The high price of lap dances
Book Guy
I write it like I mean it, but mostly they just want my money.
I'm noticing across the nation that lap dances are becoming both (a) more mainstream, and (b) more expensive. I remember getting Cd$10 dances in the mid-1990s in Toronto, and regular 2-for-1s, so at a 1:1.35 US:Cd exchange, that was roughly US$3.50 a song. For while, $20 was the standard. Now the mainstream locations in big cities seem to regularly charge $40 a song, with 2-for-1s adding up to $40 for 2 songs (aka, $20 a song but not always), and plenty of places are getting in the range of 2-for-$60 or at best 1-for-$25. What gives? The GENERAL economy has a slow climb upwards thanks to inflation, but 400%+ in about a decade?
I've also noticed the price increase in terms of extras, both legal and illegal. A place that used to charge $5 cover now charges $20 but hasn't renovated at all. Another charges $50 an hour for the VIP, a location that used to be "free" as long as you were getting dances. BJs could be had from relatively attractive "streetwalker" ladies for $20 in the right areas of town, and from VERY attractive strippers in the VIP for $50 maybe? Now, ANY type of service, they initially quote $200 and probably up-sell after you've gotten started ("no, that was just for opening your pants; if you want me to TOUCH it, you have to pay more"). Unless of course it's an internet escort, in which case they START at $300 an hour.
Ridiculous. Inflation is one thing, but these prices have WELL outstripped (har) inflation, even though the ready availability of services, and the easier access for customers, thanks to internet and mainstream-ization, should SUGGEST that the prices for these services would go down.
Any thoughts as to why? I want cheaper nookie! :(
I've also noticed the price increase in terms of extras, both legal and illegal. A place that used to charge $5 cover now charges $20 but hasn't renovated at all. Another charges $50 an hour for the VIP, a location that used to be "free" as long as you were getting dances. BJs could be had from relatively attractive "streetwalker" ladies for $20 in the right areas of town, and from VERY attractive strippers in the VIP for $50 maybe? Now, ANY type of service, they initially quote $200 and probably up-sell after you've gotten started ("no, that was just for opening your pants; if you want me to TOUCH it, you have to pay more"). Unless of course it's an internet escort, in which case they START at $300 an hour.
Ridiculous. Inflation is one thing, but these prices have WELL outstripped (har) inflation, even though the ready availability of services, and the easier access for customers, thanks to internet and mainstream-ization, should SUGGEST that the prices for these services would go down.
Any thoughts as to why? I want cheaper nookie! :(
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52 comments
I agree that there are more GCs today, but the smaller local clubs still comprise the vast majority of clubs. For example in the Philadelphia area there are maybe 70 or so clubs, and maybe 5 - 8 of those could be classified as GCs. And once you get beyond a major metro area you rarely encounter a GC, they're almost all smaller local places.
In places I go to -- for example, Bourbon Street clubs in New Orleans; Platinum Plus in Memphis (before the raid!); Mons Venus in Tampa -- there are definitely more "normal" folk. Many more average couples, including college-aged kids on dates; more groups from offices, especially women who want to "see what it's like" (an attitude I find quite patronizing on many counts); even mature married women out in groups on hen-nights who would not identify themselves as lesbian but who still enjoy tipping the strippers $1 in the g-string.
I think strip clubs became more mainstream in the 90s if only by virtue of getting much bigger and more common.That peaked and crashed around the end of the decade, especially in terms of clubs' acceptability for business entertainment. In the current decade, clubs have become noticably much more mainstream for young people, including couples and groups of women. When I was in my 20s, I thought of strip clubs as strictly a place where old men went. The current boom seems to be fueled by the MTV porn chic trend. They don't buy many dances, so instead, prices go up with more expectations of extras.
Book Guy, I have no idea whether there are or aren't, I've always avoided big-city gentlemen's clubs. My clubbing has always been almost exclusively confined to smaller suburban neighborhood-type places, and I haven't noticed much change in the clientele at such places over the years. The few times that I've visited a gentlemen's club I usually hated it. In my experience they're almost always overpriced clip joints.
"Now, your sister can work in one, and you can be the weeknight DJ, and people find it 'cool' or 'OK.' That's 'mainstream.'" Not in my family they don't. Nor the do people in the families of nearly anyone else I know for that matter. In most families that I know it would create a major crisis if someone went to work in a strip club in any capacity.
Before I got married (in the late 1960s) my friends and male relatives took me to a strip club for my bachelor party. It was common then, it's common now. Other than that most people rarely go to strip clubs. We're the exception.
Maybe.
It seems to me that lap-dancers essentially have the modern equivalent of Scotch Pebbles: a completely free resource that has almost no production cost and almost no added value expense or improvement. You just pick it up on the beach, walk downtown, and sell it to a tourist.
I suggest paying between FIVE DOLLARS and SEVEN DOLLARS for a lap dance! HAGGLE!!!!!!
Encouraging consumers to behave irrationally is what consumer marketing is all about. That's why, for example, prices for automobiles keep rising even though demand has been level for decades. It's why beer commercials show guys partying with pretty girls instead of telling you how the beer was made. (Does anyone really believe that Budweiser is worth a price permium?) They're trying to involve your emotions in your buying decisions.
Strip clubs do the same thing. Involving your emotions allows them to raise prices in spite of weak demand. That's what I meant in an earlier post when I said that prices are rising because customers are willing to pay them.
I'm wondering why some people here see strip clubs as becoming more mainstream? Is it because you see more female customers in clubs? Seems to me you see more female customers everywhere - bars, resaturants, country clubs, gyms, offices etc. - but I thinks that's because women have more freedom and more money. Is it because clubs have gotten fancier? Seems to me everything has gotten fancier - bars, restaurants, gyms, offices etc. - because the country has become wealthier. Is it because more people go to clubs? Seems to me more people go everywhere because of more disopsable income.
To me the important factor is this: are clubs getting a greater share of disposable incmome? A greater share of the entertainment dollar? A greater share of the dollars spent on commercial sex? A greater share of the total bar-reataurant business? I think the answer to all of these is "no," that while the strip clubs business may be growing I think they're share is declining, they're growing less rapidly than most other forms of entertainment etc. So where's the mainstreaming? I just don't see it.
We're a country without anything in the middle. And I don't mean Iowa.
Bookguy: Moralification? religiousyness? Are you a speech writer for George Dubbyah?
Book Guy, I disagree with both your primise that strip clubs became more mainstream and are now becoming less so, and your conclusion that it's because of any increase in religious fervor or morality. You're imagining these things, it's all in your mind.
I've been going to strip clubs for well over 40 years and I haven't seen any evidence that clubs have become either more or less mainstream during that period. Nor has religious fervor become more common or more pervasive, it's always been there, you're probably just more aware of it than you used to be.
And even if these things did occur, they would have had little effect on prices. Prices are rising because there are people who are willing to pay the higher prices. I'm not one of them.
My favorite club built it's Champagne Room 5 Years ago. I have been to the club approximently 180 times since it opened. It is rarely used. Occassionally a big spender will come in and opt for it. There are 6 or 8 private cubicles back there. They want $170/hr or will comp you the room if you buy a very expensive bottle of Champagne. Then you have to pay the dancer/s for their time and tip the servers, etc. I spent :20 minutes back there with my 1st AFT as a guest of another customer. You are paying a high price for some privacy. You cannot see the stage. And most of my dancer friends have told me that you will not get any better dance there than in the couch room. Some have mentioned a few exceptions. They would all prefer that I spend $170 on them in the couch room rather than give it to the house. So would I.
If they would just learn that there are more average guys in the club than big spenders they would do better. They could rent the cubes out for $25 1/2 hr. I would buy at those rates. Just for the privcy. But these dumb asses can't even get it , that the customers want the music turned down.
I'm going to hit the search feature and see where the low and high prices are, geographically, some time in the near future. Maybe I'll report my findings. Maybe I'll just keep it a secret for my own use. :)
I think prices are rising because the number of customers is declining. Clubs increase prices to try to offset the decline, which is the exact opposite of what they should be doing because the price increases are accelerating the decline. It's the main reason I haven't gone to a club in a very long time - I can get a lot more for my money elsewhere.
The insane prices I read about seem to be mostly in regions where 2-fer specials and bargaining with dancers is the norm. That may be great for buying tube socks, but prefer for lap dances to be straightforward on the pricing side.
In 1987 I was paying US$5 for a lap dance. There was no such thing as a VIP fee.
By 1992 I was paying US$10 with ample 2-for-1s. Some places required you to pay in order to get to the private room, but main-floor dances were the norm. US$20 was for a "premium" club or girl.
By 2000 I was paying US$20, with some 2-for-1s, but in general the straight price was required. Nearly all places required that you retire to a costly private room.
By 2005, US$20 a dance was the MINIMUM, and many places required a higher price, either by posting it at $40 or more and then doing 2-for-1s to cut it to the minimum $20, or some other mathematical chicanery. A variety of private rooms offered a variety of ways to part with a lot of money.
It's pretty much a direct line upwards.
Also, in the more ... umm ... private market:
In 1987, I was paying $50 for a reliable release at almost any strip club. This was furtive but fulfilling. Seldom full-service, but f-s was available and at the same price.
In 1992, strippers wanted $100, street-walkers still wanted $20, but the quality of street-walkers had plummeted. Internet-based escorting was on the rise, with $200 the general standard for a one-hour full-service session. Plenty of $75 half-hour girls.
In 2000, strippers are cutting back on in-club services, offer out-of-club at internet rates, which are roughly $250 to $300 for the hour. Smaller markets have smaller prices, and the girls are mostly stellar. Street-walker quality continues to drop.
By 2005, strippers want whatever the internet escorts can get, which is roughly $300 for a one-hour session, often with an up-sell before full-service. Internet escorts are getting less and less attractive in the price ranges that I can afford, while the stellar girls are asking $400, $500, $1000 an hour. Street-walkers are a disaster, I don't patronize them any more.
AMPs have not followed the same progression. From 1987 to 2005 they've gone from roughly $100 to roughly $160 for the same levels of service, within the same degree of variance. That's almost the same as inflation. Almost. At least, it's a lot closer than the other services listed here.
Your experiences differ?
It just doesn't seem to be following the supply-demand curve ...
Cover charges and drink prices have gone way up but I go mostly in the daytime when the cover charges are not in effect and I drink bottled water.
And...... they are still quality LDs too!
If you try the place, check on evilcyn!!! :-)~