Dancer tip out fees?

11 comments

• FONDL

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  18 years ago

  This is just one of the many reasons why dancers generally aren't employees but are private contractors. If they were employees the clubs probably couldn't charge them to work there. All this stuff seems to be increasing too, which is partly why so many strippers are unhappy with their jobs. They're getting squeezed from both ends, both management and customers want more.
• FONDL

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  18 years ago

  This is just one of the many reasons why dancers generally aren't employees but are private contractors. If they were employees the clubs probably couldn't charge them to work there. All this stuff seems to be increasing too, which is partly why so many strippers are unhappy with their jobs.
• minnow

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  18 years ago

  I guess there's about as many pay schemes as there are clubs. Kinda like commission only vs base salary only, and a gazillion variations in between the extremes. In those $100 fee clubs, obviously if dancer doesn't make much above $100 in tips & LD's, she's f***ed. I guess in the $10 tipout per $20 LD scheme, if she had slow night with, say, only 6 LD's, she'd still take home $60 (plus stage tips).
• DandyDan

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  18 years ago

  I've never totally understood the concept of tip-out, since it seems like everyone under the sun, or at least the black light, is supposed to get tipped. I do know at my favorite club, it's simply $10 per $25 lap dance and $40 per $100 champagne room dance. I have no idea why this is so, except it probably makes it easy that way.
• token

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  18 years ago

  This is the one topic about strip clubs that I hate. My feelings are that numerous "camp followers" are extracting blood money from the dancers. Yes, I'm talking about house, DJ tip out, Bar Tender tip out, security tip out etc. I don's have exact figures, and was pointed out before--you get different $ values from different dancers. Typically, for this area (and the clubs I visit), I think the house gets 20-30, bar staff gets 10-20, dj gets 10-15 and security gets 5-10. If that's accurate the top end for a mid-level club here may be $75 and the low end may be $45. Big bucks when the dancer may realize $50-$300 a nite.
• AbbieNormal

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  18 years ago

  I know that the local clubs here do a flat fee tip out usually, since it's kind of tough to know how much the dancers collect when there are no private dances, and it is different for day and night shift. I wouldn't be surprised if clubs with high volume LD's take a percentage of what they think the dancer made.
  
  If you go to a club where the manegment controls the LD area and you pay them instead of the girl you can be sure it is because the club takes a substantial cut of every dance.
  
  FONDL is right about tip-outs being common. In most resturaunts the tipped employees (waiters) tip out to the non-tipped (busboys, service bar, food runners, hostess, etc). The bartender is the best because he gets tips and often gets tipouts from waiters based on their alcohol sales (as does a service bar or bar back). Usually a tipout for a waiter is based on their sales, assuming that a good waiter will collect an average of 12-15% of their sales in tips the tip outs are usually between 2-5% of their sales.
• chandler

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  18 years ago

  This is all a bit more "inside baseball" than I care to concern myself with, however...
  
  I believe most clubs around here collect stage fees of about $50 to $100 from the girls at the start of their shift. They pay extra, or a fine, for showing up late or for leaving early. Tip outs are paid by strippers to the DJ and other staff at the end of their shift. They are supposedly discretionary, but there is a minumum that is expected. Total tip outs often add up to more than the stage fees, especially at the big money clubs.
• FONDL

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  18 years ago

  Tip outs aren't restricted to strip clubs, in most restaurants the waitresses and waiters tip out a lot of the other help. I think it's usually a percentage of their tips, which I believe is also true in some strip clubs.
• DougS

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  18 years ago

  That's a quesiton that I've asked many dancers, and have received a wide range of answers - even at the same club. Of course that probably indicates a little Stripper BS/attempted scamming, etc.
  
  A lot of the tip outs that I've heard about, I couldn't remember accurately - probably only half-listening at the time, and most of the rest are unsubstantiated.
  
  However, one of my ATF clubs has NO tip out. I'm sure that's part of the attraction for the girls to dance there. The only "fees" the girls pay there, is the $1/song jukebox (of course multiplied by 3 for each stage appearance). Within the last year, mgmt, in trying to get the girls to work on time, initiated a fine, which I guess you could say is part of their tip out. The fine amounts to $1/minute that they are late in arriving.
• chandler

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  18 years ago

  Minnow: That's one reason why I think clubs that take a flat stage fee are better than clubs that take a per dance cut. It tends to weed out the marginal and short-sighted strippers.
• casualguy

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  18 years ago

  For a long time, I never even realized dancers had to pay to work at a strip club. Of course I learned before too long. Tip out is kind of like uncle sam in my opinion, people make money but someone else keeps scamming a big chunk off the top. If the night is really slow or there are too many dancers per customer, I can understand how it might be difficult for the dancers to make much money.