Hi
I might be a bit late but I have just seen this and I thought I would give my insight for anyone who might need it as I have only worked with an agency. (Note: This is my experience with only one agency in the North West, can't vouch for others as I've heard different reviews from other working girls)
I have been a sw'er for the past 2 years but have only relied on escorting as my main source of income for the past 6/7 months (I have never been indie but I'm very tempted to do so because work is not always busy and agency can indeed be very annoying- more on that later).
There are pros and cons of working with an agency:
PROS- you don't have to bother answering calls/emails, you get a call from the agency and there you go.
CON you don't know who you are meeting prior your appointment UNLESS they have requested to speak to you on the phone beforehand, would say this happens 3 out of 10 appointments.
- Screening. They screen the clients beforehand and chat with them on the phone quite a bit, and can give you some background of them before the meeting. (Of course you can do the screening yourself as an indie, but just wanted to mention this as some girls say agencies don't screen- Maybe some do not, please don't take my word for it)
- Increased safety. You make a lot of check in calls to them (when you are on your way, after you arrived and received the payment, as well if you extend your time, when you leave and get home), they ask you if you are happy to stay and received the correct payment, which makes you feel safe, suppose it's like a buddy
- you get to work in nice hotels for well off clients (not that it matters because they all pay the same fee) but most of the clients 8/10 are real gentlemen, will treat you real well. (It's not always the case, you go to punters homes as well, and most of them are nice houses)
- Travel money. I do not drive so I take Ubers all the time, clients are asked to pay a part of the taxi on top of the booking fee which is very useful as some more far away trips can cost you close to 100. (Please ignore this if indies also ask for travel money, I am not sure)
- you get to meet some other girls if you choose to do duo's or you go to a party etc.
- some clients like to have the experience of an actual date, have a glass of wine beforehand, have a long chat etc, so it's not rushed straight to the bedroom kinda thing- all during work time, paid (not sure if this is an agency perk of the kind of people that book or just how some clients like to approach this)
- some booking are truly enjoyable, some examples I had: I went clubbing with a few others girls, I went to stag parties, have played games like spin the bottle and even darts and pool with other workers and clients etc
- feels nice to know you can get home and call the agency and chat a bit about how your booking went and how the client was like (useful for someone like myself who has no friends knowing what they do or close people in the business)
CONS- you are "on call" meaning you do not know if you will get any work for the night unless the phone rings. This can get very frustrating if you are sitting at home waiting for a call and it's already late, plus pressure to stay signed up till late.
- you never get to chat/ text with a punter unless they want you to call them prior a booking, which I feel it's a missed opportunity, as you can build that heat or a connection with a regular through a few texts.
- my agency (not sure about others but probably so) works very late- rarely you get a booking before 10pm, and it goes on until 4/5 am, depending on how busy it is that night, meaning you have to deal with intoxicated people a lot of the time
- their cut is 50%! although you still receive a good fee, so I try to see it as giving them their owed payment rather than a cut from my own money
- it hasn't been as lucrative as I have expected it to be- I see some girls taking 5 clients a day when I sometimes go a week with no booking, so for those who are wanting to work full time might not be the best option, otherwise it's still a good addition to your income
- if you are not happy with the amount of work you receive, there's nothing you can do, you cannot up your work by posting more adverts, you have to leave everything in their hands, which can be frustrating for someone liking to be in control
- if the payment is not cash (which most of the times it's not for longer bookings), it's bt to their bank account, and you need to wait a week to get your fees, but if you receive cash they expect you to drop their cut straight away or the next day even if you are not working
- Poor boundaries- they can call you on your free days when they need you and it's busy, which can be good if you need the cash but annoying if you are out with friends/ cannot take the call/ reserved the day for yourself and they can be pushy if you say you are not available, I sometimes feel they "punish" you for not being available when they ask you and not give you much work afterwards, not sure if it's only in my head or if it's true.
- they have their favourite girls which they will always put forward to clients, so you need to make sure they like you (lol), otherwise you don't get as many bookings
- in addition to my last point, you have to rely on their recommendations and on how they see you, because usually the client only calls without taking a good look on the website. Which again is annoying because I personally am a different person with a client and act differently with the agency staff, so how can they know how I act during a booking?
- they did ask for my passport and I gave it to them, not sure why this is not a good thing, but saw posts of girls saying not to do this and made me wonder
- on top of them knowing your real name (if they ask for passport) they want to know your address even though you know nothing about them except for where the office is and some basic info about the staff (but bare in mind they can always lie/ alter the truth and you'll probably never find out
Neither PRO nor CON
- they only do outcalls (I prefer it as it's the only way I've worked) but some may not. This means you sometimes travel a long time to get to the client's place.
Conclusion: It all comes down to your priorities and the amount of time and effort you are willing to spend on your business.
Apologies for making such a long post, but hope this will be useful for someone considering an agency. Good luck with whatever your choice is x
Topic: Help - experience with agencies? (Read 1443 times)