what's a house fee really?
I would like to become a stripper and heard something about a "house fee" (something about the strippers having to pay to strip? not sure) I was wondering if you could let me know what that is exactly and would i have to pay twice (once when i arrive and once when i leave) i was never great in school at math so please explain in detail?
Re: what's a house fee really?
It's a fee you pay to work. It usually increases depending on what time you arrive at work. I've seen them be anywhere from free (arriving before opening) to $80 (arriving at 9pm).
On top of your house fee, you usually have to tip out your DJ ($5-$20), manager ($5-$10), a house mom if you have one ($5-$20 depending on what you use out of her stuff), and bouncers ($3-$5, sometimes just the one that walks you out, sometimes all of them). If you sell a champagne room, often you have to tip the waitress or VIP host. Some clubs even have mandatory valet you have to use and tip.
Some clubs also take a cut of your dances, anywhere from $5-$7 out of each $20 dance, or a percentage. My last club took 10% of what you made.
So it can cost between $15 and $100 in flat fees and tip outs to work, PLUS (if applicable) any dance cuts or percentages the club takes. There's a lot of people who feed off the strippers.... and it can be pretty infuriating when you add up how much you paid the club and people who often don't do shit to help you make that money.
Re: what's a house fee really?
As explained above, it's essentially a fee for use of the work space (aka the club), akin to what a hairdresser pays for her chair at a salon. In theory the house fee is supposed to go toward the club's expenses, at least that's how it was explained to me at one club I worked, during a slow-nite chat w/ the doorman.
Sm clubs require tou to pay your house fee up front; others will mark down your (stage) name & arrival time & collect it at the end of the shift. One club I worked at even had a 'Stampede' where all the girls got onstage together & danced for a few songs -- this was not a requirement, but the girls who participated were marked down & the $$$ thrown during that segment was divided among them to cover their house fees. The club that did that tho, was unusually dancer-considerate & generous.
All other fees & tipouts will be different from club to club, & those are typically collected at the end of the shift, either the entire amt all at once to be divided by mgmt or you go hunt down the individuals to tip them out one by one. Cuts from dances/VIP are usually collected immediately after you finish w/ the customer.
Re: what's a house fee really?
Exactly what the other two have said; they've put it wonderfully. Just gonna throw in one more explanation for you. Basically, dancers are considered Independent Contractors, not employees. So let's put it this way: In a restaurant, the manager pays the hostess to lead people to their tables, as a hostess is an employee. However, the manager of an upscale diner might hire a professional pianist to work for tips in the restaurant. The pianist adds atmosphere to the restaurant, benefitting the business, while the pianist gets tips from the customers. The pianist benefits from the use of the restaurant's facility, so they'll in turn pay the manager for their time to play there. It's the same for dancers. The club doesn't pay you to dance, because your money comes from using the club's floor to gather tips. I'm not a dancer yet, so I can't explain what fees are like as Selina and Aniela did, but I just wanted to throw that in, just in case you're confused about why we pay house fees/the whole independent contractor business.