How Should I Price My Camming Services?
TLDR
I've been where that poster is: one week on a platform, ten dollars in earnings, and a client telling me someone else does 8-minute customs for $30. Pricing with zero history is genuinely hard, and most new performers handle it badly by defaulting to the cheapest number anyone throws at them. Here's how I'd actually work out a rate, and why I'd never race to the bottom to match a price I can't verify.
How do you set a starting price when you have no history at all?
The honest answer is you work backwards from math, not vibes. Take what you want to earn per hour - let's say a modest $60 target - and count everything an 8-minute custom actually costs you in time. Filming is 8 minutes, sure, but there's the back-and-forth negotiation, the prep, getting into the right look, the edit, the export, the delivery. Realistically that's 45 minutes to an hour of your life for a "simple" custom. At $60/hour with an hour of total work, your floor is around $60, not $30. For anything with a script, a specific outfit, or an unusual request, you price that time in too. The first number a client quotes you is negotiation, not data. If someone says "I get these for $30 elsewhere," you have no idea if that's true, and even if it is, you don't know what that performer's workload, niche, or business looks like. Matching the cheapest witness without any verification is a losing game.
Should new performers start low and raise prices later, or hold firm from day one?
Start slightly below your target - not dramatically below, just a little under. Say your math says $60 minimum for that custom; opening near $50 while you build reviews and momentum is reasonable. Then raise on purpose, not out of panic. I plan increments of roughly 10-20% every month or two as demand builds, and I tell anyone who buys: prices rise on X date. Grandfathering existing regulars for a cycle or two is good manners and good business. And watch for the signals either way. If you're fully booked, feeling rushed, and quietly resenting the work, you're too cheap. If it's crickets for weeks, you might be a touch high for your current demand, and that's a signal to experiment, not to crash your rate. Some per-minute pricing works for customs with variable scripts, but I prefer flat rates with time bundled in - clients budget easier and I don't get nickel-and-dimed on edits.
How should you reply when a client says someone else charges less?
Politely and without apology. Something like: "I appreciate you telling me, but my customs start at $X. If the other option works for you, no hard feelings at all." Then genuinely mean the no-hard-feelings part. Some will leave; plenty come back when the other performer is booked out or burned out. Your prices hold up better than desperation does.
Where does subscription money fit alongside custom rates?
Tiers are a funnel, not your income floor. That first $10 subscriber who ghosted is a normal, even healthy, starting point - recurring revenue builds slowly and rewards consistency, not discounts. Keep your tier prices accessible as the entry door, and keep your customs at rates that actually pay your hours. Meanwhile, if you want live interaction between customs, I've had better long-term luck on xlovecam, where the traffic and tipping culture make it easier to charge fair rates from the start. And solidarity aside: performers charging $30 for 8 minutes aren't the enemy. Different performers price differently for all kinds of valid reasons. Your job is to price your own hours correctly.
So what's your rate this month, and when's your next raise?
Pricing isn't a decision you make once - it's an experiment you run forever, with a spreadsheet and a calendar instead of guesswork. Do the math, start a touch under target, raise in planned increments, and never let a buyer's unverifiable quote set your worth. Got your own lowball script or a pricing story that changed everything? Drop it below, and I'll happily trade war stories.