What To Avoid

So, if fee charging is not the way to sort the good from the bad then where do I go from here I hear you ask?

Good question. The straight answer is, there is no straight answer, but we can give you is some very straightforward common sense guidance to equip you on your way to finding a good, safe & reputable agency for your child.

1st - Established Agencies Only
Do NOT choose an agency that has not traded for more than 3 years.

Why not?

If you know anything about the industry at all then you will understand that the very first thing to avoid would be a new company and avoid it like the plague!

Over the past 20 years there have been literally hundreds of agencies open and then close within their first year of trading.

Whether it be a deliberate business ploy, or not, the facts speak for themselves. Especially with the current financial climate, business is hard and clients will only use companies they feel 'safe' working with.

What is the first thing you provide an agency with when applying? Your child's date of birth, full name, contact details & photos!

Then, what is the second thing you supply them with after joining? Yes, of course! Their birth certificate, your signature on license details..........

I think you are now following me............

Then why not just send them their passport and anything else of importance you have!!!

Providing your agency with these items is standard procedure, but we advise you to ONLY send these items to long standing and reputable agencies that have been trading for more than 3 years minimum. You may think you can trust a new agency, but what would, or indeed could you do if they closed down and took all your child's precious details with them? I guarantee you they won't be posting it all back to you in a hurry!

There's no need whatsoever to gamble with your child's welfare, especially when there are so many good agencies out there, most of which have been running for more than 10 years.

2nd - Location, Location, Location!
NEVER send an application to an 'agency' trading from a PO Box address, or one that uses a mobile number as their point of contact.

I don't think I need explain that one any further, but in short, remember that any agency that does not trade from established offices should be avoided.

3rd - Facebook & Advertising Gimics
Reputable agencies will NEVER advertise to the parent sector for model applications. If an agency is advertising for models then the likelihood is they just want your money! BEWARE of facebook agency groups, newspaper advertisements and certainly steer clear of 'seminar' days held in hotels 'in your town'. A reputable agency will generally receive so many applications daily that they would decline advertising even if it were offered to them for free.

4th - Client Lists
No agency can publish company names on their websites as being their clients unless they have actually worked with them. That is the law!

Beware of agencies who hold long lists of so called 'company names' you've never heard of on their websites. If you've never heard of them then the likelihood is that nobody else has!

It should be remembered that companies such as pampers will never usually deal with an agency themselves, but have a casting director/photographer do it for them. It would therefore be pointless trying to contact a 'client' to ask if they have worked with a particular agency for that reason.

5th - Assessments Fees
Some agencies will want to see a child before joining and some will not. Most that do will ask for an assessment fee. Anywhere from between £25 and £55 is the usual going rate and sometimes it can be more. The truth is that assessment fees are actually illegal. Despite this law, some agencies still charge and get away with it too?

If you think about it logically, if an agency charges £55 to every applicant and tells them all they've been unsuccessful, they wouldn't need to have any clients, any staff, or incur any overheads at all and could quite easily maintain a business on declines alone.

That's why the law is in place!

Despite this law, some reputable agencies choose to ignore it (on their own head be it) and still charge regardless.

Having worked in the industry for many years myself, I do understand the need to charge for the valuable time of the staff and taking key staff from their working positions to assess, meet & greet parents and children. Charging also 'gets rid' of any time wasters.

This is a very confusing and difficult subject at the moment with current law changes and ongoing disputes, so it's best left up to the parent to decide if they want to take the risk of paying to be 'declined'. I know what I'd choose to do.

6th - Chatrooms
Parenting chatrooms are great for some things, but not so good for others. We have learned in past years that many 'posters' have been barred from several well known forum websites for posting bogus messages and 'posing' as parents. They use this method to advise others which agencies to join and which to avoid.

Remember, all sign ups to these chatrooms can be done using anonymous email accounts (hotmail, yahoo etc) and none have to be verified. It doesn't take much to work out that anyone with a grudge, or mission, could use them to post defamatory, or indeed highly positive remarks about an agency, all of which could be totally untrue. There are no laws to prevent them, so are potential breeding grounds for people to use for whatever purpose they wish.

If I signed to a chatroom today and posted a message up saying that my nephew had not been paid fees from an agency for 2 years and the agency told me to get lost when I called them, there would be nothing to prevent that staying up for all to see, leaving people to think the agency was a 'con'. Posts can be removed if challenged, but what use is that hours after the world and his mother has read it!

If the same were printed in a newspaper then the agency could sue for damages if it were untrue.........food for thought!

7th - Availability Check Calls
An agency that is established and busy will submit children for work regularly throughout the day as part of their every day job. Calling a parent everytime they are submitted is not realistic and would most certainly become problematic. Most new agencies will do this to create an image of them being busy where infact they are clearly not busy enough if they have to time to do it! No busy and reputable agency would even consider such action, unless a client specifically asks for certain details the agency did not hold, as it would only cause unnecessary excitement for parent and child and have them calling constantly for results.

8th - Multi Forum Advertising
NO reputable agency would ever place an advert in any publication seeking children. Be it for a specific job/client, or for their agency, any agency that engages itself in this kind of practice should be avoided, or at the very least questioned.

RMA would not recommend, or consider membership to any agency operating to one or more of the above.

In addition to the above - remember!

You should NOT have to pay for castings (auditions), or test shoots, or for updates to your child's profile (exception where photographs are taken by a professional photographer and are being used for website preparation - in which case this should always be optional and not compulsory).

Reputable agencies will not try to push you into making a decision - do not fall for the line "we have been looking for someone like you and, by the way, we have a paid job for you, but you need to sign now". No agency should ever contact you after offering you placement with them.

Beware of agencies that insist you have test shots, or portfolio shots taken with them at a fee before joining. Good quality snapshots are fine and ALL clients agree that it is unreasonable for parents to update professional portfolios regularly throughout the year. An agency that uses good quality snapshots will have up-to-date details of their children!

Beware of 'scouts' in the streets. Reputable agencies would NEVER approach a child to join an agency unless in certain situations (at shows etc).

If any agency seems to issue guarantees of paid work, challenge them. Nobody can guarantee your success, so they most likely have an agenda.

Before you sign a contract read it carefully. Discuss any concerns you have. If there is anything in the contract you are unsure about, ask for an explanation. Be careful that the contract does not ask you for anything above and beyond that which has already been discussed. Check that the agency name on the contract is the agency that you think you are dealing with. In all but the most exceptional circumstances, contracts are legally binding.

If you have paid a set up fee but are not getting any work, you have very little chance of getting your money back (and none if it is within their Terms) as no agency can guarantee work.

Legal disclaimer: Our comments are of a general nature and do not refer to any particular agency.