The first time Eddy Rich dressed up as Santa Claus, he was simply doing a neighborly favor.
It was 1995. His neighbor breathlessly ran down a hill, round a cul-de-sac and to his entrance door in Tucker, Georgia, to inform him that the Santa she’d employed for a celebration abruptly canceled, and she or he had an empty go well with to fill, the now-68-year-old recollects.
Putting on the costume and bleaching his lengthy beard made him “really feel like a superhero,” he says. Thus started his three-decade side hustle as Santa Claus, starting at native events and migrating to personalized video website Cameo — a web based market the place folks should purchase customized video greetings — in 2018.
Last yr, he and his son Chris Rich — a 32-year-old property supervisor who helped set up his dad on the platform, and manages his presence there — made roughly $52,000 from Cameo, together with $14,700 throughout the week of Christmas, in accordance with paperwork reviewed by CNBC Make It.
They’re poised to carry out equally this yr: They’ve made greater than $30,000 as of Friday night, with Christmas week nonetheless to come back. The father-son duo usually divides the cash in a 60-40 cut up, Chris Rich says.
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“[Eddy] is a grasp of his craft … He simply actually, actually cares about making good movies,” says Cameo CEO Steven Galanis. “He’s not simply doing nicely [compared to other] Santas. He’s performing in addition to anybody on the platform.”
When he began as a celebration Santa, Eddy Rich charged about $125 per hour for in-person occasions. He might might attend, at most, 5 events per day, spending hours sitting in Atlanta visitors, Chris Rich says.
Now, throughout peak vacation season, Eddy Rich movies as much as 20 movies per hour, as much as 10 hours per day, he says. Chris Rich works an extra 5 hours per day sorting by way of requests, writing scripts and trimming the movies. The workdays are lengthy, however at $26.25 per video — the quantity the Riches take dwelling, after Cameo retains 25% of every transaction — they may make as much as $525 per hour.
The common Santa earns round $60 per hour, according to job search platform ZipRecruiter.
When Eddy Rich first bought began, he purchased a $550 Santa go well with and paid $80 for a customized belt, with a four-inch brass buckle forged by an area jeweler, he says. He nonetheless makes use of that belt, and buys his go well with items for $40 every at costume low cost shops, preserving about 5 crimson jackets and two pairs of pants in rotation at a time.
Eddy Rich in his “workshop” for Cameo movies.
Chris Rich
He movies in entrance of his front room hearth, adorned with nutcrackers and a garland. He makes use of a hoop gentle, a stand and an iPhone 13 Pro Max to movie, says Chris Rich. “He’s the colonel, I’m the Elvis,” Eddy Rich says with a hearty giggle.
Performing from dwelling helps Eddy Rich spend much less time bodily on his toes, no small consideration for celebration Santas. He can take breaks extra simply, too. One yr, he took a few days off when he bought laryngitis, and was in a position to shortly log again on and unfold Christmas cheer when his voice returned, Chris Rich says.
These days, Eddy Rich is retired from his full-time profession as a provide retailer supervisor. Extra money in retirement is good, however he largely spends his Santa cash on others, he says.
“I’ve all the time been frugal, however this has made loosen up somewhat extra,” says Eddy Rich. “I all the time depart large ideas once I exit to eat, as a result of [wait staff] are working their butts off throughout December. I attempt to unfold it round and handle folks.”
“If we wish to go do one thing, or we wish to purchase any person a present, we are able to do it and we do not have to assume twice about it,” provides Chris Rich.
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