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Author Topic: Fotolia is cutting royalties for 2010 and will increase prices  (Read 34261 times)

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« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2009, 09:46 »
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

(Sorry, I just had to...)

"Fotolia continues to pay artists one of the highest royalty rates in the industry", yeah, right.

I hope they will sell a lot of my XL and XXL files...
« Last Edit: December 17, 2009, 09:48 by Perry »

« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2009, 09:47 »
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Looks like they're trying to reduce what they pay out to non-performing contributors.  Below Sapphire drops up to 5 %, Above Sapphire rises 2-3%.

« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2009, 09:51 »
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Looks like they're trying to reduce what they pay out to non-performing contributors.  Below Sapphire drops up to 5 %, Above Sapphire rises 2-3%.

Yes, but you need 100,000 downloads to be sapphire, that is A LOT.

« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2009, 09:54 »
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Over 100000 dls how many are there 5? Everyone else is a non-performing contributor  ???

« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2009, 09:56 »
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Looks like they're trying to reduce what they pay out to non-performing contributors.  Below Sapphire drops up to 5 %, Above Sapphire rises 2-3%.

Yes, but you need 100,000 downloads to be sapphire, that is A LOT.

Their diamond is 1,000,000 downloads (and note that subscription sale means 0.25 (i.e you need 4,000,000 sales to get there)).
Even the real top tier would need years to get there.

« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2009, 09:57 »
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Hmm..  :(

Interesting, i didn't notice that at first sjlocke.

That mean Andres stays at the level he is, Yuri gets a 1% raise, Emeralds get a 1% cut, Gold get a 2% cut.

How much less /more income is this?

White 5% down = 16% pay cut
Bronze 4% down = 12.5% pay cut
Silver 3% down = 8.8% pay cut
Gold 2% down = 5.6% pay cut
Emerald 1% down = 2.6% pay cut
Sapphire = stays the same
Rubs = 2.3% raise
Diamond = 4.5% raise

ouch.  This - in addition to their numerous pay cuts last year has really increase their share of the sale.


« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2009, 10:00 »
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Another thing that makes iStock exclusivity look better.

« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2009, 10:01 »
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I think Fotolia will be a new iStockphoto soon (royalty-wise, equals 20% royalty rate.).

Maybe they will launch some big advertising campains to bring in more sales. That's what I'm hoping.

helix7

« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2009, 10:24 »
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Another thing that makes iStock exclusivity look better.

istock launches a plan that greatly increases the benefits of exclusivity, and this is what Fotolia comes up with? Are they trying to push people away?

« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2009, 10:25 »
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Well this certainly helps me to finalize my decision whether to drop them... I've been debating it for a long time. Then sales finally started to pick up and I thought I'd hold out a bit longer... so much for that; I don't need need to contribute to agencies that treat people this way...

« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2009, 10:29 »
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I guess this makes it a trend - cut royalty percentages and  (a) keep those at the very top happy with a raise or status quo, plus (b) increase prices to try and disguise the long term loss of lower share for everyone else.

Hard not to view this as something that IS's recent announcement gave FT (and others) cover to do.

It's interesting that Emeralds aren't viewed as important enough to placate - I'd have thought they'd have to include them in the group to "protect" from the cuts.

« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2009, 10:32 »
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This actually doesn't look too bad. Yes, it is a backhanded raise like the last one, but it still looks like a raise. I'll get paid more on everything but XS and Vectors. It stinks about the vectors. I'm not sure why Fotolia keeps dumping on vector artists. Also, the max vector costs less than the XL. How does that make sense?
« Last Edit: December 17, 2009, 10:34 by cthoman »

vonkara

« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2009, 10:42 »
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Wow I'm so happy to had left this failboat, before I leave because I got owned by this announcement. Now I won...

It seem like you will do nothing at Fotolia if you are new. I joined FT in 2007 and does good for 6 month. Then for watever reason plus subscriptions, I started to hear crickets. Getting like 36 cents by credit purchase and such... just lololol

« Reply #14 on: December 17, 2009, 10:50 »
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I would of been gold by now, if they hadn't changed the levels.  Now I am even worse off than I was before. 

Their partial exclusivity might be interesting though and that would allow me to get out of subscriptions.  Look at this table.

http://www.fotolia.com/Info/Contributors/Partial

« Reply #15 on: December 17, 2009, 10:52 »
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The commission rate cut really stinks, but isn't it possible that it will be balanced out by the increased price the customer is paying?  And if we take Fotolia at its word that it will continue to aggressively market itself to buyers, it's possible that sales will increase.  It's not outside the realm of possibility we'll see increased downloads X increased prices X a reduced rate = a net gain for contributors.  I know I'll get flamed by all the FT haters here, but I want to give them the benefit of the doubt as they've been a solid performer for me for my 13 months in microstock.  I won't be leaving FT anytime soon.

« Reply #16 on: December 17, 2009, 11:00 »
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Not their fault, but its our ...
We will appeal on the forums but we shall never withdraw Portfolios...

It is normal that the employer is always looking for lower profit margins for its employees...

We need union...  :P :P :P  ;D ;D ;D

P.S.

But bigger prices have to be a good  thing...
« Last Edit: December 17, 2009, 11:13 by borg »

« Reply #17 on: December 17, 2009, 11:01 »
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I will post the email I received from Fotolia:

Dear Fotolia Contributor,

2009 has been an amazing year for all of us - through aggressive marketing and promotion efforts, we were able to more than double photographer payouts! We're planning on repeating that trend in 2010 - and effective January 1, 2010, we're implementing some changes to help us towards that goal.

File Prices:

While XS downloads will remain at 1 credit, other downloads will increase between 1 and 2 credits per file. In addition, we'll be simplifying the file structure and combining the XXL and XXXL categories. For more information on file pricing, click here.


Commission Structure:

To accomplish our marketing and promotional goals, we've adjusted our artist commission structures. While some levels have increased and others have decreased in terms of percentages, a majority of contributing artists will continue to see increases in the total dollar amounts earned as we are raising prices. In comparison, Fotolia continues to pay artists one of the highest royalty rates in the industry, and we've been cited by many top photographers as one of the fastest growing and most important stock photography sites on the internet! For more information, click here.


Marketing and Promotions:

Fotolia has been aggressively marketing and promoting your images, vectors and videos, both online at various designer sites, and offline in the world's most influential design magazines and tradeshows. Typically, we offer customers a combination of free credits and discount on credits. Rest assured that these discounted and free credits earn you the exact same royalty as regularly priced credits - Fotolia bears the entire cost of the promotion. In 2010, we expect to be even more aggressive in our marketing activities for the entire community's benefit.

Also on their side bar graphics in the email:

"Performance since 2008
+48% New Buyers
+53% Credit Purchases
+54% Contributor Earnings
+57% Contributor Payouts
+203% API Calls
+15 Trade Shows"

END QUOTE



-Mark
http://markwpayne.wordpress.com
« Last Edit: December 17, 2009, 11:33 by mwp1969 »

« Reply #18 on: December 17, 2009, 11:02 »
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For me things will probably be better, since I sell many larger sizes, and the maximum prices for these have all been increased substantially.

« Reply #19 on: December 17, 2009, 11:02 »
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My earnings did go up a bit the last time they did this but I still get annoyed when my slice of the money is reduced and theirs is increased.  With FT, DT and istock all trying to grab more money, I am going to spend more time looking at other ways to sell my images.

vonkara

« Reply #20 on: December 17, 2009, 11:03 »
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 And if we take Fotolia at its word that it will continue to aggressively market itself to buyers, it's possible that sales will increase.  
They only cut the share to photographers to me. Most buyers don't care about prices it's enough cheap compared to the macro times. They want to find the images quickly and have the best collection to choose in...

j2k

« Reply #21 on: December 17, 2009, 11:04 »
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It seems that I actually will be making more money if the download distribution doesn't change in the new year. I don't like the percentage cuts thou, it only benefits fotolia in the long run.

What about subscription pricing. Didn't see anything mentioned - no change?

KB

« Reply #22 on: December 17, 2009, 11:09 »
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I'm well over the silver line, yet still about a month away from silver due to the 1 out of 4 sub sales rule.

So as a Bronze contributor, here is what the changes bring:

XS: -13% $0.32 --> $0.28
S: +31% $0.64 --> $0.84
M: -12.5% $1.60 --> $1.40
L: +2% $1.92 --> $1.96
XL: 0% $2.24 --> $2.24

Most of my sales are subs and XS, so I expect this will be a bit of a commission cut for me until I cross the silver line.

As someone else said, this definitely adds to the "exclusive IS" column for me.

« Reply #23 on: December 17, 2009, 11:25 »
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XS: -13% $0.32 --> $0.28
S: +31% $0.64 --> $0.84
M: -12.5% $1.60 --> $1.40
L: +2% $1.92 --> $1.96
XL: 0% $2.24 --> $2.24

Are you sure your calculations are correct? E.g. for M and bronze level I find a CURRENT commision of 1.28 credits, and this will rise to 1.40.

KB

« Reply #24 on: December 17, 2009, 11:30 »
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XS: -13% $0.32 --> $0.28
S: +31% $0.64 --> $0.84
M: -12.5% $1.60 --> $1.40
L: +2% $1.92 --> $1.96
XL: 0% $2.24 --> $2.24

Are you sure your calculations are correct? E.g. for M and bronze level I find a CURRENT commision of 1.28 credits, and this will rise to 1.40.
No, no guarantees! I make mistakes all the time.  ;D

The new numbers I trust, as I just calculated them. The "current" numbers were in my notes, and maybe I missed an earlier price cut? At some earlier point we used to get $1.60 for M. If we now get $1.28 I missed a big cut (which I wouldn't be surprised at at all).

Does anyone have the current numbers for bronzes? Sorry for the mis-information.  >:(


 

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