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Author Topic: iStock is "stealing" my videos  (Read 6372 times)

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« on: April 19, 2018, 04:30 »
+13
I just need to get out some frustration about iStock. I uploaded my files their until a couple months ago. They have never payed well for photos, I know that. But video sales has been ok, until last november/december. Suddenly all my 4K material, shot with $25.000 drone equipment starts to sell for $0.40. Ten videos sold for that price. I contacted them and the answer was that they offer a special subscription that allow this, and I cannot opt out of selling in this category. The last four months I have stopped uploading both photos and videos to them. Sales at Adobe Stock, Pond5 etc goes as normal, $25 to $100, depending on resolution. For anyone reading this, I suggest not to upload anything to iStock, you are better off.


« Reply #1 on: April 19, 2018, 05:08 »
+5
Yeah they are putting our content in the Premium access catalogue on Getty. Basically huge content producers pay an annual subscribtion to Getty/istock (which we dont see any of the $$$ from) and it ables them to buy clips for $0.10. I've had some sell for $0.01.

I still get the occasional big $$$$ even though I'm non exclusive so not sure what is going on there.

Number of sales is the largest but $$$ is 2nd best for me. Still pays the mortgage every month so I can't pull out. I've just slowed down my uploading.

« Reply #2 on: April 19, 2018, 05:26 »
+13
I stopped uploading to them over a year ago, I was a Diamond Exclusive for years but just couldn't take the abuse anymore. At this point it is the other agencies who have more exclusive content compared to Getty!!

« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2018, 10:09 »
+5
stopped uploading to istock 2 years ago. Last month we even had a refund of $90, which sale never happened. The funny place is this crappy agency.

« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2018, 14:05 »
+1
I just "sold" a video for $0.02 and my commission was $0.00 ...

I guess this is how the calculate 20.00% of $0.02 is $0.00 ... :|

« Reply #5 on: April 19, 2018, 14:25 »
+12
Why do you guys do this to yourselves?

« Reply #6 on: April 19, 2018, 14:42 »
+16
How is this stealing? You gave them permission to sell your videos, and they have the right to alter their prices or sell them through any iStock affiliated channel.

If you're really pissed off about it, you should delete all your videos from iStock. Easy as that.

« Reply #7 on: April 19, 2018, 16:32 »
+1
Suddenly all my 4K material, shot with $25.000 drone equipment starts to sell for $0.40

May I ask what drone equipment you have?

« Reply #8 on: April 19, 2018, 16:44 »
+2
I not upset just took my business elsewhere, they can sell what I have there.

« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2018, 06:05 »
+5
I have several drones, Inspire 2 with X7 and X5S. I also have drones with RED and Alexa Mini, but I do not submit a lot of stocks from those. The Inspire 2 is so easy to just stop and shoot som nice areas when traveling.

I just got the report in from iStock yesterday, sold six videos in march, all aerials, $0.60 each. Now I consider removing my entire account from them, not just stop uploading.

« Reply #10 on: April 21, 2018, 10:03 »
+4
How is this stealing? You gave them permission to sell your videos, and they have the right to alter their prices or sell them through any iStock affiliated channel.

If you're really pissed off about it, you should delete all your videos from iStock. Easy as that.

Stealing and "stealing" is not the same you know. By adding " " i state that the word is not correctly used.

« Reply #11 on: April 21, 2018, 10:56 »
0
If you delete your account there they still sell your products?

namussi

« Reply #12 on: April 22, 2018, 04:07 »
0
I just need to get out some frustration about iStock. I uploaded my files their until a couple months ago. They have never payed well for photos, I know that. But video sales has been ok, until last november/december. Suddenly all my 4K material, shot with $25.000 drone equipment starts to sell for $0.40. Ten videos sold for that price. I contacted them and the answer was that they offer a special subscription that allow this, and I cannot opt out of selling in this category. The last four months I have stopped uploading both photos and videos to them. Sales at Adobe Stock, Pond5 etc goes as normal, $25 to $100, depending on resolution. For anyone reading this, I suggest not to upload anything to iStock, you are better off.

Is your goal to maximise income?

namussi

« Reply #13 on: April 22, 2018, 04:17 »
+3
I just need to get out some frustration about iStock. I uploaded my files their until a couple months ago. They have never payed well for photos, I know that. But video sales has been ok, until last november/december. Suddenly all my 4K material, shot with $25.000 drone equipment starts to sell for $0.40. Ten videos sold for that price. I contacted them and the answer was that they offer a special subscription that allow this, and I cannot opt out of selling in this category. The last four months I have stopped uploading both photos and videos to them. Sales at Adobe Stock, Pond5 etc goes as normal, $25 to $100, depending on resolution. For anyone reading this, I suggest not to upload anything to iStock, you are better off.

I can't help feeling that you have overspent on equipment and you might never make a reasonable return on the capital you have committed.

« Reply #14 on: April 22, 2018, 04:46 »
+2
I just need to get out some frustration about iStock. I uploaded my files their until a couple months ago. They have never payed well for photos, I know that. But video sales has been ok, until last november/december. Suddenly all my 4K material, shot with $25.000 drone equipment starts to sell for $0.40. Ten videos sold for that price. I contacted them and the answer was that they offer a special subscription that allow this, and I cannot opt out of selling in this category. The last four months I have stopped uploading both photos and videos to them. Sales at Adobe Stock, Pond5 etc goes as normal, $25 to $100, depending on resolution. For anyone reading this, I suggest not to upload anything to iStock, you are better off.

I can't help feeling that you have overspent on equipment and you might never make a reasonable return on the capital you have committed.

If you read the entire thread you see that I have drones with Alexa Mini, RED and Inspire 2 with X7. My main income is from working with clients who would never use stock footage in their productions. I do therefor travel a lot in car in a spectacular country, making it easy to shoot some stocks with the Inspire 2. I do not understand why a couple of you in this thread try to defend iStock, do you really think $0.40 for high end aerials, shot with the right knowledge about framing, shutterspeed, aperture, ProRes 4444, etc is ok? I think $0.50 for your images is way to low, but I see that people is accepting this more and more, so I won't argue on that. If a guy with a RED shoot som really nice footage I think he should stay away from iStock and let people with a Mavic or Phantom using shutterspeed as aperture sell their stuff for $0.50 on iStock.

namussi

« Reply #15 on: April 22, 2018, 05:49 »
+1
I do not understand why a couple of you in this thread try to defend iStock, do you really think $0.40 for high end aerials, shot with the right knowledge about framing, shutterspeed, aperture, ProRes 4444, etc is ok? I think $0.50 for your images is way to low, but I see that people is accepting this more and more, so I won't argue on that. If a guy with a RED shoot som really nice footage I think he should stay away from iStock and let people with a Mavic or Phantom using shutterspeed as aperture sell their stuff for $0.50 on iStock.

I think your pride is (quite understandably) hurt. But ultimately it's about what the market will pay for your work. Some people are sensitive to price, some people aren't. To maximise income you need to supply both segments of the market. Basic price discrimination.

« Reply #16 on: April 22, 2018, 11:08 »
+2
I do not understand why a couple of you in this thread try to defend iStock, do you really think $0.40 for high end aerials, shot with the right knowledge about framing, shutterspeed, aperture, ProRes 4444, etc is ok? I think $0.50 for your images is way to low, but I see that people is accepting this more and more, so I won't argue on that. If a guy with a RED shoot som really nice footage I think he should stay away from iStock and let people with a Mavic or Phantom using shutterspeed as aperture sell their stuff for $0.50 on iStock.

I think your pride is (quite understandably) hurt. But ultimately it's about what the market will pay for your work. Some people are sensitive to price, some people aren't. To maximise income you need to supply both segments of the market. Basic price discrimination.

Not at all, I just think it's unfair what they are doing. The marketing is paying $299 for for about five of my clips every month at Pond5, giving med $149 x 5.  Same at Adobe Stock.  And yes, it was my choice to sign up at iStock, but I do not like it when they suddenly start to "give" away my clips.


« Reply #17 on: April 22, 2018, 11:47 »
+6
I can't help feeling that you have overspent on equipment and you might never make a reasonable return on the capital you have committed.

This kind of reasoning always seems so strange to me. It only really makes sense if you look at filming and selling footage as something you just have to do to survive, and not because you like it. But why not just work a regular office job then?

I can only speak for myself, but I'd like to believe that I'm not alone here. I film, I photograph, and I make music because it's something I love. Something I have passion for.

Therefore I don't buy the bare minimum quality equipment in order to make a sale possible. I use equipment that is a joy to use and that inspires me to create. I don't buy the cheapest guitar possible that still sounds good enough in order to sell a piece of stock music. I buy a guitar that is a joy to play and sounds great, and looks good, because I absolutely love playing guitar.

The same with photography equipment. Sure, money in must be more than money out if you like food and a roof over your head, but if a creative "job" is something you look at as a necessary evil in order to pay rent, you're better off doing something else. Sure, I understand that you're just looking at it from purely a business perspective, but that is a sure way to take joy out of any creative work.
« Last Edit: April 27, 2018, 02:14 by increasingdifficulty »

« Reply #18 on: April 27, 2018, 01:28 »
+2
 Final customer really does not care if product was made with hogh-end or lower-end equipment. The only criteria is "does this product fit my needs?" and "can i afford it?". It might sound cruel (and at some points - it is), however, that's how it works.
 I myself  bake bread for example. And when i go to store and buy flour, i really do not care if this wheat was grown, cut, and put on the shelf using most sophisticated John Deere agricultural machinery, and Mercedes trucks from fields to stores.
 I only care about quality. I guess i tried all of these, and have few favorites. - which fits my needs in quality-price relation.
 From the other hand, yes, of course, selling clips at less than a dollar for author is nothing but humiliation and heavy exploitation, and underpaying hard work. However, i'm always trying to see bigger picture - so, for example - these customers which buy clip for peanuts - might be the same customer which paid just one your clip at price point enough for buying one piece of equipment etc.. -so, i look at things from that point of view - total downloads/total $ rate - and i might be o.k. with it, or if in total i was not - i would delete account and save myself from frustration.

« Reply #19 on: April 27, 2018, 07:41 »
+2
Final customer really does not care if product was made with hogh-end or lower-end equipment. The only criteria is "does this product fit my needs?" and "can i afford it?". It might sound cruel (and at some points - it is), however, that's how it works.
 I myself  bake bread for example. And when i go to store and buy flour, i really do not care if this wheat was grown, cut, and put on the shelf using most sophisticated John Deere agricultural machinery, and Mercedes trucks from fields to stores.
I only care about quality. I guess i tried all of these, and have few favorites. - which fits my needs in quality-price relation.
 From the other hand, yes, of course, selling clips at less than a dollar for author is nothing but humiliation and heavy exploitation, and underpaying hard work. However, i'm always trying to see bigger picture - so, for example - these customers which buy clip for peanuts - might be the same customer which paid just one your clip at price point enough for buying one piece of equipment etc.. -so, i look at things from that point of view - total downloads/total $ rate - and i might be o.k. with it, or if in total i was not - i would delete account and save myself from frustration.

The quality of equipment (camera) you use in Photography / footage will determine the quality of the product. The camera actually produces (grows) the image whereas the Tractor does not grow the crop it is merely processing/transporting it.... the soil produces the crop (and weather of course).

The quality of the field / soil would be the same as the quality of the camera..... both produce the product and without it, the product would exist. The crop would exist if there were no tractors.... you'd just not process it or transport it. Same as the camera can take the image but without the Software or the internet, you'd still have the product but no way to process or transport it.

Clients should care greatly what camera is used.....poor quality going into the software will result in crap coming out. Try and recover highlights / shadows from an Osmo (which is a great cam) compared to a Sony A7riii or a Panasonic GH5 etc... So yes, equipment does matter, a lot!

I know from baking bread, if the flour is poor quality it doesn't have the strength to produce a decent loaf..... try using flour that has come from poor soil in poor growing conditions..... I'd imagine you'd not go back and buy their product again eh!
« Last Edit: April 27, 2018, 07:48 by HalfFull »

« Reply #20 on: April 27, 2018, 10:57 »
+2
Final customer really does not care if product was made with hogh-end or lower-end equipment. The only criteria is "does this product fit my needs?" and "can i afford it?". It might sound cruel (and at some points - it is), however, that's how it works.
If the final product is a 500 pixel wide email GIF insert then you're probably right but there is a wide segment of the market where technical quality is every bit as important as aesthetic quality.

namussi

« Reply #21 on: April 29, 2018, 20:54 »
+3
If you take a bad photo with a very expensive camera, do you think customers are going to buy that photo just because you used a very expensive camera?


Wishing well

  • Photographer, 2D artist, 3D Studio Sets Creator
« Reply #22 on: April 30, 2018, 23:12 »
0
So, if I want to buy stock videos and photos the best place is iStock?

Chichikov

« Reply #23 on: May 01, 2018, 01:50 »
+5
So, if I want to buy stock videos and photos the best place is iStock?
No.
You will pay like on the other sites, even more.
Only the photographer/videomaker/illustrator/artist/author is paid less


 

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