Every model has experienced - or at the very least, heard of - modelling agency scams. In an age of social media where the barriers to entry into the modelling industry are lower than ever, some interesting characters come out of the woodwork to take advantage of people’s dreams.
When I first started modelling, I got scammed by a ‘modelling agency’. Yep, I’m not ashamed to admit that, because it happens to more people than you’d think.
I was taken in by big promises of being signed to a ‘boutique’ agency. I paid $600 for a full-day ‘training course’ for information that I could’ve found on Google, and then I was offered a ‘package’ for a photoshoot worth $1000 (though at a discounted price, that I didn’t take up anyway).
After all that, I never heard from the agency ever again, even to this day many years later.
I’ve heard from other models - whether they’re now seasoned models or just starting out - that they’ve experienced similar things with different questionable ‘agencies’. But for some reason, and maybe it’s because people are embarrassed about it, no one talks about these modelling scams.
Until now.
So grab a snack, come on back, and take some notes. These are the three biggest red flags you want to look out for with modelling scams.
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Pay to Join
This is the biggest red flag when joining a modelling agency. If an agent asks you to pay a joining fee to be represented by them, this is when you start questioning their legitimacy. In the modelling industry, you should never pay a fee to join an agency.
Why is paying a joining fee a problem? Because, instead of making money booking models for jobs, the agency is probably making its money from sign up fees. Which is not good for you financially or professionally!
The industry standard is that a legitimate modelling agency will sign you without asking for a joining fee. The agency makes its money by taking a 20% cut of any money you make from jobs booked through them. Sure, the number can be higher or lower than 20%, but it’s a good number to go by.
Profit on Portfolio
If a modelling agent tells you that you need to pay a huge amount of money for a portfolio, that’s another thing that should make you stop and reconsider. Similar to the sign up fee idea, paying to have portfolio shots taken through an agency is not industry standard. Especially if the agency has an ‘in-house’ studio or connections to a photographer that you’ll have to shell out your own money for.
If they’re asking you to pay money to use their in-house equipment and ‘connections’ you can probably bet that they’re making their profit from selling portfolio photoshoots, rather than booking their models for work.
It’s a super sneaky tactic that’s designed to make you feel like a portfolio shoot is something you need to pay for to be put forward for work. But in reality, it’s just unnecessary. Any sort of start up activities - like building a portfolio - should be included by your agency. They’ll make up for the money they spent on building your portfolio by booking you for jobs and taking that 20% fee.
Guaranteed Work
A big lesson about modelling agencies is that just because you’re signed, it does not guarantee you work. Any agency that promises you work when you sign with them, or even after you sign with them, is a Big. Red. Flag.
In modelling, work is never guaranteed. Booking modelling jobs depends on so many factors including the time of year, the amount of other models being put forward for jobs, the type of modelling you do, and so on.
An agent that promises you work, quite frankly, can’t be trusted. Don’t get sucked in by unrealistic promises and ideas that seem too good to be true - because they probably are!
If you’ve fallen victim to one of these scams, don’t feel bad about it! It’s happened to so many people, including me. But if this is the first time you’ve heard of these modelling scams, make sure to keep your eye out for them in the future, and do your model friends a favour - send them this post!
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