Indie VS Agency?

[NoLagJustMidlife]

Uhm, I didn’t know where to post this so mods, feel free to move the thread someplace else.

I’m a new hobbyist and, while I found some really good independents providers, I also got my fair share of pimps, junkies, going down rabbit holes and getting scammed like you guys wouldn’t believe.

Atop of that, I travel coast to coast, so every time I get in a new region, the whole search starts again.
There must be an easier way to do this, right? So here I am, wondering what it is like to go through an agency instead of an independent provider.

Would anyone with agencies/Indies experience share their thoughts, specifically when it comes to time saving for a new provider, safety, fluid transactions, simplicity of payment, anonymity?

You can share here, or you can DM me if that’s easier.

Thanks!

 

[Jenesis]

Agencies vrs indy markets will be different in different cities. In Toronto - the more reputable agencies are easy to deal with and less homework is required. However in other cities, this may not be the case at all.

 

[xmontrealer]

In Toronto agencies are the way to go. Easy and generally reliable, with no scams.

I recommend indies only if you stick to well-reviewed indies found here on terb.

 

[LTO_3]

For variety of choice, reputable agencies provide that. For both agency and indy select the well reviewed, reputable SPs from the discussion boards you use. It's been said many times but avoid LL (Leolist) unless the SP has good reviews. The one advantage of using agencies is, if there are any problems with the SP you see, you can contact the agency to mention your concern(s) as well as writing reviews to help others.
Seeing that you said you're new to this and especially because you travel a lot, I'd suggest dealing with agencies because they can suggest someone to meet your needs until you get some experience in the hobby.

LTO_3

 

[ShootNScoot]

Uhm, I didn’t know where to post this so mods, feel free to move the thread someplace else.

I’m a new hobbyist and, while I found some really good independents providers, I also got my fair share of pimps, junkies, going down rabbit holes and getting scammed like you guys wouldn’t believe.

Atop of that, I travel coast to coast, so every time I get in a new region, the whole search starts again.
There must be an easier way to do this, right? So here I am, wondering what it is like to go through an agency instead of an independent provider.

Would anyone with agencies/Indies experience share their thoughts, specifically when it comes to time saving for a new provider, safety, fluid transactions, simplicity of payment, anonymity?

You can share here, or you can DM me if that’s easier.

Thanks!

PERB for West coast (plus Alberta)
MERB for Quebec and East coast

That should be your start… keep in mind MERB has a different style of reviews (which I hate), as they pretty much keep adding to a single review thread… and usually NO links… (which is why links on reviews on THIS board make researching that much easier).

Enjoy yourself!! Wish I traveled like this for work!

 

[BobbyRyan81]

I was big on indies for years but with the rates are now I go with agencies the last year or so. I like multi hrs and with Indies your looking at about $700-800 for a few hrs but with an agency it's $500-600 and a no brainer

 

[SexB]

I mostly stick to indys.

The few times I went to agencies, it was a positive experience.

 

[NoLagJustMidlife]

Thank you folks, I’ll add an agency or two in the mix and see how it goes.

Enjoy yourself!! Wish I traveled like this for work!

Sure, it has its appeals, especially when you’re young. But you hit a point in your life where you do get tired of living in airports and hotels. No amount of airplane/train silverware cutlery is worth a home-made chicken soup.

 

[GeeBee]

Sadly the rest of the country is not nearly as lucky as Montreal and Toronto when it comes to agencies. And as mentioned above avoid LL unless you can find a well reviewed advertiser. In many areas of the country LL is 90% scams.

 

[GeeBee]

PERB for West coast (plus Alberta)
MERB for Quebec and East coast

That should be your start… keep in mind MERB has a different style of reviews (which I hate), as they pretty much keep adding to a single review thread… and usually NO links… (which is why links on reviews on THIS board make researching that much easier).

Enjoy yourself!! Wish I traveled like this for work!

A quick comment re the Alberta region. For some weird historical reasons (its a long a stupid story) PERB is underused in Alberta, and the majority of guys use CAF out there. Be aware however that they do not like negative reviews so it’s not nearly as useful as PERB (IMO)

For Manitoba, Sask and BC PERB is your best bet.

 

[tgif44]

I have been an indy guy for coming up to 18 years now ... while the rates in recent years have sky rocketed the quality in Toronto are excellent. As another poster noted, come here to review as when you shell out indy-cash you want the right experience realized! This year brings two firsts for me ... 1. I've recently tried the agencies (SFT and then DD ... both simply fantastic to deal with and the SPs I've seen we're great... no one can ever go wrong with Angelina @ SFT or Aeryn (DD, also independent) .. so much more i want to experience with the fine agencies including Minx and Allegra. 2. I'm finally starting to contribute to TERB ... feel bad I've been a user for years but not a contributor!