Cost of doing business

I know that finance is one of those things we are told by our parents to not discuss with strangers or at dinner (like religion, politics, sexuality, etc), but I am curious enough to sidestep the social acceptability and ask.

Anybody spend uncomfortable amounts of money on their fetish, be it in the form of clips, or restraints, or tickling sessions with 'professionals'?

Video producers, what do you shell out on an average to keep your clip-stores up and running, going rate of a non-celeb model, and does your net rarely/sometimes/always cover your output?

Also welcome are stories of not spending money on something else in order to afford fetish-related media or equipment...

Long-story short, whats the cost of doing business?

Since it's unfair to ask a question without providing an answer (in my opinion), I buy about 50 dollars worth of clips a month, on average. Replacing silk scarves, batteries for electric toothbrushes, etc isn't a monthly fee but accounts for probably a couple hundred dollars a year. I also own 2 custom videos to the tune of 200 dollars a piece, naturally a one-time fee... about to add a third. I have had 2 private sessions in NYC, at about 200 for an hour each time. So... net cost is inconsistent, but in my mind reasonable.

Anybody else willing to confess their financial commitment to tickling?

Very little. I rarely buy clips and almost never buy videos anymore. I have no "tools" and I don't pay for dungeons, etc.

I once bought a bag of feathers and scarves for an old girlfriend. I've occasionally spent $40-$100 on a video or two.

But, for the most part, if I'm not "getting any" in the context of a relationship, I go without. I don't even really go to local gatherings anymore, for various reasons.

I started doing this in Alpha...

It isnt worth it. This is beta, albeit more stable than Alpha, every single number - every single upgrade is subject to change at any time by the developers.

Creating a spreadsheet of upgrade lists at this juncture is a fruitless effort.

If they change the cost to go from level 2 palace to level 3 palace, and you already have level 4 - how would you know?

A new, small producer's input

Operator said:

Video producers, what do you shell out on an average to keep your clip-stores up and running, going rate of a non-celeb model, and does your net rarely/sometimes/always cover your output?

Long-story short, whats the cost of doing business?

Click to expand...

I'm a small producer. I started making clips in March of 2009. At the end of December 2009, I now have over 70 separate clips, with about twenty models. It's been a fun ride, so far.

I don't do this for profit, though it would be nice. Good thing, since I only have three shoots that have generated enough revenue to cover the model fees. That doesn't cover the cost of camera, and furniture, and lighting, and editing software, and advertising, and everything else that goes with being a small fetish video producer.

But I love every second of it, and intend to keep doing this as long as it's even remotely fun for me.

So, how much do I actually spend?

I tend to overpay models (see some of my other posts for discussion on that). A full video shoot including tickling and vibrator scenes (I think tickling and forced orgasms belong together) usually lasts about two hours, and pays about $250. Less if she isn't topless, less if she doesn't do vibrators, etc. More if we shoot longer than normal, or she's tickled a lot more than normal (see [URL="http://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?t=151269']Sasha[/URL] for one example), or she's well-known, etc. That's in the LA area, and is probably a little high even around here.

You can find information on advertising all over the web, but I've just started running a Google text ad, and an AdBrite banner. You can spend--literally--as much as you want on advertising. So far, those venues seem to have very little effect on my revenue. Lots of traffic, not many extra sales... I think I could run an entire thread on fetish advertising, with the things I've learned even in a few weeks. If anyone is interested, pipe up and I'll post what I know now and not wait until I think I have all the answers...

I'm a pretty kinky guy, even outside of tickling, so I have a respectable toy collection. BDSM toys is another area where you can spend as much as you want. For tickling, $150 worth of bondage cuffs, a $200 massage table, $20 in rope, $25-50 in electric toothbrushes and flossers and baby oil and such makes a pretty good toolbox. About $400 in video camera (I desperately need to upgrade) and tripods. About $120 in cool fluorescent umbrella lighting. $75 for non-linear video editing software (I use Corel Video Studio 12). These are all one-time costs (you'll replace toothbrushes, and run out of baby oil, but basically, these are assets).

You have to shoot somewhere. Now, I tend to shoot in my home, but earlier, I would rent a hotel. Of course any out-of-town shoots happen in hotels or local dungeons. Those have rental fees. Finding models can be free, but a number of them come from modeling sites, which have an annual membership fee. Website hosting and internet access (you'll want to upgrade to fiber when you start uploading large videos) costs some.

So, if I total it all up (hmmm, carry the one...divide by zero...take the derivative...), I've spent probably $8000 this year on tickling support.

( Holy $#*&^@! ) Writing it down like this makes it seem scary...

It's been worth it!

Um I spend little on clips, but once in a while I may buy one. Total amount of tickle clips could be about $100.

One time I also tickled a fetish model, that cost me $200. But I haven't been able to sell the videos that I made, cause no one visits my clips4sale site. But I did get paid $50.

But im not sure whether tickling will stay with me, it seems to me that every other year I am into something different. But I always liked tickling, doing the tickling/getting tickled is not really much of a turn on for me tho, mostly watching it on video.

As far as clips go - I guess I've spent more and more. Lately, I pretty much rack up about $30-40 a month. Modest, nothing exorbitant - I spent tons more on beer.

I've always wondered the cost of business. Say, I find one girl pay her a couple hundred, maybe a grand - and I film hours of footage in one shoot - make a series of clips for sale. I wonder how many clips sales would be enough to cover basic costs?