
Originally Posted by
Bristol
I've been working the site fairly consistently for the past 9 months. These are my opinions and I'm not going to hold back for fear of embarrassing Cam4 reps.
It's a very strange site, and very difficult to hustle. I did horribly the first 6 months. I vowed to quit and did quit three dozen times out of frustration. Only the hourly bonus kept me going. Even after 9 months I still have trouble, but I did find a couple decent tippers who occasionally make up for numerous $5 days. I definitely cannot survive on Cam4 alone. Sorry Cam4 reps, but even after 9 months of weekly camming the great tippers just aren't there. It's very hit and miss. There are tons and tons and tons of freeloaders barking commands at you.
Take everything you know about performing and toss it out the window. Nothing that works reliably on other sites seems to work reliably here. Find a hustle that worked today? Great. Tomorrow it won't work, so now you try something different. What works is unpredictable. The only real working strategy is to build up a subscriber following. That takes time, consistency, and working social media sites. The Cam4 "performer training" often mentions building up a subscriber following is important. Subscribers are important elsewhere too, but on other sites it's just not as critical. I made money on day one on Streamate even with no subscribers, no fans, and no prior history. I've done this on other sites: LiveJasmin, Cams, and Chaturbate, but that was not the case with Cam4.
There's only two reasons I keep working Cam4. 1) Their fast bank payment method. 2) The 50-59% payout.
The bank payment is very nice. You can cash out whenever you want, and you get the money between 3 to 6 business days. Three calendar days are for tokens to clear a probation period. Three business days are for Payoneer to bank transfer. And best yet, I'm tipped with tokens a customer purchased a week ago, then they already went through the probation period, so I could get them as fast as 3 days (instead of 6).
Frankly, I think sites that payout 25% to 35% are abusive. Cam4 is very fair with their payout rate. The 50-59% payout is approximate depending on what token bundle the customer buys. The more tokens they buy, the less they pay for them, so the payout ratio changes.
A few other comments.
Cam4's interface is nice. You can block people even if they're offline (a perpetual annoyance on Streamate).
I rarely get privates, and I can count on one hand the number of privates I've gotten. I don't do very well with token shows. I make the most by selling Skype shows for tokens. However, Cam4 customers have a considerably lower tolerance for pricing. I end up charging 50% less than what I do on Streamate. Despite trying, I can't entice Cam4 customers to pay more. However, it's not too bad because Cam4's payout makes up for a lot of it.
When I set my prices for Skype shows, I only care about the net rate I receive (not the gross rate). So, my Cam4 net rate is about 25% less than the net rate I receive on Streamate. It's also lower because I align my prices to the bundle prices Cam4 sells. They sell bundles in 50/100/250/500/1000 tokens. 250 tokens would be too much, so I drop down to the next level: 100 tokens. Also, generally we charge less for block shows than minute shows, so a 25% reduction is pretty reasonable if you think about it that way.
Another major annoyance is the number of customers who keep harassing you to accept PayPal. It's unbelievable how many customers I've turned away because I refused to break the rules and expose myself by going offsite through PayPal.
Cam4 reps: Please find a way to accept PayPal as a payment method. You're leaving tons and tons and tons of money on the table. A lot of the customers are Europeans without credit cards and that's the only way they can pay.
I think Cam4's weirdness stems from their history. If I recall correctly, it originally wasn't a token site. All the performers were "enthusiasts" who performed for free, so I think that set an expectation that's been hard for Cam4 to shake even after all these years. When customers are trained to expect free stuff, they are more difficult to convert to paying customers.
As for customer support, I contacted them a few times for various things. My questions and problems got answered and solved quickly so they're good on support.
As for chargebacks, I did end up losing some money from chargebacks. It only happened twice in 9 months. The total chargebacks to total earnings ratio was about 1% to 1.5%. Hardly noticeable to be honest. Chargebacks only happen during the 3 day probation period. After 3 days, you're protected.
So, given all the roses and thorns, would I recommend you to signup to Cam4 as a performer?
Yeah. I guess. Give it a go.
But remember it's an odd one. If you need a secondary site to work, it's good as a backup. It won't be your primary until after you've built up a fan list so don't expect to be working it as your main site out of the gate. Also, the payout is very favorable so I really like that part. Overall it's a difficult site that requires a ton of patience.
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