Greetings faithful followers, loyal friends, random stumble uponers, and for this blog, SG staff.
So SG released a new feature to the site on Wednesday. The Tip Jar. I’m not going to go into how it works. There’s information in the FAQ if you want it.
First off, let me state up front that I think the Tip Jar is a great idea. I do like it, and I do hope that the girls do make a few bucks, euros, or whatever the currency is where they live.
That said, and not unlike @hiptobes, it’s not something I’ll probably do with any regularity, maybe here and there for my favorite girls or for a set I find particularly spectacular. But, I already occasionally send girls (and photographers) things off their wishlists for birthdays, holidays, or just because. I’ve sent a few some cash or contributed to their GoFundMe campaigns to help out with things like funding a shoot, or when shit hits the fan and they need a little help. I patronize some on Patreon and other pay for content sites. They may not realize it’s me because I only use DeadGuitarist here. I do these things for certain people because, whether it’s real or imagined on my part, I feel a connection in some way, or maybe the shit that hit their fan just resonates with me. After all, I'm not immune to shit hitting the fan.
Instead, I’ll probably treat the Tip Jar as something like GoFundMe. I was looking for a way to send @starry a small token of my appreciation for all she does, and because I know her fan won’t spin much longer because so much shit has hit it. The Tip Jar is a way I can. I know she’s gearing up to offer a private Snap, but I don’t really want anything in return (besides, I have a couple of private Snap subscriptions, and I forget to check them regularly). I just want to help her out because I have the means, because I like her, I think she’s super nice, and because I think I am a genuinely nice guy.
Thinking about it though, I wish the Tip Jar was available in 2016 when I was actively writing PINK MAGIC. I would have loved to have sent the girls I featured in it a small tip when I featured them in the blog. But, I think I will do that when inspiration hits me, and time allows me, to write PINK MAGIC blogs going forward.
Whether or not someone chooses to tip is a personal choice. No one should feel obligated to tip. No one should be guilted into tipping. Continue your current methods of support in addition to tips. Continue your current methods of support even you don’t want to tip. Tips on sets don't influence the likelihood, or lack thereof, the set getting purchased by SG. At least they shouldn't. ❤️s and comments on sets, along with the staff's opinions and other criteria, will still be the primary criteria for purchase. So don't stop leaving ❤️s and comments on sets. Tips are a bonus.
As I said, I do think the Tip Jar is a fantastic addition to Suicide Girls. It provides a tangible way for anyone to show their appreciation to the girls beyond ❤️s on sets, and gushing about them in set comments, group threads, blog comments, and blog posts. But here’s what I hope I don’t see...
1. Messages from girls I follow, or worse, I don’t follow, soliciting tips. It’s bad enough when they send them trolling for ❤️s on sets.
2. Girls incentivizing tips to get more tips and increase their average tip amounts.
3. Staff adding the total amount or volume of tips on sets as a new, additional criteria for buying a set.
Regarding #1, in my opinion, describing how shit hit the fan and politely asking for a little help without seeming like one of those panhandlers on street corners would be an acceptable use of the Tip Jar in addition to it's intended purpose, even though there are crowdfunding sites, like GoFundMe, that are better suited for that and take a smaller cut.
A few things I hope to see...
1. The option to include a message with a tip.
2. The ability to put a limit on the total value of the tips given each month. So no one overspends beyond their means by accident.
3. A small split from set tips for the photographers. I’m not talking about 50/50 like for the girls in a multi set. Most of the tip should go to the girls. No, I’m thinking more along the lines of 5%-10%. After all, we aren’t looking at sets to figure out how it was shot, or how it was edited. But a little going to the photographers would be a nice touch of appreciation for their hard work too. After all, without photographers, there’s a lot less content here.
4. Rather than put the 20% transaction fee burden solely on the recipients, why not split the 20% between the recipient and the tipper. Take 10% from the recipient, and charge the tipper 10% more than the tip amount. For example, someone wants to tip a girl $1. Charge the tipper $1.10, and give the girl(s) $0.90. SG still gets almost all its 20% transaction fee.
I hope @missy, @courtneyriot, @sean, @rambo and the rest of the staff consider these four suggestions and add them to the development roadmap. And I hope they can figure out a way to minimize the negatives I mentioned too.
Since I cannot receive tips, at least not until or if photographers can receive tips, I am curious, can tip recipients at least see who their tippers are?
I seriously hope no one over extends themselves using the Tip Jar. And I also seriously hope no one abuses the Tip Jar by trolling for or incentivizing tips.
For some girls it takes great courage and fortitude to do what they do, to wade through the nasty comments on social media, the unsolicited photos of genitalia, and more. They deserve a small token of our appreciation from time to time.
Unsolicited dick pick; I couldn’t resist! Sorry. Not sorry.
I get that for many of you, modeling is a job, your only job. And with that job there is a cost of doing business. And you need to profit from your job. I get that modeling is expensive; I've seen it first hand with models I've worked with, and when I did a shoot with my wife a couple of weeks ago: paying photographers, buying outfits, materials and costumes for cosplays, wigs, props, makeup, mani/pedis, hair styling, travel expenses, location rentals (sometimes, unless you work with me), and more.
It’s just as expensive, if not more so, for photographers: new, replacement, and/or upgrade equipment purchases, equipment maintenance, location rental fees, equipment insurance, location insurance, travel expenses, software subscriptions/upgrades, and more, plus the time spent editing sets. Everyone seems to forget that a photographer's time is a cost of doing business too... when photographers are editing, they aren't making money.
However, the ROI for submitting sets to SG is highly negative. I didn't calculate it, but it's blatantly obvious that it is. Engaging in any business venture that has a negative ROI is a bad investment; even first year business majors can tell you that. If you’re modeling or photographing for a living, I certainly hope you have other revenue streams and are submitting sets to SG for fun and the exposure (pardon the pun). So take the tips for what they are... a small token of appreciation and gratitude from your fans for what you do.
The Tip Jar isn't not designed to be an avenue for models to recoup all the costs of shooting sets for SG, maybe just a small percentage of those costs. The Tip Jar is designed to be a way for anyone to give a tangible token of appreciation for what you do. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I like the Tip Jar a lot, but it’s not something I’m going to use with regularity or in the way it’s probably intended.
Sorry if I rambled on and got redundant.
Stay Tuned...
DeadGuitarist
