Re: How much is a good "thanks but no thanks" tip?
^ My last club charged $25 per dance, or 3 for $60. Of that, the club initially took $15 of the former and $35 of the latter. But then the state came and said they HAD to start paying the dancers and had to stop collecting house fee. So then what happened was the club said, "Well, since we're paying you $5 and change an hour now, we're not going to give you a cut of the dances anymore. And just in case you're losing motivation on selling those dances since you're only going to make money off them if he tips you, we're now going to make you buy the dance tokens yourself if you're not averaging a certain amount sold an hour." I can't imagine that's legal, but the owner doesn't give a fuck and thinks he's smarter than everyone else, including the government, because on paper the club is actually in his son's name. So he figures if the club ever gets in trouble, it'll be his son that goes down for it, not him. What a wonderful father, huh?
One of the other clubs--the only real nude club in the area--is now not only taking the money for the private dances, they're also taking a portion of the girls' TABLE dances, of which the club has set a price...someone watches them and every time someone is dancing there's a tally made on the record, and then at the end of the night they say, "I saw you did 20 table dances tonight so you owe me $XX." That's a recent thing...actually, some of you may have seen that club on The Colbert Report, with the guy trying to get tax exempt status for lap dances as an art form...he lost, and now he's trying to make money any way he can, so he started taking the table dance money.
My club charges $25 per dance, and we get $20 back. Which is absolutely incredible and unheard of in this area. I'm very grateful that my club takes such good care of us.
Re: How much is a good "thanks but no thanks" tip?
Thanks for posting this firemaiden. Though it may not be the norm throughout the country it is a very real example of what can happen once a dancer is declared an employee and not an independent contractor. The fact is any club can do this if they want. It won't work in most parts of the country but if enough clubs in a given state go this route there really isn't much the dancers can do about it aside from relocating. Many of these club owners have been around since before the private dance era came along. They remember when dancers got paid a meager shift wage, kept their tips, and went home and they would be more than happy to see that return.
As is often the case, owners always want to have their cake and eat it too. Their ability to start charging dancers house fees to begin with grew out of the high profitability for dancers of selling private dances. When times are good a dancer will gladly pay a house fee in exchange for having the chance to earn $1000 or more a night selling private dances. Well, those days are mostly gone now but the owners still have their hands out.
Re: How much is a good "thanks but no thanks" tip?
Firemaiden, thank you for sharing that. It never ceases to amaze me how shortsighted some club owners can be. The old expression "penny conscious, pound foolish" really comes to mind here. The best dancers are going to leave when you start shaking them down like this and at least some of the ones who stay are going to look for ways to earn around the system.
It would be interesting to see just how long he can operate in this manner, because I don't think that he can do it forever.
Re: How much is a good "thanks but no thanks" tip?
^ Unfortunately rick I think you are underestimating the naivety of many younger dancers. We have both seen many instances of customers showing up here representing what they see in their local clubs as being universal in all strip clubs even though they have never been in a club outside of their hometown. I'm afraid the same situation exists for many dancers, especially younger girls new to the job. I clubbed in crappy Mass clubs for years until a friend told me about the clubs in Providence. My first thought after getting my first full-contact LD was "Wow, what a dope I am for not checking-out Providence sooner!" It's no different for dancers when they start-out. A dancer who starts working in a club that keeps LD money is going to think that's the way it works and the experienced girls will never take a job in that club so the new girls will have no way of finding out that there is a better way to make money.
I had a fave a six or seven years ago who was dancing in Providence-and by dancing I mean giving guys $100 hand jobs-while her husband sat at home thinking that no one was laying a hand on her at work because he had only ever been to a no-touch club just outside of Boston where they lived. There's a sucker born every minute and that includes both customers and, in some cases, dancers.
Re: How much is a good "thanks but no thanks" tip?
I would usually tip a couple of bucks, 5 maximum if the dancer stopped by but I wasn't interested and didn't invite her to sit down at my table.
Re: How much is a good "thanks but no thanks" tip?
I was always happy with the cost of a song when this would happen.