Sliding Scale Pricing Guide

Use this guide to find which pricing category best fits your financial situation, and request your rate category when booking. Rarely does anyone fit squarely into one, but many examples are included so you can choose which feels most applicable. I trust you to decide and will not ask for financial verification. Please feel free to revisit and change over time--I realize these things often shift.

Community

You struggle to pay your bills
You sometimes need to cut back on necessities to meet your monthly expenses
You have medical or substantial credit card debt
You might have a disability or health struggles
You purchase most things for yourself or your home secondhand
You are a single parent
You don’t have financial support from family
Taking time off work for sickness or emergency would be financially difficult
You don’t have a college education
You qualify for assistance such as Medicaid, food stamps, or subsidized housing
Your housing is shared, insecure, or substandard
You don’t always have reliable transportation
You have little to no savings

*Enter coupon code COMMUNITY when booking.

Sustainer

You are able to pay your bills from month to month
You are able to rent or finance standard housing
You have a support system you could turn to in a financial emergency
You have reliable transportation
You are able-bodied
You have a college education or trade certification
You might have an advanced degree but choose to work in the public sector or social services
You may have some debt such as from student loans, a car, or mortgage, but you are able to make your monthly payments
You can take time off work for an emergency or vacation and still meet your expenses
You have some savings
You can occasionally buy new clothing or home items without considerable stress

*Enter coupon code SUSTAINER when booking.

Patron

You have no problem meeting your necessary monthly expenses
You own a modest home and/or car (or can make payments on the home or car of your choosing)
You have family who have helped pay for your education, home, or vehicle
You are able-bodied
You have a college education or advanced degree or own a business with employees
You have savings, retirement, and/or investment funds
You are able to travel and take vacations with relative ease
You are able to buy new clothing or home items

*This is the default price in my booking system.

Community

60 min or Facial Massage - $77

90 min - $98

120 min - $119

Sustainer

60 min or Facial Massage - $99

90 min - $126

120 min - $153

Patron

60 min or Facial Massage - $110

90 min - $140

120 min - $170

A note on tipping: I accept but never expect tips. LMTs are in a strange position here, being traditionally a tipped profession, with a trend moving toward more medical recognition and away from tips. I consider tips an extension of the sliding scale, allowing the opportunity to compensate me as one can afford. My checkout does present a tip option, though I pay zero attention to if and what individuals tip, so I hope it goes without saying that tips will never affect your service.

Policies and Booking

Price Transparency Statement

I have heard many times, about my previous profession and this one, that going rates are too expensive. So to be completely up front about how all this adds up, I’m happy to be clear about how my rates translate to income. My prices are not arbitrary, they were originally based upon the math of me taking home $25,000/year at about 25 hours of work per week. It has honestly not worked out that way, and I generally take home less than $10,000/year to do this part time. I had hoped to take more clients than I have found that I reasonably can as someone who has worked physically demanding jobs for 30 years.

What I decide to do about this moving into the future is a whole other conversation, but for now, I will just clarify that my work hours also include the hours I put in to cleaning, laundry, bookkeeping, schedule management, website maintenance, etc. (For someone who works as an employee, roughly half of their income goes to the house for this work.) As well, I prefer to take some time in between clients so that you and I never feel rushed during our intake and outtake conversations and I am able to fully collect myself, use the restroom, etc before moving onto the next person. I am fortunate to have my healthcare covered by my partner’s job, but LMT’s who don’t have that need to cover their own healthcare costs. And of course, there are business expenses: the rent on my suite, my booking software, insurance, taxes (which are disproportionately high for the self-employed), credit card processing, etc, etc. Even laundry soap adds up when one goes through multiple loads of laundry per shift.

I realize that it still can seem like a luxury to pay someone approximately $100 for an hour for what may seem unnecessary. I want you all to have all the money in the world to pay for all of the massages you want, because, hell, we all need all the stress relief we can get living in the world we live in. I can’t fix global wealth inequality (at least not by myself--please join me in trying), but for those of us who believe workers should be compensated fairly for their time, skills, and resources, we can start by compensating the people around us as well as we can. This is why I choose to do sliding scale, and am always open to conversations about how my business decisions can be most equitable. It’s a hard world out there, y’all, and the best we can do is our best.

Credit to Alexis J. Cunningfolk of Worts and Cunning Apothecary for heavy inspiration regarding sliding scale. Their implementation and wording was the first that really resonated with me though I have changed quite a bit to make it my own.