Wants to hire me and pay cash only

[Crashoran]

I've been contacted by somebody in Austin who wants me to shoot events and sports for him, and pays $20 hourly. And he only pays cash at the end of each game. Something is fishy here. Avoid?

[peeker]

The fishy part is the $20/hour. if you worked an 8 hour day, you would make $160? Pretty simple answer for me just based on the amount of money.

[Steelsun]

Someone just wants to have work done at a bargain rate and avoid things like payroll taxes, sales taxes, etc.
Not very ethical, or worth the money.

[Crashoran]

He claims to be a police detective in Austin as well.

[MHampton]

Originally Posted by Crashoran

He claims to be a police detective in Austin as well.

That fact alone does not mean he's honest unfortunately.

[ka5txl]

Well at least the cash won't bounce unless it fails the marking pen test

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Go with your gut. This isn't unusual.

[Dokk]

Bottom line, even if legal or even grey area, if you feel uncomfortable, don't do it. I second the motion that it sounds like he's just trying to get a cut rate on your services. Set your location fee and hourly rate and stick with it. $20 and hour is waaaay low unless he can guarantee a minimum amount you would make on print orders or something like that but he'd have to guarantee that in writing and make up for any shortfall.

[bigjon0107]

Like the others have said, he is probably just trying to pay his staff under the table...but if you are not comfortable, don't do it.

[CaptainTom]

If you would otherwise do it for free, go for the money. If it takes you away from doing something else that makes money, you'll have to make the decision.

It's not completely ethical, but it is a fact of life that many people get paid
"under the table".

Consider that if you were paid a wage, and paid all the associated taxes, fees, Social Security, etc. you end up with about $12/hr take home.

[d2creative]

There's nothing wrong with being paid cash.
It's up to you whether you want to claim it or not.

But i agree with others, $20/hr is ridiculously cheap if you're not making money on prints or anything.

[BEphoto]

I work for a DFW based sports photography company and actually get paid less than that. I do it only on my days off, just for some extra spending cash. Its just a small family run business that specializes in action shots, but the company is actually growing pretty quickly. Sure, the pay isnt great, but they arent some supercompany with all kinds of money to throw at their photogs. I do it mostly because i enjoy it, and also to get me some experience for down the line, when i do want to pick up a rate much higher than $20 an hour.

I get paid cash at the end of the day usually.

Like Tom said, if you would be doing it for free, you might as well make SOME money if it doesnt take away from your day job or anything.

[ChristopherCoy]

Call me cheap... but $20 an hour is more than I make in my 'normal' job. WAY MORE! If you dont want the job, tell him to call me....

[ldelacruz]

I am still baffled about how the photography industry runs. You show up with $10,000 worth of equipment and get paid $20 hour. Sounds like a good deal for someone but not me unless they are going to provide the equipment.

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by ldelacruz

I am still baffled about how the photography industry runs. You show up with $10,000 worth of equipment and get paid $20 hour. Sounds like a good deal for someone but not me unless they are going to provide the equipment.

...or in my case, $800 worth of equipment.