The glory days of the HDH are over.

[Katy Alexander]

Originally Posted by Humpty Dumpty

Great post, woodyboyd. So many good looking ladies can be had for 20 to 30 bucks nowadays.

I do believe that Mr Dumpty in his own special way has made a very valid point . Value is ultimately in the eye of the beholder.What may be waay too much to one person could be a total bargain to another. One thing that will always remain true is no matter how much a woman charges, or how much , or little a man is willing to pay there will always be someone out there who sees it as too much, or not enough.

It is all very relative, and in the end as long as you have two happy people it is really no one elses place to judge the amount of money that was exchanged.

I am craving a scrambled egg right now

[Laurentius]

Originally Posted by Becky

Value is ultimately in the eye of the beholder.What may be waay too much to one person could be a total bargain to another. One thing that will always remain true is no matter how much a woman charges, or how much , or little a man is willing to pay there will always be someone out there who sees it as too much, or not enough.

I think you've nailed the value equation.

Every client has a different hierarchy of what is important to him, and how much value he assigns to those things he deems important. In addition, each client has, to some degree, different things he wants to derive from a meeting with a provider.

The client's decision to book is governed by what the provider has that is important to him, how much of it she has, and how well he believes she'll fulfill what he wants to derive -- all balanced against her rate.

And just like you said, depending on these factors, a client will see the provider -- no matter her actual rate -- as either charging too little, too much, just right, etc.

I book in various price ranges and no matter what the lady charges, I know it's a good booking because I say to myself "She's ONLY charging X?!"

That means she has tipped the value equation so heavily that her rate looks like a great deal.

Another client might look at the exact same provider, but because he has a different hierarchy of values will decide she is charging too much and won't book her.

This, I think, is why we'll always have HDHs.

The original poster neglects a lot of factors in his reasoning; including both concentrations of wealth (How many HDHs could Bill Gates support?) and the fact that some guys don't hobby a lot so that the per-appointment cost is not so crucial as it would be if they hobbied a lot.

[WTF]

Originally Posted by Becky

It is all very relative,

I once had a relative that was somewhat relative but never was he very relative, just relative mostly.

Originally Posted by Laurentius

This, I think, is why we'll always have HDHs.

Yea but will it be like it was? Relatively speaking.

As long as there are people with money , of course we will. In fact a street walker is a HDH to a homeless man. (Sorry but I love saying that!)

[John Bull]

Originally Posted by WTF

I once had a relative that was somewhat relative but never was he very relative, just relative mostly.

I have a headache.

[Katy Alexander]

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again!

[WTF]

Originally Posted by Becky

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again!

Is that relative or very relative?

[WTF]

Originally Posted by John Bull

I have a headache.

I'm flattered JB but I was really hoping to bed Becky!

[Katy Alexander]

Originally Posted by WTF

I once had a relative that was somewhat relative but never was he very relative, just relative mostly.




Yea but will it be like it was? Relatively speaking.

)

Originally Posted by WTF

Is that relative or very relative?

Is relative your favorite word by any chance??

Originally Posted by WTF

I'm flattered JB but I was really hoping to bed Becky!

That is a very sweet offer WTF, but considering the fact that you are like my brother, you know I could never bed down with a relative.

[WTF]

Originally Posted by Becky

That is a very sweet offer WTF, but considering the fact that you are like my brother, you know I could never bed down with a relative.

We could always move to Tampa!

[Katy Alexander]

Oh your just trying to egg me on now

So, how's that headache going JB

Originally Posted by WTF

We could always move to Tampa!

[John Bull]

Because you guys keep feeding the troll, this thread is closed.

[John Bull]

Headaches gone! My snit is over. Thread is open. Becky, you and Ed are in charge.

[Guest083011]

JB, just so you know, Ed is in charge. Becky is along for the ride.

[woodyboyd]

Becky, I agree that your definition of value is on the mark. What is different now is the money customers have is down, the supply of providers is up, and these providers have more aged and presumably less frisky clients. They also have to compete with an old business model but one that has surged in popularity, the sugar baby.

The problem with value is how relative it can be. Consider a compact disc. A guy buys a CD for $16, and it has five good songs on it as compared to the usual one or two, and he thinks he has gotten a good value. He then runs into someone who used Napster or Limewire and downloaded the same songs for free and then another one who bought the 5 good songs on Itunes for a third of the price. Now is he going to feel that he got a good value?

The greatest opportunities occur in periods of flux. The record industry defended the old model (like some here are defending the HDH) and called the users of the new model all kinds of names like thieves and criminals. They even went to Congress and stupidly IMO passed laws punishing their customers.

Instead of embracing the new model, adapting to it, and potentially making more money than ever, Steve Jobs comes along and practically singlehandedly takes over the music distribution business. There was no reason for this outside of record industry pigheadedness.

You have to wonder what the record industry was thinking. The CD business like the HDH business IMO will never return to its former glory.

Those HDHs then are like the record companies who think that they can wait out the downturn IMO are making a big mistake.

So my questioning to the HDH about value is the same as what I would do with the record industries and CDs. How much does it really cost to make a CD? What are your margins? What is the lowest amount you can take and still turn a profit?

These are the questions Steve Jobs asked, and he sells the songs on a CD that used to go for $16 for $10 on Itunes, and 35% of that $10 goes to Jobs and Apple. The record industry could have set up a similar system and possibly made up for the loss of pricing power with higher volume.

Just as there are always people who are going to buy CDs instead of MP3s, there are going to be people who see HDHs. However, that number IMO is going to be less and less.

With CDs, there are distribution costs, artist fees, and a lot of work put into the products. I understand the same is true with the HDH. She needs to buy the proper clothes, and there is money, time ane effort spent on pedicures, manicures, gym memberships ETC.

So my questions on value were nothing personal towards anyone but to provoke thought. Why would anyone pay $16 for a CD when they can download the music on the CD for $10?

And similarly, Why would anyone pay thousands to a HDH for a dinner date when they can see a sugar baby and pay her thousands for multiple dinner dates?

Maybe all you HDHs can get together, accept the new reality, adapt to it, put together a new product like Jobs did, and make more than ever before. I am not sure how, but I think it would be worthwhile to at least think about it.

[pjorourke]

Woodyboyd, you make some interesting points in that post. But as someone who has participated in both the HDH and SB model, I can unequivocally state that they are not the same "product" (no offense ladies).

The key difference in my mind is "professionalism", the HDH ladies show up at the appointed time for a delightful date without any baggage. IMO, sugar babies not so much. They are often dabblers at this, with no sense of punctuality or the value of your time. Drama is often and ever present.

For someone who has limited time resources to devote to these endeavors, the HDH model, despite the higher price, is probably worth it.

If your limits are more monetary and time is plentiful, try the SB route. But be real careful of attachment. Sometimes the price of items is not stated up front.