How much money would it take for you to be cool with the idea of embracing strangers for a living? For at least one worker making some dough off the growing industry, it’ll cost customers $80 an hour or $400 for an entire night of platonic spooning. There are worse things, surely.

In in-depth and interesting look at the burgeoning industry, the Wall Street Journal highlights one such professional snuggle buddy who charges the above rates, bringing clients into her home to spoon.

The Internet is spurring a boom in business, with apps and sites hawking services for hire. Some will locate fellow cuddlers in the area, while other sites providing matching services complete with profiles.

Others runs businesses out of their homes or in commercial districts. One such cuddle shop offers 45 minutes of body contact for $50 or $425 for overnights

All of it’s platonic, with some businesses installing cameras to ensure that customers will behave, or requiring contracts for customers to sign before touching that sets out the limits in no uncertain terms. Don’t know what those words mean? Here’s a diagram with all the no-touch spots marked on it.

“I could tell some were disappointed that all they were getting was a cuddle, but that’s the way it is,” says a worker for a Portland, Ore. cuddle business.

Professional Cuddlers Embrace More Clients [Wall Street Journal]

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