Just a thought re incall rates.... I have noticed that many offer a slightly reduced hourly rate than what would be charged for an outcall.

Does it differ for any of you depending on whether you work from your own home, a hotel or a flat that is purposefully just for bookings and not living?
My thoughts are surely paying out on accommodation would mean perhaps a higher rate for incall than an outcall in order to be reimbursed?

 Lou x

When I work from my work flat, I have a regular incall rate. I don't charge extra to go to hotels in my city centre as I can walk to them. For hotels out by the airport, I charge a little more. This is to compensate for the time and expense of travelling to them.

When I go on tour to an expensive city like London, where my hotel, travel, and meals can easily be ?1000 for a week, then I will raise my incall rates. But, that's mainly because you can get away with it in London. If I could charge that much and get it at home, I would.

Thanks everyone for responding ..... I'm based in London so I have no major additional costs travelling to clients. I am possibly going to take on a flat purely for working in which will of course cost. Therefore my query, do you find clients expect an incalls rate to be cheaper?


X

As well as the costs of travelling, it's worth bearing in mind the time. A 1hr incall - if you were someone who saw multiple clients per day - might only take 1.5hrs of your time in total at a push, but even if you only spend 30m travelling each way, that's 2h gone, and probably more like 3h, allowing for getting ready before and after etc.

In other words, you could do 2x1h in-calls for the time it takes to do one out-call, possibly more depending on the distance you need to go.

I also think clients expect to pay a premium for you coming to them.

Great advice thank you.... all a lot clearer.

Yes a lot easier re the time it takes travelling and didnt take into account clients having to travel haha! Perhaps I thought they would mysteriously appear!

 

X

I too work from home, however although cheaper than two properties, I pay for and maintain a property which is far bigger, and of a higher standard that I would if I was not working from it. As a result of the size it also eats energy. I have a separate bedroom which I buy high quality bedding for. I also have invested in a lot of extras, security system, bits to make the place look even better, and also have internet extenders in each room.

What I'm trying to say is that working from home still comes with costs.

Outcalls do however involve travel time, and cost, so unless it's an outcall right on my doorstep, I do charge extra. I also have minimum booking requirements for different locations, dependent on the actual direct travel time. This I find suits me and the area much better than trying to work out a mileage rate.