Im not sure its a good comparison. It seem Montreal has been profitable from the high traffic of the USA (of course before Covid) coming from different cities giving lots of business and the peoples actually made the trip especially due to the rates...wich may not be the case for the west. And im not sure if the comparison is favorable in the other side. I mean, i see providers in the USA go for 1000$/h, thats an ammount i could never pay personally. Even 400$ for 1h is a mega think about it twice, thats a lot of money, thats more than a weekly pay for me... :O
I think there is some kind of unwritten rule that going indy immediately mean increasing rates by 100-150$ and thats kinda the part im less of a fan. I get that being indy mean paying for an incall and transportation yourself + advertising fees, but you also do not pay an agency quote on every hours. So going up from 250 to 400 in one go, thats a huge increase imo.
Anyway. Personally i will admit i am more akin to the concept of agencies over indies even if not taking the price difference in consideration, i find it easier to deal with them. You just send a text and things get set up fast while indies is a lot more in term of booking. Some requiring screenings and/or deposits and such. Its a different thing if you become a regular, and even with my very sporadic bookings (4-5 a year) i do have seen some indies multiple times when they stay available for years so once they know you and all it become effortless to book but initial contacting is different depending on the provider.
Ultimately i am happy i can still enjoy this hobby for 240-260$, wich still seem like a fair price for today. I just wish there is no drastic jump in the near futur because that would mean cutting 1 booking per year lol.
