The Cost of Porn

I did some math for a typical 5-minute solo shoot. It was eye opening for me and might be for you too.

Calculations in American Dollars

Shooting

Prep time: 45 minutes
Shooting time: 30 minutes
Editing time: 60 minutes

Let's say I'm being paid minimum wage (which in Ontario is the equivalent of $10.50/hour USD), my time spent so far would be valued at $23.62.

I low-balled my wage because of the huge amount of free and pirated porn online as well as the amount of competition. I wish the stigma sex workers face as well as the lack of employment available to us outside of the business would increase that wage, but sex work isn't seen as valuable by society. Especially older women such as myself in sex work. Lowball it must be.

Online Business

Computer equipment, camera, tripod, and lights: $5000 every two years

Software and storage: $50 per month

Home business expenses (rental, electricity, mobile, and internet): $300 per month

Business expenses: (accounting, business registration fees - not including federal and provincial tax as that depends on income): $200 yearly

If I shoot 2 times per week every week (as I do) that is 104 shoots per year.

$5000/208 shoots= $24.03
$50/8 shoots= $6.25
$300/8 shoots= $37.50
$200/104 shoots= $1.92

$69.70

Sex Work Expenses

12 sets of lingerie per year (if low-quality that runs at about $300 and if high-quality $3000) so let's stick to cheap.

$300/104= $2.80

One pair of nylons is $10 so if I use one per shoot (as they will be ruined by the end of a shoot) that's $10.

Sex toys are a bit tricky. A rechargeable vibrator tends to last 2 years and runs around $100 for a decent one. A quality silicone dildo will last for about 5 years and costs about $75. The math for 3 of each comes at $2.02 per shoot.

Given I go through a $24 8oz bottle of high-quality lube every 6 months that is $0.50 per shoot.

Make-up, hair products, hair cut, manicure, pedicure, etc... but this is $250 per month which is $31.25 per shoot. Even though I'd still get a hair cut and wash my hair if I wasn't a content creator, I wouldn't spend as much on nails and some stuff.

I didn't include my skincare (products, dermatologist, and facialist), gym membership, time spent working out, or other clothing items as I cannot expense them.

The final cost of producing one 5-minute solo sex shoot from home is $137.87.

Selling the Video

I typically spend 4 hours per day writing copy, uploading content, and marketing myself and my accounts online. This is for the entirety of what I have to offer over 4 platforms (subscriptions and individual sales). This is where things get tricky for me. Maybe one of my MBA friends can do the math for me. Seriously. I really want to figure this out.

For the time being, I will exclude it even though I spend most of my time on this.

Profit

I would price my solo sex video for $5 or $10 depending on how hardcore the solo sex is (fingers in pussy versus toy in butt). Let's calculate both.

AVN Stars takes a 20% cut. So if priced at $5, I get $4. Priced at $10, I get $8.
Others take between 25% and 50%.

I will need to sell a $5 video 28 times before making a profit, $10 video 14 times. Wasn't this an interesting exercise? Good from a business perspective too. I suspect there will be more calculations to come. I want to figure out how to see how things add up if I consider the value of subscriptions.