SLescorting services: the RL value
August 9, 2007 5:05 am
Everybody is that worried about the Second Life economy, but somehow they look only at the whole Ginko affair and the USD/L$ exchange rates. If an economy is really staggering, wages get influenced too, right? That’s why Lillie Yifu’s report on SL’s Escort market is an interesting one to read. Besides a description of all the different ‘branches’ of the industry, she also gives an overview of the money the girls make in the the executive summary. I hope she keeps this up and gives us a montly or bi-monthy report of how the escort salaries are evolving. Just to get a better idea of the actual value of the services rendered, I did some recounting to USD (assuming L$250/US$1.00) and Euro (assuming EUR1/US$1.38079):
| Escort type | L$ / 30 min | USD $ / 30 min | EUR / 30 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| Escort | L$ 600 - 800 | USD 2.40 - 3.20 | EUR 1.74 - 2.32 |
| Top Quality Esc. | L$ 1.5k | USD 6.00 | EUR 4.35 |
| Voice | L$ 3k | USD 12.00 | EUR 8.70 |
| Cam | L$ 6k - 20k | USD 24.00 - 80.00 | EUR 17.38 - 57.94 |
I’m only wondering what ‘Corp: 25 USD-40 USD/hr for corporate work, with sl sex as a fringe benefit‘ is about? The SL development companies?! *scratches ears* Anyway, this brings most normal escorts below belgian minimum wage and leaves most top escorts, voice escorts and cam girls with a more or less decent wage. Which confirms my idea that most ‘average’ SL escorts are mostly in it for the thrill/SL pocket money/hair & shoes they can buy with those L$. And we do need to take into account some fixed costs too: skin, hair, a house/room, advertisement/search listings, clothes … ?
But, in Belgium, escorts pay taxes. So, making a living out of Second Life without reporting it is probably illegal. En plus, escorting services - even if the Madame is not employing child avies - are broadly offensive, no? Thus, although their wages still seem decent, they could still be the heading the same way as gambling did and become illegal? Robin Linden says they won’t:
When asked about the reasons for the gambling ban, Robin Linden stated that simulated prostitution and stripping were legal acts and that the gambling ban was placed into effect for legal compliance reasons. The gambling ban was not instituted as a means for There-ing up SL.
Jessica Holyoke has some other thoughts about SL prostitution too and writes about why it would hard to declare the whole escorting business to be illegal or obscene. But go and read for yourself.
But seeing that our escorts still make a decent living and that they aren’t going to be tagged ‘illegal’ for a while, I consider our economy to be safe. Assuming that all Second Life’s gambling addicts seek refugee and comfort in those ladies’ arms. :p
7 Responses to “SLescorting services: the RL value”
mmm… why is it that the RL press thinks that we, in SL, are only interested in SLex… ???
They really should dig deeper, not only visiting SL free SLex sims, but also reading blogposts and checking out the most popular SLFlickr shots…
So, if they do their job seriously, and truly investigate, they will find out that we are mainly interested in…. ermm… art and culture???? rofl..
Well, the ‘:p’ at the end of the blogpost is the most serious statement. *grins* Do you think it needs a disclaimer again? ‘Do not invest based on Vint’s analyses of the Second Life economy?’ :D
PS. My photograph with most views on Flickr contains nude breasts. =D
Well I do escorting at times in SL… But I do it from a club I ‘work’ for… and it pays enough I don’t have to give cash to LL to often for new clothes…
And I give it away for nothing. Quite often. WAY to often. At least often enough to worry about SLAIDS.
But seriously the economics and monetary system of SL is quite an interesting topic in itself. Try accounting for input costs for stuff you literally create out of nothing.Where do you allocate your overheads?
@Vint: well, that’s what the RL press is trying to say… that RL is *not* about sex. haha. :-) RL is about money, which is about getting yourself into a better shape to be a better candidate for sex. Or a knowledge, which allows to either get the pure joy, which makes you happy and famous, which makes more money, which helps to be in a better shape to be a better candidate for sex. Or… tell me what it is about and I will prove you *all* the RL is just about sex and nothing more :-)
re. flickr: bummer. They *have* to put in the rating system. :-) so that more people could see the most viewed photograph that you have mentioned, so we can have figures to show back to those who stil do not agree with the highly theoretical style of the previous paragraph.
[@reader: please fill in the disclaimer here according to your liking :) ]
@Bhelle: “out of nothing” = linden$ ? or “out of nothing” = SLescort services ?
Allocating them to rent? Internet connection? PC’s electricty costs? And just the ‘lost time’ of playing on SL? :d
Stuff out of nothing: Yes and no. You do not need base resources. You still have your research/creating costs. Yes, after that for a lot of businesses selling virtual goods it’s just copy. As for the ones selling virtual services, it’s the same as in RL?
Dalien: Ok, now that’s a challenge. *grins* How are the following related to sex:
LOL
God knows I should never argue with accountants.
Care to comment?