# Nevada Brothels: What's A Starting Point For Negotiations? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nevada-brothels-whats-a-starting-point-for-negotiations/766227 "2016-09-18T01:19:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nevada-brothels-whats-a-starting-point-for-negotiations/766227/1 "2016-09-18T01:19:34Z")
I ask strictly for curiosity’s sake, of course. But since the vast majority of brothels don’t publicize prizes, insisting instead that you negotiate with your courtesan, what is even a starting point? You don’t want to come off insultingly low, nor do you want to offer so much that you’re a sucker. So where should negotiations start for, say, a Half & Half (blowjob + vaginal)? $500? $1000? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nevada-brothels-whats-a-starting-point-for-negotiations/766227/2 "2016-09-18T01:33:00Z")
Well, the Bunny Ranch website says > [@](#): > > How much is a “party”? > There are no set prices. Each girl is an independent contractor and therefore establishes her own services and pricing. Legally, we cannot quote prices, but all the prices are reasonable and negotiable. The ladies work with all budgets. If it weren’t affordable we wouldn’t have been here for over 50 years. > Do you take credit cards? > Yes, we accept Visa and Mastercard. All billed as “Cash Advance, Lake Tahoe”. We also accept debit cards and have our own ATM machine. > Am I required to tip? > Tips are not mandatory but appreciated, as they are in every service establishment. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nevada-brothels-whats-a-starting-point-for-negotiations/766227/3 "2016-09-18T02:02:55Z")
Wild ass semi-educated guess: I remember HBO profiled them back 10 or 20 years ago. For pretty girls prices _started_ around $1000 and went up from there. The implication was that that included sex and oral, and that the pretty girls didn’t bother with anything less (hand-jobs, oral only etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nevada-brothels-whats-a-starting-point-for-negotiations/766227/4 "2016-09-18T02:05:09Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Well, the Bunny Ranch website says > > **Legally, we cannot quote prices** That seems kinda weird. If brothels are legal in Nevada why wouldn’t/shouldn’t they be allowed to quote prices? Makes the whole thing seem mysterious. If I had little interest in visting one before, I have even less now. I _hate_ haggling :D. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nevada-brothels-whats-a-starting-point-for-negotiations/766227/5 "2016-09-18T06:34:38Z")
I guess you didn’t want to google it, because it’s pretty easily available. This site claims $200 to $600: [http://www.havocscope.com/black-market-prices/prostitution-prices/](http://www.havocscope.com/black-market-prices/prostitution-prices/) ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nevada-brothels-whats-a-starting-point-for-negotiations/766227/6 "2016-09-18T08:22:22Z")
The part about "Our workers are _contractors_ is the telling point - this is the Uber/ IT Consultant/whoever item - the employer wants desperately to NOT pay FICA, unemployment, Income taxes, etc. and so sticks their fingers in their ears and yells "They are NOT my EMPLOYEES - they are CONTRACTORS. To maintain this fiction, they say each worker sets her (any “his”'s yet?) own prices, wears what she wants, etc. Let me know when the workers can use the shop for meeting customers and then make follow-up appts at other places. A contractor can choose locations as well. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nevada-brothels-whats-a-starting-point-for-negotiations/766227/7 "2016-09-18T14:10:30Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > The part about "Our workers are _contractors_ is the telling point - this is the Uber/ IT Consultant/whoever item - the employer wants desperately to NOT pay FICA, unemployment, Income taxes, etc. and so sticks their fingers in their ears and yells "They are NOT my EMPLOYEES - they are CONTRACTORS. > > To maintain this fiction, they say each worker sets her (any “his”'s yet?) own prices, wears what she wants, etc. > > Let me know when the workers can use the shop for meeting customers and then make follow-up appts at other places. A contractor can choose locations as well. Who says this doesn’t happen? As for the negotiation, I would expect the girl to set the initial offer (based on what the client wants) and the client can the take it from there. Interestingly this system (with girls contractors) is fairly common abroad as well. Just recently one of the biggest brothels in Berlin was raided and owners put before a court exactly on the ground that the girls should be considered employees and there were years of back taxes (and some other stuff). The case was dismissed with some fairly harsh words aimed at th authoristies (who showed with a few hundred people for the raid). In this situation prices were fixed by the club as well and women were asked to provide their work schedule beforehand (this was considered one of the biggest indications of them being “employees”). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nevada-brothels-whats-a-starting-point-for-negotiations/766227/8 "2016-09-20T02:44:38Z")
I can tell you what it was in 1982. Not me, a “friend”. While he was doin’ his business, I stole a T-Shirt that was thumb-tacked to the wall. Still have it. Never worn. Except when I stole it. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nevada-brothels-whats-a-starting-point-for-negotiations/766227/9 "2016-09-20T02:56:23Z")
The independent contractors in Las Vegas (where it’s illegal) don’the have any qualms about stating their price right up front. There’s another chapter I need to jot down sometime, just some of the negotiations are stories in themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nevada-brothels-whats-a-starting-point-for-negotiations/766227/10 "2016-09-20T05:28:29Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Wild ass semi-educated guess: I remember HBO profiled them back 10 or 20 years ago. For pretty girls prices _started_ around $1000 and went up from there. The implication was that that included sex and oral, and that the pretty girls didn’t bother with anything less (hand-jobs, oral only etc.). [Per this article](http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/359842) > [@](#): > > Girls at legalized brothels will typically fetch about $200 to $300 for intercourse or half an hour of fun, with an unofficial minimum fee of $100. Porn stars occasionally schedule a week or two weeks of work, charging $1,000 or more. [This account by a girl says](https://www.buzzfeed.com/careerconfidentials/my-life-as-a-legal-prostitute?utm_term=.jk6PKbl1x#.gcwO9aqKn) > [@](#): > > For a “half and half” — which is a blow job and sex — I would charge around $300 to $600. For something more adventurous, like a shower or the use of a vibrator, it would be more. > [@Tamerlane](#): > > That seems kinda weird. If brothels are legal in Nevada why wouldn’t/shouldn’t they be allowed to quote prices? Makes the whole thing seem mysterious. If I had little interest in visting one before, I have even less now. I _hate_ haggling :D. For one thing, because the girls differ in attractiveness and what acts they will perform. Each one can base her price on what the market will bear.