The cost (or price, if you prefer) of a fifteen-minute sex encounter with a window girl in Amsterdam’s Red Light District in 2023 is still 50 euros, despite rip roaring inflation and a subsequent cost of living hike. Top tip: Make sure that you ask the price at the door and what you can expect for your money.
Actually, a modest bit of research shows that the price hasn’t changed for nearly two decades. There are a number of reasons for that. Inflation has been modest until recently and there has been an influx of East European girls who have been able to make more in a couple of hours in Amsterdam than in a month back home. A third reason is what economists refer to as price elasticity. The formula appears below in case you’re interested.
Umm, I thought not. Basically, it refers to the way that price-changes impact on supply and demand. Sometimes a price rise has little effect on demand; for example, the cost of commuter travel. However, sometimes a price increase can have a disproportionate impact on demand. I came across a Japanese study about this a while ago. It went something like this. When the cost of a visit to a prostitute costs, say, 7500 Yen, a guy would contemplate five visits in a month. However, if the cost went up to, say, 8500 Yen, demand dropped to two visits a month; it wasn’t a proportionate drop-off in demand.
Whatever, the 50 euro note is a handy scrap of paper. Why mess with what works?
Letter from America
“I love your blog! It’s the sexiest, edgiest, most inspirational thing I think I’ve ever read! It makes me want to get all fucked up and fuck a prostitute in the heart of Amsterdam! I know your probably super busy and super sought after by reporters from super important publications, but if you’d consider letting me conduct a short little interview with you via email, webcam, chat, etc. It would really mean the world to me to have a small piece of correspondence with you to call my own. Forever Fascinated.”
“P.S. I have a question. How many women have you visited in Amsterdam?” (Jana – USA)
Answer: I’m not sure. I kept a count until I reached a hundred and then I stopped. Counting, that is. However, one night I couldn’t sleep so I counted window girls instead of sheep. I reached two hundred. That was a while ago; I guess the answer is hundreds. And that doesn’t include multiple visits to the best girls. Or the girls in Soho London.
The Amsterdam Diaries 