Price Increases and What Mandates Them
avalons07
In a perfect world, the law of supply and demand has a relatively simple set of mandates that come into play. When supply is high prices go down, when supply is low prices in return rise.<br />
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However, such is not always the case in strip clubs. For example, some clubs do promote happy hours for their patrons whereby the patrons get drinks for half off. For quite sometime, (let's just say way before I started dancing there) it WAS customary practice in past times to offer 2/1 lap dances at a DISCOUNTED rate.<br />
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Well, it turns out EVERYBODY started doing it, and eventually MGMT. got tired of hearing about it and has spoken and decided to start pulling girls aside and saying, While you are an independent contractor, no girl should be performing dances for less than 20 a dance period. End of question.<br />
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This comes all after our club has just had a "snitch" incident. Does this mean that I value my regulars or their business any less? Of course not! What it does mean, however, is that I along with my fellow dancers must do what has been asked of me. I just try to explain this as politely and professionally as possible. If there are any questions then absolutely, then gentlemen are more than welcome to defer to mgmt.<br />
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In terms of the 'sticker shock' issue. Let me just say that I have been trying to amend this by reiterating the fact that the dances my clients have known me for and have come to expect are not going to change.<br />
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Thank you so much! Jingle Balls! Happy Lapping!<br />
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27 comments
2) If you are looking for empathy, I think you are in the wrong forum
3) What the fk is up with the dueling unicorns. it's just about the gayest picture I've every seen.
Would that be the same management who needs the music louder than a jackhammer to "create a party atmosphere"?
I've been to the Platinum Plus. It's an upscale club with cheap drinks and a Waffle House just down the street--what more could a guy want? Too bad the dancer I had an interest in was servicing everyone else but me! Anyways, several other gals stopped by to fish for business, and they ranged from those discounting to get the business going to some seeking $30 or $40 per song because I was a newbie and they had a high opinion of themselves. Oh well. I wound up watching football on the big screen, the acts on the main stage, and the action in the VIP. Could there possibly be a better setup anywhere?
During my recent visits I have noticed the prices creeping up. I was able to get 2 for $30 without much trouble. I can't speak for others, but if the dances become more than 2 for $30 I will not be making my regular 400 mile round trip drive from Atlanta to visit PP. There are more than a few guys who regularly visit PP from Atlanta and I suspect several of them might also reconsider. We can now get very good, fully nude lapdances in Atlanta at several clubs for $10ea. Not a lot of incentive to travel if PP keeps the prices up.
Also, I am somewhat puzzled why management would want the price of dances to increase. As I understand it, they do not get a cut of any dances in the lap dance areas. As such, they are only decreasing the amount of dollars a customer has to spend on drinks or the Champagne room for which they do get a cut. In addition, their door revenue will decrease if previous customers like myself decide to go elsewhere. Doesn't seem to be any reason management would want the dance prices to double or more.
girls who give out extras face this all the time, they do extras and guys come looking for the ones that do extras but since the extras stripper may be busy, guys then try to talk the non extras strippers into giving extras, witch then puts pressure on non extras strippers to provide said extras when they dont want to. so what the non extras strippers do is instead of going with the flow or just leaving well enough alone, they all get together and force management to crack down on extras strippers so that they all have to play by the same rules, this way all the strippers who are loosing money for not providing extras can rest easy knowing that the extras strippers cant provide extras anymore if they want to keep working there, so the non extras strippers can once again do what they do best and give air dances and rip us off.
i know that this wasn't about extras being provided but if you look at it in that prospective then it all makes sense, just replace extras with extra dances and it comes together like a 4 piece jigsaw puzzle.
Thanks for the insight
Contractors have to operate within the limits set by the business.
I bet you are still a bargain a 1:20
Rl
2) If you are looking for empathy, I think you are in the wrong forum
3) What the fk is up with the dueling unicorns. it's just about the gayest picture I've every seen"
You are UNREAL (Caps ON purpose)!!!
All things beings considered, I appreciate the feedback. Minnow, Jmoney, and Rlionheart seem to be big picture thinkers in the grad scheme of things. It is certainly true that dance prices do vary from place to place city to city. However, what one really must consider is what kind of dance is a person getting? Is it contact, is it merely a table dance? Are the dances that you are receiving truly comparable? When I say comparable, by that I mean for example some time ago to my understanding it was a common occurence for dancers at PP to give 'table dances'. That is now a rare occurence. Does that mean that table dances are no longer performed or offered? Absolutely not!
It just means that the DEMAND for PRIVATE lap dances has INCREASED! So, therefore prices and the NEED for PRIVACY has increased. I have performed at PP for 1.5 yrs in that time, I have only performed a total of less than 10 total table dances. In fact, table dances are very frequently, if ever requested.
As far as volume discounts for preferred regulars, that is completely up to the girl and the client.
As far as mgmt. intervention is concerned, when you have 'bottom tiered girls' who are newbies or are new hires who are willing to wheel and deal to the detriment of others then obviously something has to be done to keep things on an even playing field. Happy Lapping!
I mean having said that, in certain clubs in Vegas (Diamonds and Little Darlings for example) they do $1 dances as 'teasers' to entice the custies to go to the bk room a.k.a. the champagne v.i.p. room. How would I know? Because I have worked there. It is like a 10 second dance and then the d.j. cuts the music off and then you switch to the next guy and musical chair type thing, so this goes on for like 3-4 minutes like a 2-1.
Like many of the customers that are afternoon attendees, I'm retired and on a fixed income. I set aside some amount for every visit, and that's what I spend. The amount includes a rental car for the 400+ mile round trip, gas, drinks and dances. The 33% increase in prices just means I get 1/3 fewer dances. When the number of dances no longer makes it worthwhile to make the trip, I'll stop coming to the club.
I'm not sure how supply and demand drives the price increases. My observation is that both supply and demand have decreased over the years - there are not as many dancers and not as many customers. I think economics has driven the demand (customer base) down; and if girls can't make money because of lack of customers, they find other employent, driving down the number of dancers - and it's a vicious circle, less dancers result in less customers. It looks to me more like price elasticity is the issue, and it looks like the industry is bumping up against some limits there.
I also have a problem with your statement that new hired girls are charging less than other girls. Why is that a bad thing? I thought that in America competition was supposed to be a good thing. If these girls are not attractive or provide inferior dances then they will not affect your income at all because the customers will not use their services. Sounds like you want a union like atmosphere where the wages (i.e. dance prices) are artificially inflated by union (i.e.management) regulated prices. I suggest you consider the auto and other highly unionized enterprises which have seen their business evaporate because of artificially high wages. I hope you will reconsider the notion that capitalism (i. e. competition) is such a bad thing. In the end, supply and demand will on their own set prices at the proper level. My guess on the PP plus situation is that the regulated dance prices will not last. I think that the club will realize after a few months that customers will find other venues or reduce the number of trips they make to the club. In the short run the dancers may benefit from the higher dance prices, but in the long run I think it will hurt the better dancers rather than help them.
In summary, I would suggest that the reason PP has been the "go to" club in Columbia is because the club offered attractive dancers, cheap admission, and cheap lap dances. That is a formula which has worked for them for many years. It is the very reason many of us drive several hours to visit the club. I would suggest that if the formula is drastically changed that the business will suffer. I suspect time will tell how business is, or is not, affected. I certainly have no evidence to support my argument but I can say that two other regular PP visitors that I know have also suggested they would limit their club visits if the new prices continue.
Do I understand that management is suggesting that you inflate your price to $40 per dance so as to net $20 during a 2 for 1?? That's pretty crazy thinking. Why not just eliminate 2 for 1's...and the DJ as well, since then he'll have no purpose whatsoever.
What is being peddled in a strip club is not dances, but rather some degree of satisfaction. It includes the vibe between the custy and the dancer, the dollars being exchanged for it and a whole lot of other things like how cold the beer is and when was the last time the guy...well, you know.
There is no sticker shock! Guys will not pay more than $20 for a unit of satisfaction...never have and never will :) So throw out your BS about supply and demand, because here is how it really works: if the rate for the amount of time (song) goes up, then the concentration of satisfaction delivery must go up as well. This doesn't mean dancing faster, it means adding extra "satisfiers", to the performance.
If you raise your rate to $40, your demand for a soft chair to sit on will go up because your supply of custy laps to sit on will go down. Remember that the chair has no money.
"I'll just touch on the dance pricing. They are up! Apparently the fuglies and low mileage dancers, who were not making good money, complained to management that they were being undercut price wise. Management being the wusses that they are gave in. Under the threat of firing. the girls are now told to not do dances for less than $20 a piece. As a result MOST dancers are now quoting one for $30 or 2 for $40.Some negoations are still possible and there are some dancers that apparently did not get the word and are still charging 2 for $20-30. The bad new is that the good dancers are making the higher prices and the bad dancers are still not making good money. The best that I can say about this is that at $20 a dance it puts the club more in line with prices nationally. For me personally it has lowered the clubs value to me and I may start making fewer trips there. I have clubs in Atlanta that are now offering greater value along with high mileage."
I have seen the $1 dances once, in Austin, TX. I was surprised I'd never experienced or even heard of them. I have to say I liked the idea. In a span of one song about 5-6 dancers would dance a bit then move on. I told one to come back when she could. She did and that $1 dance got her 4 regular ones, and they were overpriced for what I am used to in S. Florida. Speaking of S. Florida, I can faintly hear Key West calling out, Avalon, oh Avalon, please visit down here! :)
I've met Avalon and she's a great dancer with a personality to go along with it, something that's becoming more rare in my opinion. I agree with shadow's review of the club in general, my recent trips have seen that my normal 2/20 is now mostly 2/30 instead of the mandated 2/40. Along with what seems the rest of the guys, driving the price up for the same service is only going to make me spend less that I previously was. I used to go to the club and get dances from a lot of different girls all day. Now I'm more selective in who I get dances from and when I get them. Instead of trying out new girls to me and spreading the wealth, now I'm sticking with one or two that I know I enjoy and leave it at that.
Avalon, since the management set their rules, have girls (in general, no need to speak about your personal experience) seen an increase in revenue? From what I see, the club is a lot more bare than it used to be, people are tipping at the stage VERY RARELY, and people are getting dances a lot less. It is very different from what I was used to seeing there a year or two ago. I noticed PP has implemented a lot of new nightly specials with the new year to try and get those customers back - there seems to be a different drink special every night starting in 2012. But will the dancers benefit from this or just the club with people buying drinks and still not biting on 20/dance.
There will always be "snitch" dancers in any club. Either rough them up a bit to stop or learn to work with them! It all comes down to one thing. Certain dancers does not want to put out more for the higher prices. So, let the sleazier (mileage) dancers continue raking in the money!!!
Avalos0-7 speaks of 'new hires willing to wheel and deal'. That's the name of the game!!! These dancers are self-employed and have every right to wheel and deal. It's their living!
In my experience so far, the clubs that charge too low usually have lower standards for the girls that can work there or dances that aren't worth the money (tho I will say that sometimes clubs that charge higher have air dances as well). This seems to, in turn, attract cheaper guys, thus repelling attractive girls who, while they may be willing to put more into their dances or give extras, will never do it for such a cheap price, and they know that they can make more money elsewhere. I am sure there are exceptions somewhere, but so far, this is what I have seen. This then leads to customers coming complaining that they want hotter girls but do not want to spend enough money on the club or the girls, which means that girls get hit harder with house fees, and make less money, so many leave, especially the attractive ones who often times say that it is "degrading" to work for so little and that they will never come back again. So then that club tries to stay in business in an atmosphere where there are not enough guys with money to help fund their own entertainment coming in to keep the club operating smoothly.
Attractive, personable girls don't have to strip to make good money on their appearance. They can bartend, work in a Casino, waitress at Hooters or Flying Saucer, waitress topless, pose nude, webcam, be a shot girl at a busy night club, find a sugar daddy who they may or may not hook up with, etcetera, most of that without ever even touching a guy at all. So knowing that, why would any attractive woman keep basically having intimacy and simulated sex (or more) with a guy for cheap? And what would inspire her to do any extra? If dance prices ever got too low, I definitely would peace out and do something else, and possibly make more, depending on the city and the situation. Sex should sell, and the only reason anything in that industry should be really cheap is if your girl presents herself as someone cheap and unappealing and doesn't give you your fantasy.
Fixing prices restrains free competition. The attractive dancers can still demand higher prices leaving the others out in the cold. This all falls on the customer. Pay it or go elsewhere. So where the fuck do you go in Columbia. Other than Heartbreakers, with the same policies? 95% of the customers are locals. They don't know any better because they haven't been any where else. The other 5% are traveling long distances to get there because of what the club used to be.So why should I travel 240 miles when I can get better value right here. 40 Clubs in competition with each other. How many dancers is that?
I can remember 4 years ago when PP was rated #4 or 5 on TUSCL. There were plenty of hot dancers working there and they were making good money charging 2 for $20. Ok. I'll buy some inflation and don't mind paying 2 for $30 from an attractive dancer that shows me a good time. It is obvious from all the promotions the club is now running, that business is down. Don't try to tell me that dance prices are not playing a part in that.
Here is may take on the current dancer staff:
50% are fulglies. Fat or ulgly, etc
Of the remaining 50%, half of those won't give me the time of day. They are waiting for there big spender regulars.
Of the 25% remaining, half do not do good dances.
That leaves 12 1/2%. Of those left, half want very high prices.
That leave me with 6 1/4 % of the available dancers to share with all of the other customers.
The club won't miss the 5% that drive a long distace and the number of people reading TUSCL is so small that it has no impact. But if you want to chage me 30-40% more, you better start giving me a hell of a lot more for it.
I have hosted 2 TUSCL conventions at PP because it used to be a great club. I doubt that I will ever host another one there.