Dirty Sexy Money.
The business of OnlyFans, stripped bare [Thread]
The business of OnlyFans, stripped bare [Thread]
A good girl gone bad
OnlyFans was never intended for adult content. It originally started out in 2016 as a platform for content creators to share exclusive cooking videos, tutorials & workout videos.
Today, the workout videos are a bit more detailed.
OnlyFans was never intended for adult content. It originally started out in 2016 as a platform for content creators to share exclusive cooking videos, tutorials & workout videos.
Today, the workout videos are a bit more detailed.
Does size count? Yes
If OnlyFans was a country, it would be the 56th largest in the world
- 24 million users
- 200,000 new sign-ups every day
- 75% increases in sign-ups month on month
- $725 million paid out to 450,000 creators
If OnlyFans was a country, it would be the 56th largest in the world
- 24 million users
- 200,000 new sign-ups every day
- 75% increases in sign-ups month on month
- $725 million paid out to 450,000 creators
OnlyFans is a family owned business run by investment bankers:
Chairman (father): Guy Stokely - former investment banker
CEO (son): Tim Stokely - founded soft-core cam sites
COO (son): Thomas Stokely - former investment banker
Dinner convos in the Stokely household must be fun
Chairman (father): Guy Stokely - former investment banker
CEO (son): Tim Stokely - founded soft-core cam sites
COO (son): Thomas Stokely - former investment banker
Dinner convos in the Stokely household must be fun
It's 2AM, you send your boyfriend a fire set of nudes. He replies with "K". He's also a member of "brunch with Jay-Z" Twitter. You deserve so much better.
You see the headlines - the numbers look insane. Would you sell a couple of feet pics for $30 (R500)?
Not that simple...
You see the headlines - the numbers look insane. Would you sell a couple of feet pics for $30 (R500)?
Not that simple...
What do amateur day traders, Herbalife sales & OnlyFans have in common?
Only a small % of people make enough money regularly to scrape a living off these platforms.
On OnlyFans:
The top 1% of accounts make 33% of all earnings
The top 10% of accounts make 73% of all earnings
Only a small % of people make enough money regularly to scrape a living off these platforms.
On OnlyFans:
The top 1% of accounts make 33% of all earnings
The top 10% of accounts make 73% of all earnings
The distribution of OnlyFans earnings is so bad the Gini coefficient is worse than South Africa (0.83 vs 0.68). It's bascially the most unequal society on Earth!
Average OnlyFans creator makes $136 (R2,300) for an entire month of work
(Credit to @tdoggyholhol who ran analysis)
Average OnlyFans creator makes $136 (R2,300) for an entire month of work
(Credit to @tdoggyholhol who ran analysis)
How does OnlyFans actually make money? Like other platform communities, OnlyFans takes 20% of a creators earnings.
Uber doesn't own cars, Airbnb doesn't own houses and OnlyFans doesn't own content. What drives the value?
They provide the platform, reach & marketing.
Uber doesn't own cars, Airbnb doesn't own houses and OnlyFans doesn't own content. What drives the value?
They provide the platform, reach & marketing.
You can make money from OnlyFans without posting a single nude. Let that sink in.
Previously, if you referred someone to a create an OnlyFans account you received 5% of their LIFETIME earnings.
If Nicole makes $10,000 over her career - you made $500 for doing absolutely nothing
Previously, if you referred someone to a create an OnlyFans account you received 5% of their LIFETIME earnings.
If Nicole makes $10,000 over her career - you made $500 for doing absolutely nothing
You're thinking - this opens the door to so much spam. Exactly!
OnlyFans recently introduced a cap on how much you can earn through referrals. You are now capped to $1m of a creators earnings which translates to $50k in commission.
Here's the official OnlyFans email.
OnlyFans recently introduced a cap on how much you can earn through referrals. You are now capped to $1m of a creators earnings which translates to $50k in commission.
Here's the official OnlyFans email.
OnlyFans adopts a classic capitalist model where the means of production (platform) is privately owned & operates in a free market where a tiny proportion of providers off labour benefit disproportionately
How do you regulate this? Manual intervention (you deactivate accounts)
How do you regulate this? Manual intervention (you deactivate accounts)
Economics 101 - with a disproportionate number of content creators relative to consumers, you end up destabilizing the average price point & reducing revenue
There's an OnlyFans incentive to "purge" accounts & restore pricing tension to protect the earnings of it's top creators
There's an OnlyFans incentive to "purge" accounts & restore pricing tension to protect the earnings of it's top creators
The deck is stacked against content creators - to make it worse, there's content theft.
Criminals use "scrapers" to pull off thousands of image, video and voice script off the creators pages. This gets sold onto follow-on channels.
Tragically, these crimes often go unpunished.
Criminals use "scrapers" to pull off thousands of image, video and voice script off the creators pages. This gets sold onto follow-on channels.
Tragically, these crimes often go unpunished.
OnlyFans just introduced a 20% VAT charge on all OnlyFans purchases.
Your favourite account now costs $12 instead of $10. Content creators are also expected to declare their full earnings for tax purposes to local authorities.
Publicly disclosing earnings draws attention.
Your favourite account now costs $12 instead of $10. Content creators are also expected to declare their full earnings for tax purposes to local authorities.
Publicly disclosing earnings draws attention.
The entire industry repeatedly fails sex workers. From studio bosses & content users to the general public who hold discriminatory views towards sex work.
Consequently, not enough awareness is created around exploitative behaviour, mental health or sex worker safety.
Consequently, not enough awareness is created around exploitative behaviour, mental health or sex worker safety.
If you're in South Africa, check out SWEAT which advocates for sex worker rights:
sweat.org.za
If you're in the UK, check out SWARM which also does great work:
swarmcollective.org
If you're in the US, check out the Sex Workers Project:
sexworkersproject.org
sweat.org.za
If you're in the UK, check out SWARM which also does great work:
swarmcollective.org
If you're in the US, check out the Sex Workers Project:
sexworkersproject.org
Shout-out for making it to the end. I appreciate you!
