MicrostockGroup

If you try to log to crestock - there is new Membership Agreement, they ask you to agree.

One of the things - their address now in Toronto, Canada.



I still haven't got my payment requested 6 months ago (

They removed my portfolio for me but kept my account open, if they have new owners and increase subs commissions, I might use them again.

Indeed...
lets see what happens, better than no news at all I guess.

sharpshot: I still have my images on there, they have not been removed.

I haven't try to log on yet, but they are reviewing again. I got an email last night, 90% approved. Just that I can't remember when I uploaded, but it must be about 2 or 3 months ago.

The big question is, who cares?  I made a total of $21 in June on Crestock.  If the company disappeared overnight and I never got that money, I wouldn't lose any sleep. 

Maybe there's potential there and a new owner could make customers and contributors care again (I stopped uploading about 8 months ago), but in this crowded market, the odds are stacked against them.

Interesting.  I had my account deactivated 6 months ago but could easily have the images reactivated if things pick up. 

Hope those who are active on Crestock will let the rest of us who are waiting in the wings know if sales and payouts improve.

This is what they are saying in their blog.
I've always liked Crestock but they have damaged their reputation with contributors tremendously this past year. Hope they can win us back!


What the Crestock Acquisition Means to Contributing Artists
Posted Thursday, 1 July 2010 by Steve Pigeon in News
In a separate notice, we advised you that the assets of Crestock were acquired by Masterfile Corporation, a Canadian stock photo agency on July 1, 2010. Here is some additional information of interest to photographers and illustrators contributing images to Crestock...
To Crestock's Contributing Artists:

In a separate notice, we advised you that the assets of Crestock were acquired by Masterfile Corporation, a Canadian stock photo agency on July 1, 2010.

Here is some additional information of interest to photographers and illustrators contributing images to Crestock:

Masterfile is headquartered in Toronto with a European headquarters in Dusseldorf, sales offices in London, Milan & Paris and agents in over 100 other countries. The company is big enough to compete with the giants, but small enough to be responsive to all its stakeholders. There are 80 employees in Toronto and 24 in Europe. The Toronto office sells directly into the USA - in fact, only 10% of Masterfile's global sales are to Canadian clients.

The new Crestock Corporation. Crestock's founder, Geir Are Jensen in Norway, will continue to work with the company as a senior advisor. Gudmund Aarseth, in Scotland, who has been responsible for day-to-day operations since late 2009, will also continue with the business. He will transition back to his preferred role as a website design consultant for Crestock. We plan to add a number of people to the organization in the coming year to improve service levels and bring more global microstock experience to the company. Steve Pigeon, Masterfile's president and founder (that's me) will oversee the transition. Of course, we will be drawing on Masterfile's management experience and some pretty talented staff to help build a better Crestock.

What's in it for you?


1.Payouts. The first order of business will be to get all unpaid royalties (a.k.a. "commissions") paid to artists who have previously requested payouts. This process will be completed within two weeks. You can rest assured that payments will be regular and timely from now on.
2.Image backlog. Crestock currently has a considerable backlog of new images in the editing queue. We will get that cleared within two months. In the meantime, we are adding experienced image inspectors and editors to our team to handle larger volumes - so we will welcome your new image submissions and will move them through the process quickly.
3.Quick Response Time. Over the past year, Crestock operated with reduced staff which restricted their ability to respond to questions and problems. Effective immediately, you can expect a response to your e-mail inquiries within 24 hours (weekends not included).
What else can you expect to see from Crestock?

Advertising and promotion. Look for a lot more media buzz as we work with our ad agency and marketing staff to build Crestock's sales aggressively.

Globalization. We will expand Crestock into a multi-language, multiple currency business in the course of the coming year, in line with the capabilities of Masterfile.

Legal improvements. We have updated the general legal terms on the website, added a membership agreement and replaced the content upload agreement and the image licensing terms and conditions granted to clients for our mutual protection. We have also added new model and property releases to the site for your convenience (and legal protection).

The new Artist Image Upload Agreement is a fairly lengthy document compared to Crestock's old one, but it spells out exactly how we are going to work together and clearly defines your rights and ours. In my considerable experience at Masterfile, I've learned that good contracts make good friends. You will be required to read and accept the new agreement before you can upload any new images to Crestock but you can still request and receive a payout without approving the new agreement.

Crestock went through a rough patch over the past year and we appreciate that you hung in there with them. We think you'll see a considerable improvement under Masterfile's guidance, but talk is cheap: ultimately, your continued relationship with Crestock will depend solely on our ability to do a good job for you.

And that's our goal: We're going to give this company our best shot... so you can give us yours!

Steve Pigeon, President
Crestock Corporation
3 Concorde Gate, 4th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3C 3N7
[email protected]

It's an unusually drab way to enter the micro market for Masterfile. I guess it was cheap.

They will not.
In the new Artist Image Upload Agreement you have to agree with:

12.1.
Crestock will pay you a Royalty equal to:
12.1.1.
twenty percent (20%) of Licensing Fees collected by Crestock from its clients until one hundred (100) Accepted Images in aggregate have been licensed by clients (but not through subscriptions); then
12.1.2.
after one hundred (100) Accepted Images have been downloaded by clients pursuant to Section 12.1.1, the Royalty will increase to thirty percent (30%) of Licensing Fees collected by Crestock from its clients; and
12.1.3.
a fixed fee of twenty-five cents (US $0.25) for each Accepted Image downloaded through any subscription sold by Crestock.

Sounds good, but the low commissions will keep me from uploading nevertheless. Raising commissions from 30% to 40% (30% when you have less than 100 downloads) and subs to $0.3 would be a good start. And of course the agency would benefit from this as well as more people would contribute to them.

I wouldn't complain about that either Realistically though, I don't think a raise in commissions is going to happen. Even though everyone knows they can afford it and would benefit from it.

I'm curious if they are going to pay out to those who cancelled their accounts because they weren't paying out. Me for one.

I guess I was fortunate.  I had a very positive experience leaving.  Although payouts were generally slow I did manage to get my last payout quickly and have my images deactivated without any difficulty. 

I know what you mean though - I would rather not have to add sites to my lineup, but if I want to grow my income I have only a couple of options:  add sites or increase output.  Output is already about as much as I can handle as a one person operation, so that leaves adding outlets.

Adding Crestock back in is a no-brainer for me.  They produced a steady, if modest, income for me.  Add to that the very appealing fact that they already have most of my portfolio, so there isn't the chore of uploading to a new site, and it just seems like a smart move. 

If anyone's interested I will be happy to report back how sales go.  Hopefully the acquisition will breath new life into them