Here's one example : Avery Moore. Not quite 25K a night, but she's up there. I often ask myself this question: What is the difference between her and the rest of us?
-Marketing
-Class
-Discretion
-Education
-Possibly experience
-Maintenance
She's beautiful, don't get me wrong, but I don't think her looks are what account for her fees. She comes across as a person that you COULD take to dinner and other functions, and who can also entertain you with all her clothes on. When I first thought about entering this business, and before I went public, I looked at her website several times. If I were to make a life-long career out of this, I would definitely be aiming to be where she is now.
Originally Posted by Johanna
I think it's 99% percent perception from marketing and potentially word-of-mouth.
A mainstream example of the same phenomenon is "Proactiv." We've all seen the commercials selling acne cream for $29.95 (used to be closer to $100.00). They have celebrities claiming that it's the reason their skin is so perfect. Whether those celebrities actually believe that is moot: the public believes it. But the brutal reality behind the product is that it uses benzoyl peroxide as an active ingredient, which is the same active ingredient that acne creams have been using for 50 years. Yet the public in general sees it as a superior product and will pay $29.95 plus S/H when they could easily purchase a very similar composition (i.e., effectively the same) for $4.95 at the grocery store.
Or as another example, a huge portion of people pay for name brand drugs when generics are made with the same ingredients to the same standard. Yes, there may be subtle difference in inactive components, but who gives a shit? They are inert chemicals.
It's true, there is an argument that this is a bad example and it's probably more comparable to Pepsi and Coke, similar but different products. And I would respond fair enough. But here's my question. Would anyone really drink one over the other if the discrepancy in price was 10 fold? And sadly, as Proactiv and Avery Moore shows: the answer is a resounding yes, but it would likely be a very minor portion of the public.
You nail the marketing and get people to believe in it, and your worth rises.