View Full Version : The General Purpose "Camming Sucks Right Now" Thread
sexysusie
06-21-2012, 07:41 AM
Yes, but the two eggs you've got now should be good. They are for me anyway ;)
Classy_Katy
06-21-2012, 10:05 AM
My profile has mysteriously reappeared. :-S
OMG...that's awesome! Apparently they closed 1,000 accounts...they were probably a bit busy with all the folks saying they were wrongly deleted!
mimiboo69
06-21-2012, 12:02 PM
my profile has mysteriously reappeared. :-s
that is wonderful good news i bet you are sooooo happy and wtf with aw
Vlodina
06-21-2012, 12:04 PM
I'm sure there's an apology and a cheque with lost earnings in the post. Lol.
Glasses
06-21-2012, 10:59 PM
I don't feel like working... The weather is soo hot, and I prefer to watch football. When I actually log in, it's okay, but I just love to lay on my bed watching the match or to float on the swimming pool with a beer. I will need air conditioning for sure, because this heat makes it horrible to work. I sweat a lot, and I hate sexy outfits, make up, hair-do and MOVING at all in this heat...
The sm new requirements things actually made me somewhat happy because I thought it would be a great motivation, but my man told me he would buy me the new pc, so yea..
I've just sunk back into laziness:
http://gifsoup.com/imager.php?id=3827439&t=o (http://gifsoup.com/view/3827439/uncle-grga.html)
HaydenBlue
06-22-2012, 01:11 AM
My profile has mysteriously reappeared. :-S
Oh bb I'm so happy for u! <3 glad u got it back - what a weight off of your shoulders
Vlodina
06-22-2012, 01:31 AM
Thanks guys! I'd love to not use it, but that would be cutting off my nose to spite my face! But, I'm going to put in a decent amount of time elsewhere!
TheBrownFox
06-23-2012, 01:57 PM
Girl, don't work for imlive, they be some shadddddy mf'ers. I hosted for them for 3.5 years and was in HOF for atleast 2 of those years and they closed my account for no random reason and wouldn't even tell me why. A lot of the time I had to work 10-15hour days to make 100/day even being in HOF, it's pretty crummy.That really sucks, and I'm sorry it happened to you. I wonder if it had anything to do with any of your forum posts on there? A while back they had suspended me for using the word 'ass' in a forum post (even though the top girls on there cuss ALL THE TIME in their posts)...lol. When I was suspended from the forum, I don't think I even got an e-mail with an explanation. I had to message them myself to ask why.However I love ImLive. It does have some flaws - no cam site is perfect - but I still love it. It's really nice to be on a site where you don't have to sit in free video chat, entertaining a bunch of freeloaders. After the disappointing nights I've been having on MFC, it's a nice change to be able to log into sites like ImLive and AdultWork. A lot of girls on here talk about how much they love Streamate, but I can't stand that damn site...lol. MFC is the only 'free chat site' I want to be involved with right now. A lot of girls can't stand ImLive because of the issue with chargebacks. I don't get cb's on there often, but when I do they're very small. I still think the site is amazing, and they have tons of features that models can use to maximize their earnings. And yeah, it would be nice if they paid a higher percentage, rather than use their money to give away fancy prizes to top hosts (Gucci bags and whatnot).
TheBrownFox
06-23-2012, 02:03 PM
I logged onto AW super early this morning, and a few guys took me to paid chat and left immediately. The first guy who came in was a regular, and it's NOT normal for him to do this. I'm wondering if there was some sort of tech issue. After those first few guys came in and then left immediately, no one else came in after that. WTF?
Classy_Katy
06-23-2012, 02:11 PM
I logged onto AW super early this morning, and a few guy took me to paid chat and left immediately. The first guy who came in was a regular, and it's NOT normal for him to do this. I'm wondering if there was some sort of tech issue. After those first few guys came in and then left immediately, no one else came in after that. WTF?
Yes there are known issues...sometimes the servers disconnect. I frequently log out and back in again, sometimes exiting completely. It usually happens to my in group shows...one guy tried 4 times to come into group but kept being kicked out in under a minute, in the end he came into private and it was fine,unfortunately they don't all persevere!
kinkydirtybitch
06-24-2012, 03:08 AM
I had this too - think there was some techy glitches going on so probably not just us!
the shy girl
06-25-2012, 05:56 PM
Why is cams.com sucking for me right now?! I normally do pretty good (well by my standards anyways) and traffic has just dropped off the past week. I'm always on the first page, and had nothing but basic members with no credit card on file, popping in and out of my chatroom. WTF?!
I'm getting a new computer next month, if things don't get better I think I'm going to try SM.
LaurenAus
06-25-2012, 06:04 PM
it's my first night on AdultWork and umm im not doing so well. Of course my stupid roomie that I wanna slap is always home so I'm not using audio so maybe that's a factor. My first private was one minute long and I've also been sitting in free chat for a few hours so we'll see if this gets any better..
wow..awesomely bad
Timor
06-25-2012, 07:47 PM
A guy on IMLive took me private, asked me to "suck finger plz bb" and peaced out at 18 seconds. >:(
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU U
MFC's been sucking hardcore for me lately, no idea why. Actually quite happy I decided to give IMLive a try, the freeloaders are slightly more bearable and I don't quite so much have to "entice" them to take me private.
Cammi
06-26-2012, 07:46 PM
I only had 2 privates that went over 1 minute tonight... o.O
neliana
06-27-2012, 12:44 AM
SM has been sucking so bad for me lately Im making less then half of what I used to make an hour! Wtf. Im seriously considering IMlive...despite the bad things Ive heard about it :/
Classy_Katy
06-27-2012, 12:49 AM
Wimbledon starts today...I only work until 3pm so it clashes with my hours on Adultwork. I'll see if I can get myself motivated to start early but I can see it being an early finish to my day!
Vlodina
06-27-2012, 01:33 AM
Wimbledon starts today...I only work until 3pm so it clashes with my hours on Adultwork. I'll see if I can get myself motivated to start early but I can see it being an early finish to my day!
Does anyone much actually watch Wimbledon? It's so boring!!
Classy_Katy
06-27-2012, 02:05 AM
Does anyone much actually watch Wimbledon? It's so boring!!
I'm about to find out if the guys on AW do!
I don't, I can't stand it...scarred for life by my mother who would pick me up from primary school and instead of taking me straight home, would take me to her elderly friend's house and I'd have to sit and watch it with them! :(
Vlodina
06-27-2012, 02:51 AM
I'm about to find out if the guys on AW do!
I don't, I can't stand it...scarred for life by my mother who would pick me up from primary school and instead of taking me straight home, would take me to her elderly friend's house and I'd have to sit and watch it with them! :(
Sounds like a nightmare! ;-) Ah, shouldn't be much worse. We're so quick to blame anything that's going on, and say that it will be quiet. Yes, perhaps everyone will be watching the tennis. Or perhaps your customers aren't the tennis type? Or perhaps it will get rid of a percentage of the freeloaders, because there's other free entertainment on? Or perhaps wives will be watching the tennis and the guys will be able to escape upstairs to wank with you? You don't know unless you try.
Classy_Katy
06-27-2012, 06:54 AM
I don't know what happened today...AW looked busy enough but I didn't get a single show through on directcam, that is a first! I logged in and out of juscamit and exited in case it was playing up, changed everything I could think of, did free/non free...but all the no avail! So strange. Luckily I had some pre-booked sessions. I really don't understand what happened today, hopefully better tomorrow but it's Thursday so not holding my breath!
thatgirl2011
07-01-2012, 10:48 PM
Have you ever had one of those days when your trying to cam and its just totally shitty as hell? You got a bunch of free loaders or guys that are trying to meet you irl or just want to chat? Then right b4 you log off b/c you're pissed off and digusted as hell you get b2b privates/exclusives? I just had that lol
KimKlass
07-02-2012, 01:29 AM
Yeah I cussed out my room for the first time ever tonight. It must be a full moon or something ...
kinkydirtybitch
07-03-2012, 01:04 AM
You got a bunch of free loaders or guys that are trying to meet you irl
This is a whole new topic but I DO escort & have yet to meet anyone who has passed his (unsolicited) details to me - yeah I call you on that shit, buster!
Glasses
07-03-2012, 03:43 AM
Yeah I cussed out my room for the first time ever tonight. It must be a full moon or something ...
Nearly :D http://www.fullmoon.info/en/fullmoon-calendar.html
Classy_Katy
07-03-2012, 03:54 AM
Looking forward to camming shortly!
Don’t be surprised if people around you are especially moody or on edge today. After all, it’s a Full Moon. With the Sun in sensitive Cancer and the Moon in hard-working Capricorn, one of the lessons is being responsible when expressing emotions. Also today assertive Mars moves into fair-minded Libra.
There’s a heightened emphasis on deliberating, negotiating and getting second-and maybe even third-opinions before taking action. While considering the impact a decision will have upon other people is important, just watch that you don’t sacrifice your own needs while trying to keep the peace.
The Sun is at 12 degrees Cancer, the Moon is in Capricorn, Mercury is in Leo, Venus is in Gemini and Mars is in Libra. With this combination of planetary energies try to: Lend a sympathetic ear. Next time it could be your crisis. Try not to: Forget your recreation. You know about all work and no play.
Today’s exact aspects and their keywords are:
Moon Conjunct Pluto: All Things Intense.
Moon Square Uranus: ‘Go Away’ Glare.
Moon Opposite Sun: Culmination.
Neptune, Pluto are retrograde.
Source: The Astrologer (http://s.tt/1fagO)
ThatOneGirl
07-03-2012, 09:22 PM
Ugh. I'm missing out on $70, but the way this guy has talked and kind of creeped me out, honestly, I don't really mind. He wants a show with me and my bf, and wants to buy the clothes that I wear during the show (I quoted him a price that was WAY too low, because he was hassling me while I was trying to figure out why my toddler was crying, and got flustered and stopped thinking); he wants my bf to cum on the clothes, and for me to sleep in it. It has to be believable that it was "worn in a xxx" because he wants to HANG IT ON HIS DORM WALL. As high-maintenance as he is being about all this (he wanted an address so that he could send clothes to me, and was disappointed when I said no), I was wiling to go through with it. Twenty minutes of slight discomfort; bf would be right there with me, not a HUGE deal. Then today he finds out that I accept payment through CCbill, which apparently has given him issues before, so he doesn't want to use it. I didn't think to mention it last night (he wasn't home, so couldn't look at the icandycams link I sent him). I also don't want to direct him to the site that uses zombaio, at least not until they get their site fixed, and we find out what's going on with some payment issues they're having. I don't accept Amazon gift cards for shows, because while I like stuff, stuff does not pay my bills. I need electricity more than I need a new corset.
So now there's not going to be a show, and he's telling me about how I should use something else, like epoch.com. Oh, and he offered MoneyGram or Western Union, and acted like I was overreacting when I told him I didn't trust them for my business transactions, for security reasons. So, $70 that I won't be getting, but honestly, I'm not all that disappointed. I feel like I kind of dodged a bullet with a customer who makes me cringe just by talking online.
/endrant
TheBrownFox
07-03-2012, 11:08 PM
Oh, and he offered MoneyGram or Western Union, and acted like I was overreacting when I told him I didn't trust them for my business transactions, for security reasons. So, $70 that I won't be getting, but honestly, I'm not all that disappointed. I feel like I kind of dodged a bullet with a customer who makes me cringe just by talking online.
/endrant
Yeah, you probably did the right thing. Plus I believe that with Western Union, the person sending the money has to get your real name and city/state. Then when you go to pick up the money, you provide your photo ID, etc., I think. It's been a while since I've used it (never used it for anything related to camming).
ThatOneGirl
07-04-2012, 11:43 AM
I've never used Western Union, but I know for sure that with MoneyGram, you have to provide the recipient's name and state, and the recipient has to show their ID. I can't imagine there is a legal way to get around that. I'd still have to put my trust in some anonymous employee, who may or may not be a decent person, and who may or may not be bribe-able.
loveshooks
07-04-2012, 02:16 PM
^^^You have good instincts.
There's always a slight chance of card decline with both CCBill and Zombaio (slightly higher chance on zombaio, but still very low) but chances are, even had you given him a zombaio link, he still woulda wanted to use a wire service. He sounds like a high maintenance idiot so be glad you're rid of him. "I'm not at home so I can't use an adult site" *rolls eyes* is one of the oldest lines in the book.
In the future, if a customer contacts you at an inopportune time, tell them to come back later. Like you wrote, $70 is WAY too low a quote for what he wanted, so next time you're in a situation like that, tell him you'll think about it and get back to him. Things that aren't happening right at that moment don't need to be finalized right then and there. Real customers WILL come back (and it's also a way to get rid of the guys who want to wank as they discuss the fantasy with you). Always remember YOU run things, not them...that's the most important tenet of indy, I've found.
Your timeline, your rules. Always
Trust that and the $$$$ will come :-)
Classy_Katy
07-05-2012, 08:35 AM
As if it's not hard enough to earn some cash, justcamit was playing up for me on AW again today...one of my regulars couldn't get into into a private show with me, only group was working with no privates all day despite exiting and relaunching it! Grrrrr...fingers crossed it behaves tomorrow.
kinkydirtybitch
07-06-2012, 04:03 AM
Same here babe! Just keep reporting it & it will make it easier for them to fix
HighHeelHottie
07-09-2012, 05:37 PM
Camming has been hell for me lately. I raised my rates slightly about a month or 2 ago and noticed a slight decrease in my earnings, but I figured it was worth it, 'cause I could work less. I ended up raising them a little bit more (I'm currently at $3.50/min) and it's been awful for me. I'm even failing at gold shows at $0.50/min. I'm going to experiment with my rates and see how that works out for me...
CourtneyRaine
07-09-2012, 07:07 PM
Don't feel about the failed gold shows. I tried for 4 this morning and got zero. 40 minutes of countdown time that I could have spent in private, just wasted. But who am I kidding, I wasn't getting any privates today. I'm not going to say camming sucks right now, but SM sure as hell sucks for me at the moment. $15 in 3 hours this morning. Fuck yeah.
HighHeelHottie
07-12-2012, 09:36 AM
I know Summer is usually bad, but I've never had it be this bad. I work mainly days and so far I've been on over an hour and have only made $6. I usually use the encoder but it keeps crashing my computer, so I'm going without it and just using the HD setting on the site. Even when I was using the encoder, my traffic was still bad. I can do a gold show and I have on average 2 guys sitting in my room, whereas I used to have 15-20 sitting. Guys keep coming in my room and either not talking, or asking for me to do things. Teasing isn't helping me at all. I've lowered my prices, raised them, done "specials." Nothing I'm doing is working. I feel like it's a problem with my stream or my placement, and I don't know what could've made my placement bad. Would someone with a member account mind checking my placement for me? PM me and I can PM you my cam name. Are things bad for everybody else?
CourtneyRaine
07-12-2012, 10:05 AM
That thanks I gave isn't because I like that you're struggling, it's a thanks of support as I totally know what you are going through. Yes, SM has been bad for me lately. I attribute that to me taking almost two months off, not logging in as consistently as I used to since I came back, the summer time lull, and of course the dreaded encoder fiasco. All around a bad situation no matter how you look at it. I've actually just started logging in at a completely different time and it's slightly better, but my hourly is still a lot lower than it used to be. I also only use the HD setting on the site because the encoder makes me cpu shoot up to 100%, and that definitely affects my traffic as I keep getting and dropping the HD icon. Last night I had a stretch of over 20 minutes where I had not one viewer in my room. Not even one viewer just popped in and out, which is completely unheard of. I feel your pain.
The good (?) news is, it doesn't seem that my other sites are doing as bad as SM. I worked three sites last night- one one of them I earned the most I'd ever earned in a shift on there, and my overall night was the best I've had since April (even though I only made $30 in six hours on Sm- pathetic, I know, and it would have killed me if that was my only site). I am noticing more slower days across the board this week than I would like but overall it's not so dire, even though SM feels like it's dying on me. I guess this is just a reminder to all cam girls that even if we make bank on one site, we should never rely on it too heavily because you truly never know what can change in the blink of an eye.
sexysusie
07-12-2012, 10:24 AM
I don't even use SM anymore tbh. There was a time when it was a good back up for me, and i could earn nearly as much as on my main site (though with far more assholes/ freeloaders, and harder work). But I don't think SM can even compete with other sites anymore, not unless you are running the highest, fastest connection, offer cheap gold shows, and have a large following already. Find another site and maybe keep SM on for when you don't *need* the cash x
HighHeelHottie
07-12-2012, 10:35 AM
I have an account on ImLive and applied for adultwork but never heard back and it's been months. I used to use webcams.com years ago, but I hated that site. I applied for cams.com and they said some crap about my ID. Is there a good site I haven't tried, besides MFC?
anonymous camgirl
07-12-2012, 10:38 AM
I am a firm believer in NOT putting all your eggs in one basket.. so what?? you are going to sit around one site having a bad day?? What I have noticed for a decade now! Is that sometimes these sites are not good from one day to the next.. VERY sporadic.. For example: Let's say you have a site that you NEVER truly make a living off of.. in fact I have lots of them, but one day some days they surprise you.. and one guy on that one site can turn out to be your income for the day!...lol... Tis true.. and for me it has ALWAYS been that way since day one.. that's why i am ADDICTED to work multiple sites and what not.. and in fact.. no matter what industry?? ALL successful people diversify their investments.. they don't hinge their entire income on one source.. NO ONE should do that...so then if you are a SM only girl for instance? what are you going to do when that dries up?? it will NOT last forever... it will be a different site.. it always is.
anonymous camgirl
07-12-2012, 05:09 PM
Today is super awful, every guy is a free loader and Super RUDE!!
melissacutiepie
07-12-2012, 06:01 PM
I did 3 hours today and gave up! I had not one paying custie has to have been the worst day ever in camming history , fuming >:(
CourtneyRaine
07-12-2012, 09:15 PM
I just sat on xpeeps for almost an hour and made 0 tokens. The past two nights were slow and I haven't made my goal on there since Monday, but I know not every day is going to be a good day so I don't tend to get too upset over fluctations. However, this is the first night that I have been on there and made literally $0. I can't help but think, what is wrong with me? I'm in the top 20, nothing has changed as far as my cam or internet, I've actually been logging on even more consistently than I had in the past couple of months- what gives? I'm watching other models on there making hundreds and even thousands of tokens while I sit with a room full of guests and maybe one or two members without tokens; what is wrong with me that I can even make $0.07? I really feel like a failure and I don't know what to do.
It sucks because I really love camming on there. I enjoy the guys, I like the site features, and I generally am able to just really have a great time in free chat, which I never thought would be possible on a cam site. Now I'm wondering if I should just quit and move on to other sites that I don't enjoy as much. It's not that I want to quit camming there but at the same time, I can't continue devoting a few hours on there every night for nothing when I could be elsewhere actually getting shows.
I've wondered if maybe the site is dying but I know it's not, because other girls are doing wonderfully. I guess I just suck.
justanothercamgirl
07-12-2012, 09:21 PM
Yesterday was awful for me, but today was amazing!
Waxes and wanes.
Cammi
07-12-2012, 09:33 PM
Courtney :( It's not your fault, just keep remembering that.
I do feel like this is the worst week for potential spending traffic that I've ever been through camming (admittedly only 3.5 months). It's been so bad that for the first time I was worried about getting on cam. But at the same time this week has pushed me to explore new methods of making money. Working different hours, working new sites, changing locations in my flat, offering pole dancing shows, running gold shows, focusing my selling points, new stalling techniques, you name it this week I have tried it. And it's only that combination of that hard work and a HUGE amount of luck that's pulled me through to make a solid, if not spectacular, amount this week.
Which is really my roundabout way of trying to encourage people. If things have been bad lately, remember that there are always things we can control. Sure, we might not be able to have a high-earning week but we can always maximise our takings from what we're given :)
neliana
07-12-2012, 09:58 PM
Dont feel bad courtney, last two times I was on xpeeps I made zero tokens too! Nothing but guests and guys w/no tokens came in my room. Hopefully it'll be better for us next week!
Melonie
07-13-2012, 02:41 AM
^^^ and that leads to a very important point. On any given day, you could run into some very generous cam customers. But you won't run into those customers if you're not on cam !
However, in general terms, since the majority of cam customers live in the northern hemisphere June through September is typically vacation time, more family is 'looking over their shoulder' at home, there are lots of things to do besides sitting in front of a computer, etc. So yes 'negative' seasonality is coming into play right now. Seasonality can be painful, but if it's a purely cyclical thing the customers will return once vacation season is over, once school starts again, once bad weather cuts down on the opportunity to do other things etc.
The bigger question of course is whether all of the recent decline is strictly due to seasonality, versus some of the recent decline being due to worsening economic conditions in general causing some webcam customers to spend less time and less money on webcam. Unfortunately, from EuroLand economic problems to US extended unemployment benefits expiring to stock markets declining to food / rent / local taxes rising, there's quite a number of reasons to suspect that the recent decline in webcam earnings isn't strictly seasonal.
Also, where SM in particular is concerned, a 'strutural change' took place a few months ago in that ManWin stopped trading adult tube site link traffic with SM in a 'cashless' exchange for SM camgirl video content to post on those tube sites. This has now reduced the number of potential webcam customers being 'steered' to SM. SM has attempted to attract customers independently via paid advertising, but limited advertising budgets means limited traffic. So yes there's a logical reason to think that SM's earnings potential has been 'permanently' reduced.
CourtneyRaine
07-13-2012, 02:45 AM
I absolutely agree with Cammi on this one; there's a lot that you can't do to change your earnings, but there's also a lot that you can and it's important to remember those things. I've also switched up my schedule this week which has helped a bit, but that's really the only change I've made so far because I like to track one thing at a time to see which improvements work most effectively. I know things aren't *so* bad. I'm on track to reach my weekly goal. Yesterday I earned more than any other day I've had since April, and tonight on SM has been my best night so far this week and I still have a couple of hours left on my shift.
It's just hard when you put in the effort and you try so hard on a site you love and you make absolutely no money in return. It's kind of hard not to feel a bit defective :)
CurvyWinona
07-17-2012, 12:37 AM
I had only FEW privates and I was so disappointed. Streamate apparently has some problems, like many other models on here said. MFC, Cams.com, and LJ are slow too. At some point, I felt it was something wrong with me, but nearly all custies keep saying I am so hot and elegant. I do not look like a trashy or a dirty hoarder. My space is clean for cam and I looked good. I do really talk to the custies as if they were my normal friends and they love that, but I get nothing in return. I know I should not be too chatty, but I was getting so boring and being shut up didn't help me to get more privates, anyway. Sighs..
How do you all make yourself feel better after only got few privates from all sites combined?
I really want to go indy and I have been reading so many posts about it on here... I want to earn ALL my money I worked for, not just 35 percent, you know? I am fine with 50 or 60, but 35? that is too tiring, even after I pushed my prices up. I have opened my C4S past the weekend, but sold only two. I need to promote myself to hell. pff.
CurvyWinona
07-17-2012, 02:06 AM
UPDATE: Just as soon as I was about to sign off MFC to sleep, a guy decided to give me a private and made over $60. lol. why do the guys wait til the last moment?!!! ARGH haha
FlirtyFiona
07-17-2012, 05:00 AM
I had a very slow Monday as well. I was getting tons of people in my room but all they wanted to do was chat or beg. Got only one private which is very unusual. My SO was horny so I did a last call, going once, going twice, and signed off. Maybe had we stayed on a little longer it would have picked up like it did for you.