reduce headache if dealing with several clients and more labor so you have more time to yourself but still can pay bills.
It leads to the question, how much is a person's time worth to you...
I've thought of posting on this subject before, but feared the backlash.
We can't avoid that attractiveness is a key factor for most men, but that doesn't always mean a good cuddling experience.
I set my search limit to $150 so I won't have to see the people who charge that much. It's really bothersome when they attempt to charge a lot (200+) and have zero karma. If a pro charges that much and has reviews, then they supply and demand argument holds up.
Maybe some $200 people deleted or deactivated their account because of lack of demand for them and they were just testing the waters.
I live in the Bay Area and everything is more expensive here. I would say the average here is $120.
I've stated in other threads that I have also noted a trend of more expensive Pro's having more red flags or outright violations of ToS. In other words, of Pro's that I have to report, many more of them are in the $120 to $200 range than the $80 to $120 range. I am not passionate about the price range trend, but I do agree it's there.
For those who, for some fascinating reason, take issue with me reporting profiles - I don't seek them out. They either visit me, or they are on the front page, half-naked (great advertising for our platonic site, eh?).
Pro's can certainly charge what they want, and I've seen some brand new ones who start at $200 and I just laugh because I know they're not going to get any bites at that price point...no offense, but especially if they don't look like Playboy Bunnies.
Those who do look like models or strippers, sure, I believe there could be a market for them, even if they only do platonic cuddling. It would be mostly limited to rich guys, probably in Miami, Vegas, L.A., and New York. That said, do I believe they are only doing platonic cuddling? No, I do not.
The Karma left for these Pro's is often telling. Instead of seeing adjectives like "empathetic", "peaceful", "compassionate", and the like, you'll see men using words like, "invigorating", "rejuvenating", "thrilling", and "release".
If a woman looks like a movie star, and has a professional modeling portfolio on display, on this site...I don't know what else to say than just give it some thought. Why is she here instead of somewhere else? Why does she want you in her bed instead of all the hot men her good looks could obviously get her? Why is it these women are always clustered around the big cities I mentioned?
Why is it they so often have dozens of gushing 5-star reviews, yet almost zero repeat clients??? It would seem they're snagging business from this site and then either selling them something else, or something off the record. And yes, I've met men who have personally told me they do this, knowingly, because they "feel bad" the women have to give the site 15%, so they schedule off-site. This is a trend even for "nice guys", so imagine how prolific it is for the sex workers and their clients.
@Morpheus Thank you for doing this research and having the guts to post it.
~ Sunset Snuggles
🦄 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Fiend 🐘 Animal Lover
I wish some of those profiles would visit my page so that I can offer them a coat to cover up 😇😂
@Unscented_Lemon - Thank you for asking that question. While the number of $200+ / hr. Pros who have been banned looks pretty bad we would need a control group to compare against before drawing any conclusions.
I share @Morpheus suspicions, especially if those who are charging $200+ per hour are new to the site and/or have little to no karma.
@SunsetSnuggles ok, thrilling and release are suspect, for sure. Rejuvenating and invigorating are words I've literally used to describe the feeling after a platonic cuddle. Whose to say they don't have repeat clients? Are you looking at their booking history? I wouldn't leave a cuddler karma 2x, zero point.
"If a woman looks like a movie star, and has a professional modeling portfolio on display, on this site...I don't know what else to say than just give it some thought. Why is she here instead of somewhere else? Why does she want you in her bed instead of all the hot men her good looks could obviously get her? Why is it these women are always clustered around the big cities I mentioned?"
Now this is a strange one. Movie star good looks so why doesn't she want hot men? Would those men be cuddle clients? Probably not, they could find someone to cuddle for free. Clustered around the big cities? Just in general there tends to be more cuddlers in big cities because.... those cities are big... and tend to have a lot of people that are potential clients. Small town folk are less likely to spend even 80 an hour on a cuddle.
@SunsetSnuggles
I have not looked at karma from $200 / hr pros in ages and even when I have done it in the past it was purely out of curiosity as I knew I would not be booking with them. What I recall from a year or so ago is that most of them didn’t have much karma. Your observation about the adjectives used by clients is very telling.
I'd be interested in folks that are open to paying $200 dollars and hour to cuddle. If the thought is those that charge more offer more, then the same should tell us those that pay more expect more. I am not sure but I'd suspect @wilderdude is correct, those who have reasonable to low prices would get the upsell in person. Well actually i have seen that so i agree. I'm not big on getting pros at any cost well, just because. But if a lady thinks she can command the price and there is evidence she can, like getting people to pay for her platonic time then she should get it. A very attractive woman in a cuddler (consumers) eyes may be worth more to them. Market rate is market rate so if you can command that so be it.
But just the fact that we are discussing people and money makes me uneasy. Using terms like supply, demand and market rate is just gross when talking about women. That's a big reason why it's hard for me to do that.
Maybe if we had entry rates it make people feel better about higher prices. If they all started at the $50 rate for the first 2 and had the ability to increase $10 every 2 we would see why some are able to get the rate they ask for.
Every area is different, the market varies the wage and COL makes a big difference.
But let's say i had a large amount disposable cash, and i had a cuddler that i wanted to be available to me more often, id likely pay for her to be available. The higher price makes it so the poors couldn't get their grubby mits on my favorite platonic cuddle. Ok that part is a joke but the idea is true. I pay my kids barber twice his rate because my availability is sporadic and last minute but he gets me in when i need, and i never asked him to do that. So i pay for that courtesy.
As someone referenced, most potential clients have a budget. If the pro is charging more than that, you don't patronize her. End of problem. They may well be people just starting out who don't know what the market will bear yet.
I saw a pro out in Washington state the other day charging $400 an hour. Do I know if she is getting clients at that price? Nope. Do I care? Also nope. Her pricing decision doesn't affect me any and I have other things to worry about.
Charge what you wish and pay what you wish . Simple pimple . I'm just not into the low key slut shaming and assumptions of prostitution that always seems to be interwoven into these types of threads .
@wilderdude posted: "Whose to say they don't have repeat clients? Are you looking at their booking history?"
Clients who book properly through the site are given a "Repeat Client" tag on their Karma, like this:
@wilderdude posted: "I wouldn't leave a cuddler karma 2x, zero point."
It's not possible to leave more than one Karma, per account.
@wilderdude posted: "there tends to be more cuddlers in big cities because.... those cities are big..."
While we're talking about supply and demand then, why are there expensive Pro's clustered in these red light district cities, where Pro's are plentiful, yet when there is only one for 500 miles in any direction, she's busy as hell, yet stays at a normal price, and has none of these red flags? Just sayin'. I don't make these Pro's suspicious, I'm just telling you what I see.
@SunsetSnuggles i am going to be honest. I did experience a cuddle, one of my few that was "empathetic", "peaceful", "compassionate", AS WELL AS , "invigorating", "rejuvenating", "thrilling" i wouldn't use the word release......yikes. I definitely didn't get one so that word is telling a lot in this context.
I did see her more than once and only left karma once so how would we know they are not becoming repeats and still using the site?
@WriterGF posted: "Her pricing decision doesn't affect me any"
If sex workers are here charging more for "cuddles", it drives the price of legitimate cuddles up. The other Pro's in the area will raise their prices. New Pro's think it's the norm, as we've seen, and join at $200 per hour. In other words, yes, it does affect you in the long run.
@BashfulLoner See above; if you book properly through the site more than once with the same Pro, your Karma gets tagged with "Repeat Client".
The standard price for professional cuddling started at around $80 an hour.
Considering the purchasing power of the US dollar lost around 25% in just the last 3-4 years alone, it makes you wonder what the new appropriate reference point might be. In aggregate, you would expect people with the privilege of influencing their own compensation to naturally adjust upwards (consciously or unconsciously). I would speculate that this is the primary reason for the increase in the average rate over the years.
Karma recently left for a $200 an hour pro
Same sad needy guys ⬆️⬆️ complaining every day but the Pros who charge that much have their reasons, probably don’t read the Forum and have no intention of changing their fee. Do they question your income? 🤗🤗 Carrieanne
@SunsetSnuggles I may be wrong but I feel like "repeat client" didn't pop-up on mine until a client edited their Karma. 🤔
The only legit reason I can think of for price disparity is time you have to give. If you can only only fit in say a handful of hours a week then I get it because you would naturally put a premium on your time. You'd also want less inquiries to handle.
I guess 'just to earn' is allowed but ethically questionable. Masked or overt extra services is obviously not legit.
I think also location is a big factor. I’m based in NYC mostly. The cost of living there is much higher than if I was living in Austin, TX. Which does make it a question of if or how to adjust pricing while visiting and offering cuddling in a new town.
What’s more important? Supporting an app that charges high price cuddles or bringing folks together in a healthy social media forum to share their ideas and commonalities….hmmm
This is to the moderators that flagged my posts….nice try. Eat The Rich!
This isn't a dating site. False equivalency, sorry
Don’t understand where the dating part comes from?
Cuddle Comfort started as an enthusiast-only site, and remained so for many years. There was no revenue, the owners supported it from their own resources. The site continues to support a forum which brings no revenue, and it remains first and foremost a community site, albeit with a significant commercial element.
Professionals are independent freelancers and the rates they set are nothing to do with CC. You don't blame ebay if the car you want is too expensive for you, so why would you blame CC if you don't like the rate professionals charge?
The enthusiast-enthusiast part of the site does work. I have cuddled with perhaps a dozen enthusiast women that I have met here, and my experience is not unique.
I would echo what @CuddleDuncan said. My first year on this site I paid several pros, then my second year on the site was a combination of pros and enthusiasts. I am rapidly approaching my 3rd anniversary on the site and I have been almost exclusively with enthusiasts for the past year.
@Chocolate4U I think everything becomes monetized at some point because doing anything now days costs money to maintain. Even the 60s hippies cashed in. However, there are pros that can make you forget a transaction occurred. And I have had several enthusiasts and they are a mixed bag in that some understand the reciprocal concept of enthusiast cuddling and some don’t. And I had one that delved into stalkerish territory to the point when I visited LA I had to stop staying at a specific hotel I liked until she moved away. There really is not a cuddle utopia but I can say this site tries more than any other site.
@TheFunCartel - 😳 Thankfully I have not had any enthusiast experiences like you described and the possibility of that happening never really even crossed my mind. That sounds like some “Fatal Attraction” vibes. Sorry to hear you had an experience like that.
In hindsight, were there any red flags to that experience that you might have missed or was it a situation where after you met her the first time she turned stalkerish?