Dance Prices

The DJ was clueless. Cali strippers are now employees rather than independent contractors. This has made the CA club scene worse but that's beside the point.

The point is that the market will sort this out, folks vote with their money and the money always prevails.

Two sides of the coin. As you correctly mentioned, dances at many places have been stagnant for years. On one hand, one could argue that prices should increase. On the other hand, it's my view that a dancer can earn $75/hour at many clubs. That's $150k/year @ 40 hours per week. A dancer should therefore be able to earn $80k/year working 20 hours per week. Not bad IMO, even if LD cost remains stagnant at $20.

I prefer fixed LD prices at clubs, as it reduces need for negotiation and conflict. Now, one option girls have is to vary the LD quality based on offered tip. So, if you know Tiffany gives better dances than Lexie, a PL may be inclined to go with Tiffany, even if it involves a tip.

At some point, supply/demand relationship comes into play, and higher prices bring lower participation by PLs. While a dancer may ultimately make the same money, they will have to spend more time hustling for business on the floor, rather than grinding in the back. Each of those activities requires effort, and I believe being rejected by one PL after another could be quite demoralizing.

Ultimately, there are still $10 LD clubs. If PLs suddenly begin to leave $30-$40 clubs for $10-$20 clubs, the higher-prices clubs may adjust their pricing, especially if girls also flee to the lower-end clubs. Of course, there will always be the girls who won't demean themselves by working at the "beneath them" clubs.

In summary, girls will charge whatever they can get away with, as with any other business. There will also always be the uneducated and/or "$x is insignificant to them" guys, so PLs need to either stay firm to what we will accept, or give in and pay the expected premium.

Can they really average $75 an hour though, for 40 hours a week? I thought its more like, they can make $500-$1000 in 4-6 hours on friday and Saturday nights, but would get inconsistent monies on other days or times. So the per hour rate would be very good on a Friday or Saturday night, but it wouldnt be feasible to have 40 hours of the high pay.

3 $20 dances per hour = $60 for 12 minutes of work. They also make tips on stage and via tip walk, depending on club setup. Of course, they need to pay tip-out/house fee for LD, but they also can do more than 3 dances per hour.

Even in dayshifts, there is plenty of money to be made, especially once they build up a stable of regulars.

Imagine a girl is at a $10/dance club.....she does 30 minutes of dance per hour, and .that's $70.

Will every girl at every club make that? Perhaps not, but that's her fault in many cases, as it means she isn't hustling enough...she's in the back, she's drinking, etc.

I'm by no means a baller, but I know that my regular girls make more than $75/hour, and I'm not overpaying....I'm getting $10 dances in most cases (even at clubs where some custies are charged $20).

My point is....any girl with decent looks and personality, and who doesn't sit in the back, can do very well.

At one club that has daytime and nighttime shifts, a girl told me she makes minimum of $400 on 4-hour nightshift, and a maximum of $400 on 4-hour dayshift. Let's say she makes $200 on dayshift and $400 on nightshift. That's $300 average per shift, or $75/hour.

So yes....I do think it's possible to average $75/hour.

$75 an hour over 40 weeks every week? You would have to pull $3000 in the 40 hours during that week.
Lets say its 8 hours evening/night shifts every day of the week, 42 hours total.

I assume Income will substantially depend on what she offers. An attractive stripper who goes the extra ‘mile’ and especially if she will do OTC, she should easily surpass 100k.

There’s also the element of taxation —> real income. X makes 80k annually with a tax liability of 12%. Z makes 100k per year with a 30% tax liability. X’s income is greater in what matters, real income. A mostly cash business can/may have its benefits.

^ that's not how taxes work, Brahma.

The entire $100k is not taxed at 30%. The first $80k is taxed at 12%, and the additional $20k is taxed at 30%. So, the $100k girl still ends up with more after-tax cash, but admittedly the government takes a higher % once she hits a certain level.

...and you're sssuning she's paying taxes. She SHOULD pay taxes, but a certain % don't, which will ultimately catch up to them...but that's a different topic for a different day.

IMO a huge benefit of dancing is flexibility and the ability to make a certain amount of $ in fewer hours than can be obtained in a mainstream job.

This year I have paid a high of $30 for a dance and a low of $10 a dance. I paid $30 twice in 6 months and $10 65 times in 3 days. The raising of dance prices is how stupid business people deal with declining customer base. You need customers and lowering prices and doing specials is the way to do it.

Inflation Domino Effect.

Exactly, skibum. I've begun to torment dancers when they ask for a dance at a $30 club. I explain that I can get $10 and $20 dances elsewhere, and decline a dance on that basis.

I've had 2 dancers turn up their noses at the $10 dances..."wow...I would NEVER dance for only $10".

Really, sweetie? Would you rather make $200 doing $10 dances, or $60 doing $30 dances?

Yes, I know....time is money....but particularly when there are more girls than guys in a club at a given time, don't turn up your nose at money. The top-earning girls are often the ones that will accept less per dance. Of course, they sometimes don't have control over the LD prices where fees are collect by the house. But they DO have the ability to switch clubs.

I know of a couple ot clubs that let the dancer set the dance price......I never thought that was a good idea. Customers expect consistency when it comes to price....VIP is variable but so is what is offered so that should be more what the dancer/customer agrees on.

Regarding inflation....it's less than 10%. Meanwhile, we have seen dance prices increase 50% from $20 to $30.

Of course, LD prices remained stable for years..so some of this is catch-up.

Fewer guys in clubs; more girls dancing. Now is not the time to raise prices.

One way or another, the girls are getting our money. It's just a matter of how much time we get for that money.

Are we cheap bastards for paying only $10/dance, or are we helping the girls by giving them $500/visit? I'm rather certain that when a girl takes home $500 from me, she's not thinking I'm a cheap bastard, even if it was earned with $10 dances. Besides, in such a scenario, where a girl is so familiar to us that we spend so much time in her, she's not getting only $10/song, as we throw in a bit extra for the extra attention.

Doing the math on “ how much do strippers make” often ignores that very, very few strippers work 40+ hours a week, 50 weeks a year. A more typical schedule might be 4 hours, 3 times a week.

The few strippers I’ve known who work 40-60 hours a week were foreigners who were trying to bank as much as they could before returning home. It wouldn’t surprise me if their income was well into 6 figures. Enough money to start a small business in the Philippines or Eastern Europe.

Specialj - the situations where girls set prices are somewhat self-regulating, in that while technically there is discretion, the girls collude and set prices informally and "persuade" the lower-priced girls to get into line.

One on my clubs has variable pricing. I know that many girls have begun to charge $20 vs the recent $10 standard. When I encounter a new girl, I give her $20 to start, and see how long she dances. If she stops after 1, I'm done for good with her. My regular girls get $10 and repeat business....and it works to their advantage. Of course, I don't broadcast that Tiffany accepts $10, as I don't want peer pressure to kick in.

Mark, I'm under no illusion that dancers work 40 hours per week. I was more focused on the fact that they can earn more dancing 20 hours per week than they can make working 40 at a mainstream job.

I've mentioned before but at the club I frequent are lot of the girls seem to be conspiring to raise the daytime dance rate from $15 to $20, a 33% increase. Depending on the girl I usually tell them I'll do 2 4 30 and will tip 5 or 10 more for good service.....usually works out for both parties

good approach, specialj...volume discount.

I indirectly use the same approach. Only difference is that my regular girls know I'm not a one-and-done guy, so I don't expressly state I'm getting multiple for the lower price.

^ Yeah I don't want to do that. I personally only go to clubs that have a standard dance price.

Making a certain amount during Friday Saturday nights, doesnt average out to other shifts. Even if you average those numbers it simply doesnt average out to 40 hours. Those are special hours on friday and saturday nights.

@funontheside
Understood, I used “liability” to indicate the ultimate tax rate — all brackets incurred as the earnings go up the line. However, I should have used something more accurate such as ultimate tax burden.
And the ultimate tax burdens I used were a theoretical example to underscore income from a top line versus bottom line perspective. It’s not to say the top line doesn’t matter but the bottom line(net income) is the big kahuna. I don’t know of the stripping business but I have previous experience in a majority cash business. Cash business is, or I should say, can be the equivalent of, ahem, a higher top line income.

Brahma boy even then the cash businesses making more money will probably report their income and use business expenses for tax deductions. Since it’s necessary for buying a house or possibly other things. The deductions can bring your taxable income down significantly so it may not even be worth hiding the cash income to avoid taxes on it.

However with the deductions you also have people abusing that. So there are probably some portion of strippers and also other contractors or businessmen abusing that tax deduction policy? Think about it mate a stripper or someone in the entertainment industry, they can expense the gas they use to drive to work… probably any costs of makeup or clothing or surgeries like breast enhancements are probably tax deductible since they can be argued as being business expenses… maybe theres some loophole to where they can even claim shoes or jewelry or cars are also tax deductible? If the car is used for work can you deduct the car payments from taxes…?

Also rent? Are rent payments tax deductible? If rent itself is tax deductible then that would be an excellent deal for someone making 100k a year. Their $2500 a month rent would basically go down to at least $2000 a month…

Back to the question . . .

I've had a hundred or so dances at my local club over the last several years. At $20 apiece. one time a fav offered me 3 for 50. Last week after a 1 and done, she says 'my dances are 25.' Guess it's back to confirming the price with any 1st timer. Oh well.

$20-$30 per dance is an excellent price. Some clubs charge $50 a dance

@moneyman00
“Brahma Boy”, really?
Small, home or personal substantially cash businesses not reporting all cash income? Ummm, ok, sure that’s extremely rare.
In terms of the rest, it was different during my own experience, there was a more friendly and modest threshold and they didn’t auto generate as many red flags. It was still complicated (it’s tax law) but I suspect it is substantially more so now (government dbs and software would eventually catch up). As far as strippers, hopefully they’re taking advantage of every single item I and you mentioned they qualify for (and I do mean every one). Yes, certain filing status categories now have pretty big std deductions and make most of them moot. Regardless, when it comes to income and tax liability, nice guys do finish last. For those who don’t like that? Your argument is with the tax code and IRS.

The real inflation rate is much higher than the official inflation rate. If inflation was measured the same way it was in the seventies, we would have double digit inflation. So, dances going up five or ten dollars each is not outrageous. The bigger problem in my local clubs is them letting girls charge their own prices. So, instead of twenty-dollar lap dances going up five dollars you get forty- or fifty-dollar lap dances. That drives off the customers and leads to half empty strip clubs. It's better to have a standard price that slowly goes up. The most successful local clubs seem to do that.

Nobody likes it when prices go up, but the reality is that the correct amount to charge for dances is whatever amount the dancer can get that both pays her bills and keeps enough customers buying dances.

If a dancer is off-the-charts hot and can get away with charging $50-$75 per dance, then more power to her. She won't get my money, but if she's hitting her goals it's on me to look elsewhere for my fun.

It seems like a lot of guys love their free, competitive, capitalist market economies... until lap dances hit $30. Then free markets suck and we want someone to step in with price controls so that we can keep paying $10 to $20 per dance. I'm pretty sure that I was paying $20 per dance at the Foxy Lady 20 years ago.

Again, I don't love paying more for things, but I'm also pretty amazed that it's taken this long for prices to creep up.

“I've begun to torment dancers when they ask for a dance at a $30 club. I explain that I can get $10 and $20 dances elsewhere, and decline a dance on that basis.”

After which, the dancer you took such glee in tormenting went around the club telling all the other dancers you’re an asshole. Don’t like the pricing? Go to a different club. I don’t waste my time in places where I can’t afford to go. I certainly don’t torment the employees who are there doing their jobs at the rates the club sets.

Setting your own prices should be allowed if youre a contractor, or otherwise its whatever rules the employee and the business agree on. But they should be notifying people up front that prices can vary depending on dancer decision otherwise it’s false advertising and can waste people’s time in going to the business.
In fact it should be fine even for restaurants if they please to change their prices constantly, or charge different people different prices based on their race, sex, religion, height, or any of their other personal whims.