Why don't more figure skaters do cameo?

[moonvine]

I just figured since they almost all need money, it would be a good way to make some without extreme effort.
But the ones who do it are almost all, if not all, retired...

https://www.cameo.com/browse/athletes/figure-skaters

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Just been looking through the various categories to see who is on there and, I'm sorry, but my opinion of quite a few people I liked has plumeted.

Charging money (and in many cases substantial sums) to send a nice message to somebody. To me that is dispicable. Especially if you know that the person offering the services does have a lot of money.

It just doesn't seem right to be getting paid to be nice to somebody. Being nice is something that should come naturally, and for free.

Mind you, clicking into a couple of profiles, I see that the money for their messages is going to charity. So, their reputations are restored. I wish the site would make it clear in the search results who is giving the money to charity.

I watched a couple of sample videos, and the contrast is amazing. One person, who is charging the minimum amount set by the site (£5), is totally natural, and what they are saying sounds so genuine. But, I always thought he was a nice guy anyway, so this doesn't surprise me. It is obvious that he is doing it out of love, and that he is only charging because the site requires it. After initially been angry with him, he has actually gone up in my estimations.

EDIT: I take back what I said earlier. When I was on his profile before having breakfast, I was looking at the rating (5 stars) thinking it was the price. But when I searched for him again there now, I discovered in the summary in the search results that he is actually charging £30. No, that's too much for a message from somebody who is just a sports commentator!​

Another person, who is charging £100, sounds so awkward and unnatural and, well, insincere. If I was the person getting the message, I would be thinking "They are just going through the motions. They don't care one jot about me!" So, he has plunged in my estimations.

I'll have to watch a few more sample videos to get a fuller opinion. But, those are my initial thoughts.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[moonvine]

Just been looking through the various categories to see who is on there and, I'm sorry, but my opinion of quite a few people I liked has plumeted.

Charging money (and in many cases substantial sums) to send a nice message to somebody. To me that is dispicable. Especially if you know that the person offering the services does have a lot of money.

It just doesn't seem right to be getting paid to be nice to somebody. Being nice is something that should come naturally, and for free.

Mind you, clicking into a couple of profiles, I see that the money for their messages is going to charity. So, their reputations are restored. I wish the site would make it clear in the search results who is giving the money to charity.

I watched a couple of sample videos, and the contrast is amazing. One person, who is charging the minimum amount set by the site (£5), is totally natural, and what they are saying sounds so genuine. But, I always thought he was a nice guy anyway, so this doesn't surprise me. It is obvious that he is doing it out of love, and that he is only charging because the site requires it. After initially been angry with him, he has actually gone up in my estimations.

EDIT: I take back what I said earlier. When I was on his profile before having breakfast, I was looking at the rating (5 stars) thinking it was the price. But when I searched for him again there now, I discovered in the summary in the search results that he is actually charging £30. No, that's too much for a message from somebody who is just a sports commentator!​

Another person, who is charging £100, sounds so awkward and unnatural and, well, insincere. If I was the person getting the message, I would be thinking "They are just going through the motions. They don't care one jot about me!" So, he has plunged in my estimations.

I'll have to watch a few more sample videos to get a fuller opinion. But, those are my initial thoughts.

CaroLiza_fan

Well.....in my opinion....they aren't charging to be nice to somebody. They are charging to record a personalized message. Not everyone has a Sofia's mom to get Jimmy Ma to send them a video message.

They don't have most of their fans email addresses to send them a personalized message, don't know when their birthdays and anniversaries and things are, and if they spent all their time recording personalized messages to their fans they'd have no time to train.

The ones I have met in person have all been extremely nice and happy to talk, sign autographs, etc if you can catch them at the right time.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Well.....in my opinion....they aren't charging to be nice to somebody. They are charging to record a personalized message. Not everyone has a Sofia's mom to get Jimmy Ma to send them a video message.

They don't have most of their fans email addresses to send them a personalized message, don't know when their birthdays and anniversaries and things are, and if they spent all their time recording personalized messages to their fans they'd have no time to train.

The ones I have met in person have all been extremely nice and happy to talk, sign autographs, etc if you can catch them at the right time.

True. You make some good points there.

I do still feel uncomfortable with the idea, though.

Maybe it is just me.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[LolaSkatesInJapan]

I just figured since they almost all need money, it would be a good way to make some without extreme effort.
But the ones who do it are almost all, if not all, retired...

https://www.cameo.com/browse/athletes/figure-skaters

This looks very awesome and I had no idea such thing existed. Too bad my idol skaters are not there. I would spend lots of money on this website if they were

 

[moonvine]

This looks very awesome and I had no idea such thing existed. Too bad my idol skaters are not there. I would spend lots of money on this website if they were

Yes, there are many sorts of people on it, athletes, actors/actresses, etc. I'm just unsure why not so many figure skaters...I would pay hundreds of dollars for Gracie to do one..

 

[el henry]

The selection of skaters is not the best (good to see JoJo Starbuck out there).

I looked at football and the Eagles for comparison, and the selections are slim pickings there too. Some retired greats, some not so great, some people I have never heard of (that takes some doing) and of current Eagles, Kenny Gainwell. Who I think is an underrated player, but not the best known.

No Jalen Hurts or Jason Kelce. Of course, they don't need the money.

 

[moonvine]

The selection is not the best, but I looked at football and the Eagles and the selections are slim pickings there too. Some retired greats, some not so great, some people I have never heard of (that takes some doing) and of current Eagles, Kenny Gainwell. Who I think is an underrated player, but not the best known.

No Jalen Hurts or Jason Kelce. Of course, they don't need the money.

I can't imagine what Jalen would charge...I'm sure part of it is, how many would my man Jalen even have time to do? I can see him getting hundreds of thousands of requests and then what?

But I can think of figure skaters who (presumably) need money. Anyone who is teaching LTS classes to help with training expenses would benefit I'm sure. Figure skaters who don't get envelope funding (or the equivalent in their country).

 

[noskates]

The figure skater's cameos aren't any different than professional sports figures charging for autographs, etc. I guess if you can make money doing it, and someone is foolish enough to pay for it - why not?

 

[LolaSkatesInJapan]

The selection of skaters is not the best (good to see JoJo Starbuck out there).

I looked at football and the Eagles for comparison, and the selections are slim pickings there too. Some retired greats, some not so great, some people I have never heard of (that takes some doing) and of current Eagles, Kenny Gainwell. Who I think is an underrated player, but not the best known.

No Jalen Hurts or Jason Kelce. Of course, they don't need the money.

For football I’d pay for Cristiano Ronaldo, but maybe he’s not on this website either

 

[LolaSkatesInJapan]

Yes, there are many sorts of people on it, athletes, actors/actresses, etc. I'm just unsure why not so many figure skaters...I would pay hundreds of dollars for Gracie to do one..

I’d pay lots of money for Kamila to do several

 

[Amei]

True. You make some good points there.

I do still feel uncomfortable with the idea, though.

Maybe it is just me.

CaroLiza_fan

Not just you

I find it weird personally, but if person A is comfortable paying for it and person B is comfortable getting paid to do it...

 

[el henry]

For football I’d pay for Cristiano Ronaldo, but maybe he’s not on this website either

I don't know a darn thing about soccer, but here are your choices. I don't see anyone named Ronaldo

https://www.cameo.com/browse/athletes/soccer?qid=1690236123

 

[TallyT]

The figure skater's cameos aren't any different than professional sports figures charging for autographs, etc.

I'm inclined to agree, it's a logical step from having a photo taken with and signed by your favourite fandom star at a convention. Bit more difficult with an international sport where a lot of the bigger (either in scores/medals or in media presence) stars and the people who might buy the messages don't speak a common language...

 

[moonvine]

For football I’d pay for Cristiano Ronaldo, but maybe he’s not on this website either

ROFL! Pretty sure he is not.

 

[mrrice]

I just figured since they almost all need money, it would be a good way to make some without extreme effort.
But the ones who do it are almost all, if not all, retired...

https://www.cameo.com/browse/athletes/figure-skaters

Wow, I didn't know Jojo Starbuck was still skating. It's interesting to see Tonya on that list. That movie really turned her life around.

 

[moonvine]

Wow, I didn't know Jojo Starbuck was still skating. It's interesting to see Tonya on that list. That movie really turned her life around.

I'm not sure she's still skating. If so it's for recreation..

 

[moonvine]

I'm inclined to agree, it's a logical step from having a photo taken with and signed by your favourite fandom star at a convention. Bit more difficult with an international sport where a lot of the bigger (either in scores/medals or in media presence) stars and the people who might buy the messages don't speak a common language...

It seems to be for English speakers. There's an Australian skater but I don't see any who aren't native English speakers.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

The figure skater's cameos aren't any different than professional sports figures charging for autographs, etc. I guess if you can make money doing it, and someone is foolish enough to pay for it - why not?

You'll not be surprised to hear that charging for autographs is something else I think is dispicable.

Well, I can understand having a small fee if buying an autograph online, to cover the postage costs. But I think it is terrible for a celebrity / sportsperson to ask for money from somebody that has come up to you in real life and asked for an autograph, or a photo. A few years ago, there was a story going about that a well-known motorbike racer turned TV presenter had demanded payment from a kid that asked him to sign a photo. There was uproar amongst the bike racing community. And a lot of fans haven't forgiven him for that.

Talking about autographs reminded me of something. You know the guy I mentioned in my first post in this thread that was charging £100 for a video. I remember seeing a story in the sport's leading newspaper about 25 years ago about him signing autographs, and some woman got him to sign her breast. And the story had the headline "[His nickname] woz 'ere".

I wonder did he charge for that...? Somehow, I don't think so!

Mind you, clicking into a couple of profiles, I see that the money for their messages is going to charity. So, their reputations are restored. I wish the site would make it clear in the search results who is giving the money to charity.

I got curious, so I just went through all the skaters profiles to see who was giving money to charity. And here is what I found:

• Mok Ye-Bin, Korean / American former Singles skater who is married to British former Pairs skater Tom Naylor and is now living and coaching in England, says in her introductory video that she is giving all the proceeds to the BBC's charity Children In Need.
  
  
• Maia and Alex Shibutani say in their introductory video that they are donating the proceeds to "different charities and organisations that we support", although they don't elaborate.
  
  
• Kristi Yamaguchi says in her introductory video that a portion of the proceeds will go to her own charity, Always Dream.

Good on them!

As you have probably noticed, all of them are retired from competition, so they can afford to give the money to good causes as they don't have the same costs that the current skaters have.

Meanwhile, Tonya Harding used her introductory video to plug her range of merchandise. Yeah...

CaroLiza_fan

 

[el henry]

I have no problem or ethical quandary paying for a Meet and Greet at SOI.

Why would I have a problem paying for a personalized greeting from Cameo?

This is not the equivalent of seeing your favorite skater at the rink, asking for a selfie, and them saying, sure kid slip me a Benjamin. This is paying for convenient access, just like SOI.

One of my nieces, when she was a teen, attended a ComicCon or similar event. Matt Smith was Dr. Who at the time and she paid for the meet and greet (not cheap). The selfie with him looks great (her and him) What were the chances she was ever going to see Matt Smith walking down the street to ask for a selfie? None.

Money well spent.