MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Author Topic: For Indies who pulled ports from Istock...  (Read 41494 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

« Reply #50 on: January 06, 2012, 20:13 »
0
Personally, I don't see why it would be of any advantage to delete images from iStock.

It was the math that drove me insane. Little hypothetical gems like this:

Let's say you bring in 100K in sales and make 18% of that, it's 18K a year ($1500 a month). Although you are a fairly successful contributor, your 18K (pre-tax/pre-expenses) income isn't going to get you very far in the US. How did 100K turn into 18K? That's when it hits you that IS is taking 82K of your 100K booty...

82K? Seriously? What are they doing with all that? Advertising?

If that's the case, then shouldn't there be a billboard somewhere with you sitting atop a throned pyramid in golden sun god robes with some sort of tagline extolling your photography or illustrative godliness? (I want chiseled abs on my billboard. Maybe a panther or a dragon. There has to be some scantily clad women as well. Definitely some lightning bolts too as I call the thunder for my throng of adoring worshipers below.)

By this time, my brain has gone from simmering to boiling and I'm wondering why anybody is there as an independent. Doesn't Yuri have a calculator? Doesn't he want an awesome billboard too? He could buy a lot of billboards.  ;)

+1 a thousand times over.  I've done the math, and the truth is IS alone has earned more off my photos than I have across all the sites in six years.  That's the kind of math I can't live with. 


« Reply #51 on: January 06, 2012, 20:43 »
0
The advantage, for me at least, is peace of mind.  I can't in good conscience support a company that refuses to support its contributors.

+1 Well said.

support = support AND the way they treat them. They have the "I don't give a sh_t if you pull your port or not" attitude and LOBO makes things worse when people who care try to gain info in their forums.  I honestly think he waits excitedly like a child at Christmas for a post to appear that he can belittle, embarrass and demean the OP and then say FU and lock it.  It makes people angry and amplifies the way we feel about the other aspects of IS's poor business decisions.

Just frustrating.

« Reply #52 on: January 06, 2012, 23:23 »
0


It was the math that drove me insane. Little hypothetical gems like this:

Let's say you bring in 100K in sales and make 18% of that, it's 18K a year ($1500 a month). Although you are a fairly successful contributor, your 18K (pre-tax/pre-expenses) income isn't going to get you very far in the US. How did 100K turn into 18K? That's when it hits you that IS is taking 82K of your 100K booty...

82K? Seriously? What are they doing with all that? Advertising?

If that's the case, then shouldn't there be a billboard somewhere with you sitting atop a throned pyramid in golden sun god robes with some sort of tagline extolling your photography or illustrative godliness? (I want chiseled abs on my billboard. Maybe a panther or a dragon. There has to be some scantily clad women as well. Definitely some lightning bolts too as I call the thunder for my throng of adoring worshipers below.)

By this time, my brain has gone from simmering to boiling and I'm wondering why anybody is there as an independent. Doesn't Yuri have a calculator? Doesn't he want an awesome billboard too? He could buy a lot of billboards.  ;)

I agree completely. I had a nice sale on Alamy and when I calculated my share it was noticeably smaller - then I started thinking about all the other sites which took a higher % - Imagine if IS posted the actual sale price. I'd look at it and think - sweet, a 20$ sale - oh, never mind I only get 3.20 $   (or 3$ if you were at 15%)

CarlssonInc

« Reply #53 on: January 07, 2012, 00:02 »
0
I bet you are going to back-track somehow, but you are in a not a very round-about way calling Christian a liar - uncalled for and rude.

I belive you dont know well lagereek and worst "our talk" in this forum, I could actually apologise but after what he said I believe we are more than even

You're right, I don't know "your" history. Anyway, for every action there is a re-action and you threw the first rock calling him a liar, he then stooped to the same level - you are both guilty, now off to your naughty corners! hahaha :)

« Reply #54 on: January 07, 2012, 12:18 »
0
Hi Lisa, :)
you already know my story, but just in case here we go again :
- stopped uploading in Sept. 2010
- deleted 90 per cent of the port in Jan. 2011 (took great care to leave only images with zero, or very few sales)

Reasons:
- anything below 20% commission is an insult to me. I'm sorry, but I do care about the artists commission  rate, I believe that there must be a limit and this is mine. Regardless of sales. 
- I cannot handle their attitude, the way they treat us, contributors and buyers alike.
- I absolutely do NOT want a single cent of my money to go towards paying people like Lobo. 
On the other hand, I do not ever want him to leave. Single handed, he lost IStock thousands and thousands of dollars in business. This is a fact.
Way to go Lobo, you're doing great, get them all out of there! :) You're my hero :)
- I do not want to support sites like ThinkStock and I don't want any of my images there.
- last, but not least, I have lived all my life (40 +) with no financial help from IStock. Something told me I would do just fine, with or without their payments.
Ah!
And one more reason!
Deleting my port from IStock felt great! Absolutely wonderful feeling, priceless :)
I wish I could do it all again, just for the rush :)


But did sales at other sites increase?
Yes, absolutely. Of course they did. A lot, infact. 
But unfortunately I don't think this increase had anything to do with my deleting my port from IStock. I kept on uploading to the other sites, more and more images naturally resulting in more and more sales.

Having said all that my port is tiny. 550 - 600 images, and I might not be relevant at all.
There you go Lisa, that's my story :)
all the best,

« Reply #55 on: January 07, 2012, 12:40 »
0
- last, but not least, I have lived all my life (40 +) with no financial help from IStock. Something told me I would do just fine, with or without their payments.
Ah!
And one more reason!
Deleting my port from IStock felt great! Absolutely wonderful feeling, priceless :)

That's a great way to say it. Ditto me, except the number behind the word "life" is a little larger for me.  :D

Funny thing, life works like that for me most of the time. Like the Seinfeld "even Steven" episode. If I lose some money, somewhere, somehow, other money comes and makes up for it.

lagereek

« Reply #56 on: January 08, 2012, 01:15 »
0
One can always argue, coincidence or not?  but I am seeing a clear increase in sales of the actual images I deactivated from IS ( having in mind they were thrown way back in the, IS, search,  earning nothing),  so on the whole I did the right thing.

CarlssonInc

« Reply #57 on: January 08, 2012, 01:29 »
0
There is a recent post (friday 6th) by Lobo in the forum (exclusive) alluding to something being posted regarding the plans for iStock in 2012 in the next couple of days - should be interesting reading, as well as important for the many that are probably on the fence regarding dropping the crown or not.

lagereek

« Reply #58 on: January 08, 2012, 02:51 »
0
There is a recent post (friday 6th) by Lobo in the forum (exclusive) alluding to something being posted regarding the plans for iStock in 2012 in the next couple of days - should be interesting reading, as well as important for the many that are probably on the fence regarding dropping the crown or not.

Hi!

Nope,  I cant find anything there?

CarlssonInc

« Reply #59 on: January 08, 2012, 03:16 »
0
There is a recent post (friday 6th) by Lobo in the forum (exclusive) alluding to something being posted regarding the plans for iStock in 2012 in the next couple of days - should be interesting reading, as well as important for the many that are probably on the fence regarding dropping the crown or not.

Hi!

Nope,  I cant find anything there?

It is in the sub-forum for exclusives only.

lagereek

« Reply #60 on: January 08, 2012, 03:42 »
0
There is a recent post (friday 6th) by Lobo in the forum (exclusive) alluding to something being posted regarding the plans for iStock in 2012 in the next couple of days - should be interesting reading, as well as important for the many that are probably on the fence regarding dropping the crown or not.

Hi!

Nope,  I cant find anything there?

It is in the sub-forum for exclusives only.

Come on Martin,  do some evesdropping, will ya! ;D  ofcourse he would have to put it in that forum!  or 80%, of the entire IS, would do a walk-out.

CarlssonInc

« Reply #61 on: January 08, 2012, 03:57 »
0
There is a recent post (friday 6th) by Lobo in the forum (exclusive) alluding to something being posted regarding the plans for iStock in 2012 in the next couple of days - should be interesting reading, as well as important for the many that are probably on the fence regarding dropping the crown or not.

Hi!

Nope,  I cant find anything there?

It is in the sub-forum for exclusives only.

Come on Martin,  do some evesdropping, will ya! ;D  ofcourse he would have to put it in that forum!  or 80%, of the entire IS, would do a walk-out.

I'll see what I can do hahaha.

It wasn't Lobo starting the thread. It was a contributor (exclusive) starting a thread and asking all these questions etc. and Lobo's response was that something (a statement) would be forthcoming in the next few days. That's it.

« Reply #62 on: January 08, 2012, 05:05 »
0
The plans for 2012 will be interesting.  I just hope they don't announce bad news and try to make it look positive again.  There's very little incentive for me to use istock now, only an honest acknowledgement of mistakes and good changes for the future would keep me interested.  It was different when I was relying on the income from istock, it will be a lot easier to leave now.

If they screw this up, I can see a lot of exclusives, non-exclusives and buyers getting out of there.

lagereek

« Reply #63 on: January 08, 2012, 05:45 »
0
The plans for 2012 will be interesting.  I just hope they don't announce bad news and try to make it look positive again.  There's very little incentive for me to use istock now, only an honest acknowledgement of mistakes and good changes for the future would keep me interested.  It was different when I was relying on the income from istock, it will be a lot easier to leave now.

If they screw this up, I can see a lot of exclusives, non-exclusives and buyers getting out of there.

Yeah,  see,  back in the old days, many were probably extremly dependant on the IS income and they knew that, giving them carte blanche, to do whatever they wanted really. Pretty differant today though, isnt it. Most have got well rooted with other agencies, making up the loss, etc.
The shoe is on the other foot.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #64 on: January 08, 2012, 06:36 »
0
There is a recent post (friday 6th) by Lobo in the forum (exclusive) alluding to something being posted regarding the plans for iStock in 2012 in the next couple of days - should be interesting reading, as well as important for the many that are probably on the fence regarding dropping the crown or not.
This would be the time when they have traditionally announced any price rises (2nd week of Jan).

CarlssonInc

« Reply #65 on: January 08, 2012, 06:45 »
0
There is a recent post (friday 6th) by Lobo in the forum (exclusive) alluding to something being posted regarding the plans for iStock in 2012 in the next couple of days - should be interesting reading, as well as important for the many that are probably on the fence regarding dropping the crown or not.
This would be the time when they have traditionally announced any price rises (2nd week of Jan).

Yes a price rise! That would go down a treat right now....never had a problem with them as long as the RPI/month was increasing or stable, but with such a decline throughout '11 I wouldn't exactly be thrilled.

wut

« Reply #66 on: January 08, 2012, 06:54 »
0
There is a recent post (friday 6th) by Lobo in the forum (exclusive) alluding to something being posted regarding the plans for iStock in 2012 in the next couple of days - should be interesting reading, as well as important for the many that are probably on the fence regarding dropping the crown or not.
This would be the time when they have traditionally announced any price rises (2nd week of Jan).

Yes a price rise! That would go down a treat right now....never had a problem with them as long as the RPI/month was increasing or stable, but with such a decline throughout '11 I wouldn't exactly be thrilled.

Remember, the way things are going they can't loose much by gambling. Perhaps the time for all or nothing has come (or double or nothing, which ever you prefer) ;)

CarlssonInc

« Reply #67 on: January 08, 2012, 07:04 »
0
There is a recent post (friday 6th) by Lobo in the forum (exclusive) alluding to something being posted regarding the plans for iStock in 2012 in the next couple of days - should be interesting reading, as well as important for the many that are probably on the fence regarding dropping the crown or not.
This would be the time when they have traditionally announced any price rises (2nd week of Jan).

Yes a price rise! That would go down a treat right now....never had a problem with them as long as the RPI/month was increasing or stable, but with such a decline throughout '11 I wouldn't exactly be thrilled.

Remember, the way things are going they can't loose much by gambling. Perhaps the time for all or nothing has come (or double or nothing, which ever you prefer) ;)

I don't think they would gamble with a company that has a turnover of what, $300 million?

« Reply #68 on: January 08, 2012, 07:08 »
0
^^^They've been gambling like crazy in recent years and they don't seem to be very lucky.  Why would they stop now?  Nothing they do will surprise me anymore.

wut

« Reply #69 on: January 08, 2012, 07:14 »
0
^^^They've been gambling like crazy in recent years and they don't seem to be very lucky.  Why would they stop now?  Nothing they do will surprise me anymore.

Indeed, that's what I meant. Not really that they were gambling up until now in the real sense of word, but I wouldn't be surprised if do would start gambling now, with water pouring down their throat

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #70 on: January 08, 2012, 07:15 »
0
There is a recent post (friday 6th) by Lobo in the forum (exclusive) alluding to something being posted regarding the plans for iStock in 2012 in the next couple of days - should be interesting reading, as well as important for the many that are probably on the fence regarding dropping the crown or not.
This would be the time when they have traditionally announced any price rises (2nd week of Jan).

Yes a price rise! That would go down a treat right now....never had a problem with them as long as the RPI/month was increasing or stable, but with such a decline throughout '11 I wouldn't exactly be thrilled.

Remember, the way things are going they can't loose much by gambling. Perhaps the time for all or nothing has come (or double or nothing, which ever you prefer) ;)

I don't think they would gamble with a company that has a turnover of what, $300 million?

You'd think, huh  ;D  :o ::)

I wasn't saying there would be a price rise, only that this is the time of year when they've been announced in the past and I wondered if that might be what Lobo was alluding to. Or maybe there's something else. Or maybe nothing at all. Not everything that an admin hints at in the forums comes to anything.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2012, 09:58 by ShadySue »

CarlssonInc

« Reply #71 on: January 08, 2012, 07:21 »
0
True, could be something/nothing of importance. Time will tell.

« Reply #72 on: January 08, 2012, 09:56 »
0
I don't think they would gamble with a company that has a turnover of what, $300 million?

I'd say introducing the RC system was a major gamble. Istock stood to gain a little, if it worked, or potentially ruin the business if it didn't. With sales down by 20% in 2010 and probably continuing to fall further it's looking like one gamble too many.

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #73 on: January 08, 2012, 10:24 »
0
I don't think they would gamble with a company that has a turnover of what, $300 million?

I'd say introducing the RC system was a major gamble. Istock stood to gain a little, if it worked, or potentially ruin the business if it didn't. With sales down by 20% in 2010 and probably continuing to fall further it's looking like one gamble too many.

Not a major gamble if done correctly. Which I would imagine the goal was to keep high performers at the same % levels and drop the % for poorer performers. For the poorer performers does IS really care if they get angry or leave? I'm guessing not.

wut

« Reply #74 on: January 08, 2012, 10:30 »
0
I don't think they would gamble with a company that has a turnover of what, $300 million?

I'd say introducing the RC system was a major gamble. Istock stood to gain a little, if it worked, or potentially ruin the business if it didn't. With sales down by 20% in 2010 and probably continuing to fall further it's looking like one gamble too many.

Not a major gamble if done correctly. Which I would imagine the goal was to keep high performers at the same % levels and drop the % for poorer performers. For the poorer performers does IS really care if they get angry or leave? I'm guessing not.

I think it's the other way around, there were too many diamonds making 40%, which didn't go well along with their greedy calculations. In fact, that is what happened many diamonds and golds dropping a level or 2. OTOH some low canisters gained 2 levels in a single year, like aeonf etc, the ppl that would be able to get so many raises under the canister system. The plan was to overall lower the royalty recentage across the board, exclusives weren't spared, especially many high canisters.


 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
10 Replies
4966 Views
Last post October 23, 2009, 06:09
by MicrostockExp
10 Replies
4144 Views
Last post October 05, 2010, 17:45
by donding
4 Replies
4554 Views
Last post June 08, 2015, 11:48
by Dumc
47 Replies
19781 Views
Last post December 12, 2018, 04:53
by Ronib
25 Replies
10411 Views
Last post June 18, 2020, 10:45
by pics2

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors