Strip Club Memerships

samiel
DFW, Texas
About two years I bought a one year membership at my local club. Cost was $750 + tax + tip which amounted to about a grand. This included unlimited cover ($10-$20/day), unlimited VIP ($50/day), and unlimited cabana access/seating. If I went once a week, that would $3000+, so I thought it was a decent deal.

A few months later, another manager offered me 10 bottles for $1000 and a one year extension on my membership. I bought it for peak time access which was difficult to get at this club. Again I paid tax + tip.

I'm curious as to what membership has included for you guys or if you don't think it's worth it.

Additionally, I was wondering if I really needed to tip because I'm now thinking that the majority of that money is already going into the manager's pockets.

Coincidentally, my membership is expiring soon and I'm thinking of getting one at a new club. The initial offer has been unlimited cover, VIP access, and one hour in a skybox per week for $1500. Additionally, I'd get cabana access and access to other paid areas of the club included.

29 comments

Latest

samiel
3 years ago
I can't spell memberships, damn.
twentyfive
3 years ago
I don’t know where you’re located but seems to me a membership is just another scam TBH,
BTW why the fuck would you tip for a membership even if you’re a sucker enough to buy one ?
wallanon
3 years ago
If you go often enough it's worth it if the perks cover the cost of the membership plus get you better access to better girls and better seating. In 2020 with the pandemic rules nothing was really happening on the main floor in the clubs I went to, so it was a good time to buy if the clubs were open.
samiel
3 years ago
I'd been going about once a week and taking a girl to VIP each time. $10 cover + $50 VIP = $3000+ a year, so I figured it was worth it at the time. Most clubs I go to have a dance area with an entrance fee. If I only went once a month, it wouldn't have been worth it.
wallanon
3 years ago
"seems to me a membership is just another scam TBH"

As with everything in the hobby, it depends on the club and the management. If I was in a place like DFW (where samiel does his rounds based on his reviews and tagline) I'd look at memberships given the lackluster reputation of the scene for tuscl-approved mileage ITC.

Plus clubs have been pretty shaky for over a year now, and some towns are just getting rolling again. A couple of clubs local to me were taxing the hell out of VIP room access in 2020 because having up close and personal dances could get the whole place shut down if the wrong people saw them. If you wanted private dances ITC, it was VIP or nothing.

Then there was another year pre-pandemic where I was stuck for months in a town notorious for low mileage. The casuals weren't wrong in their reviews, but there's levels to the hobby and memberships were a way to power up once the girls were ok with more fun.
twentyfive
3 years ago
^ Don't agree, but OK, still a tip when purchasing a membership that's ludacris
whodey
3 years ago
If you go often enough that it will put you ahead based on typical cover, vip and other access costs I guess it would be a decent deal. I don't go to any club often enough to be worth spending the kind of money a membership like you are talking about costs. In fact, I don't think I have ever had a club offer a membership like that but I typically don't go to high end clubs.

The only club I have bought a membership in lately was Diamond's Cabaret in Dayton because they require a membership to enter. I think it is something like $10 for a 2 month membership or $50 for a full year.

Also, no reason to tip on something like this, it would be like tipping when you buy one of the dvds magazines or cheesy shirts they sell at some clubs.
samiel
3 years ago
Yeah the tipping part was built into the credit card machine when he rang up my membership. In hindsight the manager just wanted more money. Rookie mistake.
Papi_Chulo
3 years ago
I assume certain clubs may have memberships but seems more of the exception than the norm (perhaps more clubs have them and most custies are just unaware?) – I’ve never been approached about a membership in a club nor have heard of any in my area of South FL although perhaps some of the more upscale clubs may have them but I tend to mostly visit dives and some midtier clubs.

I see a membership investment similar to buying an extended warranty – i.e. not into them – not into paying big $$$ upfront for something that has a decent chance of not coming to fruition – w.r.t. clubbing, I’m a variety guy both w.r.t. dancers and clubs; so it would be hard for me to commit to big bucks upfront to a particular club but I can see it being worthwhile for some SCers.

I don’t plan my SC visits and mostly club when in the mood – there's also the risk a club may start becoming shitty for some reason – plus being a variety-PL I can’t see myself hitting the same club over and over and over again; not my thing – so for these reasons a membership would not appeal to me.

But now that I recall – I did sorta buy a “membership” once at Hardbodies in Arlington, TX back in the 2000s – the club had a communal dance area out-of-view of the main-area that cost I think $20 to use on a per-club-visit-basis (if I remember correctly) – I used to go to this club maybe 2x or 3x per month and they had a thing were you could pay I think $100 (for a year I believe; or maybe lifetime; can’t remember) to use the dance-area instead of paying per visit – anyway it was a fairly good deal and not a big upfront investment and I took it and used it on a couple of visits till I lost the card they had given me; after some time the club subsequently started sucking anyway and a couple of years later closed when the city wiped out the SC scene.
samiel
3 years ago
I have a membership at the Bucks line of clubs, so it gets me free cover (with friends) into any of the four clubs in the area.
shailynn
3 years ago
It seems most of the time a membership is just a scam but Samiel laid it out - he’s going to a club once a week so it’s saving him money, wasn’t that like $2k a year if you went by his math?

Did they offer any extensions on to it membership due to COVID closures?

As for me it wouldn’t be worth it because I travel too much and am not in any single club enough in a full year to justify the costs.


Back to the OPs original question - I have never seen offers like that at the clubs I frequent before. I could only see this happening in bug strip club cities like Dallas, Vegas, Phoneix, Tampa, Miami, etc. Not in the cities I frequent like Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus.
Bavarian
3 years ago
Sound like you’re getting a good deal

PTs just recently started offering VIP membership.
It’s a BYOB club.
$2,000 gets you free cover for you and two guests
($12-$25 value per person)
VIP area access $35 per person. Only good for the the member.
Free Skybox access for one hour for two instances ($250 value per instance)
Bavarian
3 years ago
It’s a one year membership
wallanon
3 years ago
"Did they offer any extensions on to it membership due to COVID closures?"

Can't speak for the OP, but since I wasn't really traveling last year and was seeing the same clubs over and over I looked into a few memberships. To keep it simple, in my area the trend is about half the usual cost for what's looking like twice the time if bought around pandemic peak. Math like that works out pretty well.

No disrespect to anyone, but customers who spent most or all of last year on the bench aren't really grasping what the SC scene was like when any amount of dollars was getting attention ITC.

"I could only see this happening in bug strip club cities like Dallas, Vegas, Phoneix, Tampa, Miami, etc."

It's not the size of the city per se it's the size of the club/revenue and the types of customers it serves. Most of the people at the membership tier can pay the VIP cost per visit, but would rather put more of the cash toward the dancers. More fun for everyone that way.
mark94
3 years ago
Only slightly related, there was a time when airline clubs had free booze and didn’t require a ticket for access. We calculated that, even paying for airport parking, it would be a great alternative to going to a regular bar Fridays after work. Never did it, but the math worked.
shadowcat
3 years ago
I still have a life time membership card that was given to me and issued at the Memphis Platinum Plus and was/is good for cover charge for myself and one guest. It was good at any of their clubs and I did use it at 5 other clubs. The chain was sold to Deja Vu sever years ago but the clubs kept the old names. I wonder if my card would still be honored.

At the time a 1 year card cost $250 and a life time card $500. I would not have paid for one. You never know how long a club is going to stay in business.
Icee Loco (asshole)
3 years ago
Become a regular get a reputation earn being a vip
Call.Me.Ishmael
3 years ago
Club Desire in RI has a membership club upstairs from the regular club called Club Lust. Cost = $300 per quarter and any money added to your account (like loading a debit card) is credited at 125%. The money can be spent on food (a full menu) or drink (including champagne as a substitute for the $160 one-hour CR fee). The $300 is quarter to quarter. You can buy a one-night membership ($100). Club Lust has TVs couches, coffee tables and a pool table. The Champagne Rooms upstairs cost the same as the regular club per fifteen minutes but are larger, quieter, and more private than those in the main club downstairs.

I don't do Club Lust, but I've thought about it. One guy I talked to said he likes it because he can go on a busy weekend night and get some separation between him the loud crowds, and the punters in a bachelor party. So, in some forms the membership might be tailored to older guys looking for quieter times.

As others have said, it depends on the club's management and layout.
Warrior15
3 years ago
I think it all depends on how you club. If you go to one particular club a lot, then it makes sense. I like to go to a lot of different places. So they don't make any sense for me.
lurkingdog
3 years ago
I guess you’d need to be able to trust the management of your club. Once they have all of your cash upfront, their incentive to bend to your whims is gone as you’re not going to be spending any more than the casuals who get VIP dances and you have little to no leverage. What am I missing here?
Muddy
3 years ago
Yeah I used to have a club membership to the Red Parrot. It was like $220 for the year. No cover, No vip charge, 1 friend in free and something with the drinks too I forget. I honestly felt it paid for itself 4 or 5 times over at least. But that was a great club. It would have to be THE SPOT for me to even think about doing a membership
rickthelion
3 years ago
I have a free membership to every club I walk into.

My tribe has worn enough suits, stroked enough managers, and greased enough bouncers for lifetime access everywhere we go.

It’s great to be a rick! ROAR!!!
wallanon
3 years ago
"Once they have all of your cash upfront, their incentive to bend to your whims is gone"

It's usually the other way around from what I've seen. The VIPs have already shown they'll spend if inclined. Managers don't have to sort out if it's worth a little extra effort for potential gain, so it's easier to get to yes.
Call.Me.Ishmael
3 years ago
Ditto wallanon's point. When I was at Desire recently (downstairs), a dancer I'd talked to on stage about VIP approached me after her set and said that a guy upstairs in Club Lust had asked for her, and she had to go take care of that guy first. I told her that I understood that there was a pecking order, but she understood that I might go with another dancer while she was upstairs.

I guess it depends on management, but clubs will take care of members first as a general rule.
Tetradon
3 years ago
^ Last time I brought a buddy to Desire, I walked through the metal detector (beeped but didn't stop me), then my buddy did (and started to get wanded down). I told the doorman "he's with me," and he stopped, said "oh, okay" and let him through. I proceeded to walk inside, introduce him to Chris, and get the 411 on all the girls there.
My friend thinks I am the prince of Rhode Island strip clubs, when I go maybe 2x on a flush week.
That's all the VIP I want.

Alternatively, I could pay $300 (is it still that?) for quarterly membership to Lust, to talk to the same girls in a different setting. Same mileage, same girls (maybe a few more bashful ones), better food (which I don't SC for). I don't see the point of it.
Call.Me.Ishmael
3 years ago
Tetradon ... I generally agree. The private rooms in Lust are larger, so that would be nice. But, it's not like the VIP rooms downstairs are bad. They're probably larger than any other club in RI. The idea of having some separation from the noise on a Saturday night appeals to me, but probably not enough to spend $300 (unless I hit the lottery or find a suitcase full of cash).
Tetradon
3 years ago
@Ishmael, I'm 95% dayshift, therefore the crowd matters less to me. And the VIP rooms downstairs are perfectly great. Anyone who's done a VIP elsewhere in New England (hello, Bridgeport!) will feel like a king downstairs at Desire. If someone wants to pay extra for the upstairs, not my jam but good on them.

Not to derail the thread, but notice the most hated TUSCLers are the ones who tell people the "right way" to club. Unless it affects me, I won't.
Icee Loco (asshole)
3 years ago
I used to have a hand written vip card from the owner of spearmint rhinos. It was great till we fell out.

I remember regular clubs used to let you buy a bottle and have it at the club...so free entry and seating and drinks from your bottle.

I don't think club memberships are worth it when you factor in expected tips for the services included in it.
georgmicrodong
3 years ago
It's a straight cost-benefit analysis. If the membership costs significantly less than you would spend on the things the membership covers, then it's probably worth it, subject to how assiduously the club adheres to the rules they've set up.

The risk is that you won't go often enough to reap the benefit, or the club has to close for a pandemic and can't provide the service you paid for, or changes management and the new ones don't honor the membership, etc.

No club here in Louisville offers such a membership that I know of, and even if they did, I'm not sure I'd trust any of them to not dick with it to make it worthless.
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