If people are running a shop then I expect most would be happy of people wanting pics and a chat.

Had Gemma been accommodating in her manner, the family may have spent more buying souvenirs of their visit after as opposed to leaving resentful feeling blackmailed.

i understand in a way that she did not directly ask £15 for a photo but said, if you want a photo you have to buy something. The cheapest thing was a tea cup costing £15 that was not worth 15p As far as i'm concerned, this is asking £15 for a photo. she conveniently had loads of these. Amy Childs was in her shop, did she charge, no! harry was in his shop, did he charge no! The only people i know of that charge for pictures and autographs are porn stars at conventions and thank god Gemma is not a porn star.

her store isn't doing that great, they've been plugging a 70% off sale for a good while now

Exactly, and they would have told their friends that Gemma was lovely, nothing like the GC etc, she may have got repeat business
Its not like she's working on a factory floor packing biscuits and people are walking up to her asking for pics, she's selling her image in that shop. It demonstrates her utter lack of nous and reinforces her grasping nature as seen on screen.

...it would have to be quite a niche field if she was.

Ah Alex. One of the best housemates in the best BB series.

Those were the days when housemates had fun, they had their arguments as well but they made their own fun, producers didn't appear to fix it for housemates and presenters presented and didn't try and influence the outcome.

I've said it before, the DVD is still available and if younger viewers want to know why us BB veterans long for the good old days of BB they should get it. I laughed till I cried, and Alex starving and worried about his constipation was priceless.

Thanks for the laughs Alex, and you are so right about Gemma, she is a waste of oxygen.

she took most of her stock with her into the BB House in those 6 suitcases

As the mother of an 8 year old I've been thinking what I would do in that situation, and I think I agree with this poster and I would have explained to my daughter that Gemma isn't a very nice person. Fortunately she has no idea who GC is and that was another thing I found interesting. I've never seen an episode of TOWIE in my life and this is a genuine question, is it really something that's suitable for a 9 year old to watch? I'd love to know what the people who watch it think.

I am not a follower of the programme, only seen bits and pieces. As for being suitable for an 8 year old, remember kids view things through a kids mind. Adult stuff whooshes right over their heads. What I would be concerned about would be looking up to these people as role models. That can be avoided though by taking the mickey out of it yourself. My son wouldn't watch thinking its great, he laughs at these type on how stupid they are, especially as they can't answer things he can as a 10 year old.

Well said, nice to see you here, even if the subject is not the best.
Anyway, I think your point on how the other TOWIE people reacted is very relevant - it's all about marketing and brand image. You don't leave the fans with a bad feeling - that's how their money dries up as word spreads.
Collins completely trashed her brand image with the "buy something" demand (the mask slipped, she's mercenary and she's thick).

Of course there are differences. He has corrected a factual mistake (the cost) and added detail which he couldn't include on Twitter due to the character count limit.

Even Gemma Collin's own 'camp' have not denied that her standard policy is not to give photos for free to people that come into her shop as they are a "business not a charity".

I might have explained to the little girl that her hero was ripping her off.

If it was a public arena like a shop they probably would yes. Especially when arguably, much of her trade will come from the publicity she gets from her TOWIE fame.

Actors have to deal with people coming to their place of work, the stage door all the time and i don't think many charge for having a photo taken or giving an autograph even though they are having to give up their time.

Some stage doors do have a note up saying not waiting for autographs and as somebody else stated, she has a right to put up a notice in the window stating a purchase must be made before a photo taken. that would tell everybody the deal so they could make an informed decision but of course if it is a child or teenager going with a parent (and i imagine most of the TOWIE fanbase is quite young) then of course the parent will have to pay up rather than disappoint/upset their child and I bet Gemma knows (and plays on) that.

Also, some genuine customers that would have spent a lot more just might think it is a nasty attitude and boycott the shop on seeing the notice, whether they'd intended on asking for a photo or not - I would.

It is in some ways shortsighted though - as another poster mentioned, lots of people would probably have bought something anyway as a gesture of goodwill (similar to buying a drink in a pub or cafe if you need to use their loo, whether there is a sign up or not) without being prompted, and spent more if she'd been nice to the kid and told their friends that the shop was good rather than giving her bad publicity.

That's why she's overpriced the cheapest item in the shop ,
from previous posts the cheapest item in the shop is a mug at £15.00?
that's a lot for a mug ,
and you'd leave her shop feeling like one

Exactly.

I'd be very surprised if there isn't always a second member of staff there doing the actual 'grunt' work of serving customers.

Gemma will be there as the 'personality' as she as a person is the brand and knows that many people will come to the shop simply because she owns it and they might get to meet her. Doesn't mean they wouldn't also buy something and something expensive.

But if she is using her fame to attract business (and she is) then the other side is some (probably younger) fans wanting a photo with no immediate payment.

Yes, theme parks charge over the odds but parents know that going in, it's usually a treat which has been planned for ages and the kids know that.

I bet people wouldn't be impressed if an ice cream seller in the theme park shoved an ice cream in the kids and then said to the parent "10 quid or I take it off her" as of course the kid would cry. And that is effectively what Gemma Collins is doing here.

Concerns me kids are even watching TOWIE,
it's such a load of sh*te and who'd want to aspire to any of them,
least of all Gemma ****** Collins

It's good of you to straighten it out, not that you needed too. DS users can be a bit blunt at times lol. I completely understand this. As a mum with two daughters I see this kind of selling blackmail all the time and it's the lowest of the low when it involves childen. I can't stand Gemma and admit I may have muttered something on the way out but would probably have bought the mug too. It's not like you're being blackmailed into buying a balloon.

Or an alternative would be to have a collection box for a charity and ask people to put a donation in there for a photo. Shamelessly making money out of the fans that put you where you are is disgusting.

Did you feel she was mugging you off, Alex?

I think Gemma charges because that's what makes her feel famous
she does it for status

bit like her thinking her demands in the house should be met
and he only going in the house if she can take 6 suitcases with her

I wish people would stop wanting photos with her, she is z list and a c*w

I think having a number of photos at hand so they can be given away free with any purchase could be seen as an admirable policy. Mind you , £15 for a mug is pretty steep.

i wish Stephanie would swap Jeremy for one of Gemma's mugs,
she wants him after he massaged her feet !

I was with someone (who shall not be named) and someone came up for an autograph ,and they were refused because the person was a bit creepy ! Another time two lovely ladies came up,and they happily obliged giving them a photo with them , and these ladies were so happy it was so nice to see. I hate arrogance , and i hope people boycott helping Gemma feed her selfish upherownar*se ego.

As the average cast member has an IQ of minus 9 I'd day it's perfectly acceptable.

As for Ms Collins insisting on people buying her tat in exchange for a picture - hilarious. She'd be nothing without TOWIE (and she's not much with it) so she should remember about being nice to the 'little people' that (inexplicably) consider themselves fans.

I recently went to Highclere Castle where Downton Abbey is (was) filmed. You are not allowed to take photos inside the house - if you want a photo you need to purchase the stock items they have. Did it annoy me...not really. That property is a money making facility, a business, for the owners. Whether anyone wants to acknowledge it or not Gemma is a business and if she would not give away photos without people buying something...fine. If they didn't want to bother they should have walked away. When I was in Egypt I would have loved to have my photo by the camel and the Egyptian gent, but I chose not to because it was on a junket which I'd paid dearly for and the gent was a part of. My choice...no resentment...just their business and my choice not to participate.

And I wouldn't for the world allow my 8 year old to watch that show, or any like it. If it had been a Ninja Turtle or a Disney Princess they might have been upset.