View Full Version : Customs4U - a platform for selling custom videos
PetraAnn
11-11-2015, 07:28 AM
Thank you for responding to my questions earlier!
I hated the way the site looked before. I thought it was clunky and ugly and I still hate the way "customs" looks in the logo :P I had so much trouble figuring out what the link was to my page so I could market it to my customers. I also hated that your screenname didn't appear anywhere on the recent video page, so I knew there was no way people were buying my videos unless they already knew who I was.
My complaint now is that my gifs aren't uploading and all of the ones I had uploaded are missing and have been replaced. It's making it's own screenshots into gifs for all of my videos, the screenshots are pixelated and look terrible. I can see it's not just mine, so that sucks.
I also noticed that all of my videos are appearing, but the prices were what they were before. Example, I had a 10 minute video - I charge $9.99 for that so I would set my price at $6.99 and when your cut was put on top it totaled $9.99. The prices on my 10 minute videos show $6.99 which means I get around $4.69 now. I fixed over 250 videos to show the right price, but other people won't know that and they will end up having to fix all of their prices or get paid less.
I don't mind the fees to get paid on Payoneer, honestly. For instance, MGF charges $5 to take out the money on top of their service fee. Then you get no choice and it deposits immediately which was costs another $5, then you have to pay a small fee to use the money or much larger fees to withdraw it. Just getting the money was $10 and that is your only choice!
I hate that the similar clip section shows other models. I understand that it's better exposure for every model and I know I am not bringing in a lot of customers and likely I am depending on your top models to give me traffic, but I still don't like it. If someone wants a JOI video of mine and finds it, then sees similar clips and they aren't all of mine, then I probably just lost out on him buying several videos of mine.
That being said when I went and fixed my prices I took the time to add my new tags so my videos can be found easier and the similar clips are showing mostly my videos, but I think that's because of one specific tag that I used and the fact that I am probably the only person that added new tags to ALL of my videos.
I unpublished a few videos that I no longer want to sell, but I can't delete them and they are mixed in with active videos and I can't filter/sort on my clips page (in dashboard). You should be able to click the sections like name, price, active....date, etc to sort the items. I also hate it that so many sites do not let you delete videos. I want to be able to completely remove videos that I no longer want. It's good for you too, because I won't be using your servers to host a video that will never be sold again.
The publishing it annoying. I uploaded a video and waited for it to process, but it took a long time so I left the site and only remembered that it was there this morning, otherwise it never would have published. You should be able to set the publish date when initially uploading the video. Example, I want the video live ASAP so I upload it and select activate now, then it processes, and activates when it's done. OR I want it activated tomorrow at 3pm, so I select publish later and when it's done processing it will queue up for that time and auto-publish.
Obviously you've acknowledged this and are working in it, but yes there are too many steps.
I go to tags, I click Jerk Off Instructions it add it to a list to filter. I click show. It loads the featured models (not necessary and should be either removed or placed below the tag search results). I scroll down. It shows what tags I searched for and the models that match it. Personally, I think it should show videos that match that tag, not models. A model might have one video that has that tag and she shows in that list making it harder for the customer to find what they are looking for.
No problem, as I've stated before, I really believe in an open door policy no matter how much heat I get for it. ;-) It's the only way to do business in my opinion.
1. Getting videos onto the site was step 1 of the migration and is almost done. Step 2 is getting the .gifs for the old videos over. And the gifs not uploading on new clips is a bug and it's already on our bug list. So it's all coming, just need some patience.
2. Unfortunately, this is a result of the re-migration and at this point, there's nothing I can do about it. I have been mentioning it to people as I talk to them in the event they want to act on it. All I can do is apologize for the inconvenience and pray to the computer gods that this is it on big problems (it's all going much smoother now, so I suspect that's the last of the huge issues).
3. I can completely understand your point of view. I've been throwing around some ideas about the similar clips and one of them is to allow the performers to turn it off. However, the compromise of course is a lower percent for clips. Again, just an idea I've been throwing around in my head about this. It is NOT set in stone.
4. I am working to get the ability to delete videos into the performer/studio dashboards. There's so many reasons why someone wants to delete them from cleaning up videos that were for some reason broken or encoded wrong to being totally done with the site and everything in between. However, for now, if you mail me a list of clips you want deleted (please give me the name of the clip) I can make sure that's done for you. Totally annoying, but a work around none the less.
5. Again, not disagreeing with you in the least here. I'll see what I can do.
6. As you pointed, we're working on it. I don't have an ETA on when this will be working closer to what I originally asked for and envisioned, but as we're getting all of what I call the "OMG THE SKY IS FALLING" issues out of the way, we'll have time to start working on all of the searches.
justsometwat
11-11-2015, 08:31 AM
Honestly, I didn't mind having to go through and reprice things. I had a lot of videos that I was underselling and fixed that. I even found several videos that I had accidentally priced as 1 cent. My keyboard doesn't always work right and I hit the number lock all of the time, so I likely messed it up. I was just lucky that no one had bought those videos or I wouldn't have made any money on them.
With all sites I expect there to be issues, so it's not a big deal. I was glad that I was able to go back through and add or change tags. Now my tags reflect videos properly and I can be found easier. I did this with C4S and went back through all of my videos and made sure they were priced properly and had the right keywords and it forced me to add better descriptions as well. I think it would be good for models to make sure they are using all of the resources and features available to make sure they are getting as much exposure as possible.
I was on about 10 different sites and realized that I was wasting my time, so I am not working on make 3 my main sites and leaving the others behind. I am hoping I can make C4U one of those sites as well. I have high hopes that things will get better there, especially once everything has been "perfected". Good luck! I know it's a long, hard process :)
PetraAnn
11-11-2015, 12:22 PM
Honestly, I didn't mind having to go through and reprice things. I had a lot of videos that I was underselling and fixed that. I even found several videos that I had accidentally priced as 1 cent. My keyboard doesn't always work right and I hit the number lock all of the time, so I likely messed it up. I was just lucky that no one had bought those videos or I wouldn't have made any money on them.
With all sites I expect there to be issues, so it's not a big deal. I was glad that I was able to go back through and add or change tags. Now my tags reflect videos properly and I can be found easier. I did this with C4S and went back through all of my videos and made sure they were priced properly and had the right keywords and it forced me to add better descriptions as well. I think it would be good for models to make sure they are using all of the resources and features available to make sure they are getting as much exposure as possible.
I was on about 10 different sites and realized that I was wasting my time, so I am not working on make 3 my main sites and leaving the others behind. I am hoping I can make C4U one of those sites as well. I have high hopes that things will get better there, especially once everything has been "perfected". Good luck! I know it's a long, hard process :)
Cheers!
I totally agree that it's a good idea for models to use every resource available. In my experience, there's so many out there who don't know, don't want to learn, don't care that it's always so refreshing to work with people who WANT to be successful. ;-)
caramelcraze
11-13-2015, 04:53 PM
My older videos are back up, so thank you for having that fixed!
Side note: I can't get ANY of my new videos to activate. I've tried reuploading them a few times and they still refuse to activate. I'm also having the same gif problem everyone else is having as well. :/
PetraAnn
11-14-2015, 01:38 AM
My older videos are back up, so thank you for having that fixed!
Side note: I can't get ANY of my new videos to activate. I've tried reuploading them a few times and they still refuse to activate. I'm also having the same gif problem everyone else is having as well. :/
Oh trust me, we're all extremely happy those old vids are back too. Plan B was downloading and uploading by hand. That would NOT have made my weekend. ;-)
Ok, so the other problem is new. What I'd like you to do is tell me the username/email associated with your account via email (
[email protected]), skype (petra.ann), or you can DM me on the C4U twitter or PM here at Stripperweb. Whichever is easiest. Then I can go and take a look.
I was just putting videos live yesterday evening and it was working fine for me, so either you looked before something was fixed or it broke after I was done uploading and putting things live. ;-\
Oh, and .gifs should be working again. The old ones you attached to older vids AND new ones you save with brand new videos.
cymonehearts
11-14-2015, 12:56 PM
Thanks for your response Petra.
*Is it Possible to Still receive emails to notify about tributes, or pending orders.
*And also that the twitter notifications link back to our actual profiles... ex: (before it said ) Someone just sent me a #tribute on @Customs4u! You can spoil me HERE: http://customs4u.com/customs/modelname .. . (now it says ) Someone has spoiled me @customs4u. #tribute #goddess #findom http://www.customs4u.com
*Will offers page be back at any point? and maybe eta for cams?
PetraAnn
11-14-2015, 01:38 PM
Thanks for your response Petra.
*Is it Possible to Still receive emails to notify about tributes, or pending orders.
*And also that the twitter notifications link back to our actual profiles... ex: (before it said ) Someone just sent me a #tribute on @Customs4u! You can spoil me HERE: http://customs4u.com/customs/modelname .. . (now it says ) Someone has spoiled me @customs4u. #tribute #goddess #findom http://www.customs4u.com
*Will offers page be back at any point? and maybe eta for cams?
1. I have a list of everything under the sun and some things that need to get email notifications. I won't go into why they were left out, but I think it's safe to say my devs now know that anything that requires action on anyone's part gets a mail notification.
2. Tweets are also very high on the list and will be linking to each performer's page. Plus, we have some other (what I think are pretty cool) tweets for promo purposes coming up as well. But first, the basic ones need to be fixed.
3. Live cams are being worked on as I type this! I don't have an ETA yet, but it will be this year. ;-) And offers, I want to bring it back but in a much different way. That will probably be next year some time. And, I'm planning on integrating skype calls and we're looking at a few options for phone calling/texting that works better than the live calling we had.
So lots of stuff on the books! But first, getting the current site straightened out!
cymonehearts
11-14-2015, 06:05 PM
Thanks! Those are some of the little things I loved ;) .
justsometwat
11-16-2015, 01:36 PM
Is there a way to turn off video previews? I really don't like that at all =p
ruinator
11-16-2015, 07:03 PM
Petra,
I just logged in and happened to look at my recent transactions... how come no one was notified that we needed to raise our clip prices?
Example: on the old site we had to input what WE wanted to get PAID. then you added your %. On the new site, it's charging the customers what WE WANTED TO GET PAID. Which has resulted in me getting less for my videos without anyone notifying me of this.
I input $7 on old site, but the clip price was $10. On new site, the clip price is $7 and i get an even less amount! Kind of angry over here.
Missjayne77
11-16-2015, 08:34 PM
I just signed up today.. Lets see how it goes.
PetraAnn
11-17-2015, 12:00 PM
Is there a way to turn off video previews? I really don't like that at all =p
This is on my short list. I don't know where it is in the mix of things at the moment, possibly next week as there are 3 things on my critical list right now. I'll drop you a PM when it's ready.
Petra,
I just logged in and happened to look at my recent transactions... how come no one was notified that we needed to raise our clip prices?
Example: on the old site we had to input what WE wanted to get PAID. then you added your %. On the new site, it's charging the customers what WE WANTED TO GET PAID. Which has resulted in me getting less for my videos without anyone notifying me of this.
I input $7 on old site, but the clip price was $10. On new site, the clip price is $7 and i get an even less amount! Kind of angry over here.
I'd really like to be able to give you some big, eloquent speech about why we did it this way, but really what it came down to is a decision had to be made. We have A LOT of girls who came to us on the old site asking us "WTH?" when their customers went to them asking WHY did you price it so ungodly expensive. The answer is they didn't. It was our percent and if they were unlucky, the affiliate's percent on top of what the performer added.
The other half are performers such as yourself who learned how the system worked and priced accordingly.
The directors looked at the situation and made a decision knowing we'd piss off one side or the other. In the end, all I can do is offer my apologies that you were in the camp that really doesn't like this. I can only hope that the fact that the site is already bringing in more traffic than the old site, is much more stable inside and out (the old site was a house of cards), and has the potential to have loads of tools to help independent content producers and performers sell their goods.
I hope you'll give us a chance, but I can completely understand if this makes you go elsewhere. Regardless of your decision, my door is always open for conversation and I'm always willing to discuss ideas to make things better.
I just signed up today.. Lets see how it goes.
Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions! We're working hard on a FAQ that should be finished in a day or two.
justsometwat
11-17-2015, 04:41 PM
Great! I understand why previews are a great way to help advertise your videos, but I sell pretty well on IWC and C4S and I don't offer previews. I select specific gifs from the video to show what the video has in it and write a pretty good description. If they want a preview, they can buy a cheaper video :P Glad that will be added eventually!
You don't need to worry about a PM, I'd suggest posting when new updates are pushed out so everyone knows :D
PetraAnn
11-19-2015, 04:22 PM
You can now disable the video preview in the "shop" area.
justsometwat
11-20-2015, 01:19 PM
That's awesome! Thank you!
cymonehearts
11-20-2015, 11:53 PM
Ok so I did my request for payout since the new site .. I did not get a email confirmation of my request ?
PetraAnn
11-21-2015, 03:53 AM
Ok so I did my request for payout since the new site .. I did not get a email confirmation of my request ?
You will. Right now it's not an immediate confirmation. Give me until mid week this upcoming week and it WILL be automatic. ;-)
cymonehearts
11-21-2015, 04:28 AM
Thanks Petra. .I actually saw my name on Top performer yesterday if i'm not mistaken so I can see the improvements :) .. I look forward in the next couple of weeks of taking full advantage of the site..
PetraAnn
11-21-2015, 06:23 AM
Thanks Petra. .I actually saw my name on Top performer yesterday if i'm not mistaken so I can see the improvements :) .. I look forward in the next couple of weeks of taking full advantage of the site..
Cheers!
I'm finishing up a few things and then we're going to work full steam on the live cams feature which has a launch date just before Christmas. This will go much, much smoother as all the groundwork is laid. I'm looking forward to this one.
Then after the first of the year I'm looking to get a few additional payout methods plus integrate an interesting payment processor for customers to buy credits...it allows them to use all those gift cards that get stuck in a drawer. OR it allows them to go down to walmart, pick up a walmart gift card to make their purchase so they never need use their credit card. I implemented that one on FreeOnes last year and it works pretty well.
Missjayne77
11-27-2015, 12:08 AM
Can I ask on what basis are the featured girls up the top selected by?
PetraAnn
11-27-2015, 03:00 AM
Can I ask on what basis are the featured girls up the top selected by?
But of course!
The top 20, featured, and most popular all have different criteria to give everyone a fair chance of trying to get onto the home page of the site.
Top 20
These are the the top performers of the day based on the number of custom and video sales, how many people have visited their profiles, if they use the thank you function, and a few other little things that go into the formula.
Featured
Featured has less stiff requirements. Simply put, featured models have to use the site in some way (updating profile, uploading video, etc), have completed profiles, have custom clips activated, and several other little things.
Most Popular
This is based off searches, tributes, have been rated in the past X days, has sold a custom OR video, etc. Both featured and most popular are limited to X times per hour.
As we're getting more traffic and more member interaction with the new site, we'll be consistently tweaking the requirements to make sure it stays as fair as possible. ;-)
Missjayne77
11-27-2015, 04:15 AM
But of course!
The top 20, featured, and most popular all have different criteria to give everyone a fair chance of trying to get onto the home page of the site.
Top 20
These are the the top performers of the day based on the number of custom and video sales, how many people have visited their profiles, if they use the thank you function, and a few other little things that go into the formula.
Featured
Featured has less stiff requirements. Simply put, featured models have to use the site in some way (updating profile, uploading video, etc), have completed profiles, have custom clips activated, and several other little things.
Most Popular
This is based off searches, tributes, have been rated in the past X days, has sold a custom OR video, etc. Both featured and most popular are limited to X times per hour.
As we're getting more traffic and more member interaction with the new site, we'll be consistently tweaking the requirements to make sure it stays as fair as possible. ;-)
Thanks for answering in such depth, it's appreciated.
PetraAnn
11-27-2015, 05:52 AM
Thanks for answering in such depth, it's appreciated.
Some other information that just came across my desk (as I had a little update done this morning)...the top 20 and featured updates 1x a day and the most popular updates HOURLY.
All 3 will soon be sending out tweets from performers and studios who have their twitter linked about being in these 3 blocks (still have to test them and activate them).
cymonehearts
11-29-2015, 06:26 AM
Hi Petra . .I would like to upload vids to my profile . . However, even though i have "video preview off" .. its still actually generating a gif as well as playing on my profile. Am i doing something wrong or is this a bug? Also How do i delete videos . .i made a duplicate trying to test/resolve problem.
justsometwat
11-29-2015, 08:35 AM
Hi Petra . .I would like to upload vids to my profile . . However, even though i have "video preview off" .. its still actually generating a gif as well as playing on my profile. Am i doing something wrong or is this a bug? Also How do i delete videos . .i made a duplicate trying to test/resolve problem.
The video preview off is for the customers to watch I think 20 seconds of the video.
The gif is auto generated if you don't upload your own gif or jpg. You can stop it from generating a gif if you upload a screenshot of the video in the JPG upload part when you upload or edit your video. That way it's just a static image and you decide what image shows.
cymonehearts
11-29-2015, 12:46 PM
Thanks for replying @JustSomeTwat ... ... heres what i did .. i had one video that was already on there since the move : i uploaded just a jpg / screen shot and the gif image that is being played is the sample one from customs4u with the tattooed girl . im fine with this.
i uploaded a new video and a jpg/screenshot . . and this time its generating a gif and showing to customers instead of the sample one.
i dont like the screenshots that customs4u chooses without me uploading a jpg because they keep being me in motion so the image is blurry .. or its something random like my arm or my leg. Ive had a recent customer tell me he only bought it because he's seen my previous videos. I dont want a blurry image to deter "new" customers from trying me out.
(does any of this make sense)
PetraAnn
11-30-2015, 12:44 AM
Thanks for replying @JustSomeTwat ... ... heres what i did .. i had one video that was already on there since the move : i uploaded just a jpg / screen shot and the gif image that is being played is the sample one from customs4u with the tattooed girl . im fine with this.
i uploaded a new video and a jpg/screenshot . . and this time its generating a gif and showing to customers instead of the sample one.
i dont like the screenshots that customs4u chooses without me uploading a jpg because they keep being me in motion so the image is blurry .. or its something random like my arm or my leg. Ive had a recent customer tell me he only bought it because he's seen my previous videos. I dont want a blurry image to deter "new" customers from trying me out.
(does any of this make sense)
Right, just like @justsometwat said, you'll need to upload your own .gif or .jpg to override the c4u system. The system is in place for those that just don't care and for those that want to take the time, you can add your own touch to what the customer sees.
PetraAnn
11-30-2015, 11:01 PM
We have just changed how the expiration for custom videos works.
Now instead of the custom order just expiring, there will be an additional 24hrs grace period tacked on automatically. AFTER the 24 grace period, the customer will receive the option to request his credits back.
If you are in contact with your customer via the integrated message system attached to the custom video, and you can get him to hold out extra days, then you can have even more time. However, the impatient customers will be able to move on when they wish as the system is now completely customer driven.
Missjayne77
12-01-2015, 02:51 PM
Just sold my first clip on Customs4u last night after 3 days of being on. Pretty happy with that.
cymonehearts
12-10-2015, 02:25 AM
I requested for standard payout instead of express.. who's the best person to contact to resolve?
does anyone actually use the skype support
PetraAnn
12-10-2015, 07:43 AM
I requested for standard payout instead of express.. who's the best person to contact to resolve?
does anyone actually use the skype support
Hit up
[email protected] if she hasn't already gotten back to you. And I don't think anyone ever contacts us through the skype support. However, I think I live my life on skype so mine is always on if there's ever anything important.
justsometwat
12-10-2015, 07:50 AM
Oops! Never mind, Petra answered :)
PetraAnn
12-10-2015, 07:50 AM
Ok, so I've been working my behind off to get this wiki put together with tutorials and more in depth information. If you ladies would be so kind as to look it over and let me know if I have left anything unanswered or if something is confusing. Customs4U Wiki (https://freedcamp.com/Customs4U_Wiki_MF9/Customs4U_Wiki_vYe/wiki/wiki_public/view/RQaab)
I have tried to get tutorials for all the big features first. I'll be adding the info for the smaller things like explaining the top 20, tagging system, ratings, etc as time comes up this month.
Thank you so much for having a look! ;-)
PetraAnn
12-14-2015, 05:53 AM
Just a fyi, over the weekend the site updated and you can now delete videos yourself.
If you just want to pull videos out of rotation but intend on selling them again in the future, I suggest either unpublishing them then schedule them to re-release again at a future date instead of deleting the video. Why?
--> If you allow streaming only, once you delete a video it will also be deleted from your customer's library. Unpublishing will not have the same effect.
--> If you allow downloading, the customers who have bought your video that you've deleted will receive an email giving them 24 hour notice to make sure to download the video or it will be gone permanently from their library. So the video will be deleted from everywhere the moment you hit delete, except for your customer's libraries for the next 24 hours.
The reason we have done it this way is to ensure that the videos you upload to our platform remain 100% your content while giving customers who tend to stream their purchases from their library vs. downloading it to their PC (even if downloading is available) the chance to not lose their purchase.
That's it for right now since our devs are now in full developing Live Cams mode! So far it looks like a very nice feature to the site and I'm looking forward to being able to announce it in a few weeks!
justsometwat
12-16-2015, 06:21 PM
I like the changes, I have actually been making money since the new site went up. One thing that I REALLY don't like is that I set the custom video minutes to what I am comfortable with recording and they have the ability to put in a custom time limit, I am assuming it allows it to go over the times that I put in. I would hate for someone to ask for a 30 minute long video when that's not something that I would offer even though I still get the price per minute that I set.
I also think all sites that have custom video forms should allow you to write in or check off what you will not do. I have found myself declining a lot of custom videos from different sites because they want something I just won't do. ELM is the only site I have seen that section on, but they don't have a custom video form just a "custom work" section that no one ever reads.
PetraAnn
12-17-2015, 01:48 AM
I like the changes, I have actually been making money since the new site went up. One thing that I REALLY don't like is that I set the custom video minutes to what I am comfortable with recording and they have the ability to put in a custom time limit, I am assuming it allows it to go over the times that I put in. I would hate for someone to ask for a 30 minute long video when that's not something that I would offer even though I still get the price per minute that I set.
I also think all sites that have custom video forms should allow you to write in or check off what you will not do. I have found myself declining a lot of custom videos from different sites because they want something I just won't do. ELM is the only site I have seen that section on, but they don't have a custom video form just a "custom work" section that no one ever reads.
The "custom time" only allows the customers to request a time not in the list on your customs page (those are standard set). So if you set 1min to 30min, he can't request 31min but he could request 2min since that's not on the list but it's within your allotted time.
Adding a text block so you guys can add what you won't do, or a message to potential customers, shouldn't be too much of a problem.
By the way, live cams while I'm here...aiming for wk2 of January to be launched
We're not trying to become a cam network or compete with any of the big cam sites out there. We just wanted to integrate this feature into Customs4U so ladies who want to use it can. It's very basic:
- Free chat (optional)
- Group chat (paid per minute and you can go straight into group without ever hitting free chat)
- Private chats (request can be made by either the customer or the model)
- Tip Jar
- Add your schedule when you plan on being online
- Auto tweets like with the old phone feature when you go online
And with that being said, our TOS will boil down to:
- We don't care if you split cam
- We don't care if you say your site name, social networking, etc
- We don't care if you have a big ass sign in the background with your site's name on it
- We aren't planning on recording anything right now, and if we do it'll be so you can choose to put it in your clip store
- No animals, children, etc but if your cat or dog wanders into the feed by accident it won't automatically get you banned.
Future features...
Will really just depend on what our traffic wants and what users want. The one feature I know I want to add after we get this launched is the ability to allow you to watermark your feeds with your own watermark.
Sinna (2pee4you)
12-17-2015, 02:19 PM
Is pee allowed on your cam? I know you basically said yes, but almost all sites I have visited don't allow it (although they allow squirting and some/most of the girls are actually pissing..)
PetraAnn
12-18-2015, 01:52 AM
Is pee allowed on your cam? I know you basically said yes, but almost all sites I have visited don't allow it (although they allow squirting and some/most of the girls are actually pissing..)
We're fine with peeing as long as its not "pee drinking" stuff.
EbonyAction777
12-23-2015, 04:39 PM
Petra, it sounds like your post about Customs4U is a little deceptive to say the least...
I heard that you still work for freeones.com.
In fact I’ve heard that you’ve been put in charge of C4U to manage it while Freeones takes over. Come on, your “overhaul” that was launched in November was barely new at all. It was supposed to be an amazing face lift of a site that still has a majority of the original designs, and overall functionality still in tact.
The relaunch was a blunder at best. And most of all, it was unfair to your models and customers.
But it's okay. Everyone is going to know 5 minutes down the road that all of our content is going into the hands of Freeones traffic, audience and web surfers – as well as their customers which are cheap assholes that aren’t used to paying for anything anyways. Plus Customs4U isn't going to be Customs4U anymore. It's going to be a case of internet pimpery when C4U just becomes another property of Freeones. A classic under the table merger if you ask me.
I can see the plan unfold now... Ya'll did a great job at selling the relaunch to keep your models and customers close enough until 2016. Only to drop a bomb on devote models which happen to be providing for themselves, and their families.
Why aren’t you being up front about this?
Why are massive changes in your company going subtly unnoticed? I know girls that have had over 100 orders on the site that are now being kicked down to the bottom of lists with other models that haven't sold more than 10 orders. How would this make you feel? A veteran of your site is being kicked down to the bottom of the pile? Some relaunch!
Seriously, and not to mention you guys are now taking a 30-35% cut, plus the fee for processing on payoneer. What happens if I don't want a fee? I know the answer to that! I now have to wait 2 weeks for there to be no fee. 2 weeks! The craziest thing is is that this message hasn't been transparent, nor well known in the relaunch. I have to now search for things. I shouldn't have to do that.
As you stated back in August 31 about pay....is 30-35% really better?
“As I stated before, I'm not certain what the percentages will be as of yet. However, it's our intention to keep the rates the same as they are now. The only way they'll change is to do better, which I'm sure nobody can complain too much about. ;-)”
It would have been nice to your veteran models to be grandfathered in as a 100% wouldn't it?
One thing that you could have done, just like any other website out there is at a wiki/ tutorial or support page to see how to use your new and exisitng functions! All the options I have is an email to Support if I need help. That takes a ton of time. Considering the user-ability and flow throughout the site is now taking longer that it ever has. It takes 5 clicks to navigate for certain functions when before it took 2-3 clicks.
I have to, “coach” MY customers on how to use YOUR site. Searching through Twitter and forums to find basic functionality isn't a great road to bring your models or customers down.
What's the point of releasing a site when you don't even have instructions on how to use it?!
And don't worry I have proof if anyone finds this and decides to talk shit. Your actions and obvious blunders should not be mistakened for poor development, “ it's all by design” as they say. Why make a site really good if it's just going to be merged with another?
I wouldn’t like to state who I am in sake of backlash and threats but this is an obvious move of Internet Pimpery that needs to be addressed. The mistakes and story seem WAY too far off for a company that truly wants their models and company to succeed. You guys are obviously ready to dump your clients and your most important asset, your models off to another company.
Sadly, the only good thing that you had going for you is your 100% payout and now you don't even do that anymore.
I feel sorry for my fellow models and all of the old Customs4U customers because it's about to become another freeones website.
laurielegs
12-23-2015, 07:31 PM
EbonyAction777 it's really hard to take anyone seriously who registers just to make a post like yours.
Who are you and why are you hiding behind a fake name?
PetraAnn
12-24-2015, 09:04 AM
First of all, Merry Christmas to you.
Petra, it sounds like your post about Customs4U is a little deceptive to say the least...
I heard that you still work for freeones.com.
In fact I’ve heard that you’ve been put in charge of C4U to manage it while Freeones takes over. Come on, your “overhaul” that was launched in November was barely new at all. It was supposed to be an amazing face lift of a site that still has a majority of the original designs, and overall functionality still in tact.
Second of all, I still do some work for FreeOnes but it's down to a day a week as needed. I didn't intend to go back after I quit, however, the owner didn't want to lose 8+ years of experience I had with the site, being an affiliate, etc. Plus, it's a great opportunity to continue the great partnership between FreeOnes and Customs4U that developed over almost 2 years.
As for the re-launch, I didn't promise a brand new concept. The first stage is, and always has been to get a much more stable and faster site launched with the core features. There's a lot of new functionality that didn't exist on the old site and a lot aimed at the customer since that was lacking on the old site. For performers we have the top lists, better custom video forms, options on clips, and so on. Not to mention 1 link can be promoted instead of 5, AND it all can be indexed by Google.
The relaunch was a blunder at best. And most of all, it was unfair to your models and customers.
But it's okay. Everyone is going to know 5 minutes down the road that all of our content is going into the hands of Freeones traffic, audience and web surfers – as well as their customers which are cheap assholes that aren’t used to paying for anything anyways. Plus Customs4U isn't going to be Customs4U anymore. It's going to be a case of internet pimpery when C4U just becomes another property of Freeones. A classic under the table merger if you ask me.
I can see the plan unfold now... Ya'll did a great job at selling the relaunch to keep your models and customers close enough until 2016. Only to drop a bomb on devote models which happen to be providing for themselves, and their families.
I'm sorry you don't like the new site, but that's your prerogative. I've learned after 8 years of being in this industry (and another 5+ years of being in another service industry), 5 Miss FreeOnes contests, and working with talent and customers that I can't please everyone. I like aiming high and I'd like to make everyone 100% happy, but at the end of the day there are going to be people who just don't like change, don't like concept, don't like the company/brand, or don't like me. There are also going to be the bitter people who are going to insist on finding any little thing to be bitter, hateful, and unhappy about even if every single suggestion they make is implemented, or every bitch is addressed. I've learned not to take this to heart as long as the majority are happy.
As for the traffic, you can believe what you wish but FreeOnes sends quite a bit of sales. However, they are more porn oriented so I can see how you think their traffic doesn't pay. However, with the new affiliate program being launched, all sorts of serious affiliates can take part as we have put the program on a professional affiliate platform that gives all the tracking and statistics an affiliate needs to target where to best send their traffic.
Why aren’t you being up front about this?
Why are massive changes in your company going subtly unnoticed? I know girls that have had over 100 orders on the site that are now being kicked down to the bottom of lists with other models that haven't sold more than 10 orders. How would this make you feel? A veteran of your site is being kicked down to the bottom of the pile? Some relaunch!
On the old site there were no lists or ways to really mark the popularity of any one performer. With the new site the first step is to implement the top list, features, and most popular that are on the home page. In the new year when we have a few months of data, we'll be able to really start fine tuning it.
Also, we've started rotating all of the performer profiles on https://www.customs4u.com/performers/ so everyone has a chance of being seen. So there's becoming a lot of opportunity that can be grabbed to get eyes on profiles.
Seriously, and not to mention you guys are now taking a 30-35% cut, plus the fee for processing on payoneer. What happens if I don't want a fee? I know the answer to that! I now have to wait 2 weeks for there to be no fee. 2 weeks! The craziest thing is is that this message hasn't been transparent, nor well known in the relaunch. I have to now search for things. I shouldn't have to do that.
As you stated back in August 31 about pay....is 30-35% really better?
“As I stated before, I'm not certain what the percentages will be as of yet. However, it's our intention to keep the rates the same as they are now. The only way they'll change is to do better, which I'm sure nobody can complain too much about. ;-)"
It would have been nice to your veteran models to be grandfathered in as a 100% wouldn't it?
In order to keep the 100% we'd have to have continued to putting our markup on top of the performer and studio prices. To be completely honest, I loved this model because it was unique not only in the clip industry, but in the adult industry in general. In the beginning I wanted to keep it, but we would have ran into the same problems as we did before. While brilliant, it's just not sustainable.
When it came down to it, performers were getting 70% of the sale on the old site if you looked at the grand total so we kept that pricing. There's nothing keeping anyone from increasing their prices so they get the same as before if they so wish.
As for the fee on payment processing. Standard payouts for Payoneer always have been free and the express payouts have always been 5%. Nothing changed with the new site except perhaps it was made clearer.
I've stated it before, the 5% express fee is about convenience. Just like when you purchase something from Amazon, you can often choose the free standard shipping or you can pay more and choose a faster shipping option. So if you don't want to pay a fee, you can choose the free but slower payout. Or, if you want your money within 3 days (often the next day), you can pay extra.
One thing that you could have done, just like any other website out there is at a wiki/ tutorial or support page to see how to use your new and exisitng functions! All the options I have is an email to Support if I need help. That takes a ton of time. Considering the user-ability and flow throughout the site is now taking longer that it ever has. It takes 5 clicks to navigate for certain functions when before it took 2-3 clicks.
I have to, “coach” MY customers on how to use YOUR site. Searching through Twitter and forums to find basic functionality isn't a great road to bring your models or customers down.
What's the point of releasing a site when you don't even have instructions on how to use it?!
We have instructions for everything on every page through both performer/studio dashboards as well as customers. Granted, we didn't have it at the very launch and it took too long (in my opinion) to get it up. So that I can wholeheartedly apologize for. But we've had these up for about a month and a half now, and performers have a wiki as well on the dashboards. A more in depth wiki for customers is being worked on.
And don't worry I have proof if anyone finds this and decides to talk shit. Your actions and obvious blunders should not be mistakened for poor development, “ it's all by design” as they say. Why make a site really good if it's just going to be merged with another?
I wouldn’t like to state who I am in sake of backlash and threats but this is an obvious move of Internet Pimpery that needs to be addressed. The mistakes and story seem WAY too far off for a company that truly wants their models and company to succeed. You guys are obviously ready to dump your clients and your most important asset, your models off to another company.
Sadly, the only good thing that you had going for you is your 100% payout and now you don't even do that anymore.
I feel sorry for my fellow models and all of the old Customs4U customers because it's about to become another freeones website.
FreeOnes and Customs4U are 2 different companies, 2 different owners, and FreeOnes has absolutely no intention of buying any actual site that has anything to do with production as they're an affiliate.
I see the pictures that were posted. That was of the old FO branded pages of Customs4U, which is an affiliate marketing technique called white labeling (Here's a good Forbes article on this marketing method: http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2014/06/03/why-a-white-label-solution-is-easier-than-building-your-own/). www.discounts.freeones.com is also branded to look like it's part of FreeOnes but owned and ran by a company called Idealgasm. www.freeonescams.com is FreeOnes white label of Streamate. www.freeoneslive.com is FreeOnes first white label, when white labeling became a thing back in 2007 or 2008 and that's from Flirt4Free. I know the owners or CEOs of all 3 companies and I guarantee they're not selling to FreeOnes either.
So believe me, or don't believe me but I can tell you that we're not dumping clients, performers, or studios and giving them to anyone else. We're looking to make our brand stronger with partnerships with other companies as well as allow affiliates like FreeOnes to send their traffic to Customs4U with targeted marketing so everyone can benefit.
PetraAnn
12-24-2015, 09:08 AM
EbonyAction777 it's really hard to take anyone seriously who registers just to make a post like yours.
Who are you and why are you hiding behind a fake name?
Some people just love stirring the pot. ;-)
Merry Christmas!
justsometwat
12-28-2015, 07:25 AM
Where do I remove my wishlist link? I had deliverycode, but ended up deleting my account there and now there's a dead link to it :) I can't seem to find where to edit that part of my profile. Thanks!
PetraAnn
12-28-2015, 08:12 AM
Where do I remove my wishlist link? I had deliverycode, but ended up deleting my account there and now there's a dead link to it :) I can't seem to find where to edit that part of my profile. Thanks!
Admin has to do it. If you either PM me your C4U name or mail me, I'll remove it. ;-)
caramelcraze
01-04-2016, 05:10 AM
I have to say I completely agree with ebony. The entire switch over has really been a disaster for your models in multiple ways. I've lost roughly a grand a month because you don't have the webcam, phone sex, or offer options presently (I really appreciated the fact that the site didn't tell the models those features would be dropped in advance), the models no longer have any access to our payouts pre switch (that'll make taxes fun), the work I put in to get sales and up my ranking on the site before the switch over is now completely worthless, I've had to go through and reprice dozens of videos along with my customs (which I probably wouldn't have known to do without the forum), and of course (my favorite little tid bit), the clip studio owned by the site owner is constantly featured. It seriously blows for those of us who have been on the site since the beginning & worked so hard to build a following with you, especially now that we aren't being grandfathered into the previous pay scale.
I'm also going to call you out on this
That was of the old FO branded pages of Customs4U, which is an affiliate marketing technique called white labeling
For a day or so a couple months before the relaunch, the main c4u home page did have that exact theme. When it happened, a lot of models bombarded the site & twitter feed with questions, as they hadn't informed us of what was going on. No one that I know of got an answer & within 48hrs the site was switched back to the previous format. To quote the forbes article you provided "“White label” refers to a fully supported product or service that’s made by one company but sold by another.", so unless FO had purchased the main c4u website, you can't consider it "white label marketing". I'd still love to know what was up for that day or two FO took over the main page, seeing as no one seems to know.
Oh and before everyone jumps on my back about it, no I was not the original ranter. :p
PetraAnn
01-04-2016, 06:37 AM
Again, I'm sorry that you're enjoying the new site. I'm not going to deny that there were things that we should have done but didn't (such as better communication). However, the old site also wouldn't have done anyone any good when it finally crashed and and wouldn't have come up again because the old framework was never meant to be used the way it was being used.
As far as the features go, while we'd have loved to be able to launch with the same features we had, we had to make the hard decision to wait and redevelop them as they were very flawed. While I know there are performers who think the phones and offers worked just fine, they didn't and how they were running wasn't sustainable. The good news is we're extremely close to the launch of the live cam feature (ETA a week and a half if not sooner) as I'm getting a hold of it this week to test.
As far as the white label, you're right with the Forbes article. But, in the adult industry "white labels" are also exactly what I said they are above as well. Affiliates and other companies put their branding on a product and sell it to their customers like they own it (it can be software, like some cam network software that's out there for sale). Streamate and F4F, for example, has thousands of affiliate white labels between them and what FreeOnes had with Customs4U was exactly the same. Also, if you do frequent travelling you can start recognizing white labels of sites like booking, orbitz, or hotwire because the features look like a clone of booking, orbitz or hotwire.
I'm honestly not sure of the glitch you're talking about with everyone seeing the FreeOnes branding as the complaint never made it as high as me (I have been working hard on making sure that our CS is better so I am informed about complaints of things not working). The way the old affiliate links worked is if someone went to Customs4U through a FreeOnes affiliate link, they would always see the branding unless things got reset in their browser. What it sounds like to me is there was some sort of glitch in the coding (which wouldn't surprise me in the least because as I keep saying, the code on the old site was cobbled together and eventually with that type of spaghetti code, things start going horribly wrong) that ended up resolving itself as I do know the developers were never asked to fix anything.
Again, Customs4U isn't selling to FreeOnes. They are an affiliate and will only be an affiliate.
Bottom line, what's done is done and while the re-launch wasn't the best re-launch ever, I can say we learned a lot and won't be repeating past mistakes. Also the new site is very stable, much faster, and is a solid platform that's ready for us to add back the old features and create new ones as new technology and ideas come into play. I can only help you, as well as others, will join us for the journey or at least give us a chance when the live cams come into play, but I can completely understand if you move on.
ruinator
01-15-2016, 01:06 PM
Petra,
After disabling my clips 2 months ago due to the new way things were priced, I was finally able to get back onto the site with some free time, update my clip prices so that they are correct, and start a big task of uploading my videos from the last few months. I am only uploading about 4 at a time w/ in the same browser and I keep getting them to freeze half way thru or so , and then I have to restart the upload process all over. There is no way I can upload 4 months worth of clips to sell if its going to continually freeze every 30 or so minutes. i have super fast internet so that isn't the issue.
justsometwat
01-15-2016, 01:48 PM
I've noticed that when I am uploading in one tab then try to open another C4U tab that it times out and fails to load. I think it is an issue with the site, I never have issues doing this on any other site.
I'd LOVE an FTP uploader, I think that would make things so much better!
ruinator
01-15-2016, 02:04 PM
I wouldn't even upload anymore clips to this site if I had to do it one by one. Why on EARTH did they get rid of the FTP upload option? I have literally already wasted 8 hours today trying to upload clips here, doing half of them over and over repeatedly only for them to freeze time and time again. I'm really starting to get frustrated.
I've noticed that when I am uploading in one tab then try to open another C4U tab that it times out and fails to load. I think it is an issue with the site, I never have issues doing this on any other site.
I'd LOVE an FTP uploader, I think that would make things so much better!
PetraAnn
01-17-2016, 11:36 AM
Hi ladies. Please let me apologize for not replying any sooner since I usually reply the same day. I'm in Vegas for Internext and AVN and this morning is the first time I've had a big enough gap in my meeting schedule to do some routine work.
Petra,
After disabling my clips 2 months ago due to the new way things were priced, I was finally able to get back onto the site with some free time, update my clip prices so that they are correct, and start a big task of uploading my videos from the last few months. I am only uploading about 4 at a time w/ in the same browser and I keep getting them to freeze half way thru or so , and then I have to restart the upload process all over. There is no way I can upload 4 months worth of clips to sell if its going to continually freeze every 30 or so minutes. i have super fast internet so that isn't the issue.
We had the developers look into your issue and unfortunately, they couldn't reproduce what you're experiencing. However, they did find some things that could be contributing to your issue and they fixed them so if you'd please try again and see if the videos freeze still I'd appreciate it. If it's still happening, please contact
[email protected] as he deals directly with the devs for me and can help resolve this issue much quicker than on this board.
I've noticed that when I am uploading in one tab then try to open another C4U tab that it times out and fails to load. I think it is an issue with the site, I never have issues doing this on any other site.
I'd LOVE an FTP uploader, I think that would make things so much better!
I wouldn't even upload anymore clips to this site if I had to do it one by one. Why on EARTH did they get rid of the FTP upload option? I have literally already wasted 8 hours today trying to upload clips here, doing half of them over and over repeatedly only for them to freeze time and time again. I'm really starting to get frustrated.
The reason we didn't launch with an FTP option is because we're building an integrated mass upload feature instead. Only about 25% of the performers/content producers used the FTP on the old site and out of that 25%, we had to constantly work with girls to get them up and running because they either didn't know how to properly use a FTP in the first place, or there were just issues with the FTP program they were using and our feature.
In light of this, we're making an integrated mass upload feature so that everyone, no matter what their technical ability, can benefit from uploading more than 1 video at a time. We had already started working on it before live cams got pushed ahead, so it'll be the first thing rolled out after live cams.