Sir,
I was told that your plan for New Fantasy from the get go was to open it for a while at the old prices and then turn it into a more expensive upscale place. With the price going up to 16,000 colones come the first of the year, it looks like you're taking the first step of that plan.
I am all in favor of anyone running their business to take best advantage of the market they can, and in this letter I want to question whether raising the prices further is going to be to your long run profit.
I know you, like a lot of us, spent a lot of time at NF when it first opened. It really did seem like a New kind of place. With Arianna cracking the whip the girls were especially accomodating, and the 12,000 colones was just a touch more expensive then other places and made it seem like an especially good value. There was a period of about six months when I went at least four times a week and spend my entire entertainment budget there. A lot of locals did the same, and they really had a high volume high spirited thing going.
Time passes and things change. Now I think the buzz about the place is a left over buzz. I think if you went there as a stranger you would have to admit it's not nearly as well run as it used to be. Tourists still go there based on what it was back then--but you certainly don't hear people on this board raving about it anymore. The front desk people aren't as into it, you don't have the presence the drug guy had, you have a lot more going-through-the-motion girls there, and it's much more of a routine experience--not a rip-off, but nothing special either.
Maybe the location and the steam room are such good selling points that even as the quality of the overall experience declines you'll still make money at higher prices. But maybe not. There's a couple of girls who works at Oasis who used to work at New Fantasy and they both claim they make more now on volume at Oasis, and I have a strong sense that you'll find the same thing is true on your house side of things.
If you read this board you know there are a lot places with better talent a mile or so away for 10,000 colones. You have a better location, it's true, but these places are more personable and are way better on price. They are your competition. I wish you could try the experiment of lowering the price back to 12,000 colones and look at your bottom line. I don't expect you'll do it, but if you did I think the results would surprise you. At 12,000 colones the place would start hopping again, and the buzz would come back and the better girls would again be lining up to work there.
Whenever discussions of price come up someone always does the math and shows that 16,000 now is only 13,358 then and gosh these people have to live. But the business point is that there are places doing well at 10,000 and I think you're making a mistake by not pricing in a way that regards them as your competition.
I do wish you the best of luck in your endeavours however you decide to pursue them, and would also like to thank you for opening the place back up and adding a venue to the mix even if it's one that at the new price I will no longer frequent.
Regards,
bookie
I was told that your plan for New Fantasy from the get go was to open it for a while at the old prices and then turn it into a more expensive upscale place. With the price going up to 16,000 colones come the first of the year, it looks like you're taking the first step of that plan.
I am all in favor of anyone running their business to take best advantage of the market they can, and in this letter I want to question whether raising the prices further is going to be to your long run profit.
I know you, like a lot of us, spent a lot of time at NF when it first opened. It really did seem like a New kind of place. With Arianna cracking the whip the girls were especially accomodating, and the 12,000 colones was just a touch more expensive then other places and made it seem like an especially good value. There was a period of about six months when I went at least four times a week and spend my entire entertainment budget there. A lot of locals did the same, and they really had a high volume high spirited thing going.
Time passes and things change. Now I think the buzz about the place is a left over buzz. I think if you went there as a stranger you would have to admit it's not nearly as well run as it used to be. Tourists still go there based on what it was back then--but you certainly don't hear people on this board raving about it anymore. The front desk people aren't as into it, you don't have the presence the drug guy had, you have a lot more going-through-the-motion girls there, and it's much more of a routine experience--not a rip-off, but nothing special either.
Maybe the location and the steam room are such good selling points that even as the quality of the overall experience declines you'll still make money at higher prices. But maybe not. There's a couple of girls who works at Oasis who used to work at New Fantasy and they both claim they make more now on volume at Oasis, and I have a strong sense that you'll find the same thing is true on your house side of things.
If you read this board you know there are a lot places with better talent a mile or so away for 10,000 colones. You have a better location, it's true, but these places are more personable and are way better on price. They are your competition. I wish you could try the experiment of lowering the price back to 12,000 colones and look at your bottom line. I don't expect you'll do it, but if you did I think the results would surprise you. At 12,000 colones the place would start hopping again, and the buzz would come back and the better girls would again be lining up to work there.
Whenever discussions of price come up someone always does the math and shows that 16,000 now is only 13,358 then and gosh these people have to live. But the business point is that there are places doing well at 10,000 and I think you're making a mistake by not pricing in a way that regards them as your competition.
I do wish you the best of luck in your endeavours however you decide to pursue them, and would also like to thank you for opening the place back up and adding a venue to the mix even if it's one that at the new price I will no longer frequent.
Regards,
bookie