So what are the advantages of using an agency?

The only one I can see is not having to answer stupid phone calls and emails, which is really not worth handing over a third of the money I've worked hard for to a pimp. The bottom line is that I wouldn't and couldn't tolerate anybody else deciding with whom I'm going to have sex, even if they did screen anywhere near as well as me and weren't criminals.

There are indeed a lot of other threads on the subject, and if I can find one of the more recent ones I'll merge it

I charge more as independent than I did working in an agency. Try not to compare and charge what YOU feel comfortable with. Remember the agency takes a portion of the fee.. so girls on AW actually get paid more per booking usually.
I make a LOT MORE as independent and don't need to listen to anyone!! 

I worked around a year for a "good" agency in the sense that they provided a very nice incall flat and the agency fee was "reasonable". I made a decent living but not that much. However anytime I had an outcall.. I had to pay £40 to the driver out of my earning for the booking as well as the agency fee. Leaving me with around 80 for an hour outcall booking. The client will have paid 160. I've found this is normal practice in my area that female pimps require you to pay the driver.
Looking back now.. I think they worked together and I was TOO STUPID to realize. They made it out that the driver was outsourced.

here are some of my horror stories to hopefully put you off in the long run..
 
You are risking your identity with unknown dodgy people who will expose you if you leave.. This happened to me with the second agency I tried to work with. Apparently they did this to a lot of people.

When I needed a break from full service.. I joined an Erotic massage agency. Whilst I was there and working regularly (did not want to leave at the time) they made you sign a  contract stating that they charge you 50% of the booking fee if you missed a booking. It was disgusting.
Basically meant you have to do a booking for free to pay them for the missed one.

Thanks for your replies.

I am working for an agency now, they seem OK although they will demand 30% if I cancel a booking with less then 12 hours notice or I am not available for one when previously I said I would be. They sometimes ring when previously I told them I was not available, which is annoying.

Money wise I am not sure how much I would get interdependently, the rates on AW charged seem to differ a lot, I could probably earn more solo but I am OK with what I am getting for now.

I see what happens.

Pep, the pimps work for you, not the other way round. They are criminals, and you are not - they're really not in a position to 'demand' anything and to expect you to line their pockets for no reason at all is unacceptable even by the barrel-scraping standards we've come to expect from scum like this. What form do these 'demands' take?

Do you get to refuse punters if you don't want to see them, or their behaviour is such that you don't want to continue the booking?

My father is an engineer and when he worked on contract the agency would with hold a percentage of his earnings and at the end of the contract he would get a lump sum, we used to go on holiday, usually skiing when he received the money. So the demand did not seem unreasonable.

 I have not yet had to pay them a penalty,  they do take payments electronically  from the client sometimes, so they just with hold the money.

Yes I can walk away from a client, I need to text them just before I arrive and when I leave, if I walk out I need to phone them.