There are plenty of studios that pay $100 or $200 or $500.

There are plenty of others that pay $1500, $2500, $5000 or more.

We have models in both categories.

Karl from Bedfellow talked about this at one of the seminars some years ago and said his own fees ranged between $50 and $500 depending on how much the model was willing to accept to do the required work. His viewpoint was basically whatever it took to get the model to accept the offer is what he paid, and two guys doing scenes on the same day might get wildly different amounts.

Location makes a difference. If you're in LA, you're going to have a hard time finding ANY models for $300. If you're in East Chickenscratch, WI, you'd probably have plenty of models dying to work for $150.

A twink that wants to impress everyone with the fact that he's on the cover of a DVD might work for very cheap. A straight guy who has no interest in porn has to be offered enough that he's willing to overcome his discomfort with being on a porn site.

I don't think anyone here is BSing. It's just that different niches command different pay rates, the motivation of the models makes a big difference, and the part of the country also makes a difference.