I ventured into Hop Yee yesterday just to look around.  There are only two WGs in Hop Yee listed in the database, so I didn't expect much activity.  But the place was crawling with punters on every floor.  And there must have been at least 50 WG rabbit-holes scattered across the ten or so floors.

That made me wonder...  There are 1063 WGs in the 141 database...  287 in 161sex...  137 in miss148...  148 on 1212u...  but no doubt some fraction of these are repeats.  But how many WGs are there in HK, just quietly seeing the same group of regulars, making do with the guys that seem to endlessly parade through some of the known establishments, or advertising via completely different channels?  Are the ones on the database just the tip of the iceberg?

Have fun, CGP

P.S.  I left the Hop Yee empty-handed.  I have no problems knocking on doors when I know who to expect on the other side.  But I have not yet gotten comfortable with the "knock and see" form of exploration.  I think it's partly my fear of trying to communicate without any Cantonese or Mandarin...  and a little bit of embarrassment conducting these queries in front of the punter parade...

Guess the question is "what's the market penetration of sex141?"

There are other sites, which cater to slightly different segments.  And lots of girls don't bother to register on a site, once they've got established they just kick back and serve their regulars.  Then there are the streetwalkers, freelancers, bar girls, part timers, etc. etc.

Do they have 50%?  More?  Less?  It's very unusual to find a market where a player has 50% market share, the way google has in the search market.  So if it's 25% (which is realistic even for a #1 market position) there'd be 4,000 WGs.

Can't help thinking a city like Hong Kong must support more than a few thousand!

Yes, market penetration of 141 would be another way of getting to the same thing...

My casual estimate -- based on a fair understanding of the mongering scene in major cities back in the US -- was that 1 in 1000 women from age 18 to 39 was somehow involved in the pay-for-play scene.  I might have been off by a factor of two, but I doubt I was off by a factor of five.  

I have to believe that this ratio would only go up with greater income inequity.  And HK -- while not exactly as bad as China in this respect -- does have considerable inequity of income and wealth.  So I would have to believe that the ratio is > 1 in 1000.

A quick check of the HK demographics reveals that there are 1.3 million women in HK between 18 and 39.  So 4000 WGs would be about 3 per 1000.  If I had to place odds, I would bet on the "over", but I'll bet you're in the ball park.

But then there are the Wan Chai filipinas and Sunday maids and other assorted "grey zone" types...  which can only raise the number...

All in all, HK is not a bad place to be...  

Have fun, CGP

The other day, SCMP reported 2000 walkups.

Must have been fun being a reporter researching that story...  

Have fun, CGP

Or they started off by doing the sorts of calculations you did in post #2 and then gave up and then pulled a number out of the hat and went with it and reported it as the truth.