Smooci Advertiser Thread

[Syzygies]

When Smooci started out, I had high hopes that they would become a big mass-market platform (like ThaiFriendly, but for paid sex) and that influx of freelance providers would push prices down to reasonable levels (and make the selection more appealing as well).

Seems a very unrealistic expectation. Nothing much pushes prices down, even recession.

Influx would mean a larger selection but mostly less appealing. Most girls in the influx would not be able to make enough money. Demand is only so large.

Sure if ALL the girls were making big money hand over fist, you could expect a big influx. I suspect many girls try and fail to make it or are not patient enough to build a reputation or clientele.

We could all wish to be movie stars because movie stars make big money but we could turn up to Hollywood and find no one is interested.

Change is generally Gradual! Sudden huge change usually fails. How fast did the internet take off?

[SmoociApp]

We are pleased to announce that Smooci will be launching in Berlin, Germany on 9th October http://blog.smooci.com/post/berlin-launch.

This will be our first European launch and we will be looking to follow it up with further European launches in the coming months https://smooci.com/europe.

[Lefeu]

I'll take a stab at that. If I were a fresh young girl out of the provinces trying to make some money in the big city and open to the idea without having to take a normal job, I would definitely try to hook up with whatever manager, mamasan, agency or pimp could provide me with the best conditions and the most money for the least amount of effort. Who wouldn't?...

That was one excellent analysis of the escort agency scene. Recently, a buddy while passing though Bangkok on his way to Vietnam, used their services. When I asked him why he did that? He replied that he liked the convenience, no need to go out and compete with other mongers for a girl. He was Ok with getting the company of a Thai girl even if she would not be his first choice. Money was not an issue for him.

[Crocodilexp]

an agency like Smooci provides an extremely sweet deal for the girl. In fact, I might go so far as to say it has "pre-negotiated" a deal between the girl and her customer that is so sweet for the girl most experienced punters would reject it in a nanosecond if it were proposed by a girl in a go-go bar, a beer bar, Thermae, Beer Garden Soi 7, on the street or in an online dating site and strongly encourage others to reject it as well for fear of "ruining the market", so to speak, if you believe in things like that.

Great summary of the "escort" scene in Thailand.

Smooci is ostensibly not an agency, but an online marketplace, albeit one that cornered a very specific niche of overpriced escorts for less-than-demanding Farang customers. Somehow, girls there manage to charge 2 x to 3 x the price of local competitors like FinFanFan. Admittedly, the website and ordering experience is superior, but girl quality, quantity or selection are certainly not.

The mystery is why a much larger percentage of girls in the FL pool as well as every other P4P option pool who can at least produce a fairly fetching small photo album hasn't signed up with them already.

That's a mystery to me as well.

When Smooci started out, I had high hopes that they would become a big mass-market platform (like ThaiFriendly, but for paid sex) and that influx of freelance providers would push prices down to reasonable levels (and make the selection more appealing as well). Thailand definitely has a need for such a platform, both on the demand and supply side.

Unfortunately, that has not happened. At this point, it seems that Smooci is simply not interested in targeting the mass market outside their niche. Not sure why, maybe if they became big enough, they'd get busted by the authorities, or make less profit. Disappointing, but can't blame them, they're a business.

[EihTooms]

Is the girl performance, consistently above the norm? I presume that is what motivates most guys to keep booking escorts, plus they presumably love the surgeries look.

What has given you the impression that repeat escort service customers care much at all about the girl's performance? I certainly don't see any evidence of that in the acceptance of the handling of the Star Rating system on Smooci, in the customer comments for the girls on Smooci and the very passionate defense here of keeping any assessments of the girls at the vague "overall experience" level, which in most cases I've read amounts to guys being much, much more concerned about the girls' looks (matching her pics), demeanor, maybe if they felt comfortable enough to sit for hours having a drink and chatting about life first and all that.

lol. When was the last time anyone other than ME argued for any of the review mechanisms to finally be related directly to whether or not the girl actually fully and completely performed the services listed or as conscientiously as might be expected for the money? And then be blasted with flame throwers by the supposed escort service regulars for daring to suggest such a horrible thing?

[Syzygies]

I don't think it's a mystery at all why a girl would sign up with someone or an agency who has already "pre-negotiated" that kind of deal for her. The mystery is why a much larger percentage of girls in the FL pool as well as every other P4P option pool who can at least produce a fairly fetching small photo album hasn't signed up with them already. Maybe many girls just don't know about them. Yet.

Do I detect a hint of sarcasm? LOL I do agree with you that many Escorts are likely just not good enough (to my personal taste) to getting that sort of money per hour. For many guys, young and a good body is enough (face does not matter that much). However really top class girls can be very popular and expect to make that sort of money.

To me many escorts are plain looking in the face in particular, I don't like the over blown tits, nose jobs, etc. So I am very wary, since I like to see exactly what I am getting and preferably know the character as well.

Is the girl performance, consistently above the norm? I presume that is what motivates most guys to keep booking escorts, plus they presumably love the surgeries look.

In the end it is just a competition. The girl just has to believe she can beat other girls already working as Escorts.

75% of bar girls and 95% of Oily MP girls are probably just to ordinary (or ugly) to make it in the Escort world. Am I wrong? Presumably the escorts have to have a fairly good body, no disaster areas, and have fairly good skills, and have a face that appeals at least to someone. They can't be too average.

[EihTooms]

I cannot answer you why some girls chose to work for agencies, I would say there are a variety of reasons. This is not a new situation, escort directories advertising both agencies and independents have been around for a long time, and not so long ago backpage and craiglist were booming for independents, but some girls still preferred to work for agencies.

I'll take a stab at that. If I were a fresh young girl out of the provinces trying to make some money in the big city and open to the idea without having to take a normal job, I would definitely try to hook up with whatever manager, mamasan, agency or pimp could provide me with the best conditions and the most money for the least amount of effort. Who wouldn't?

On that count, an agency like Smooci provides an extremely sweet deal for the girl. In fact, I might go so far as to say it has "pre-negotiated" a deal between the girl and her customer that is so sweet for the girl most experienced punters would reject it in a nanosecond if it were proposed by a girl in a go-go bar, a beer bar, Thermae, Beer Garden Soi 7, on the street or in an online dating site and strongly encourage others to reject it as well for fear of "ruining the market", so to speak, if you believe in things like that.

Just for starters, the customer will be committed to a non-refundable 1,000-2,000 baht cancellation fee on arrival and at first sight of the girl in the flesh. That ought to go a long way to keeping him committed to proceeding with the next step of expenditure no matter what he sees or encounters when that hotel room door swings open. Next, he'll have ten minutes to refine any negotiation loose ends that were not tapped down at the point of booking. Of course, she can say anything she wants during that ten minute final negotiation since he has also been told he must Pay Upfront at the ten minute mark and before anything else happens. After which, if she pulls the kind of things many Pay Upfront FLs would do after pocketing the money beforehand, her only concern might be getting a low Star Rating. But soon enough she might already feel fairly safe in the knowledge that maintaining a pleasant demeanor through whatever does or doesn't occur of a sexual nature in the room will likely assure her a decent if not better than decent Star Rating anyway.

And, should the customer display any negative vibe, displeasure in her behavior or ask for something that in any way offends or bothers her, even issues having to do with the Pay Upfront deal, she can always go back and give him a secret 1 Star Rating that he will never know about but all the other girls he tries to book will. That will also help to weed out the "complainer" or "problem" customers and naturally select for very low demand, easy, go with the flow and accept what you get with a smile at any cost customers over time. Along with the accompanying higher Star Ratings for the girls one would expect from fellows like that.

I don't think it's a mystery at all why a girl would sign up with someone or an agency who has already "pre-negotiated" that kind of deal for her. The mystery is why a much larger percentage of girls in the FL pool as well as every other P4P option pool who can at least produce a fairly fetching small photo album hasn't signed up with them already. Maybe many girls just don't know about them. Yet.

[SmoociApp]

Do you require girls to sign up through agencies and get kickbacks from their fees? If not, why would any girl want to pay a commission to an agency if she could sign up directly with Smooci and keep all the money herself? What value does the agency provide, to either the customer, the girl, or Smooci? Something smells fishy there.

We are trying to create a next generation escort directory, bringing in some more modern tools and ideas, but ultimately we are still a directory and are running a platform for escorts to advertise and clients to connect with them. I think because we are doing something different some people are skeptikal or misunderstand (thinking we are an agency or a lot more involved with the agencies).

The only payments we receieve from anyone are premium client payments and premium escort payments. We do not recieve any other payments on or off the record.

We actually restrict the number of agencies and agency girls on the platform and chat to the agencies (and do some basic research) before accepting any. We are happy to work with good agencies who have built a strong reputation as it not only gives Smooci credibility it also helps set standards, but we look for agencies with experience and quality, and we don't get any kickbacks, commissions, or any other payments other than the premium memberships (agency's get a free private dashabord but are required to cover all the premium fees for their escorts).

We don't require or encourage girls to join agencies. When an independent contacts us she is sent the app and can create an independent account. We already have a lot of independents on Smooci.

I cannot answer you why some girls chose to work for agencies, I would say there are a variety of reasons. This is not a new situation, escort directories advertising both agencies and independents have been around for a long time, and not so long ago backpage and craiglist were booming for independents, but some girls still preferred to work for agencies.

[Gigi Buffon]

Thank you, those answers are interesting, but don't sound particularly convincing.

How much work can it be with an app made with the singular purpose of that scheduling bookings for you and telling you where to go? Even without one, we're not talking airline flight scheduling type of problem here. Take a taxi to this place at this hour, bring pussy, get money. Don't overlap appointments. What other "management" is involved? Regulatory compliance and filling tax forms?

Maybe there's a bit of one-time overhead with taking photos and posting a profile, but 90% of the Thais I know use Facebook and have no problem doing such stuff..

Have heard similar answers from girls as those posted by GCNovice. Some other reasons heard: agency can help them book duos with lesbian activity, which allows them to make more money as they charge extra; agency can book multiple days bookings or holidays as they call it, which bumps their earnings in a given week; regulars and new customers still call agency to make booking because they do not use Smooci. Interestingly, I have seen a few girls that were working for agencies not using Smooci drop the agency and list in Smooci as as independents, the key reasons for at least 2 of them was make more money and like flexibility of being their own boss. Also, feedback from independents that decided to join Smooci was other means to advertise their service was restricted with crawdown on sites, boost their bookings, ease of use and they still decide when they want to work and how to control their time.

[Crocodilexp]

Thank you, those answers are interesting, but don't sound particularly convincing.

1. Too lazy, basically they don't want to manage the bookings themselves, it's a lot of management and work.

How much work can it be with an app made with the singular purpose of that scheduling bookings for you and telling you where to go? Even without one, we're not talking airline flight scheduling type of problem here. Take a taxi to this place at this hour, bring pussy, get money. Don't overlap appointments. What other "management" is involved? Regulatory compliance and filling tax forms?

Maybe there's a bit of one-time overhead with taking photos and posting a profile, but 90% of the Thais I know use Facebook and have no problem doing such stuff.

2. Agency provides "stable" work, girls become loyal to them.

This is somewhat plausible, if the agency gives them regular work outside of Smooci. I do wonder how they manage to bring more business than a dedicated online platform with a broad audience. None of the agencies have particularly cherished reputation (like, say, Tulip or Snow White do in PSE massage segment). Within the app, I don't see how the agency could affect the amount of bookings a provider gets.

Even if they do get plenty of regular business from agencies, why use them agencies for Smooci, if they have an option of signing up independently and keeping all the money?

3. Agency provides safety, if somethings go wrong, run like the wind or you'll have someone at your door.

If thugs who rush to strong-arm customers in case of any dispute is the major service agencies provide, I'd rather stay away altogether. In addition, I don't see most working girls in Thailand being especially concerned about safety, even in venues with far more anonymity and danger factor than an online meetup with customer / provided data and location tracked by an app.

Or talk to WG without the "can you do this." questions.

Chit chat is fun, but Thais in general, and working girls in particular, have a tendency to say what you want to hear. That's a good thing, makes the session smoother, and I tend to go along, but always take what they're saying with a big grain of salt.

[GCNovice]

Do you require girls to sign up through agencies and get kickbacks from their fees? If not, why would any girl want to pay a commission to an agency if she could sign up directly with Smooci and keep all the money herself? What value does the agency provide, to either the customer, the girl, or Smooci? Something smells fishy there.

Can't speak for smooci, but I've ask these questions to WG I've meet through smooci. Some of the answers I get are:

1. Too lazy, basically they don't want to manage the bookings themselves, it's a lot of management and work.

2. Agency provides "stable" work, girls become loyal to them.

3. Agency provides safety, if somethings go wrong, run like the wind or you'll have someone at your door.

Again, I do not work for smooci, just a broken person after going to BKK.

I wonder how many people here actually use the service. Or talk to WG without the "can you do this." questions.

[Franciscass]

Do you require girls to sign up through agencies and get kickbacks from their fees? If not, why would any girl want to pay a commission to an agency if she could sign up directly with Smooci and keep all the money herself? What value does the agency provide, to either the customer, the girl, or Smooci? Something smells fishy there.

I may be wrong but it seems to me the monetization of the app is through sales of a premium service for both customers and escorts. Some escorts, a minority in my opinion are truly independent I. E. Unaffiliated to any agency and consequently retain all of their fees (pimps not withstanding). Most however understandably find it more beneficial to work through established successful agencies as this gives them wider access to more bookings. Not every booking for an escort is made through Smooci. It seems the practice where an agency deems it more profitable to sign up their girls for the premium package they factor this into their commission structure.

I imagine as the app gains popularity with increasing views advertising will play a part in the revenue mix.

[Crocodilexp]

Again, any commission she is requested to pay is to her agency and added by them, companions pay 0 commission to Smooci.

Do you require girls to sign up through agencies and get kickbacks from their fees? If not, why would any girl want to pay a commission to an agency if she could sign up directly with Smooci and keep all the money herself? What value does the agency provide, to either the customer, the girl, or Smooci? Something smells fishy there.

[SmoociApp]

I have used Smooci from the beginning and I my findings are as follows:

Good points: The customer service from Smooci has been outstanding. I've always received a call if the lady was running late and assistance with inaccurate GPS addresses and seemless verification of my credentials were always handled with the utmost privacy when confirming my bookings with my hotel or condo switch board. I always received good service from the ladies other than most being very condom conscious. I have never seen a lady who looked nothing like her photos and most times I was not forced to pay upfront. I firmly believe the lady makes a judgment call as soon as she walks in the door. On the other hand, the money has always been set out in plain site and it was never touched until the session was over. It was never even discussed. There is a location option for free where all members, including non- premium members can see how far the ladies are away from you before you book. This helps gage how long she will be before she arrives. Also free members can see the last few reviews of the ladies if you click the share profile button. This brings her profile link up and if you copy and paste that link into your browser, you will see the latest reviews before you book the lady.

Bad points: I don't care what anyone says but Smooci does absolutely no age verification. I have it first hand knowledge that most of the ladies deduct 5-8 years off their age on their profile. Secondly, the website states the ladies don't pay any commission but they pay 450 Baht to Smooci and or their home agency. Finally, some bookings add a taxi fare depending on where the lady is located but it does not mention that in the rate quoted in the profiles.

Additional: I was able to take a look at the android Smooci app the ladies use. I got a look at the bookings screen and it shows the customer booking history, the commission the ladies must pay, and the reviews of the customer. These reviews for free members will show your name, email address and phone number. The girls can see all this.

Thanks for the review, but some of this information is incorrect and it is important to point it out.

'Smooci does absolutely no age verification'.

We have now launched the age verification feature so escorts have the option to verify their age. This is done by checking their date of birth against an accepted ID. It is then locked to their date of birth and highlighted on the site to premium members as VERIFIED. You can also use the filter feature to only see verified ages.

This is optional for the companions and at the moment only a few have verified but we hope to see this become more natoable in the coming days / weeks. We launched this a few days ago andhad an error with our notification system which is now fixed, so tomorrow we will begin to notify the companions and hope that it will encourage more girls to verify their age.

'they pay 450 Baht to Smooci'.

This is not true. We receive '0' commission from the escorts, and they have the option to use the app totally for free. Free accounts have some restrictions which limit them to 1 booking every 3 days and they can pay for a premium account which is $50 for a month. But we don't receive any part of the booking fee from any companions. Agencies usually take a fee per booking from the girl and this is different for each agency, but they are also responsible for paying the app fees of their girls.

If a girl is claiming she is paying a commission to Smooci and she seems genuine, please let us know as we would like to look into who she is paying this too. We did actually have one incident where some guy downloaded the app for 2 independent girls in Bangkok and charged them a fee or commission, but this was last year and was stopped and dealt with.

'some bookings add a taxi fare depending on where the lady is located but it does not mention that'.

Previously this was done zonally. So if you were staying outside of the central areas of Bangkok (10 km radius from ASOK), the system would add a 500 Baht travel fee, which would be show to the client before the booking is confirmed. We are now starting to change this so that the system can calculate travel times and travel distances based on the distance between the client and the companion. We don't allow companions or agencies to set their own travel fees, these will only be added when the distance is significant and calculated by us and what we deem as a fair amount.

'it shows the customer booking history, the commission the ladies must pay, and the reviews of the customer. These reviews for free members will show your name, email address and phone number. The girls can see all this'.

This is absolutely not true. When a companion receives a booking she will see 3 icons at the top:

1. An icon to show if the client is a premium member or free user.

2. An icon to show if the client is a new users or regular user (has had bookings before).

3. The clients average rating out of 5.

Other than the 3 simple icons absolutely no other booking history is shown anywhere to the companion or on the site. A while back we experimented with the idea of allowing the companions to write reviews of clients but this was scrapped, and now we use a simple anonmyous rating.

Again, any commission she is requested to pay is to her agency and added by them, companions pay 0 commission to Smooci.

I can only assume you are mistaken and have looked at a companions app to see her clients detail. I. e. When she accepts a booking she recieves the clients name, location, and contact details, which are all needed in order for her to attend the booking. There is absolutely no way a companion can see who a client has met previously, and any other details. Even one the companions comments on their profile pages we try to keep it completely anonmyous, only showing the month, year, rating and comment, with no details of the client, and delaying the posting so that it is less obvious which of their clients left the comments.

[GCNovice]

Bad points: I don't care what anyone says but Smooci does absolutely no age verification. I have it first hand knowledge that most of the ladies deduct 5-8 years off their age on their profile. Secondly, the website states the ladies don't pay any commission but they pay 450 Baht to Smooci and or their home agency. Finally, some bookings add a taxi fare depending on where the lady is located but it does not mention that in the rate quoted in the profiles.

Additional: I was able to take a look at the android Smooci app the ladies use. I got a look at the bookings screen and it shows the customer booking history, the commission the ladies must pay, and the reviews of the customer. These reviews for free members will show your name, email address and phone number. The girls can see all this.

I always assumed the rate includes everything, so the taxi fare isn't too big of a deal nor does commission the WG pays to their agency / others. I was told, by WG, that agency would received X amount from the booking rates. For instance, the rate is 3750, the WG will keep 3000 and 750 goes to the agency. 4000, WG keeps 3000, agency gets 1000.

WG able to see John's real name is F'and BS, if true. IDK, I don't read the service agreement, but if it states in their agreement, that's on me for not reading. If not.