The Economics of OnlyFans: Most accounts make less than $145/mo • Hacker News Board

Re: The Economics of OnlyFans: Most accounts make less than $145/mo

#101

Post by thow16161 » Sun, Aug 08, 2021, 2:51 PM UTC

The lack of transparency and discoverability on OF is a pain for both subscribers and creators. And the creators do work really hard.

My ex-sugar gf is an OF creator. I was with her when she started (transitioned from MyFreeCams where I met her, and brought some of her members with her). She worked her ass off to claw her way to the top 3% which is where she was when I broke things off with her. She spent way, way more time on social media, promoting herself and her brand, than she did actually making content. There are groups of creators that promote each other's social media & content on twitter and ig, and its critical to get hooked into one of those groups to succeed if you're not already a major IG or Twitter star with millions of followers.

Even at 3%, she was not making a huge amount of $$. I wish OF had more transparency around how the percentages relate to actual income..

Re: The Economics of OnlyFans: Most accounts make less than $145/mo

#102

Post by graeme » Sun, Aug 08, 2021, 2:52 PM UTC

formerly_proven wrote: post #71

Quequau wrote: post #2

I'm a mod on Reddit and in a few of the subreddits I moderate I see a steady stream of accounts promoting online sex work, like onlyfans. None of these subreddits welcome promotion or advertising... or for that matter NSFW content. However, so many of these accounts advertise their sex work by posting content that ostensibly complies with the community rules but which somehow encourages other users to look at their u…

Due to stigmatization policies they can't use the normal ad channels to advertise their patreon, so it only makes sense to go the "organic content" route. And from their PoV they are sticking to the rules of the relevant subreddits, yet still get their content deleted or banned. I don't find it surprising people get upset when viewing the situation from their side.

I’m a moderator. Very likely you’re wrong. Anything systematic like that is probably generated by a system where someone wrote a script of common phrases and handed it off to low wage labour to write.

Highly doubt any actual creator is doing that. The payoff of untargeted spam is so low! Only makes sense if it’s outsourced at scale like any garden variety spam ring.

The usual and profitable way people promote their onlyfans on reddit is by posting pictures and videos.

Re: The Economics of OnlyFans: Most accounts make less than $145/mo

#103

Post by Applejinx » Sun, Aug 08, 2021, 2:52 PM UTC

dvh wrote: post #79

anovikov wrote: post #74

I did similar analysis for Upwork and results were much much more drastic. Like, vast majority of accounts never earning anything, and a bunch of multimillion dollar accounts (most of them probably suggesting scams or money laundering - that was before i became a $2M account myself lol), and majority of money made by people who make very little, <$1000 per month, but stubbornly trying for years and years, probably ha…

Why grim? I work 1h a day and earn just enough to get by. Before I worked in a normal job 8h a day plus 2h commute, that was grim.

You would be one of the whales. Also, depending on what you do for that hour, as an entrepreneur you might be drastically underestimating the time and attention commitment you make.

Re: The Economics of OnlyFans: Most accounts make less than $145/mo

#104

Post by datenhorst » Sun, Aug 08, 2021, 3:05 PM UTC

anovikov wrote: post #74

I did similar analysis for Upwork and results were much much more drastic. Like, vast majority of accounts never earning anything, and a bunch of multimillion dollar accounts (most of them probably suggesting scams or money laundering - that was before i became a $2M account myself lol), and majority of money made by people who make very little, <$1000 per month, but stubbornly trying for years and years, probably ha…

What's the story of you becoming a $2M account yourself?

Re: The Economics of OnlyFans: Most accounts make less than $145/mo

#105

Post by nemo44x » Sun, Aug 08, 2021, 3:17 PM UTC

orthoxerox wrote: post #20

I'm sure similar income distribution applies to all user-generated digital content platforms like YT, Patreon, Twitch, etc. A few superstars that make crazy money, some professionals who use the platform as their main source of income and a long thin tail of amateurs. The market is supersaturated now, even with the obesity epidemic there are so many college girls with perfect figures willing to bare everything for $1…

Yes, many things like this have power law distributions. In fact if you look around today you’ll see power law distributions everywhere. The top .1% make considerably more than the top1% who make considerably more than the top 10% who make considerably more than the top 50%, etc.

Many thousands of books are published each year but only a handful make up the majority of the sales. Same with music, blogging, YouTube, Twitter followers, incomes, athletes, etc.

Re: The Economics of OnlyFans: Most accounts make less than $145/mo

#106

Post by indymike » Sun, Aug 08, 2021, 3:21 PM UTC

jcims wrote: post #33

saurik wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can't believe I've been subjected to the level of abuse I'm getting from people who are on average making less than $145 a month. Can you unpack this sentence and explain what it is about "people who are on average making less than $145 a month" that makes the abuse you are getting from them specifically unbelievable? (edit: Wow, -3 after only 20 minutes?... I guess people on HN apparently really hate the idea th…

The point isn’t that they are ‘only’ making $145 a month. It’s that people are willing to be abusive to other humans over it. It’s like those annoying relatives that are willing to throw away any authenticity in their relationship with you in order to hustle their shitty MLM product that is making them next to nothing.

> The point isn’t that they are ‘only’ making $145 a month. It’s that people are willing to be abusive to other humans over it.

In this case, you have to look at the investment people make into getting that $145. Creators are very invested, and the $145 is often in itself a huge source of disappointment and frustration. Imagine being sold being superstardom and a life of luxury and getting $145 (which probably doesn't cover your costs) and having random people complement you in public on how you look naked. I think I'd be a little frustrated, too had I fell for that.

> It’s like those annoying relatives that are willing to throw away any authenticity in their relationship with you in order to hustle their shitty MLM product that is making them next to nothing.

The are being exploited by the MLM, who sold a dream of business success, self-realization and wealth. Usually at a time in their life where they were in a state of financial failure. Like the exploited creator, they often spend thousands to get hundreds and end up being socially humiliated by their attempts at lead generation.

The irony in all of it is that for some it works.

Re: The Economics of OnlyFans: Most accounts make less than $145/mo

#107

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Aug 08, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

mrpf1ster wrote: post #98

martincmartin wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be pedantic, a median is not a ratio. That's the average.

The statistic he is analyzing here is median revenue per content creator, not just median revenue. The numerator is the median revenue and the denominator is the number of content creators.

[deleted]

Re: The Economics of OnlyFans: Most accounts make less than $145/mo

#108

Post by jkuria » Sun, Aug 08, 2021, 3:30 PM UTC

Applejinx wrote: post #99

orthoxerox wrote: post #20

I'm sure similar income distribution applies to all user-generated digital content platforms like YT, Patreon, Twitch, etc. A few superstars that make crazy money, some professionals who use the platform as their main source of income and a long thin tail of amateurs. The market is supersaturated now, even with the obesity epidemic there are so many college girls with perfect figures willing to bare everything for $1…

Can confirm. I make my living on Patreon, but I am in the top 100 worldwide in the 'music' category (I write open source DSP plugins) and I make a bit over $2000 a month. It falls away very very rapidly: top ten worldwide is what people envision for 'making good money' and is competitive with say a career software developer in the 90s or 00s. Top hundred worldwide is 'getting by pretty comfortably if you don't live a…

@Applejinx, this is interesting. Hey, I manage a forum where someone asked a question about how much Patreon fans make. May I repost your answer? (and credit you)

Re: The Economics of OnlyFans: Most accounts make less than $145/mo

#109

Post by Hello71 » Sun, Aug 08, 2021, 3:41 PM UTC

mrpf1ster wrote: post #98

martincmartin wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be pedantic, a median is not a ratio. That's the average.

The statistic he is analyzing here is median revenue per content creator, not just median revenue. The numerator is the median revenue and the denominator is the number of content creators.

that's not how medians work. if 100 creators make $100 each, then the median income is $100. if you divide it again by 100, then you'll get $1/creator^2 which is a nonsense number.

Re: The Economics of OnlyFans: Most accounts make less than $145/mo

#110

Post by rubyn00bie » Sun, Aug 08, 2021, 3:45 PM UTC

warent wrote: post #7

benrbray wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's two or three weeks of groceries if you're on a budget. It can make a huge difference for some people -- especially the type of people who don't feel like they have any options but sex work. It's hard to blame them since OF is a relatively safe way to do it, too.

exactly. For people in HN who probably make at least 6 figures on average, it's easy to forget that for many people, an extra $1.5k a year reflects a significant pay percent increase, like 5% raise.

+11

There was a period of time my rent was more than my wage $725/month vs $700. I was subsisting off of unlocking phones for people (who those mostly didn't want to do it themselves or didn't trust themselves), dumpster[1] pizza, and the ~$200 a month extra I was able to make ($20 an unlock) was my utilities and non-dumpster-pizza food money.

[1] Literally, from a dumpster. Most local pizza places aren't run by douchebags and tend to put the leftovers in their own bag/box for the poor to consume. I truly appreciated it (much love to Hot Lips in particular), as Pizza was a luxury way beyond anything I could afford at the time.