Maybe both of you need to wait and see. The claim now is 74% of the exclusives will see no change, which I find absurd and contradictory. How can the bottom be unaffected because they are at the minimum already and the top contributors be unaffected because they will make the levels? 74% unaffected?
What did you figure when you viewed the projected exclusive earnings for 2011 for yourselves?
Is this saying that the whole discussion here and uproar about losing commissions and limited to only 26% of the exclusives which are in some limbo between top contributors and the "already at minimum" exclusive? That and the non-exclusives who just got the crap kicked out of their earnings. Sounds like some company spin on the situation.
Who said the top contributors will be unaffected? Perhaps a few of the very, very top will maintain 40%, but I've read plenty of diamonds exclusives complaining they will be dropping down to 35% or 30%.
The 74% comes mainly from all Bronze exclusives, who will continue to earn the minimum exclusive commission of 25%, and most Silver exclusives who will be able to achieve the same 30% level they now get. Mix in some Golds and a few Diamonds, and you get 74% (supposedly).
So who's complaining? Obviously non-exclusives, who are all getting hammered, exclusives who are dropping a level, or who were about to rise up to a higher level and now won't be making that level. Also, those exclusives who contribute multiple media (e.g., photos & videos). And vector artists, who are getting royally screwed. And those like myself, who signed up for exclusivity with a guarantee of grandfathering to the next canister level -- which is now meaningless. And, if that isn't enough, those who aren't in any of those categories but will see lower commissions due to the large drop in subscription commissions and the introduction of the Agency collection. This is pretty much an across-the-board screwing of every contributor.
I won't qualify for my current 30% level because I wasn't exclusive for half of the year (remember, exclusive files sell for more than non-exclusive files). So I'll be seeing a 17% drop. I would probably make it next year, except that they will almost certainly raise the limit high enough so that I won't. (I know they aren't targeting me specifically, but I'm pretty sure it will end up feeling that way.)
As you suggest, I'm not making any decisions about what to do until the dust settles (by the end of January or February). But either way, I'm screwed, since I had to delete my port from FT (my #3 best site), and who knows if I reactivate DT or SS what my search engine results will be after so many months of inactivity.
EDIT: You're right, that classic Peanuts image is PERFECT!
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