Some of the info in this thread motivated me to take a closer look. I am gathering that NSR is the big boy on the block. I took a closer look at their services and structure. It is nationwide. Scouts and area directors are assigned territories. They cover a wide range of sports, mens and womens. I think, if you happen to hit the "perfect storm" combination where you reside in a territory where the NSR scout happens to be a baseball guy, has great connections, is dedicated and very good at what he does, you may find some of the benefits that GLOFISHER so eloquently describes (he happens to live in one of those territories). Unfortunately, in most regions of the country, that is not going to be the case. In many instances, there is a golf guy or a soccer girl covering the territory. Sorry, but there will be significant limitations there in many ways. There may still be benefits but I can't imagine those benefits outweighing the use of best local/regional connections within baseball. NSR has been in business a while, has national reach and they still have gaping holes in coverage with qualified individuals for any given sport. Tough model, IMO. What they claim to be able to provide would be impossible to do with any degree of consistency across territories. And the model is set up for their reps/scouts to try to do so anyway. So, you may very well have a person with a background in girls soccer trying to advance your baseball recruiting efforts. Nope. Granted, this is just a glance from a distance.
NSR states on their site that only college coaches and those immersed into the current recruiting environment can provide accurate guidance. The implication is that those who may have been involved ten years ago might have good intentions but things are different now. There is some truth to that. But there are shortcomings within the scope of those college coaches and NSR reps as well. I think the best approach is to tap into as many credible resources as possible and extract what applies to your specific situation and needs. In what I think would be rare instances, a recruiting service might provide just what is needed. Most often, there are probably better avenues to take.