The primary time Eddy Wealthy 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 out of the blue canceled, and he or she had an empty go well with to fill, the now-68-year-old remembers.
Placing on the costume and bleaching his lengthy beard made him “really feel like a superhero,” he says. Thus started his three-decade aspect hustle as Santa Claus, starting at native events and migrating to customized video web site Cameo — a web based market the place folks can purchase customized video greetings — in 2018.
Final 12 months, he and his son Chris Wealthy — 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 in the course of the week of Christmas, in line with paperwork reviewed by CNBC Make It.
They’re poised to carry out equally this 12 months: They’ve made greater than $30,000 as of Friday night, with Christmas week nonetheless to return. The daddy-son duo usually divides the cash in a 60-40 cut up, Chris Wealthy 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 isn’t simply doing effectively [compared to other] Santas. He is performing in addition to anybody on the platform.”
When he began as a celebration Santa, Eddy Wealthy charged about $125 per hour for in-person occasions. He might attend, at most, 5 events per day, spending hours sitting in Atlanta visitors, Chris Wealthy says.
Now, throughout peak vacation season, Eddy Wealthy movies as much as 20 movies per hour, as much as 10 hours per day, he says. Chris Wealthy works a further 5 hours per day sorting by requests, writing scripts and trimming the movies. The workdays are lengthy, however at $26.25 per video — the quantity the Riches take house, after Cameo retains 25% of every transaction — they might make as much as $525 per hour.
The common Santa earns round $60 per hour, in line with job search platform ZipRecruiter.
When Eddy Wealthy first received 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, conserving about 5 purple jackets and two pairs of pants in rotation at a time.
Eddy Wealthy in his “workshop” for Cameo movies.
Chris Wealthy
He movies in entrance of his lounge fire, adorned with nutcrackers and a garland. He makes use of a hoop mild, a stand and an iPhone 13 Professional Max to movie, says Chris Wealthy. “He is the colonel, I am the Elvis,” Eddy Wealthy says with a hearty snort.
Acting from house helps Eddy Wealthy spend much less time bodily on his ft, no small consideration for social gathering Santas. He can take breaks extra simply, too. One 12 months, he took a few days off when he received laryngitis, and was in a position to shortly log again on and unfold Christmas cheer when his voice returned, Chris Wealthy says.
As of late, Eddy Wealthy is retired from his full-time profession as a provide retailer supervisor. Additional 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 Wealthy. “I all the time depart huge suggestions after I exit to eat, as a result of [wait staff] are working their butts off throughout December. I attempt to unfold it round and deal with folks.”
“If we need to go do one thing, or we need to purchase someone a present, we are able to do it and we do not have to assume twice about it,” provides Chris Wealthy.
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