Scammers be scamming

[rexbobcat]

Actions Sports Photographer

"As a FANCLIQ Photographer your responsibility includes photographing youth sports action, and uploading the photos to our servers. We handle everything else including all image processing, client communications, image deliveries, client billing, and other administrative and logistical tasks. This company will be nationwide and global once we build our team of photographers.

Job Requirements:
- Passion for capturing quality images
- Ability to capture 3 quality action images of each athlete on the field
- Own a current and legal driver's license and reliable vehicle
- Meet all equipment requirements
- Pass criminal background check

Equipment Requirements:
- Digital SLR Body
- Telephoto lens (18-300mm) or similar
- Laptop or computer with the capabilities to upload photos to site.
- Smartphone (iPhone or Android)
- Reliable Internet connection

Compensation:
- $25 per game with no limit to the amount of games you can attend.
You will not need to attend the whole game, just until image requirements have been met.

You just take the pictures and we do all the rest!

If interested please respond with resume."


This isn't a scam of the Nigerian prince variety. It's more along the lines of "I wonder how many people are dumb enough to take us up on this.

This company doesn't even have a website.

On a side note, the SD Craigslist seems more whack than most other Craigslists.

 

[jsecordphoto]

A whole $25?! That'll pay for this 18-300 in no time

 

[480sparky]

"Youth Sports" = 4-10 games per day easy. Games of this caliber are rarely full-scale events. T-ball, for instance, usually only plays a given number of innings, a certain time frame, or until every player bats twice.

Then you just start shooting the next game.

I agree, you ain't gonna pay the mortgage doing this. But hey, if your kids or grandkids are going to be playing, you're attending anyway, and have the gear, why not?

 

[tirediron]

Sounds like another Marathon Foto-type outfit. Funny how when I go out to a local race event, there's about 15-20 of these folks and most of them really don't seem happy to be there. $25 for 3 "quality" images of each player... I quite often go out and shoot youth baseball just for practice since there's a busy field just a few blocks away, and I doubt that I've EVER got three good shots of every player..

 

[snowbear]

Crowdsourced HR.

I've seen this kind of thing advertised for other areas - real estate or property insurance, IIRC.

 

[Overread]

Yeah you get these all the time - they tend to target the "hey I got a really good camera maybe I could be a pro" and the "Gosh I never paid so much for a camera; I wonder if I can recoup the costs?" people. Most don't last that long; the pay is tiny and the work exceeds the pay input.

The companies work though because they reap the lions share of any profits plus they also work by constantly getting new people who are just like those in the opening line above; so they're always fresh photographers to take up.


Odd that they don't allow any commission; most that I've seen do take the lions share; but at least allow the photographer to work on commission.


It's all legal - all proper - just horrific working conditions for the photographer - and I'd bet they've got a similar setup to do their editing too.

 

[rexbobcat]

"Youth Sports" = 4-10 games per day easy. Games of this caliber are rarely full-scale events. T-ball, for instance, usually only plays a given number of innings, a certain time frame, or until every player bats twice.

Then you just start shooting the next game.

I agree, you ain't gonna pay the mortgage doing this. But hey, if your kids or grandkids are going to be playing, you're attending anyway, and have the gear, why not?

Yeah but...

$25 per game
No benefits (that I can tell)
No compensation for gas
No commission off the sales of your photos
You are required to turn all your photos over to this ambiguous agency.

The average photographer could make more than this by going to two games and selling the photos to the parents themselves.

If my kids were playing, I would want to watch them play and not have to worry about getting three shots of every other kid and then having to upload all those to a third party server.

When factoring in travel (especially in San Diego and Los Angeles), time spent shooting, time spent uploading, etc...Even shooting one game would be worth more than $25.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Craigslist seems to be something of a freak show where I live, covers a major city and surrounding areas and seems to have some legit listings amongst a lot of kooky stuff.

Took me a minute to realize it's Pic Cliq, the guy showed up in a search (if it's him); LinkedIn says he works with IT professionals (whatever that means) and seems to have owned a number of businesses with no professional background in anything particular, I guess; it was entertaining but then I got tired of reading about his failed businesses... (selling survival kits like Tupperware?? EKG kits to doctors?).

I don't know that quality is a high priority if he did 99designs for his logo (which is another business trying to get people to compete to 'win' and get their logo used).

I suppose this will last however long he can sucker people with cameras into doing this. Til they figure out it'll be all day potentially on their feet (doesn't say what sport), trying to get three 'quality' photos of each kid (and if they don't, then what? do they have to cover another game? paid/unpaid? to get the rest? what if the parents don't like them, do they have to reshoot?).

I found that too John, three of each kid in the short games they play in youth sports? Usually it would invariably be whatever player just got assigned here seemed to not get much ice time, or was always in the corners, or in a scrum etc. and I spent the better part of a game trying to get his picture. All I can do is shake my head at this one.

 

[dennybeall]

One of the big problems with Craigslist is that advertising there is FREE!!! So some guy gets a goofy idea of how to make a buck and can advertise for people to do it for peanuts. If it flies, it flies but it cost him nothing to run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes.