Wow, look at all these people in defense of paying money for sex.
Sure, why not?
Someone has a product or service I want, that product is not inhumane (like a child slave), and I can pay what they want for it. Why not undergo the transaction?
I see it as risk management.
Sure you can find some chick on a dating site, take her to a nice dinner, and maybe get some sex afterwards. Even for a $100 dinner that would be a deal compared to a escort.
BUT
There is no guarantee the girl will put out after that expensive dinner. It might take a few dates with the girl, or a few dates with a few different girls to score. At some point when you do score the combined cash outlay it took to get there might be far beyond what an escort would cost. Also you will have expended a lot of time on dinners and dates that you can never get back.
I have never been in that scene, but if I was ever single again I think for at least a few months afterwards I would just pay for sex rather than play the odds of dating.
There is something to be said for sex with a committed partner you are comfortable with, but you aren't getting that from a one night stand OR an escort. So at a practical level why is one worse than the other?