Payments FAQ

When your shoot is booked, your Model Liaison will discuss the shoot type, and amount of money you will earn for this shoot when you complete it. The table on the Payment Rates page shows a summary of fees we pay.

After the shoot booking call, we’ll send an email that summarises what we discussed, including the shoot fee.

If you have questions about payment, it’s no problem to ask for more info at any stage of the process.

We pay models by EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer, sometimes called a “wire”). It takes one day (or less) for payments within the European Union, and up to 14 business days outside the EU (though under 7 days is typical). 💸

We have a guide for finding your banking info.

Yes, we have a separate page for this;

Receiving money from abbywinters.com

We have a page with more info on banking details for people whose bank is in the EU or UK (or at least, they have an IBAN for their bank account).

Receiving payments to your EU bank account

 

 

If your bank is in a country outside the EU (or, you don’t have an IBAN for your bank account), we have a whole separate page on what info we need.

Receiving payments to your non-EU bank account

We know that some people are nervous about sharing their banking details with people they don’t know – that’s why we don’t ask for your bank details up front, we wait until you have spoken with someone from our company in the Info Session and we’ve made the decision that we’d like to work with you – we’re about half way through your onboarding now (more info).

Risks of sharing banking info

There is a small risk with sharing your banking details, in theory this helps a bad guy get one step closer to your money… but your bank has good systems to keep you safe (for example, a second factor of authentication, in addition to your banking username and password, like an SMS – and we definitely do not need that info!). Here’s more about the info we do need.

You should read up on how we store your personal information, in our Privacy Policy.

We also have a FAQ on our Model Recruitment site which is relevant, How do I know you’re legit?

Why we need you banking info

We need your banking info so we can pay you! Pretty important! 😇

We prefer to get this information from you now so there are no “blockers” to making a shoot, but if you prefer, you can provide this closer to the shoot date – or even after the shoot itself (but this is likely to delay your payment).

When your Model Liaison asks for your banking details (or you’re prompted to supply them as part of our Onboarding Questionnaire), let us know you’d prefer to wait to supply these, and they’ll make a note to ensure you’re asked about this again later in the process.

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See our Payments FAQ for more info on how we pay models.

Paxum (www.paxum.com) is an online-only payments facilitator, similar to PayPal but allowing payments for adult work, regardless of the account-holder’s home country. That means, we can use Paxum to pay models!

Yes, we are always happy to pay models by Paxum – payments are instantly received when sent, fees are low or $0, and there’s only one simple piece of info we need to be able to send money to you: we only need your Paxum email address.

However, Paxum is not right for everyone. It is expensive to withdraw money from Paxum to your personal bank account (a $50 fee for each withdrawal in some cases) – see all their fees.

Buuuuut, you can get a Paxum debit card Mastercard or Visa to spend the money that way (much smaller fees), or indeed, transfer to other Paxum account holders for $1 per transaction.

2022 saw sanctions brought against Russia by the West, including limitations on sending money by EFT or PayPal. This makes paying Russian models for shoots difficult – or even impossible.

If the model has a payment method outside of Russia already set up (for example, Paxum, or a bank account in a country that is not affected by sanctions), we can make prompt payment with no problem.

Of course, models may choose not to work now, instead waiting until they have a viable payment method – no problem, let us know.  Otherwise, if models choose to work under these circumstances, we can safely hold the money until the model provides a viable payment method. We will release the shoots created on our site as normal, however.

We have robust systems to track model payments, and we commit to all models that we will pay them the agree fee for the work they do, whether it’s 3 months or three years later.

Transferring money inside the EU has low transfer fees – free, or at least under €1 is typical. 🇪🇺

But when transferring money from within the EU (where we are based) to countries outside the EU, bank fees are no joke.  💰

First, our bank charges a fee for sending an international money transfer – no worries, we always pay for that, so your bank receives the full amount you’re due. For example;

You’re due €500 and live in Canada. 🇨🇦

Our bank charges us a fee of  €14 for sending money to Canada. We’ll “send” €514 and the €14 will be deducted before the money leaves our bank.

Our bank will send you the full €500 you’re due. 💸

But your non-EU bank will charge for receiving an international money transfer (often called a “wire”) from a bank in a different country (because banks are assholes 😶). To continue the Canadian example from above;

Your Canadian bank receives the €500 we sent, and looks at your banking profile (when you set up your bank account, you signed an agreement regarding bank fees). Your bank calculates the fees to charge – turns out to be CA$18.50 in this case. 🤬

So, first your bank converts the €500 we sent to Canadian dollars, that’s CA$737.21 (the specific conversion rate changes a little each day, more info). Then, your bank deducts the CA$18.50 fee, so you get CA$718.71 in your bank account. 🙂

You can do a Google search for “ fees for receiving international wire transfers” to find what will be the case for you, for example:

wells fargo fees for receiving international wire transfers

You’ll usually have to dig a bit to find the info you need. Alternately you can call your bank and ask this exact question;

You’re an international payments expert. What fees am I charged by you and any intermediary banks, when I receive Euro sent from the Netherlands, to my bank account?

By asking this specific question, we cover all possible factors. Unfortunately, front-line customer service people at smaller banks are not equipped to answer this question correctly. If they demur or seem unsure, ask to speak to an international payments expert.

Bank fees are almost always “flat” (that is, the fee is the same if we send €100 or €1,000 or €10,000), so it’s better to make fewer transactions of higher amounts (for example, for all the work you did in a week of shoots, instead of payment for each shoot individually) – that way we both lose less in bank fees. We’ll always do this by default, unless you tell us otherwise.

Intermediary bank fees

As you learnt on our page for finding the necessary bank information, sometimes an intermediary bank is used (where the money goes from our bank, to the intermediary bank, then to your bank). Intermediary banks may also charge a fee (or, they may not).

In our experience, Intermediary bank fees can be between US$0 and US$75, with US$20 being most common. But, this is set by your bank, so you need to ask them to be sure.

What if I don’t want to pay bank fees?

No one likes bank fees, but they are almost unavoidable.

Some modern payment methods have very low fees – Paxum is a good example, but there can be fees for withdrawing money from Paxum to actually be able to spend it, depending on where you live.

You may be able to change the type of bank account you have, to one with lower fees – worth asking if you plan to do a lot of work for companies in other countries.

You may want to change banks – banks often have discounts for things like fees, but you’ll need to check the fine print.

Your payment is likely to be delayed if you provide incorrect bank details. This can happen in two phases;

Our bank does not let us send the payment

If the bank details you provide are incomplete – for example, you don’t provide the SWIFT (international bank identifier) for your bank – we cannot send the money: this is a field required by our bank so we cannot send money without it.

We’ll message you to ask for this information, and we cannot send your payment until you provide this.

You don’t get the payment we send

If the bank details you provide appear complete, but are incorrect – for example, you type your account number, but substitute a 3 for a 2 – we can send the money fine (our bank does not know that the account number you provided is incorrect), but when the money reaches your bank, they will reject the payment (even with all the other info we provide, because banks are assholes).

It gets worse! If the money we send is rejected by your bank, only some of it will be returned to us! For example:

• We send €500 to you (using incorrect bank details you provided)
• Three weeks later your bank returns only €475 to us with the message “destination account unknown”
• Yes, they keep €25 for that! 🤬
• Next time we send the money to you – hopefully with corrected bank details this time! – we’re only able to send €475… you’ve lost that €25 forever!

This can get expensive and wasteful fast – and delays you receiving payment by weeks – so it’s essential to provide correct bank details! Here’s how to do that.

We’ll always work with you to get the correct payment details, no matter how long it takes. 😌

It’s no problem if you’d prefer to invoice us for your modelling work (this would usually apply to models who have set up a business around their modelling).

Please let us know at least week before your shoot, so we can prepare our systems for this. On-set when administering paperwork on the shoot day, you’ll need to select the “I will invoice you” payment option.

We have detailed information on what an invoice needs to have, to be paid. We will reject invoices that do not meet these requirements.

There are some unusual circumstances when a model will not be paid for their work.

All of these circumstances are extremely rare, but are listed here for the sake of openness.

Models will not be paid if the shoot is cancelled before it begins

Occasionally, shoots are cancelled before they begin (ie, the model has arrived on set, but the Shoot Producer decides the shoot cannot go ahead). There are a range of reasons for this, detailed in the What happens if I arrive on-set for a shoot, and it is cancelled or rescheduled? FAQ.

Our Model Liaisons and Shoot Producers do everything in their power to minimise this (like models, they only get paid for shoots that actually happen), but some aspects can only be controlled my models themselves. For example;

❌ Model Angela develops a serious acne breakout on her face a few days before the scheduled shoot. Insted of providing grooming images before the shoot, she pretends she never saw the request for new grooming images from the Model Liaison.

Angela arrives on-set for the shoot as if nothing is wrong – she’s deliberately mis-lead the company. The Shoot Producer knows Angela ignored the request for grooming images, and so is sensitive to possible issues.

The Shoot Producer consults with others in the company (our standard practise in these situations), and a decision is made to reschedule the shoot.

We acknowledge that models cannot control many grooming issues on their own body, but they can control how they communicate about them.

In situations where the Shoot Producer decides the shoot cannot go ahead today, the shoot will be rescheduled. In some cases, a shoot reschedule fee may be due to the model.

Models will not be paid if they refuse to complete a shoot

We have minimum requirements for each Type of shoot we produce, as defined on our Posing Levels and Shoot Types page. We are always open and up-front with models about the requirements of a shoot. What we publish on that page and what happens on set match exactly. The requirements change rarely (perhaps each ten years!).

If a model refuses to pose to the minimum requirements of that Shoot Type and Posing Level, a complete shoot cannot be made. For example;

❌ In Solo (Nude) shoot, the model refuses to show her buttocks during the video portion of the shoot. That’s part of the minimum requirements for Solo (Nude) shoots. The model would not be paid.

❌ In a Girl-Girl Hardcore shoot, one model refuses to give oral sex to her shoot partner. That’s part of the minimum requirements for a girl-girl hardcore shoot. The shoot canmnot be completed, so neither model will be paid.

❌ In a Guest Direction shoot, the model goes out on the street for a cigarette break, and does not return. She’s non-responsive to phone calls for the rest of the day.

✅ In a Video Masturbation shoot, the model asks to keep her socks on, because her feet are cold. While barefoot is preferable for our customers, this kind of compromise can usually be made, at the Shoot Producer’s discretion. The model would be paid as normal.

We work hard to pre-empt problems in this area by having open conversations with models about the requirements and expectations of shoots they are booked to appear in, and motivating models to be active participants in those conversations.

We encourage models to set boundaries for themselves, and to not give consent if they feel uncomfortable. However, all decisions come with consequences, and if consent is not granted for a minimum requirement of the shoot, the shoot will be cancelled.

The model(s) will not be paid, and any media captured so far will be permantly deleted (ie, no part of the shoot will be published).

Illicit drug use on set

See our policy on Can I have a drink (or, some other “pick me up”) for courage on the shoot day? Drinking and drug use on-set.

If a model is seen to be taking illicit drugs or drinking alcohol during a shoot, the shoot will be cancelled, and the model(s) will not be paid. Any media captured so far will be permantly deleted (ie, no part of the shoot will be published).

Refusal to sign the release

If a model refuses to sign a Release form or associated shoot documentation on a shoot, we cannot publish the shoot. It’s possible this is based on a misunderstanding, and the Shoot Producer will do what’s necessary (including organising a phone call with the Owner of the company) to resolve the matter.

If the matter cannot be resolved on the shoot day, we allow 48 hours from the end of the shoot for the matter to be resolved. If the matter cannot be resolved in that timeframe, the model refusing to sign is not paid (other models will be paid as normal). The shoot media will be permanantly deleted.

Inappropriate behaviour on set

If a model behaves inappropriately on set, the Shoot Producer may choose to cancel the shoot. Depending on the severity of the matter, the Shoot Producer may issue warnings about the behaviour before cancelling the shoot.

Examples of inappropriate behaviour include;

• Proceding with an activity when a shoot partner has explicitly not given their consent
  • ✅ Jane: “Please don’t touch my left nipple, it’s quite sore this week.”
  • ❌ Mary: *pinches Jane’s left nipple in the shoot*
• Violence, or threats of violence
• Theft
• Hate speach
• Verbal abuse towards anyone, including via voice call
• Taking images for posting to social media without receiving explicit permission (of crew, or other models)
• Bullying behaviour (online, by voice call, or in person)
• Uncontrolled emotional outbursts (eg, crying, screaming)
• Unsafe behaviour (endangering the model themselves, or others on-set)
• Damage to or destruction of property (owned by the Shoot Producer, other models, the location owner or occupant)

This is not a complete list, but serves as an example of the kinds of things we consider to be inappropriate on-set.

If a shoot is cancelled due to inappropriate behaviour, the offending model will not be paid, and media will be permanantly deleted. Other models on the same shoot will be paid.

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End.

 

We can make payment of your fees to someone else’s bank account, but we recommend against this because there might be problems that are difficult or impossible to solve. For example;

• What if that person does not give you the money?
  • It’s likely this will become our problem (you did the work, but did not receive payment for the work) – even though it’s not our fault.
  • We will not send the money twice!
• What if they give you the incomplete bank details, and the transfer does not work?
  • If the bank details provided were incorrect, the payment may be returned to us, less bank fees. For example, we send €500, but only €475 is returned because there were €25 deducted in bank fees. When we have the correct bank details, we’ll only send €475 – you’ve lost that €25! (if we made a mistake, we’ll always pay for that)
• What if they charge you a fee for receving the money?
  • We advocate that you pay any “out of pocket” fees for them if they provide proof
  • But we think it’s unfair to charge anything else
  • This is up to you to decide, but at the very least, you should have a conversation with them before we send the money, so you know what to expect.

However, we understand that sometimes this is necessary, despite these risks.

We’ll ask you to sign a form acknowledging the risks in this approach. You’ll then need to provide the bank details of your friend to us. Direct them to our Supplying bank info page, have them pass the info to you, then let us know.

We strongly recommend you organise this at least a week before your shoot date, to allow for complications to be resolved.

[For AW BV staff, the form for models to sign is located here, called Form for models to sign if they want AW BV to send model fees to someone else’s bank account]

😬 Taxes, right? We reckon we all use the roads, schools, hospitals and so on, and tax is something we should all pay (we certainly pay plenty!), and we discourage tax avoidance.

First, a gentle reminder that as you’re not an employee of ours, your taxation is your responsibility to administer correctly – not ours.

We’re a Dutch company, and we are required by the Dutch government to report payments for work made to all contractors (which includes models) each year, to the Dutch Tax Office. We do not report reimbursements (that is, where you incur an expense and we give you money for it, like an STI test) – only payments for work you did with us.

We securely provide the Tax Office your name, address, and total amount paid this year. They are not clear what they do with this information (anecdotally, it does not seem like they do anything with it!).

We’re not accountants, but we work with many models who ask us accounting questions, so we asked our accountants for their advice on this. Their answer is, it’s complicated. 🙄 It depends on what country you live in, what the tax requirements are there, how much you earn from modelling, and how much you earn from other things you do (eg, your “day job”), your age, and a few other things.

So, the official advice from us is, ask your accountant. 🤑

The good news is, in most western countries, people are can be allowed to earn a certain amount of money each year that they do not need to pay tax on (this might be called a “tax free threshold” in your country, or something similar), designed to let you earn a small amount of “fun money” from your hobbies. If you have a full-time job, you’d usually claim this from the salary / wages you get from them when you started working there, but it varies by country.

The amount of money you can earn without having to pay tax on it varies, but is usually under US$10,000 a year – it may be lower or higher for your country. Some models we work with earn less than that in a year from their modelling work, so they don’t have to pay any tax (but they still have to report their modelling income to their tax office!).

So, when you go to do your tax, let your accountant know how much you earnt from your “hobby” (no need to go into specifics, but if they ask, you can just say “modelling”), and ask them if it’s possible to declare this income as being from a hobby so you pay less tax.

If you’re concerned about this, it’s best to ask them before you spend your modelling earnings, otherwise you might get a nasty surprise at tax time (that is, you might have to give 30% of your modelling fee earnings to the tax office! 😧), so maybe you want to email your accountant now? We recommend copying and pasting this – but you’ll need to make some edits:

Hey Bob,

I heard this one the other day: what does an accountant say when boarding a train? ‘Mind the GAAP’. 😀

So, as a hobby I do some paid modelling work, and this year I’ll earn around $2500 from it. I am not sure if I need to pay tax on on that?

One of the companies I work with said I should ask you about “tax free thresholds for hobbies” (they said, it depends on which country I am in, and some other factors, so they cannot actually advise if it’s relevant for me – they said I should ask you).

Can you please let me know – if I do need to pay tax on this income, roughly how much should I keep safe for that?

Thanks!
Becky

(It’s always good to start with a joke, right? “GAAP” stands for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, standards for accounting that are used all over the world. It’s pronounced “gap” – like the announcements at train stations – and it’s something accountants have “mind” all the time in their work! 😉

Anyway, we send you a copy of each Release form from each shoot you appeared in (showing how much you earned for that shoot), but email the Model Liaison for a report for the financial year if you need one (be sure to let them know what the financial year dates are in your country – they vary!).

Also, please let us know what your accountant told you – we’re nerds like that. 🤓

“Reimburse” means, you pay for something then later we give you the money for that purchase.

We only reimburse models for some expenses, under some circumstances – see, Expenses we cover (and btw, Expenses you must pay for yourself).

For expenses we reimburse you for, this is the process for claiming that reimbursement.

When to do this

After the shoot block is complete and you are back in your home city, lay out all the receipts clearly showing the date and amount.

Best to do it promptly, so we can send payment with your shoot fees in one lump sum (this will reduce bank fees for you).

How to prepare this info

Take a single photograph with your smartphone (or similar) from directly above, showing all receipts for this trip.

Only include receipts for things that are on our list of things we reimburse for (see expenses we cover, unless we have specifically emailed you about an exception to those). If you have a question, ask us on model.application@abbywinters.com, before continuing (otherwise, your payment will be delayed).

Make sure the text is readable in the image when zooming in. If you have so many receipts that the text is not readable in one image, dividing them into two groups and making two images is fine.

Name the image(s) meaningfully – your eight-digit MDB ID is best, this appears in the subject of most emails we send you. Name the files like this:

10327351 receipts for reimbursement June 2023.jpg

How do I provide this to you?

This will not apply to most models, but if you have a business set up for your modelling work and want to invoice us, see Invoicing abbywinters.com BV for what to do with these receipts.

Otherwise, send an email to model.application@abbywinters.com (or other email address, if you’ve been asked to), attach the image(s), tell us the total amount.

Things not to do:

• Don’t send us a few receipts each day!
• Don’t send us 20 images, one of each receipt!

Give us alllll the info in one go. Please. 🙏

Note we no longer require receipts for Transfers (eg, for public transport). See Transfer Allowance for more info.

What happens then?

When we receive your message, we’ll start an internal process for you to be reimbursed. If there are discrepancies, we’ll message you about them and get them clarified first.

If it’s all good, you’ll receive a “Non-Shoot Payment Event” notification (by email and SMS), asking you to check that we’re paying the right amount, and you’ll be able to select the payment method. Once you confirm that, we’ll send out your payment, usually with any other shoot fees due, as a lump sum.

If you are invoicing us, we’ll review your invoice, make sure it complies with our requirements and make sure our records match. Then, we’ll queue your invoice for payment on the next Wednesday (if we received it by midday Monday – otherwise, it’ll be queued for Wednesday next week).

In a nutshell

In principle, we’ll send your payment electronically to you a few days after the shoot.

In more detail…

Before a model can be paid, there are a few things that need to happen;

• Shoot(s) complete
• Reimbursements and allowances claimed by the model
• Approvals made
• Banks transfer money

Before payment, shoot(s) must be complete

We only pay models for completed shoots.

We start working on your payment when your Shoot Producer notifies us the shoot is complete. Usually, this is on-set after the shoot is completed, via the phone app “Homonoia” we use to do “paperwork” for the shoot.

If the shoot documentation was done with pen-and-paper (very rare), the Shoot Producer notifies us by email that the shoot is complete, usually on the evening of the shoot day or the day after.

Before payment, reimbursements and allowances must be in

If you are claiming reimbursements (more info), we will delay your payment until you have provided receipts for those reimbursements (how to give us those receipts), to reduce money transfer fees for you and us.

You also need to claim any Transfer Allowances you’re due before shoot payment can be made.

Before payment, approvals must be made

Shoot payments go through several levels of authorisation internally (to make sure we’re paying the right person the correct amount at the appropriate time). Usually, we’re able to send payment to you the next business day (in the Netherlands) after the shoot.

For the nerds 🤓

We send payments the next Amsterdam business day after the shoot day. So, if a model does a shoot on Wednesday, we’ll typically send payment on Thursday (assuming their reimbursement claims are in!).

If the model does a shoot on Friday, and Monday is a public holiday in the Netherlands, we’ll send payment on Tuesday (again, assuming your reimbursement claims are in).

This is a list of bank holidays in the Netherlands (those listed as “National holiday” or “Public Holiday”).

Before payment is received, banks transfer money

Payments within the EU typically take one business day to be received by the model. Payments outside the EU (eg, US, Australia, Canada, etc) can take up to 15 business days, but 4-5 days is typical.

Uncontrollable delays in payment

Occasionally, there are delays in payment, due to things beyond our control. In our experience, this is less than once per year.

For example, technical issues at our bank, or unforeseeable access issues. We have several backups for these sorts of issues, but they are not always workable.

In these situations, we’ll inform affected models of the delay, and make an estimation of when we’ll be able to transfer the money. When the money is sent, we’ll let affected models know.

We commit to ensuring models get paid the correct amount, even if there are delays.

Payment for “blocks” of shoots

Sometimes, we work with models for a “block” of shoots – that is, several shoots over several days. Typically, this sort of work would be offerred after the first Solo shoot, that’s a “one shoot block”.

Payments for shoots in a block can happen after each shoot day, or at the end of the block. In more detail…

Not recommended: Payment after each shoot day

You can opt for one payment after each shoot day, for the shoot work you did that day. If you’re not in the European Union, this will mean more bank fees from your bank, as your bank will charge a per-deposit fee to receive from banks in different countries. But, you’ll get your money a little sooner (but still up to 15 days until you receive the first payment).

For example, imagine a model did a block of shoots like this:

• Monday: €450 Solo
• Tuesday: €750 Girl-Girl
• Thursday: €750 Girl-Girl
• Friday: €750 Girl-Girl
• Total: €2700
• Bank fees (€25 per deposit; 4 shoots = 4 deposits): €100
• Total received: €2600

If you’re in the EU, your bank probably does not charge you to receive payments from a bank in the EU (our bank is in the Netherlands).

Recommended: Payment at end of shoot block

One payment after all shoots in that block are complete (this would seldom be more than a week, and usually 2-4 days). For example:

• Monday: €450 Solo
• Tuesday: €750 Girl-Girl
• Thursday: €750 Girl-Girl
• Friday: €750 Girl-Girl
• Total: €2700
• Bank fees (€25 per deposit): €25
• Total received: €2675 (you get €75 more money!)

If you’re not in the European Union, that means less bank fees for you, but you’d also need to wait an additional few days to get all the money (because it’s sent after you last shoot day in the block).

If you’re just making one shoot, we still consider that a “block”.

That depends entirely on your bank and their policies… But first, a bit about the details we send out.

We send model payments from our company bank account, in the name of abbywinters.com BV.

In the reference field, we add reference numbers of the unique Shoot ID and your unique Model ID (so we all know exactly what this payment is for). If the payment was not for a shoot, these numbers match the payment form we email you, which provides more details about the payment, including a breakdown of what the total payment was actually for).

Unfortunately, banks do not always display those reference numbers, but they may be visible if you “expand”, “unfold” or otherwise choose to see deeper information about the transaction.

In the EU / EEA

If you live in the EU or EEA and use an IBAN for your bank account number, it’s very likely you’ll see our company name “abbywinters.com BV”. You should see the reference numbers we supply.

Elsewhere

Banks outside the EU / EEA vary greatly. Some will only show numbers like our bank account (which ends in 763) and / or other tracing or reference numbers (but not the numbers we supply, described above).

Some banks may show our company name and the reference numbers we supply.