How much do girls realistically expect to make stripping?
theDirkDiggler
Illinois
I know about 20 years ago, a girl just had to be hot and she would expect to make $500 on a random night. That was when the average minimum wage was less than $5. But there was also more stigma (although there's still quite a bit, but it's cooler now in today's younger pop culture) to the profession despite less contact/mileage/extras in general. Back then $500 a night sounded like a huge amount of money and yet many girls still didn't seriously consider doing it. Nowadays, $300 is probably closer to the average goal and a girl can't make that just by being hot. I do think that dancer fees and tip outs are a little higher now (as clubs have felt the pinch as well), but i think they've been high for awhile now, like over 10 years.
I guess what i'm getting at is what do you think is the starting point in terms of money that a prospective stripper would decide to do this and keep on doing it?
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I used to think that $200 was like nothing for a stripper. I know of young girls at just regular restaurants (not five star or anything) and sports bars (and not breastaurants) as well as bartenders (and not striptenders) making similar amounts on weekends. Then a very hot semi-baby stripper spent a decent amount of time with me at a table and mentioned that some girls had big expectations, but she was happy with a $200-$300 a night, working about 4 times a week. She gave superb dances afterwards and i could easily see myself giving her, her "goal" every time i saw her.
I also talked with another very pretty stripper at another club and she mentioned that she only worked a few times a month and only picked up another shift if she didn't make a couple hundred on the previous Saturday to pay for her nursing school. She didn't give very high mileage in her dances, unfortunately, and i know that if she finishes her professional schooling, she is done stripping.
It all depends. I personally know (and witnessed) a stripper clear $19,000 in 21 days in a tourist trap city, then on the other hand a stripper in the same city clear $7,000 on a 4 day weekend, only to return the following weekend and actually lose money because she didn’t even cover her tip outs and travel expenses.
There have been times that if it’s a “rougher” night, I’ve gritted my teeth and pushed through so that $200 is what I net after tip out. And then I dip out because I’m psychologically done with the crowd for the night.
I’ll explain why $200 is very realistic even during a very crappy night.
Luckily, I work in clubs where I can leave early without $ penalty. (And yes, I’m well aware I might have walked out on prince moneybags showing up during those times. Oh well.)
A typical thought process for me is like this:
*I like to show up to the club with $60 always. That is my average house fee + tip out. This is so that I know, worst case scenario, I will never catch negative attention for not making tip out.
*My goal is to net $200.
*I also want another $60 in “reserve” that I will not count in my earnings because it’s money going to my next shift.
To net $200, I usually just need to make $260.
I will ignore stage money for this, because that money is too variable.
That is just 13 dances a night for me to make “quota”
I’ve never timed the average song length of my club, but I think it’s like 3.5 minutes which is 45.5 of “active work.” I need to pull off.
Because my scenario is a frustrating night, I’ll say it takes on average 5 songs before one dance. And that I’ve been unsuccessful in stacking more than one dance with any one customer. That is 3.8 hours of “chit chat time”
I usually go on stage 1-2 times per night. I’ll say it’s twice in this case. Stage is six songs in a set. Two sets is 12 songs, so 3.5*12=42 minutes.
In that scenario, it would take a little over five hours to break $200.
But most of my nights aren’t quite that terrible. I’ve guessed before that my true average is something like $450-550. And I wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore hustler either.
Maybe I’m just lucky where I live, if I were to expect $200-300 all the time. Granted, I’ve made those shift numbers all the time. But I’ve also had plenty of nights where I’ve done much better than that.
My first shift ever, I didn't hustle and only left with like $75 or $80. I was very discouraged. The next shift, I talked to a girl who was also knew to stripping (we had both auditioned and started on the same night) and she said she made like $500. I saw that she would work the room and talk to lots of customers. My mistake the first night was sitting too long with non-spenders. So, that night, I tried to hustle a little more and made like $360 or so. That's when I realized my $400/night goal was totally attainable.
After that, I was consistently making over $400 a night. My earnings increased over time, I got my hustle down, and now I'm averaging closer to double than what my expectations/goals where coming in, and that's working at a non-extras club in Detroit of all places.
I also have not had to cross a single boundary I set for myself before I started stripping.
Sorry for the typos you guys I just cram typed a brief and now my brain is apparently taking a break.
Lol. If he managed to pull off a DJ gig with 20-60 girls a night, then that’s at least 200-600 he would be making. Probably more. I’d say it’s an even better gig than dancing.
Nina and I may have better numbers that what others are saying for their current favorites. But I also think there’s a selection bias and that we are a bit more strategic than others. Or work in better clubs or something. I don’t bother asking other dancers what they make.
She lived near the quad cities (Iowa/Illinois) but traveled all the way to Harvey, IL where she was still a top earner. She had tried working at the clubs closer to her but she said the girls there thought that $400 was a good night and she basically scoffed telling me that she made that on a slow week night at her then current club near Chicago. But supposedly some of the extras girls there could make 2 grand a night, but that wouldn't be a usual occurrence. That club has since become a shadow of itself and then sold and turned into an urban party club, sigh. She quit long before that happened though. Last i heard she was in Arizona which i didn't think was a stripper's area in terms of making money, at least cleanly.
Anyway, most of my past favorites were top earners/bad bitches in their respective clubs. So to a degree that painted my perception of what a popular/attractive stripper expects to make to stay in the profession. Usually over $500 a shift. Occasionally, i would have a favorite that was still very hot and gave very good dances, but she would tend not to have a good hustle or something and was generally grateful with a few hundred.
Unfortunately, those favorites generally wouldn't last long. Some of them would leave to do other jobs, camming, nannying even. One became a blackjack dealer. In the last few years, the whole area seems slower and the general turnover is higher, so it's probably harder to make very good money at any of the clubs. Just less customers and less spending customers but still more demanding.
Overall, i'm generally pleased with this new development. I'll probably spend even more than before as i've never had this many quality choices before, but i'll manage somehow.
The fees and tip outs are much higher near Chicago, especially at the higher end clubs (my preference). Up to $200 for a late weekend night and usually over $100. They also take around 25% to 33% of what the girl makes in dances. To net $300, a girl probably has to sell over $500, probably closer to $600 in dances and/or VIPs/rooms. Even more if she does VIPs as the club takes a considerably higher percentage with them, around 40% to almost 50%.
However, a popular girl can make around $300 or maybe even more just from the stage. Also i think they keep all of the $10 from floor dances, so technically, a girl could do just floor dances all night and receive a lot of rain and make $1k that way. Which is probably what it would take now as the greedy mofos just raised prices from 3 low contact dances for $75 to 3 for $100. I think they also raised half hour and hourly rates by $25, except for the $500 suite which still is the same, surprise. Cover and valet have also raised by $3 from $25 to $28 and $12 to $15. "Entertainer tax" or some BS. Haven't gone since the price changes, but i've seen quite a few of their girls at PoleKatz and Gold Club recently so maybe they've slowed down a bit.
When does it end?
The answer from me is most likely no, since school is starting up tomorrow and I’m occupied during monday-Wednesday’s. Oh and my boyfriend is still in Texas for a couple more weeks. But it seems like it would be super fun!
“One of my favorite day shift dancers at desires tells me she makes about $800 in a 6.5 hour day shift, unless I am there and t hen its $650,”
Having regulars helps with stability, but there’s also that opportunity cost question that comes up during peak times. Sometimes I wonder what is better myself. But I am a night shift gal and I prefer the quick hustle.
@general
“I dont analyze every nickel I spend to get the absolute best value for my time in the club, I just like to have a good time and if I drop a grand doing it, that's between me and my bank account.”
That seems like it would be really fun! Would you be able to make it to Miami in January maybe?
I understand. When I went it was usually summer and I was out of school, or could just go on the weekends because I'm only a few hours away from there.
I'd maybe fly down there to see you...and to beat the ever-living shit out of twentyfive...hummm. maybe you are on to something.
Line forms to the right, have your I’D out and toe tag completely filled out.
While not scientific, the girls I've talked to confess they typically make $24K to $48K dancing a year. Grim reality.
Then those 'bitches' shouldn't be strippers.
I'm not gonna show my tits in a room full of people and give lap dances to make $200-300 a night. I could make that much, or better, bartending or doing bottle service at a regular nightclub.
Plus welfare, food stamps, ...
That was my thought process regarding strippers and probably most of my current and former favorites as well. But i guess nowadays and IRL $200-$300 a night jobs are harder to come by or maybe these girls that seem satisfied with this amount don't really hate stripping or maybe even like it more than a regular job.
I suspect they are being more honest with me that with the tax man. Hell, straight waitresses at Denny's I knew growing up will lie on cash tips to the IRS.
Again, this could vary considerably by region and club and of course dancer, but $2k to 4k a month working about 3 shifts a week or 12 a month would come out to about $167 to $333 per shift. This would be averages or medians actually since the girls that often go negative or the ones that often make well over $1k can really skew the averages.
It's totally believable to me, as whenever i go to a club, the majority of girls don't seem to be making a lot of money. So a big a part of it comes down to how hard a girl wants to work, or how far she is willing to go, in addition to being attractive/desirable.
Yes, self reporting every night. They clamined whatever was a CC receipt (paper trail), of course. Then they claimed 15% of gross receipts, but not a penny more. They figured anything over their $1/hr (or w/e) sub min-wage, plus 15%, the government could have that. But when (not if, when, and it happened every night) they earned over 15%, they rationalized themselves to be working single mothers, and kept 100% of the extra tips to themselves for busting their ass.
I've also read a similar rationalization either on Tuscl or the pink site, where the dancers will 100% claim stage tips or LD money, but draw the line at claiming OTC to the IRS, saying, they can get a cut of that, but if I sell my ass, they damn sure aren't getting a cut of that. And really, as a pro-honesty guy myself, I can't really blame them, esp. not in that tax bracket (30%).
I think so, too. We're a depressed rust belt town / region. I used to joke with them on the odd chance that it came up, and I'd joke that they probably made more than me. In sort of a truth or dare, they all said they would quite dancing full time immediately if they could make per year what I make in a vanilla job ($50K or $60K). Mostly because they were envious (their words) I had a future after 30. I think the last part was most of it.
I also think that without extras here, that it a BIG part about why I get approached for OTC so much. Sadly, it's about the only extra way for dancers to augment their earnings. Like if she's making $167 or $333 a shift, it's going to be hard to turn down the possibility of an extra $200 or even $100 that night from a safe and discrete guy like me and all she has to to is extend her shift once in a while by one more hour. Though I like to think (lie to myself?) that she's running The System(tm) on me just in reverse, instead of her being high-volume hoe, like @rickdugan throws shade to me about. ;)