***NEWS*** Closing up shop!

[EvangelinevonWinter]

It is with sadness that I have decided to throw in the towel.
Support for the fembot movies have waned and it has become difficult to continue producing.

It is fully understandable. I cannot compete with the natural robotic movements of Diana Knight, and I don not have the budget of Ashley Fires, and with new comers Jacquelyn velvets and Cali logan support for our fembot movies have been decreasing with every production.
Another major issue has been the pirating of our movies. we have found several people sharing our movies which means less people buying. Add that to the radically decreased sales of fembot movies and you get not enough support to continue.

Unfortunately I am just not good enough, but thankfully I do not leave you empty handed.

There are several really great producers out there who have the talent and ability to continue giving you quality content, so i dont leave with any guilt about leaving a niche behind.

We have three movies that we took of the "video ideas" section which need to be edited and released. once those are done we will be killing our shop, and most likely tearing down the website as well.

I really wish I could have continued to make these movies as they are among the few I actually have fun making and feel challenged by the concepts.

I want to thank those of you who have been great with emails, and messages, and even the few custom clients.
I am going to miss making these videos for you, I just wish I could have made more of them for you.

Be well guys.

Evangeline von Winter
converting back to human

[KingJeremy]

Well this is definitely a bummer. I understand the reasoning though. I guess I had hoped there was enough of our entertainment dollars to go around but if the money isn't there it's not worth it. I will be looking to add some of the remaining EVW productions that I don't have to my collection soon as long as your site is active. Thank you for producing some great work over the years.

For what it's worth I know I and several others thought your production values, acting and fembot content were all well above the average. You guys listened to the community and were very prolific in the magnitude of content offered. Comparing your productions to the other studios isn't a good barometer as I have had discussions with several people who thoroughly enjoyed what you, Levi and your models came up with.

As far as the pirating goes...that's unfortunate to say the least. I think we as a very niche fetish community had a very good handle on who we support with our purchases and I see several posts a month espousing the idea that we want to uplift our independent producers by buying their work.

Anyway, sad to see you go Eve. You'll definitely be missed by a lot of us and I know I'm not the only one who wishes you great success in all of your other endeavors.

Be well.

KJ

[Corey Fantoccini]

I'm very sorry to hear this turn of events. You have been so very receptive and patient and outgoing to us all. Your customer service has been top notch as well. And there's always been that refreshing humor and scrappy charm that has made all your stuff so irresistible. I know I only could afford to buy a couple of your videos, but I made sure I bought from you and didn't just leach, thus I'm sad others couldn't offer you the same respect.

Somehow, since I've made this comparison before, I imagine your Madeline Kahn-esque self singing "I'm So Tired," so go get some west. And thank you for everything.

[Cornelius]

DO NOT WANT!

Although I'm usually a silent lurker, your contributions to our community have always had the utmost respect from me. I can't say my SO would allow video purchases from our joint checking-account, but if I could've financially supported you & Leviathan, I definitely would have! If it weren't for so much passion & care you put into your craft, I doubt we would've had so much selection from newcomers, simply because you guys defined & delivered such a quality product for others to attempt to match. And for that, you also have our thanks!

[eyebore]

Hi Evangeline,

We certainly hate to lose you as resource and we appreciate the significant efforts and contributions that you have made in support of our community. I have only seen a couple of your videos, but what I saw did not leave me thinking that you were "not good enough." Our community has a wider selection to choose from these days in large part due to producers like you. It is difficult to support every producer especially for those of us on fixed incomes, but I should hope that piracy does not become a trend around here our we will lose even more producers. This is a relatively small community it is important that we police our selves to insure that there is a financial benefit in producing ASFR material.

On a side note, I noticed recently that when I attempt to visit your website I receive a warning message from Firefox suggesting that the site is unsafe. This may account for some of your decreased sales, but I'm sure there are other causes as well. I hope that you are able to leave up your existing videos, for awhile, as there are still many clips that I and other members have not had a chance to purchase yet.

Good luck with what ever endeavors you decide to pursue and Thank You for all your work and the genuine effort you made to understand and relate to our community.

P.S. This is the Firefox warning I get when attempting to visit your website:

"This Connection is Untrusted

You have asked Firefox to connect securely to www.femme-bot.com, but we can't confirm that your connection is secure.Normally, when you try to connect securely, sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are going to the right place. However, this site's identity can't be verified.

What Should I Do?

If you usually connect to this site without problems, this error could mean that someone is
trying to impersonate the site, and you shouldn't continue."

[dale coba]

https - secure html - would that be the way to address that problem?

- Dale Coba, utter amateur.

[EvangelinevonWinter]

Well this is definitely a bummer.

Yeah....Tell me about it.

For what it's worth I know I and several others thought your production values, acting and fembot content were all well above the average. You guys listened to the community and were very prolific in the magnitude of content offered. Comparing your productions to the other studios isn't a good barometer as I have had discussions with several people who thoroughly enjoyed what you, Levi and your models came up with.
KJ

Unfortunately it is a small community and its unfair to expect every member to buy every producers movie. And to be honest we never did get the hang of it like others who naturally just were better natural fembots or those who have amazing budgets and access to lighting and equipment that we just cant compete with. Speaking honestly I completely understand it because there is only so much support a small community can give and that support goes to the better productions. I hold nothing against these ladies who came out and are putting together quality content. On the contrary. If I have to leave it does me good that there are so many quality producers supplying great content for you guys. you guys deserve nothing but the best and i am just sad that I couldn't be in that list.

But I'm also disappointed and angered that members of our community would betray your trust in us by pirating your films. Kishin and I have repeatedly told people not to do this with independent producers, and this is why. I really wish there was something that we could do to bring you two back into production for our interests, but I totally understand where you are coming from.

The pirating was an issue from day one but there was enough support to make it worthwhile. For awhile the pirating giot better and we started offering 2 girl movies. which means that we are hiring another model for an hour to film this one movie...but then the pirating got worse and we found that we were making half of what we paid the model for her time....and then nothing after. So we stopped hiring models because we were losing too much money doing it. Then as more models started shooting fembot stuff the support became less and less and the pirating continued. poor Levi was spending more time sending down take down notice4s to torrent sites and tube sites than editing movies. One tube site had a total of 15 downloads in one day alone. I know that the argument that those 15 were not guaranteed to be paying customers is an old and often used one but the numbers on our end dont lie. If we could still guarantee 4 sales on male / female movies we would still make them. if we could guarantee 6 sales for 2 girl movies we would still make them.

Many of the films you made are among my all-time favourites, and I always loved the chemistry that you and Levi had on screen together. You will be greatly missed.
Take care.

Thank you so much for that. It does a girl good to hear it.

Its unfortunate to lose talented people who listen to us. And it really bites that even after we've warned people so many times about why pirating independent fembot films kills the business that it continues anyway. We'll be one less producer of content now and it isn't like the net is just swimming in it to begin with (some days I wish I were just a tit fetishist, got thousands of sites with that on there!), so every loss is a big one.

Eve, you and Willy take care of yourselves. Maybe think about giving this a try again in a few years.

Thank you for your kind words. It makes me both glad to hear them and sad to have to hear them. Im not going anywhere right away. We still have some movies to edit and customs still on the horizon for the rest of this year.
Also we will not stop shooting customs for the few of you who have inquired. We are still available for customs and you might see them on C4S or something but we will no longer be making independent movies every week, or every other week.
Eventually even the customs will dry up and then you will see even less of us. The actual website is paid for for a year so most likely we will tear down the server and point the url to our C4S store, but once the domain name on Femmebot.com expires we will NOT be renewing it

On a side note, I noticed recently that when I attempt to visit your website I receive a warning message from Firefox suggesting that the site is unsafe. This may account for some of your decreased sales, but I'm sure there are other causes as well. I hope that you are able to leave up your existing videos, for awhile, as there are still many clips that I and other members have not had a chance to purchase yet.

Yeah...we let the security certificate expire and we didnt renew it because why bother paying an extra $100 for security if the site is just going down anyway?
it didnt make sense to continue paying for that when the site wasnt making it up. we killed the security then changed our shoppoingcart so that all purchases would go through Authorize.nets security net. that way you guys could still order securly but we didnt have to pay ther extra for the secure site. trying to type in http:wwww instead of https://www would work

https - secure html - would that be the way to address that problem?

- Dale Coba, utter amateur.

What probloem are you talking about here Dale?
are you referring to his "trusted" problem or my pirate problem?
because if its the pirate problem the trouble comes from one person who buys a legitimate copy and then torrents it or shares it on tube sites or trades with other guys for movies because they feel they bought it its theirs and they can do with it what they want.

I'm very sorry to hear this turn of events. You have been so very receptive and patient and outgoing to us all. Your customer service has been top notch as well. And there's always been that refreshing humor and scrappy charm that has made all your stuff so irresistible. I know I only could afford to buy a couple of your videos, but I made sure I bought from you and didn't just leach, thus I'm sad others couldn't offer you the same respect.

Somehow, since I've made this comparison before, I imagine your Madeline Kahn-esque self singing "I'm So Tired," so go get some west. And thank you for everything.

Thank you for your kind words and for making me smile with the Kahn reference. yes dear...so very tired... And to be clear I am not blaming anyone over this other than our inability to offer the same level as others who are more gifted. There are no sour grapes here folks.




AND NOW FOLKS.....
I close this with one more request.
As in politics when one person drops out they ask their supporters to get behind another player still in the running.
My hopes point to Diana Knight.

I hope that you will follow Diana and give her your support with your wallet and your ideas.

I have had Diana stay with us for several weeks and when someone lives with you for a few weeks you get to see their real side. The side that they dont show the world because no one can hold a poker face that long. Diana cares. she cares about what you think, about how you feel about her movies.
Diana sits and reads your emails and writes down your ideas.
She rehashes your ideas at dinner and tries to make them work in her head so they will look good.

Diana isn't doing this just for the money.
Diana isnt like some of these models who come in and throws a bunch of movies at the wall to see what will stick.
Diana is interested in so much more.

There are several model/producers who just want to use you guys as an ATM. They put on a pretty face, and pretending to listen.

I am hoping that you will throw your support behind Diana because I have seen that she is the real deal!

Please do not steal her movies.
Please support her when you can.
Please email her with your story ideas.
Talk to her and see for yourself how much she actually cares.

Remember guys....Im out the door...I have nothing to win here.

Please throw as much of your support as you can into Diana Knight.
She actually cares about this fetish, and it isnt just a payday

Please do not steal from her and allow her to slip from you as I have to slip from you.

Because in my opinion. As far as I am concerned, She is the best you guys have.


Cheers folks.

It has been both an honor and a real pleasure catering to you guys.
you all have been fan-fucking-tastic.
And my run here has been legen- waitforit- dary

Will miss you guys.
Be well.


Evangeline

[dale coba]

https - secure html - would that be the way to address that problem?

- Dale Coba, utter amateur.

What problem are you talking about here Dale?
are you referring to his "trusted" problem

I meant only the minor one, security certificate stuff you addressed.

or my pirate problem?

Either the governments mandate compliance through internet surveillance fascism,
or pirates pirate freely,
or consumers' ethics arise out of a positive identification with the producers - and you have had a lot of that positivity, but this is an asymmetric struggle. As you said, it takes just that one person to violate your trust, to deflate the earnings power.

Only operations of large scale can endure the pirate losses on their margins. I'm sorry we couldn't be of enough help to keep your business going.

- Dale Coba

[Diana Knight]

I'm filled with so many emotions right now. My initial reaction:

Oh no! Honey,.. say it isn't so. I feel guilty. Even though my first ASFR experiences were at Hypnolust,.. you and Levi were kind enough to teach me about the genre and pair up my physical ability to do the work with the intellectual philosophies behind it.. Basically teach me,.. along with the FC community why people like to watch fembots and why they are turned on by them. Exploring what turns people on is why I got into this business and is why I continue. You are my mentor and now you're retiring.. THAT's a bummer.

I am also so touched by everything that you said. You are such a quiet person,... It was a little overwhelming to hear that much heartfelt sentiment come out you for me.. but,.. thank you so much! Wow. Just,.. wow. And to have your endorsement like that... I am blessed to have a friend like you.

As for piracy,.. hmm.. well.. I say I've been luck to not have my stuff pirated too much,.. Often that is a sign that one is not as popular as others. I enjoy my low profile sometimes. OR maybe my stuff IS being pirated everywhere and I just don't know it. Its' been a while since I've looked and I would even know where to go,.. and of course the pirates bank on that. I've visited the vanilla porn tube sites,.. and found nothing,.. so if you know of anything or have seen anything let me know... And that goes for all of you. Because,.....

YES! What the f'ing pirates don't realize is that they are killing the very genre that they say they love so much.. I'll be really straight with ALL of you. I don't hire a ton of other girls,. and I don't build sets like Ashley does,.. because I don't make enough money at this genre to make it worth it. If I did all that,.. I would just break even. And then what's the point. Should the day come where I start making the money to support such efforts,. then I will and I hope that day will come soon. I ain't getting any younger. LOL.

I LOVE making fembot films. And I want to do props and such. I have access to Hollywood for cryin' out loud.. So if any of you want to sponsor some stuff,.. please let me know.. I'd be happy to collaborate. =)

Piracy is a SERIOUS issue on not just ASFR,.. but in all porn. And it has really hurt our business. Sales have dropped DRASTICALLY for everyone. The pirates just assume that we make all this money, so they justify their acitivity that way,. and it's simply just not true. ESPECIALLY when our main market model and distribution center these days is CLIPS 4 SALE,.. and we have to give them 40% of the take. It sucks,.. but it's a necessary evil in order to grow our business and build consumer confidence. Bottom line,.. if people keep pirating the content,.. the content will go away. Would you guys wanna work everyday at your job for free? That is essentially what it equates to. You may love your job,.. but your bills won't get paid. You'd have to go get another job.

Just a personal note... I often don't like to tell strangers what I do, ... not because I'm ashamed of what I do.. I LOVE telling my friends I make robot porn,.. and then watching them react,.. but I don't like telling strangers what I do,.. because they automatically assume that I make a ton of cash. Porn=bling.. The only people making big bucks these days are the vanilla hardcore starlets,. and Kink.com. That's about it. Little inside info from me to you. .

FYI,.. I own the domain ROBOKINK.COM,.. and I will be putting together a Femobt Specific site hopefully very soon. And I will be directly most of my Fembot traffic there.

So,.. this decision makes me sad... but yes,.. we understand. We will miss you madly. I will do my best to carry on the torch that you have given me. Guys,.. she's totally right. I DO care. ASFR fascinates me and I work very hard to understand all the little psyches behind it,.. so that I get it,.. and so that I get it right.

Eve,... I hope I do you proud.

xoxoxox,

D!

PS,.. I also hope I can get you to still do MY fembot movies.. Whatdaya say guys?

[jknight_2000]

Well this is depressing news indeed Ms. Von Winter, I am kinda shocked to be hearing about the recent problems. I would have thought of the four options we currently, yours would have been the most popular. Admittedly, I think your product is some of the best out there because it was always high quality over quantity, and more importantly - you cared about improving the product every time out. Now as for competing with others. Ashley Fires does have better effects, that is because she can afford to innovate because she has so many other projects and a production company like Wasteland supporting her, she is also vigilant in searching out pirates and taking them down, quickly. Diana Knight, is a rare talent - she has the moves down to a science - but she also has other fetishes to fall back on - because of that talent. And as for Hypnolust (Frank) he can consistently produce on a weekly basis based on keeping production costs low by reusing a lot of props. But, I still believe your stuff (EVW) can sell because it is quality.

Now, as for the pirating issue - here are some things I can tell you .... of the four main people who do this genre - your product is the one I have seen the least leaked out there. I occasionally see, one or two of Diana's videos, and as for Ashley's product - well go to x****ter.com - and search for Spice16, and Frank ... well Frank has a major leak problem. But, I usually find the stuff - and inform the user and let them deal with the scum. But, lately I am noticing a new file share site that allows these scuzzballs to operate with complete impunity, worse yet they are out of US, UK, or even NATO jurisdiction. Oh, yeah. Frank and Ashley expect an e-mail from me about the pirating issue you both share, now. I will go into detail. But as for you Evangeline - I haven't seen any, but if could PM me with an example of the pirated info or site - I can assist you in taking those bastards down.

Finally, I don't know the numbers in how much it takes you to produce a video but with the components of a average video shoot - I can provide a Excel spreadsheet (I specialize in this type of project) that will not only analyze each video production but where costs can be "better" used to keep you in business. Personally I would hate to see you leave. Your stuff always had that special something that made it original and fresh.

Hope you find a way to stay with us .... just a little longer
JKnight2K

[eyebore]

I reported a large number of Hypnolust clips being posted on several sharing sites a few weeks back to Frank and Lana. They have been fighting to get the post taken down with some success. Scifidreamgirls also had much of their material posted a few weeks back, but the post were removed within hours of my discovery so I did not pursue the issue further. I have yet to come across any Evangeline or Diana robot-themed clips on any of the share sites that I am familiar with, but I do not monitor tubesites or bit torrents.

Most of our community are very loyal to our independent producers and respect the copyright regarding their work. It is upsetting that ASFR material is being pirated especially considering the efforts made by Evangeline, Ashley, Diana and others to actively engage our community. It really is like stealing from our friends. File-sharing should in my opinion be limited to obscure hard-to-find titles that are no longer available for purchase. If you have a clip from an old tv pilot from the 70s great, but don't post clips of material somebody is using to generate revenue for themselves. For those of you who are going to share copyrighted work regardless of what I or anybody else has to say, I ask that you not share recently released titles. At least give the producers a chance to make a profit from their hard work.

On a side note. to any producers reading this. Back when I was living with my girlfriend, I included her on one of my credit card banking accounts to make it easier for us to pay bills. There were times when I passed on purchasing adult clips and subscriptions due to the fact that the billing names seemed too conspicuous. Billing names like "Suncoast Productions" and "tropic media" were just too obvious to pass scrutiny. I'm long since past worrying about what other people think, but there are still allot of folks out their concerned about their privacy. I think Ashley's site uses the less conspicuous "The Phoenix Group" and for years Frank used an outfit called "Verotel Solutions." In my opinion these names throw up fewer red flags when they appear on a credit card statement and might help you guys to increase sales. I'm not endorsing these particular company's, just just trying to make a point about inconspicuous billing. It always good alleviate as many consumer concerns as possible, to close a sale.

Good luck with you new site Diana and best wishes to you Evangeline.

[dale coba]

I don't know where to find a good economic analysis of recent trends in porn purchasing, but I have to believe that the persistent non-recovery of the economy is a factor. Only the super-rich have recovered anything.

Perhaps there is a porn glut - maybe not too many performers working at once, but there are vast quantities of many kinds of porn from the last four decades out there. It happens to every medium. Books were ultra rare, once. I see less evidence of piracy overall, but I can echo having seen the same relative frequency of piracy against the producers mentioned.

The bigger the success, the more viewers get drawn in from outside the base of loyalists, the more wanton piracy there will be. It's not like anybody's got a solution, but building an identifiable brand and intimate connection seems the only defense (though the anti-piracy effect is slight).

- Dale Coba

[EvangelinevonWinter]

I don't know where to find a good economic analysis of recent trends in porn purchasing, but I have to believe that the persistent non-recovery of the economy is a factor. Only the super-rich have recovered anything.

Ressession proof.
The economy has not had one single effect on sales and remember sales are global!
I base this on my sales across the board across over 20 niches
Fembots are small, but not the smallest group I catered to.

I see less evidence of piracy overall, but I can echo having seen the same relative frequency of piracy against the producers mentioned.

I on the otherhand have seen much of it. you see when its your company and your business you tend to learn where the files are coming from. you keep your ear to the ground. you spend much of your time searching and running traces.
Then because its not wise to let people know where to find it you keep shut about it. maybe you tell other producers but you sure as hell dont post the locations in public.

Listen. This has been a good run and I had some fun but ultimately I have to point the finger and one finger points to the pirates for sharing and trading...the other three fingers are pointed back to myself because I was just not talented enough to create entertainment for this small group. the dollar has to be dedicated to the best possible. I understand that and i dont blame anyone for it except myself for not being good enough to lure the sales away.
if you are wondering what happened to the fifth finger? well that would be my thumb and i have it pointed straight up because its all been good.


And look on the bright side....I have been doing this close to 20 years. I dont plan on going anywhere for at least another 10 years! lol
If there ever is a drought, if there ever is a lull...if things get slow and you guys get left without anyone making movies for you.... Call me.
I wouldn't leave you abandoned...lol

[Diana Knight]

Honey,.. can you do me a favor though,. Can you Email me links to the sites where you found your clips,.. so that I can at least monitor the situation...

And that goes for anyone who would care to do so..

xo

[EvangelinevonWinter]

I'll tell willie to do so, although the last time he found stuff he told you and Christina about it. I remember because he asked me if I had her email address and then was irked that i didnt...lol

[ashleyfires]

Hi Evangeline,

I saw this post when I was at Fetishcon last week but did not respond because I did not know what to say. I still really don't except that I am sorry to see you go and will miss you here. I always enjoyed your clips and think you are a great performer. I share the same sentiment with everyone here at FC.

Best,

Ashley


BTW our budgets aren't very big. We just know how to make it look good.

Now, as for the pirating issue - here are some things I can tell you .... of the four main people who do this genre - your product is the one I have seen the least leaked out there. I occasionally see, one or two of Diana's videos, and as for Ashley's product - well go to x****ter.com - and search for Spice16, and Frank ... well Frank has a major leak problem. But, I usually find the stuff - and inform the user and let them deal with the scum. But, lately I am noticing a new file share site that allows these scuzzballs to operate with complete impunity, worse yet they are out of US, UK, or even NATO jurisdiction. Oh, yeah. Frank and Ashley expect an e-mail from me about the pirating issue you both share, now. I will go into detail. But as for you Evangeline - I haven't seen any, but if could PM me with an example of the pirated info or site - I can assist you in taking those bastards down.

JKnight2K

Thank you for your email JKnight! And thank you for you watchful and vigilant eye! Piracy is has been a huge problem for us. We have had the entire site ripped and put up on file sharing sites more times then I care to mention. Basically any IP from Russia or China has been blocked. They send out DCMA's and if not taken down within some amount of time they start the legal process. Piracy has decimated the adult industry as a whole for many years now. And as long as Manwin (The evil mega tube site porn corporation) is around things will stay the same. Unlike the film and music industry, adult took too long to adapt and is paying the price. Clips4sale is one of the few companies left that still makes money and is profitable for the producers.

I contacted our webmaster and he had them take it down already. But if anyone ever sees our content up anywhere but our site or clips studio then please contact me!!! Thank you!

Kisses!

Ashley

[wjbaines]

Evangeline, Diana, Ashley, and ASFR Comrades,

My apologies for being so late to the party or, er, funeral?

Along with everybody else, I view Evangeline's departure with equal measures understanding and regret.

Rather than rehashing all of this, I would rather make this post about Clips4Sale.

I am conflicted about the Clips4Sale business model, perhaps because I am having trouble working out its ultimate relationship with the producers and the consumer.

I hope that I can solicit some clarification here from people in-the-know. Far-and-away the majority of ASFR content (90%+) that I have ever purchased has been from C4S, but I had no idea that that outfit appropriated 40% (!?) of any given payment for itself. When I read this data point from Diana, my immediate thought was that we should be supporting -- exclusively -- the independent websites of the content-providers to the utter exclusion of C4S. Saves everybody money, you know, "keeping it in the family," as it were.

However, I understand that one of the appeals of C4S is that rather than a flat monthly fee, you only ever pay for content that you specifically want (I know only second-hand that there are always gripes about producer-direct sites about delayed updates, content that isn't always to the member's tastes, etc. and what-have-you -- no judgment, here; and some self-operated sites allow single-item purchases, to be sure).

So why does any studio bother with C4S (and their goofy "Tropical Productions"/ "Obviously Porno" line that shows up on your bank statement)? Certainly it couldn't be security, because once some pirate bastard has a copy of your stuff, it can be uploaded wherever, right? It is for greater exposure? Does marketing an item on C4S result in a 40% markup of the same item carried on a studio's independent website? I don't understand. What added value is this middle-man providing to the studio? Or, almost as importantly, to the end-user?

I guess what I'm asking is this:

1.) Once a studio announces itself here on fembotcentral, does offering the content on C4S not increase everybody's cost? Even if it doesn't, what benefit or advantage does C4S offer the studio? Do individual-item sales, by volume (economies of scale, as it were), eventually outstrip profits from a monthly pay-site?

2.) By shopping on C4S rather than directly on a studio's website, am I perpetrating the equivalent of shopping at a soul-destroying evil megacorp like WalM-rt?

3.) Where is Frank in all of this? As long as the community is having a completely candid discussion with the content-providers (thanks again, Eve, you glorious, giving dame even in your perhaps final moments with us!) he might as well be involved -- probably the longest-lived produced we've ever had.

At any rate, I think this whole thread is very important for us as a community. This piracy thing is a real poison. I don't know jack about it, not being so tech-savvy, but I can say that anybody who has engaged in it should be ashamed -- and, if discovered, banned (for whatever getting a new screenname is worth). Morally sanctioned as thieves, at least, because that's what they are.

wjbaines

[EvangelinevonWinter]

@wjbaines:
Yes you're right. When we opened femme-bot.com we attached it to our merchant account which charges us 5% as opposed to C4S 40%
I even tried dropping the cost on C4S to .75 a minute to make it cheaper than buying it on C4S but people just rather go there. 75% of our sales came from that site. Attaching our watermark to the end of the video didnt convince anyone to shop with us so they continued to shop there.

I can honestly say that if everyone who bought at C4S bought at our shoppingcart we could easily continue the model we were producing. it would be tight, but it would still be alive...
But how many times have I actually asked people to buy from there instead of C4S and had the request go ignored?

And I can say it is the same people because when I get a sale notification from my merchant account i get the name of the client. when i get a sale from c4s i get the name of the client
so when I see a name thats familiar on the c4s statement that has shopped on our shoppingcart I know that that person has made a choice to go one place over the other....why I will never know.


Anyway its a moot point.

I have the last 5 movies (3 customs and two stories from teh story section)
When they get done i will let you know.

[Diana Knight]

I'll tell willie to do so, although the last time he found stuff he told you and Christina about it. I remember because he asked me if I had her email address and then was irked that i didnt...lol

Oh,.. I remember him asking for her addy,.. because he found her stuff..

[Diana Knight]

WJBaines,..

Tis true. We have tried to push our clientele to other sites. I tried with Eclips,.. because, well,. they give me a higher percentage,.. and I wanted to reward them with the business,..but,.. it only wound up hurting my business. When customers went to Eclips instead of C4S,. it would push my clips down lower in the overall ranking,.. and as a result,.. I wasn't making near as much per clip as I did if I drove people to C4S.

TRUST me,.. it's frustrating. I fought C4S for a long time. C4S is designed for people who want to have a web site,.. but don't know how to do it. I've had my own sites for 12+ years and I am my own webmaster,.. I can make just about anything happen. I don't need C4S to distribute my content,.. BUT,. I make more money with them than I do at my personal site. And THAT's just the business of it. Whatever algorithm and marking magic they spew out,.. it WORKS. I've reached customer bases that I would not have normally gotten into.

They seem to have a brand that people trust. When I first started with Eclips,.. I did a Eclips vs C4S poll on my Yahoo group,.. and C4S won hands down.

Alas,.. even though I know that the customer base would prefer to go to C4S,.. as I said,. I am still going to put together an ASFR site with individual clip downloads,.. and you can bet I will be asking you guys to buy from there,.. It will be an experiment to see which one does better for me. I might wind up going back to C4S. *shrug*

And yes Virginia,... Clips 4 Sale IS Walmart.

[Lithorien]

I just want to chime in with a thanks for reccomending Diana Knight. I've been a supporter of hers for a while now, and I'm glad you're encouraging her success, even though yours (sadly) didn't happen. I hope you can find a niche that rewards you beyond your wildest dreams, though.

[Lithorien]

Alas,.. even though I know that the customer base would prefer to go to C4S,.. as I said,. I am still going to put together an ASFR site with individual clip downloads,.. and you can bet I will be asking you guys to buy from there,.. It will be an experiment to see which one does better for me. I might wind up going back to C4S. *shrug*

Please please please please please get away from C4S. I've had so many problems with them recently - half-downloaded videos, corrupted files, etc. The last two videos I tried to get were so bad that I had to ask multiple times for a re-download link to see if that corrected the issue, and their support was not at all helpful.

I love your work and (as you know) am happy to be a member of your site... but C4S isn't good. At all. :(

[dale coba]

I'm hoping that the move towards "internet tv channels", free from the censorship of broadcast tv, will create opportunities beyond C4S for performers to become known, and to direct traffic to their own sales sites.

- Dale Coba

[eyebore]

I simply had no idea, that C4S took such a high percentage and I was unaware of the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing from one place verses another.

I can say that I was introduced to allot of new actresses that I might not have otherwise come across because of CS4. It was through C4S I found Frank and Lana and through them I was introduced to Dana, Kendra, Candle and many others. The massive database of clip, which are broken into specific genres, makes it easy to track down clips that pertain my individual interest. I'm glad you let us know that how to better support your efforts and I'm happy to support the vehicle that allows you to make the highest profit.

As I mentioned for a longtime I did avoid buying clips from C4S due to the obvious sounding porn name that appeared on my billing statements. I never quite trusted the Clip4cash Cards as I could never find much information about the company one way or another. C4S still seems like a good way to advertise your material to those not yet familiar to genre and may provide networking opportunities through sponsored events like Fetishcon.

[King Snarf]

I personally have never had any problem with clips4sale, and as for the "porny" name of the billing i.d., remember that some studios (such as Frank's) come up as Suncoast rather than Tropical, which is a bit easier to b.s. an explanation for if you get called out on it. "I thought they went out of business?" "Noo..., they've moved to primarily online services and movie downloads."

Anyway, C4S is good for advertising certain categories. For example, a new, up-and-coming bondage studio might not get noticed, just because of the sheer volume of studios that do bondage updating on a day-to-day basis. Studios that do freeze and robot stuff, on the other hand, can stay on the first page of the "recently updated" section for months.