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Author Topic: Protect the market  (Read 16100 times)

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« on: May 17, 2014, 14:53 »
+7
In order to protect a viable market and in consideration of your own best long term interests;

Which RF microstock agency would you like to see at the top of the earnings poll and why? Please disregard the current sales performance of your media type, instead consider the potential return per sale and track record of the company in the stock media marketplace.

I would say Pond5.
A successful and apparently thriving agency
You set your own price, after all not all subjects or aesthetic image quality are equal.
Flat no nonsense 50% royalty.
Efficient website with reasonably good search functions.
Pretty responsive to contributor concerns.
To date no crappy subscription plan or other underhanded ploys.

Just so you know, I have no connection to Pond5 other than being a long time video contributor with a modest photo and audio portfolio as well.

Which agency do you think would best serve your interests if they were a top seller?

 


Goofy

« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2014, 15:11 »
+10
In order to protect a viable market and in consideration of your own best long term interests;

Which RF microstock agency would you like to see at the top of the earnings poll and why? Please disregard the current sales performance of your media type, instead consider the potential return per sale and track record of the company in the stock media marketplace.

I would say Pond5.
A successful and apparently thriving agency
You set your own price, after all not all subjects or aesthetic image quality are equal.
Flat no nonsense 50% royalty.
Efficient website with reasonably good search functions.
Pretty responsive to contributor concerns.
To date no crappy subscription plan or other underhanded ploys.

Just so you know, I have no connection to Pond5 other than being a long time video contributor with a modest photo and audio portfolio as well.

Which agency do you think would best serve your interests if they were a top seller?

When companies are not selling large volumes like the top tier they tend to give generous commissions until they reach the top tier than their commissions go down with excuses like we need your money to market more thus sell more of your images---  :(



EmberMike

« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2014, 15:13 »
+2
I still like Stockfresh. They just need to get out of their own way long enough to get noticed in the market. They need to spend some money on marketing/advertising, and redesign that StockXpert clone of a site.

But the terms are pretty favorable to contributors. 50% royalty on credit sales, and although they do offer subscriptions they are highly limited (max Medium size photos only and no vectors). Pricing is simple and fair, something buyers would appreciate.

I'd honestly put them above Pond5 just for the reason that Stockfresh isn't coming from another market (video in the case of P5) and trying to expand into other things Stockfresh is a photo and vector agency, plain and simple.

« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2014, 15:16 »
+4
I'm okay with Shutterstock as the leader subscription site. They have big volume in downloads, they seem to constantly invest in reaching new markets and they have been able to slowly raise the return per download over the years. They do a good job.

As for non subscription site I also prefer Pond5.
You can set your own price for every file, 50% commission, and now photo sales are starting to move there do. And their support is really responsive and helpful.

« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2014, 16:19 »
+4
Self-Hosted.

« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2014, 16:54 »
+3
Self-Hosted.

Me too. I would say Symbiostock. We need no Agencies but Agencies need us.

« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2014, 16:54 »
+2
Pond5

« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2014, 17:00 »
+8
Pond5

Unfortunately, their website is not very pretty to look at, and the interface is terrible.

Dook

« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2014, 17:12 »
0
I'm good with SS.

« Reply #9 on: May 17, 2014, 17:21 »
+5
You are wasting your time! I was trying to explain people here that we all need to promote agencies with better deal for us, but people like more "regular" money from big houses...

« Reply #10 on: May 17, 2014, 18:05 »
+5
You are wasting your time! I was trying to explain people here that we all need to promote agencies with better deal for us, but people like more "regular" money .from big houses..

Problem is that 50%, 60% of bugger all is bugger all where 10%, 20% of something is something

« Reply #11 on: May 17, 2014, 18:17 »
+1
Pond5

Unfortunately, their website is not very pretty to look at, and the interface is terrible.

They certainly could use a face lift and nose job, that's for sure.

Dook

« Reply #12 on: May 17, 2014, 18:28 »
+1
You are wasting your time! I was trying to explain people here that we all need to promote agencies with better deal for us, but people like more "regular" money from big houses...

What does it mean promote? I upload the same pictures at the same time to all the agencies. I gave them all chance to earn me money. Some made it, some didn't. What's wrong with that?

fritz

  • I love Tom and Jerry music

« Reply #13 on: May 17, 2014, 18:57 »
+1
Pond5

shudderstok

« Reply #14 on: May 17, 2014, 19:26 »
+8
1) not a single site that has subscription sales. including IS.
2) IS if they brought back the canister system, that way i would go back to my 40% that i originally agreed upon and they completely drop the RC which is too easy to manipulate and i suspect it is manipulated and/or GI if they actually stopped messing with our images and stopped giving them away for free.
3) stocksy as i like the idea of 50% royalties and a share of the profits, but the attitude at that place really needs to change in terms of overall portfolio consideration (the biggest turn off for me by far) i know that i have the quality for the agency, but they only seem to want a certain look, and that is what i deem to be the deal breaker for the agency as a whole over the long run. i for one would not really search there as the style is way too limited, i get the no isolated on white decisions, but not everyone wants over filtered trendy styles either - just sayin.
4) not a single site that keeps the rates of images low just to gain market share, they are killing the industry and forcing others to compete against stupid rates, and go down to depths just to stay alive. i think they call this the domino effect.

but this is all utopia of course, the industry is in free fall, and buyers for the most part don't care about how much we get paid, they just want the images cheap, and have now become accustomed to cheap.

i'd just like to see an agency that rewards hard work fairly and is in partnership with the contributors in a more or less 50% 50% deal, or at the very least 40% 60% deal, like it used to be before the micros came along.

« Reply #15 on: May 17, 2014, 20:22 »
+2
You are wasting your time! I was trying to explain people here that we all need to promote agencies with better deal for us, but people like more "regular" money from big houses...

What does it mean promote? I upload the same pictures at the same time to all the agencies. I gave them all chance to earn me money. Some made it, some didn't. What's wrong with that?

There's nothing wrong with it, but you can also try to stack the deck and upload to places that make you more money per sale first (and delay those uploads at other sites for a few months or more). It gives some of the smaller sites that pay better a chance to compete with the larger sites with larger marketing budgets (budgets that you pay for). If you can find a couple good paying sites or start a site to sell your own work, it is worth experimenting with.

Ed

« Reply #16 on: May 17, 2014, 22:48 »
+3
In order to protect a viable market and in consideration of your own best long term interests;

Which RF microstock agency would you like to see at the top of the earnings poll and why? Please disregard the current sales performance of your media type, instead consider the potential return per sale and track record of the company in the stock media marketplace.

I would say Pond5.
A successful and apparently thriving agency
You set your own price, after all not all subjects or aesthetic image quality are equal.
Flat no nonsense 50% royalty.
Efficient website with reasonably good search functions.
Pretty responsive to contributor concerns.
To date no crappy subscription plan or other underhanded ploys.

Just so you know, I have no connection to Pond5 other than being a long time video contributor with a modest photo and audio portfolio as well.

Which agency do you think would best serve your interests if they were a top seller?

I hate to say this...but this sounds EXACTLY like what I was hearing about 9 or 10  years ago....except it was RM photographers looking out for long term interests amongst RF photographers.


« Reply #17 on: May 18, 2014, 02:59 »
+1
1) not a single site that has subscription sales.
... i'd just like to see an agency that rewards hard work fairly and is in partnership with the contributors in a more or less 50% 50% deal, or at the very least 40% 60% deal, like it used to be before the micros came along.

Stockfresh someone said? They do pay 50%, correct. But $1/ DL? Not worth the effort.

... I would say Pond5.
A successful and apparently thriving agency
You set your own price, after all not all subjects or aesthetic image quality are equal.
Flat no nonsense 50% royalty...
... To date no crappy subscription plan or other underhanded ploys.

I would say Symbiostock. We need no Agencies but Agencies need us.

Which agency do you think would best serve your interests if they were a top seller?

1. My Sys. it's obvious if I get 100% of prices set be me ;)
2. Pond5 - I set my own prices and get 50%
3. Alamy - they still pay well and I get 50% too (and yes, I have monthly sales here).


« Reply #18 on: May 18, 2014, 03:58 »
+2
I think if pond5 got that facelift and removed the visible downloads to encourage people to think of their own ideas instead of copying the bestsellers (and making them just a little cheaper to drive traffic to themselves) they could be a fantastic photo agency as well as a video agency.

I really like that I can set my own prices. Not all files are equal in production costs and value. I also like that they take nearly anything.

But in addition to a serious makeover they would also need inspiring, high quality lightboxes, i.e. editors that sift through it all and sort the best into different style themed galleries, to make it easier for the customer.

They probably need investors with 100 million dollars or more to lift them to the next stage. Again the question is - do the owners want that? Maybe they are fine with being the top video agency in the market and dont even want to get into the shark tank of photo sales.

Sometimes I wonder if pond5 got connected with stocksy somehow, what could they achieve together? stocksy has such a fantastic interface and great marketing. Pond5 has the videos,audio and everything else. Maybe they could collaborate on a photo stock project?

I also really like Shutterstock. Fantastic service, reliable sales, great looking website and their ipad app is a real work of art.

The downside are the subs and the punchy, fully focussed style that excludes a lot of content, most of what they have on Offset probably wouldnt pass the Shutterstock inspection.

It is also not possible to decide on higher prices if I believe it deserves to be more expensive. I do understand that their keep it simple approach makes it really useful for their customers.

And of course Shutterstock is very good at working with the artist community. Since many of the artists are also designers and buyers this is a really smart thing to do. Makes you wonder why so many agencies keep forgetting that making us distrust them is upsetting their customers as well.

EmberMike

« Reply #19 on: May 18, 2014, 11:09 »
+13
I'm good with SS.

Why?

Imagine if you took the sales volume you have at SS and had that at an agency that pays 50%. Or even just the on-demand sales. SS pays 20-30%. We can do a lot better.

Dook

« Reply #20 on: May 18, 2014, 16:08 »
0
I'm good with SS.

Why?

Imagine if you took the sales volume you have at SS and had that at an agency that pays 50%. Or even just the on-demand sales. SS pays 20-30%. We can do a lot better.

You mean SS amount of sales with 50% for me? Cool!

« Reply #21 on: May 18, 2014, 16:26 »
+3
So far, a good number of people also think that Pond5 would give us the best deal if their sales numbers would increase. Agreed, the photo and illustration parts of the site are in serious need of a make over!

I remember that it took them 2-3 years to get on track with the video side but when they did, it very quickly grew into a top selling site. The competition is much more entrenched on the photo and illustration side of the market so I expect it would take longer to make inroads. It has only taken them about two years to grow the photo numbers to over seven million and with the acquisition of Pixmac it seems they are serious about the photo side of the business. Here's hoping they do start to gain more market share!

I too thought that Stockfresh would be good, but their prices are quite low, they offer subscriptions which are never great for the contributor.

Self hosting might be a great alternative if you have the skills to pull it together and can attract buyers. I have the impression though that it is very time consuming relative to the amount of return.

Shutterstock sales are great, and it seems partnership with them is the largest percentage of income for many. I have to admit though, it irks me a lot to see us media creators forced to leave such a large percentage of the market value on the table for the corporate types.

Slim pickens huh?


« Reply #22 on: May 18, 2014, 16:29 »
+1
I'm good with SS.

Why?

Imagine if you took the sales volume you have at SS and had that at an agency that pays 50%. Or even just the on-demand sales. SS pays 20-30%. We can do a lot better.

You mean SS amount of sales with 50% for me? Cool!

In my opinion that's what it should be! Why can't it be?

« Reply #23 on: May 18, 2014, 16:33 »
0
You are wasting your time! I was trying to explain people here that we all need to promote agencies with better deal for us, but people like more "regular" money from big houses...

What does it mean promote? I upload the same pictures at the same time to all the agencies. I gave them all chance to earn me money. Some made it, some didn't. What's wrong with that?

There's nothing wrong with it, but you can also try to stack the deck and upload to places that make you more money per sale first (and delay those uploads at other sites for a few months or more). It gives some of the smaller sites that pay better a chance to compete with the larger sites with larger marketing budgets (budgets that you pay for). If you can find a couple good paying sites or start a site to sell your own work, it is worth experimenting with.

If a lot of us would do just that it might be noticed and prompt a positive change.

« Reply #24 on: May 21, 2014, 11:25 »
+3
Discussion moved from the Boycott DPC thread.

A fair trade agency, with fair royalties is nothing without buyers. There are plenty of honest agencies, problem is they dont have enough buyers and not enough money for marketing.

Before they can sell the files they need the files. Not that hard for us to do these days. At least then they would have a chance to compete with the corporates.

Please show me the massive marketing campaigns? I don't see a massive effort. Why would they need to they are very well established thank you very much. What I see is dozens of millions of dollars from our image value going to a few corporate execs!


 

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