Im sure "The Economist" would love to write an piece on the travails of punting inflation, if only it was that risqué.

A NHJ had probably been $50 since about 2005, 0% increase or 0% pa. Shop price used to be $35 for half an hour in 2005 and now it is more like $50 which is 42 percent increase or 2.5% pa inflation which is around the RBA target however since late 2019 inflation has averaged about 3.2% or 15% in total. Wages have probably gone up around 50% since 2007 on average.

I note that at the moment you may get less bang for your buck from a NHJ pineapple. However back in 2005 a $50 NHJ was often pretty hit an miss(no touching, no nipple sucking, DATY etc). NHJ pineapple value really peaked around 2012 for some reason that economists may be able to explain, possibly linked to changes in migration law. We may now look back on the early 2010s as the good old days.

I note that the councils have largely given up trying to manage dodgy massage parlours which has greatly benefitted punters choice. This has also lead to massage joints becoming unregulated brothels where some MLs might be disappointed if you just want a $50 NHJ and hence work on upselling extras to customers. I think that has lead to a loss of the edginess in massage places, made it more robotic.

That said I probably had some of the best NHJs in my life in the last 18 months. I have been very selective. I don't have the budget to cultivate regulars these days but this might be a way to get value from your $50 NHJ. I had a regular several years ago and I noted that more and more was on offer the more I went. It got pretty full on in the end and still only $50 tip.