The strange world of bondage

[davidnorth]

Why the title? Well, I have come to discover that recording and releasing a lot of new movies, which I have over the summer, doesn't necessarily lead to increased sales. Indeed, the bondage store sales remain fairly constant whether the content is new or recycled. As for C4S, sometimes the bondage store does well and other times not, and it seems to bear no relation to whether content is new or old. In complete contrast, if I give the desperation guys new content, the sales almost double. Why do you think that is?

[Nyghtfall]

I have very specific tastes in bondage, certain elements that trigger my arousal, and I seldom see anything from your studio that piques my interest. I wish I could say otherwise because I love your use of real-world clothing, but I keep visiting in the hope of see something I might like.

One big turn-off for me is your fondness for dark hosiery. I think I asked you about that once a couple years ago and you said it's because they help ropes stand out more on camera. I accepted that, but it's not my thing. I prefer flesh tones, white, off-white, or ivory colors. They also have to be sheer hosiery. Reinforced toes and back seams turn me off as well.

I also hate tattoos, but I understand how popular they are and how challenging it can be to find bare-skinned models. Nevertheless, depending on the quantity, location, size, and overall artistic design, they're often too distracting and cost producers sales. As a foot fetishist, this point is especially detrimental if the model has any foot or ankle tattoos.

I don't like boots, female antagonists, or ropes that are any color but white, either (I associate white ropes with damsel-in-distress scenarios. Any other color takes me out of scenes and reminds me everyone's just play-acting).

I'm not familiar with the desperation fetish so I can't comment on the differences in sales volume, but the points I outlined above are particularly important reasons why I pass on most of your content. Give me a burly male villain subduing a demur professional woman who's clad in a pair of stiletto pumps or strappy heels and you've got my attention. A white, knotted cleave gag, red lipstick and matching nail polish would be a huge bonus.

P.S. - I've already tried the custom route with other producers and discovered I'm too much of a control freak to trust hundreds of dollars to other people without being on set to supervise or shoot it myself. Consequently, my success rate has not been favorable.

[adivie]

Hello Nyghtfall,

It is good to hear from someone else on the forum for a change. I appreciate you sharing your opinions on your tastes. It definitely sheds new light from some of us who have been doing this for some time.

We all have out niches cut out for us in certain categories. You shared your story, now I will share my story. I was very hesitant to even pay for a bondage video since I could grab them for free off the Internet. Well, my interest began drying up. I saw fewer and fewer movies that piqued my interest. I took a chance with Clips4Sale and found Beauties-In-Bondage on my first search. I have been a fan of Dave's ever since.

My niche is very particular also. I love clothes destruction. A woman just stripping out of her clothes is not enough for me. She has to be bound helpless while her assailant cuts away at her clothes, leaving her in her underwear.

I was very hesitant with my first custom also. I mean that was a lot of money to be put on a movie. However, I asked friends and other producers for their intake on customs. Some producer friends, who had also purchased customs, had this to say...

1) PRICE: A good producer is not out to gouge you because their reputation and repeat business is on the line like any other business. The price is usually determined with a very small margin of profit, if any for the producer. Profit usually comes when the custom goes into full distribution to the public. Therefore, negotiating on the price is not a good tactic. If you can find it for cheaper elsewhere, go elsewhere.

2) PATIENCE: Customs take time. The fastest turn-around I have had with a custom is one week. I know it is a lot of money that now is sitting in the producer's account, however, customs do not just happen. Schedules have to come together. Shooting and the final cuts have to take place. With Rachel Adams and Karly Salinas, I have waited an average of one month to receive my customs. They still have turned out great.

3) PRACTICAL: This one is the hardest, even for me. It is my money, I want the control. Unfortunately, the more control you throw into the script or custom idea, the more it will cost. I have learned to give the basics of what I want for plot, storyline, and outfits. Then I will answer any questions the producers has for me. Other than that, the producer has control.

If I may make a suggestion, it sounds like Rachel Adams will be able to suit your custom bondage needs better than any other model I know. She is cute, easy to work with & chat. Rachel has no tattoos. She has a penchant for sheer hosiery unless specially told another color. All of her pantyhose shots for me have been sheer with no reinforced toes or seams. She has a wide array of colored ropes to choose. Rachel Adams may be reached at racheladamsmodel1@gmail.com

Please, do not be a stranger. I loved hearing your input.

[GB2691]

I will share my 'Introduction to B-in-B' story in due course, but for now I will just say that adivie is right on the money with his suggestion of Rachel Adams - not only in all the specific aspects he mentions, but in general, as a great bondage model who will always try to produce what you want and who has never batted a pretty eyelid at anything I've requested. She's reliable, conscientious and not at all expensive, in my estimation.

And of course, staggeringly beautiful. I don't think you would regret giving Rachel a go...

[goolems]

Hi all,

This is an interesting question. I think like those who have answered before me, I have very specific preferences when it comes to bondage videos (and it seems like we all have our own set of stuff that we prefer), or I'm not too interested in a given video. My preferences, for example, totally differ from those who answered before me, which is fine. I think that's part of the reason for the mixed nature of the sales - different groups are interested in buying different videos.

As for new vs. old videos: I think there's definitely a trade off with each, although I don't know if "randomness" is the right word. With the old videos, it might boost sales for a bit because maybe there's an old video re-released that people like, so they go back and find more videos from the same model that they like, maybe that they had never checked out before, thus giving a bump. I know I've done this before. With new videos, bumps could come from people wanting to see something from a new model that they are interested in, that they've never seen before. Both seem like plausible reasons for seemingly random bumps in sales with new or old releases.

Personally, I like seeing new videos of new models, because it's always fun to see what Dave or whoever orders a custom can cook up. However, I'm sure others have their own preferences.

[adivie]

Hello Goolems and Welcome,

It is great when other forum members jump in besides the usual fare, including myself. I must agree with you on your take on this subject. I have purchased older videos from favorite models during the sales. However, I like to commission customs when I know certain models are available for filming. Unfortunately, with MasterCard imposing stricter guidelines on companies offering "kinky" material, now we must turn our attention to the individual producers who are each forced to open his or her won web-based store to make sales of new content. Before the C4S guidelines came into play, Dave had his stores that I visited frequently. Other favorite producers were strictly C4S-based stores. Now, two of my favorite producers have announced their retirement from the industry, while one only post for fun, and the others have opened their own web-based stores.

So the strange world of bondage has seen MasterCard twist the arm of Clips-4-Sale. Now, what used to be a large depository website with thousands of studios and millions of videos versus a few individual web stores run by producers, has now seen several studios quit producing, shut down, or start their own web stores to avoid MasterCard and C4S regulations. In other words, Clips-4-Sale is no longer the one-stop-shop for kink that it used to brag about any more.

[davidnorth]

Hi guys,

Thanks for responding. I am aware that many people have their own specific set of preferences, and if those specifics are many, their dreams are seldom met. However, that was not the thrust of the question really. Goolems has the right idea. It is an unanswerable question, to be fair, but I was curious to read any ideas related to it. As I say, the other areas of my business respond more to updates, but the BiB store sales remain fairly steady regardless of what gets posted. Sales do go up on C4S, but that's just part of the update deal there - updates mean more sales because it brings a given store to greater prominence for a while.

Regarding the whole C4S issue, the restrictions they are imposing have been there for quite some time, but they are taking it a lot more seriously now. As of a few days ago, they started scanning every clip uploaded to check for violations before the clip is activated. At the moment, the delay in activation is almost one day for bondage, and one of my other clips has been pending for three days, despite their original promise that it would be no more than two hours. They are, as you might guess, inundated with clips to process. They have 7 people checking them with four more in training, but they still can't keep up. I imagine it will improve but it's damaging business in the short term - no updates means less sales.

I do understand why this has come about. There are people who post material that is actually illegal, and they are trying to stop it before there is a lawsuit that shuts C4S and other companies down. In its first few decades of life, the Internet went largely unpoliced, but more and more laws are being passed to prevent certain behaviors. I am referring to things like child pornography, animal torture, etc. These laws are also to help protect models, many of whom have suffered at the hands of unscrupulous people over the years. The fact of it is, if there were not people out there abusing the system, the laws would not come into play, so as usual, we all suffer because of a small number of doushebags.

As for people starting their own store to bypass C4S, it will only be a matter of time before all card processors will insist on the same rules. They will have to if they want to continue using Mastercard and Visa, so such a fix is probably only temporary.

To be honest, I have produced a few videos in the last week where I have filmed two versions of certain scenes, one containing scenes with chloroforming and knockout, for example, and an alternative version that gets around the need for this. What I have found is that the alternative versions are more interesting. Instead of an "unconscious" girl to handle/move/tie up, the model gets to act more, and adds far more to the story. Maybe it's because I have filmed the knockout routine hundreds of times, and am aware of the attendant problems of tying a limp body, I much prefer to have the bad guy take control by other means. As I mentioned elsewhere on this forum, the old tropes can be replaced quite successfully. Of course, if chloroforming is your thing, you are out of luck. There are also ways to imply a gun without it ever being seen or mentioned, and I think this will get past the censors. It's either that or the videos will get taken down and will generate no further income. For a producer, it isn't worth persisting with breaking the rules because, even if one sidesteps C4S, how long will it be before the card processor for an individual store insists on the same rules being imposed, for the benefit of the same credit card companies.

I think I have prattled on long enough...

[adivie]

If the CC companies get their way, a lot of stores will be out of luck. Fortunately, You know how to put out great videos and hold to the regulations. Several people who have certain fetishes will find their fun ideas suddenly axed by the credit cards as illegal or unwarranted. What was once a fun past time will now be regarded as criminal activity. Like you stated, all because some douchebags posted actual illegal activity on the Internet. It is almost like when there is a mass shooting, Congress wants to pass more restrictive gun laws when the criminals involved could have been caught using existing firearms laws. Unfortunately, the fetish industry does not have a 2nd Amendment to protect it in the courts and from over-reaching politicians.

It is already getting to where the mainstream media is no longer showing the damsel-in-distress theme. We do not see her bound and gagged by the bad guy. Now, when grabbed, she kicks butt immediately. Pretty soon, even seeing our darling damsels bound and gagged with little clothes on will become illegal or unwarranted activity. That is where I am afraid this could be headed.

[Nyghtfall]

If I may make a suggestion, it sounds like Rachel Adams will be able to suit your custom bondage needs better than any other model I know.

Yup, she's good. I own a few things she's in, including BiB's "You Took My Job".

Now, two of my favorite producers have announced their retirement from the industry...

May I ask who they are?

Of course, if chloroforming is your thing, you are out of luck.

So, no more chloros?

I'm not so much into limp play as I just really enjoy watching women struggle against the cloth and succumb to those sweet faux fumes, especially when they're attacked in a car where the villain is hiding in the back seat.

As for people starting their own store to bypass C4S, it will only be a matter of time before all card processors will insist on the same rules.

Wasn't 18 U.S.C. 2257 supposed to put the kibosh on illegal content? I thought the sky was supposed to be the limit for prop weapons as long as you had a model release.

[adivie]

Hello Nyghtfall,

The two producers are BKTied and Tied&Taped. Todd, who produces for Tied&Taped, has been making indie films on more vanilla subjects for the past six months. He produced one called "Happy Hour" about friends having a virtual "Happy Hour" during the height of the COVID Pandemic when most everything was shut down.

Rachel Adams is a great model and easy to work with regarding customs. However, she has a busy schedule so expect delays and lengthy times between responses in emails. She does get to them. I t just takes time with one person and 100K+ fans wanting her attention.

Do not be a stranger on the forum. It is great hearing your input. I wish we can get input from other members also.