I've just finished reading one of the most useful books I've ever bought. It's called "Paying For It - A Guide by Sex Workers for Their Clients" by Greta Christina. I don't know if anyone else has written about this book on this site but I found it by accident on Amazon when browsing around for other sex guides. It really is a masterpiece, though. What you've got here is a collection of articles by sex workers of various sorts (all American, in fact) including dominatrixes, strippers, whores and peep show workers. What they do is spell out how they feel about their work and what they want in a client. They are nearly all very fine writers and articulate the whole PFP experience from the sellers' point of view. Maybe your taste is for Thai spinners like me? But I bet the way they feel about their work is little different from the gay strippers of San Fransisco, in some respects. And the point is, the gay stripper is very honest and articulate in his essay in this book so he's worth listening to (although he doesn't get a tip from me!) You want to know what all these sex workers say? They pride themselves on giving a professional service. They want to make you happy. They enjoy the feeling of a satisfied customer. They don't expect customers to be jerks, though. Two things keep coming up. Firstly, hygene and appearence. Dress smart, wash, don't go mad with the cologne and they will come close. Smell of drink and look shabby and they will be off like a shot. The other really interesting thing is the way they talk about money. This made me stop and think. On the CH forums, there's endless talk about how "I bargained them down" and many users seem to take macho pride in driving down prices. But the point is that the sex workers in this book say time and again that if you beat down the price, they will take the message that you "don't think they're worth it" and will only offer indifferent service in return. Clearly prices vary widely around the world and according to service. But it's surely a fundamental truth that to dispute the prices in front of a sex worker is to make them feel belittled and uncomfortable. Now, if the Thai bar girl asks you for $4000 for a BBBJ because she thinks you know no better, of course you'd be mad to close the deal at that price. But guys, I've been foolish sometimes. I've turned down high quality PFP action because the price was $20 or $40 too high and settled for indifferent service on the cheap. That's because I got into the "Big Wise Business Man" mode in front of the girls instead of looking at it from their perspective. And you know the truth? When I've been up for paying (almost) the going rate without causing a fuss, I've nearly always received everything I was seeking and sometimes more. Has anyone else read this book? If not, I recommend you do. I can pretty much guarantee that after reading it and acting on it the whole PFP thing is going to be smoother and nicer, because you know what's going in the sex worker's mind. To get this book is going to cost you $20 max. I see it as being a more valuable investment than reading some of the posts on this site. Like any shrewd customer, you want to do your research, right? That's why you're on this site. Imagine all your favourite retailers told you the inside story about how they feel about their customers. You'd use it to your advantage, I think. And if you knew the secrets of Amazon maybe that would be handy in the local bookstore. Look, I have no connection with this book or its publishers. I just think it's a one of the very few of its kind and I'm damn glad I got a copy. Readers or non-readers, share your thoughts. Even if you think it's a load of nonsense, let me know and let's have a chat about it.

Sounds interesting (Cat, don't start any flaming here....lol) Obviously there can be many points of view regarding the content, but already some important highlights, and what I consider common sense things, stand out.

Yeah, commonsense in many ways. But sometimes we let the people on this site push us away from commonsense to other places...

Herman, not only other people, but the other "head" too! (I hate it when that happens)

About the bargaining. I think it's a cultural and cross cultural thing.
In 3th world culturs bargaining is very normal, and especially a gringo should bargain, regardless of what he is buying on the openmarket where proces arent rigidly fixed.

Coats, you might be careful with that word "rigidly", it usually involves activities in which common sense suffers!..........