I've been producing male wam for 20+ years and can honestly say I am no better off financially after all these years, so no, I'm not in it for the money. Happy to just cover the substantial costs.
Even with female Wam it's about doing what you enjoy, producing films that others enjoy and the buzz about seeing people enjoy your work and follow you. If there was a lot of profit then there would be far more variety and mainstream producers producing content. We try to cover costs and whatever is on top pays for the next film.
If shoots break even I'm happy, and profit just gets spent on better cameras, lighting, site upgrades and more expensive models. It's a fun hobby, but if you're thinking of producing material as a money making venture, I really wouldn't bother!
It'll vary with the type of content you're making, but in many male WAM niches there's already an active scene of people either making and sharing purely for fun, or just setting out to offset their costs. So you'd likely need to be making something quite special to get significant returns from it. I've opted to stick with making free stuff, as really I'm doing this for my own enjoyment and if anyone else enjoys the video that's a bonus. I have not many production values and I'm also aware that I make essentially the same video over and over!
To answer that properly we'd need to know your costs. As an example, look at girls who are creating their own content for their OnlyFans. They have no costs...only their time since they don't have to pay models. So if you launched a male WAM store and didn't have to pay the guy that's a world of difference between hiring male models. If you had to hire male models my best guess is you'd take a loss or barely break even.
Just wanted to add, it's important to cover everyone's costs. Model's shouldn't be used as free labour for your profit if you want to make money. If someone is kind enough to volunteer, at least cover their travel and lunch
JamesInMess said: Just wanted to add, it's important to cover everyone's costs. Model's shouldn't be used as free labour for your profit if you want to make money. If someone is kind enough to volunteer, at least cover their travel and lunch
I'm amazed that there are producers who get away with not paying people for their time (and then not even covering travel costs or food), and that there are people who will put up with that sort of behaviour.
JamesInMess said: Just wanted to add, it's important to cover everyone's costs. Model's shouldn't be used as free labour for your profit if you want to make money. If someone is kind enough to volunteer, at least cover their travel and lunch
I'm amazed that there are producers who get away with not paying people for their time (and then not even covering travel costs or food), and that there are people who will put up with that sort of behaviour.
It's one way of boosting profits I guess!
I suppose it's a product of the imbalance between supply (models/aspiring models who want to be in a shoot) and demand (producers who want them), right? I read so many posts here from guys who want to get into messy modeling, and I can easily see an unscrupulous producer putting ethics aside to get free labor.
I was in this exact situation when I started out. Back in college, I shot for someone local who booked me for a photo shoot but told me it was unpaid. I signed forms, got down to my underwear, eventually got naked, and got messed up like I wanted, and I remember it feeling thrilling at the time, but only now do I see how naive I was. I'm lucky that shoot never got released.
What a beautifully important thread!!! Thanks for this!!!
I have encountered a lot of new people seeing storefronts and immediately thinking: oh, I love WAM, I could make bank doing this because I have a decent camera, too! Not at all the case.
As a producer, I have a hard time with this whole thing because I want to maintain a balance that allows for something we all really enjoy to continue while not making it too complicated. Let me explain...
I charge for my videos to cover the costs. So how do I determine what to charge for my videos? I constantly battle with asking myself are my prices too high?
Costs include supplies, time in setting up, time in editing, time in acquiring supplies, models (even if they're your friend they should be paid), and any sorts of props which include clothes, etc...
Generally speaking the income I receive from my videos is only enough to pay for some of the costs of the next video and even then I have to take some money out of my pocket to do it. I don't mind because I genuinely LOVE doing it. I haven't put out a video in a long long time because I haven't had the time... editing and organizing and all the things that go into the video are very time-consuming to the point that I have a LIBRARY of stuff that is still unused. I never ever have posted a video with someone else without paying them something and getting their permission. I've done it with friends and they say they don't want the money but I give it to them anyway.
But if I didn't like WAM and all of our little branches I would NEVER do the video aspect because there is not enough money coming from it. Even if you have it out on all the sexy platforms plus here plus there and everything in between you will not make enough money to pay the bills. Even regular ole porn stars don't usually make enough money to drive a Lamborghini. I know several adult film stars and they make good money but if they didn't do that plus plus plus then it would likely not be enough. Especially now with rents and real estate going through the roof who can afford just one gig?!
So if you are a producer charge what you need to cover your costs and accept that it is not a career. Do it for fun! Do it because you like getting a pie (or 12) in the face. Do it to swim in pools of gunge and mud!
If you are thinking about buying a video from someone please don't think we are raking in the dough... the money merely supports the art, the production, and the fetish we all love. Without the support, we would not be able to continue on this level and will have to rely on the sneaky fukkerz on TV throwing us a bone here and there.
I've been on this site since it opened back in 1997 (I know my profile says different... long long story) and I have watched it grow into what it is now. Without things like our storefronts and the sponsorships this site would still be a basic site if it even would still exist. So hats off to the mess masters for creating and maintaining this space, hats off to the producers for giving us more than TV commercials to enjoy with WAM, hats off to those who support the producers by buying our work and in some cases collaborating with us to make dreams come true, and hats off to everyone here for making an amazing community where we get to express and explore our fetishes.