I don't meet the criteria and I definately didn't get the email.  There is nothing in my spam filter or bin.  The last email I got from them was introducing my 'personal team' on the 21st of October. 

This is not an early April Fool or something from the OP is it?

No I received the email as well. I was going to post about it and found this thread.

I made it, but haven't received the email either. Thanks for posting.

Nice that they are keeping the 50% commission for us old timers but they can change that whenever they want.  Not nice for anyone considering going non-exclusive with istock.  I prefer the way SS do it, pay more to those that sell more, regardless of when they started.  People that put in a lot of work should be rewarded.  Those that don't make much effort can have a reduced commission.  I don't see how putting off potentially great contributors by paying them a lower commission is a good idea.

On the offchance that 123rf is listening to this discussion, I think your suggestion is a very good one. Instead of having all new contributors be at the lower scale, have a two- or three-tier system where earnings (portfolio size is irrelevant) in $$ determine your rate. Grandfathering existing contributors would be a nice touch.

I also think it'd be appropriate to hear something from 123rf as to why they feel the need to reduce commissions - are they investing in marketing or are they seeing reduced business and instead of trying to increase it they hope to keep their profit up by taking from contributors?

And why did only some of us get the e-mail?

I didn't get the e-mail. I am in the grandfathered group, but I still am sad to see them dropping commission %. Without seeing the books I am always skeptical of sites claims that they need to pay us less to stay competitive (or whatever language they use to justify it). Maybe the captcha I have to type in every time I go to the site is costing them too much.

I also agree that it isn't really enough notice for someone to boost their portfolio unless they are very close - 123rf has a history of occasional long waits for reviews (that they seem to be in now, I still have images from Nov pending) combined with the occasional 100% rejection all for the same reason that could make it rather difficult to get a whole lot of images accepted. Were I within shooting range of getting to 150 images accepted I think that I'd send in all my rejects today in the hope that some of them got accepted.

Sad to see another site go down this road. Maybe it really isn't sustainable.

Bad news. any lowering of commissions is bad. And it seems unjustified. 123rf sales is increasing. Now 123rf wants to win more money with new contributors? bad news

Hi All,

We are also trying to motivate the ones sitting on the fence to 'upload' sooner rather than later.

I'm motivated. I have had good sales at 123RF since joining this year with my small portfolio.

I'm sitting at around 100 images (mostly vectors) and have uploaded an additional 46 images today. I have several other files in the works that I will be uploading asap. My only concern is that with the flood of new images I won't get reviewed in time. It would have been nice to know this was coming with more notice. I'm positive I can deliver the images, just not sure that they'll get reviewed. Any chance you can provide a firm deadline? Maybe if images are uploaded by Dec. 23rd or ??, they will count toward the 150?

Can you tell us the new commission structure?

I'm a big 123RF fan, and I wish I discovered the site sooner. For me, 123RF has been outperforming 2 of the "top tier" sites, I'd hate to see that drop.

...We believe that most of you who have extensive graphs and laser sharp analytical skills would come to the conclusion that the cost cutting effect is very minimal. And any 'cost savings' realized are very small and gradual especially in the beginning.

There will very likely be new entrants into the microstock agencies over the next few years - perhaps some macro photographers who have decided this is where the future is (stranger things have happened). Are we to assume that even if they bring a portfolio of several thousand images, they can never earn the same royalty rate that others of us do? Just because we happened to be part of 123rf before some arbitrary date??

Or are we to assume that new big portfolio contributors will negotiate private deals to get the same rate we're getting?

And if the cost savings are gradual "especially in the beginning" - does that suggest they get larger over time (for those of the newbies who build a big and successful portfolio)? Why is that a good idea?

Suppose I had waited 6 more months before bailing on iStock exclusivity and found I had a reduced commission - that I could never improve upon no matter what I did - because I didn't have 150 images uploaded by January 2012?

If you want to encourage people to work hard and produce, give them a chance to earn the higher royalty rate by generating sales. Without that it just seems so arbitrary to have this two tier compensation scheme just depending on when someone signed up. And soothing words aside, I can't help but view it as the thin end of the wedge that will in the future see the old-timers royalties "aligned" with the new ones, perhaps ironically citing how unfair it is to have two different royalty structures.

Not sure what you mean about motivating "the ones sitting on the fence". If you're talking about iStock exclusives, they have to give 30 days notice, so if they haven't already done that, they're SOL with 123rf already. If not them, who? Who is "sitting on the fence" right now?

And could you elaborate on this "necessary stepping stone towards bigger things"?

I appreciate you joining the discussion Alex, but I just don't see how this scheme makes any sense for the contributor community.

Thanks for participating in the discussion Alex, good to see that your growing success isn't stopping you communicating with us!

Do be patient, we'll announce more when the time is right

Like when it is too late?  Can you explain why you haven't told all contributors about this?  As mentioned previously in this thread inspections are running very slowly at the moment so realistically people would need to upload today to be in with any sort of chance of making the deadline.  When are you planning on telling people that they have missed the boat?

I left iStock because they were shafting me. I take a dim view of it elsewhere. I am not alone in this, so I hope you have thought this through properly.

I have 118 files at 123RF, so I won't be making it to 150. I think this is a lame move, because any commission cut is a 'punishment' for its contributors, no matter what excuse you might have.

And pushing us to upload more sounds more like a threat ("make it so 150 OR we will cut your commission") rather than an reward.

Too bad, 123RF, I was just starting to like you because of the sales. Also, why didn't I receive an e-mail? Why do I have to find out on this forum? At least you should communicate this to ALL your contributors, at least 3 months prior.

Squeezing contributors can't be good news, even if it doesn't affect us. Presumably, the details to come will deal with the terms and conditions for newbies.

Yes, exactly.  Not to mention that we have seen a number of sites tweak their search engines to put images they get a higher percentage of in front of buyers.   Hopefully 123RF will not use the tactic of putting their lowest commission stuff in the front of searches. 

Alex, I appreciate your participation in the discussion.  Hope that there are no nasty surprises in store for those of us who have been with you since the beginning.  Please no scheme where we have to make a certain number of sales each year to keep our commissions.  The loss of good will translates into a loss of custom, and that doesn't benefit anyone. 

Anyone getting this?

 Earnings
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My pending files, portfolio, everything else is accessible.

yep for a while now but if you check a few minutes later it will work