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Author Topic: iStock changing royalty structure  (Read 348667 times)

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ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #900 on: September 25, 2010, 03:07 »
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Rogermexico hasn't shown up since the announcement either. I'm worried he's another person departing from his official role.
He's iStock's offical spin doctor. Maybe he hasn't been given any 'spinning' to do? Or maybe it's just too unpalatable.
[Pollyanna] Or maybe there will be some news coming sometime, just 'not yet'. [/Pollyanna]
Or maybe not.

Seems he's very busy with the Japan Lypse arrangements.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2010, 04:17 by ShadySue »


« Reply #901 on: September 25, 2010, 07:50 »
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Rogermexico hasn't shown up since the announcement either. I'm worried he's another person departing from his official role.
He's iStock's offical spin doctor. Maybe he hasn't been given any 'spinning' to do? Or maybe it's just too unpalatable.
[Pollyanna] Or maybe there will be some news coming sometime, just 'not yet'. [/Pollyanna]
Or maybe not.

Seems he's very busy with the Japan Lypse arrangements.

------------------------
He actually quit once before to focus on his writing, but then came back.  I've met him a couple of times and he's another class act.  Would not be surprised to see him quit too.

« Reply #902 on: September 25, 2010, 08:46 »
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Well I'm banned from the forums & sitemail haha! Called a trolls response pathetic & responded to Lobo saying I wouldn't be intimidated by his bullish behaviour and thinly veiled threats to me on sitemail.

It would appear somone is a tad insecure in their authority... go figure.

How many others have felt the light touch of the wiffle hammer?

Anyhoo - had to register somewhere and voice my displeasure at censorship. Carry on all! (and hello all on these forums!)

I think it's too funny that they ban you from sitemail too. What is the point of that? The whole banning thing seems rather childish and vindictive anyway, especially considering the random nature of the whole thing. I see people on there who have posted much more than my 10 or so posts and have been way more critical and insulting and they apparently still have their posting privileges.

As a buyer who is taking my business elsewhere now, I still get the last laugh though. :D

« Reply #903 on: September 25, 2010, 18:48 »
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Well I'm banned from the forums & sitemail haha! Called a trolls response pathetic & responded to Lobo saying I wouldn't be intimidated by his bullish behaviour and thinly veiled threats to me on sitemail.

It would appear somone is a tad insecure in their authority... go figure.

How many others have felt the light touch of the wiffle hammer?

Anyhoo - had to register somewhere and voice my displeasure at censorship. Carry on all! (and hello all on these forums!)

I think it's too funny that they ban you from sitemail too. What is the point of that? The whole banning thing seems rather childish and vindictive anyway, especially considering the random nature of the whole thing. I see people on there who have posted much more than my 10 or so posts and have been way more critical and insulting and they apparently still have their posting privileges.

As a buyer who is taking my business elsewhere now, I still get the last laugh though. :D

I agree.  I can understand banning someone or giving them a "time out" from posting for a bit if they are being unproductive and just picking fights and calling people names.  banning from sitemail may be so that the person can't then start blasting everyone on their CN with their rants.  that would be the only logical thing to me about the sitemail.

but yep, you do get the last laugh.  In the long run I think this one announcement will be the point where iStock took a major turn in it's reputation.  they've done many things in the past to make people angry with them, but this is by far the largest, if you ask me.  When the new collection arrives and start showing up at the top of searches right there with the Vetta stuff, I think more buyers will begin looking elsewhere.

« Reply #904 on: September 25, 2010, 18:58 »
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banning from sitemail may be so that the person can't then start blasting everyone on their CN with their rants.  that would be the only logical thing to me about the sitemail.


Maybe, but I've got a couple sitemails that I can't respond to now. And it could be regarding a potential sale because, at the time of the ban, I had an active request for new content. I can't even see who the sitemails are from. Again, this doesn't hurt me. I can shop elsewhere, but iStock may have lost a sale. Oh well. I just feel bad for the contributors.

lisafx

« Reply #905 on: September 25, 2010, 19:17 »
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Maybe, but I've got a couple sitemails that I can't respond to now. And it could be regarding a potential sale because, at the time of the ban, I had an active request for new content. I can't even see who the sitemails are from. Again, this doesn't hurt me. I can shop elsewhere, but iStock may have lost a sale. Oh well. I just feel bad for the contributors.

Can you see the forums at all?  Are you able to check and see if people have posted to your request?  If any of the posts are from independents you can probably find the images on other sites. 

Also DT has a fairly active request forum.  Not as active as Istock's, but you would still probably get some good responses. 

« Reply #906 on: September 25, 2010, 23:49 »
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I can read the forums but I can't comment. I actually have had to move on from that unfortunately and finished the project today. Purchased a nice maximum sized image from Dreamstime. :)

« Reply #907 on: September 26, 2010, 06:47 »
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Purchased a nice maximum sized image from Dreamstime. :)

Out of interest how did you find your experience with DT (in comparison to Istockphoto)? Were the search results to your liking and what about the price differentials between Levels?

« Reply #908 on: September 26, 2010, 09:12 »
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I actually originally found the image I wanted to use on Shutterstock, but since I just wanted to buy the one image I didn't want to buy their lowest PAYG package, so, just for the heck of it, I popped on over to Dreamstime to check and see if the image was there. While it didn't show up on the first page, similar photos from that photographer did, so finding it was pretty easy using general keywords.

I did have a slight problem with the purchase though. I actually had a client sign up and buy the credits and when I went to buy the image the site wanted me to finish filling out her profile. I did and went back to the image page. Unfortunately, I did not notice that the Medium size was selected by default (since I thought by going back to the image page it would remember the option that I clicked). So I contacted customer service and they immediately refunded the credits so I could buy the correct size.

The one thing that I did find strange though was that the price of the image changed three times thoughout this process. When I first searched for it, it was priced at 9 credits. When I went to purchase it, it changed to 11 credits, and then after I accidentally purchased the wrong size, it went up to 15 credits. After they refunded my money it went back to 11 credits. What is with that?

« Reply #909 on: September 26, 2010, 09:22 »
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It may have been the level system at Dreamstime. The more sales an image has the more expensive the image becomes. After you searched for it, others could have bought copies increasing the price. When you purchased it the first time you could of bumped it up to a new price level. When DT removed the sale the image dropped back to the previous level. As a seller the rising level system is one of the best things about DT.

« Reply #910 on: September 26, 2010, 11:04 »
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...I popped on over to Dreamstime to check and see if the image was there. While it didn't show up on the first page, similar photos from that photographer did, so finding it was pretty easy using general keywords.

Are you reading this Dreamstime?  A BUYER found a photo on another site but was able to PURCHASE at Dreamstime because he was able to find it through the photographer's SIMILARS.   ;)

« Reply #911 on: September 26, 2010, 12:01 »
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Dreamstime have annoyed me so much with their similar rejections, I don't upload there much any more.  All my new images are on Graphic Leftovers and Stockfresh.  I hope buyers check out some of the newer sites, as they tend to accept more new images.  The old sites keep low quality old images and are becoming more strict with new uploads, sometimes rejecting much better images.  It baffles me why they don't clear out some of the old lower quality stuff and accept more new images.  Some of the newer sites also pay better commissions and often have better prices for buyers.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2010, 12:08 by sharpshot »

« Reply #912 on: September 26, 2010, 13:10 »
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I actually originally found the image I wanted to use on Shutterstock, but since I just wanted to buy the one image I didn't want to buy their lowest PAYG package, so, just for the heck of it, I popped on over to Dreamstime to check and see if the image was there. While it didn't show up on the first page, similar photos from that photographer did, so finding it was pretty easy using general keywords.

I did have a slight problem with the purchase though. I actually had a client sign up and buy the credits and when I went to buy the image the site wanted me to finish filling out her profile. I did and went back to the image page. Unfortunately, I did not notice that the Medium size was selected by default (since I thought by going back to the image page it would remember the option that I clicked). So I contacted customer service and they immediately refunded the credits so I could buy the correct size.

The one thing that I did find strange though was that the price of the image changed three times thoughout this process. When I first searched for it, it was priced at 9 credits. When I went to purchase it, it changed to 11 credits, and then after I accidentally purchased the wrong size, it went up to 15 credits. After they refunded my money it went back to 11 credits. What is with that?

Thanks for that. Interesting that you chose to initially search on SS although apparently you had no intention of buying from them. Do you find that SS produces decent search results, easier than DT? I've always thought DT's results to be embarassingly bad in most instances __ why they don't recognise that themselves amazes me.

« Reply #913 on: September 26, 2010, 16:43 »
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Thanks for that. Interesting that you chose to initially search on SS although apparently you had no intention of buying from them. Do you find that SS produces decent search results, easier than DT? I've always thought DT's results to be embarassingly bad in most instances __ why they don't recognise that themselves amazes me.
I initially started out just searching a couple different sites, just to see what was available, without necessarily having a clear idea of what I wanted, and just happened to land at SS. It was only after I narrowed down the choices that I looked to see if they were available eslewhere. At first, I didn't have a particular preference of where I was going to purchase an image. Just getting my feet wet after being a loyal iStock customer for so long... ;)

« Reply #914 on: September 26, 2010, 16:45 »
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It may have been the level system at Dreamstime. The more sales an image has the more expensive the image becomes. After you searched for it, others could have bought copies increasing the price. When you purchased it the first time you could of bumped it up to a new price level. When DT removed the sale the image dropped back to the previous level. As a seller the rising level system is one of the best things about DT.

While I'm glad for the seller, I found it a little annoying that the price suddenly changed without notice, in the course of an hour. It almost felt like a bait and switch. Still, the price was reasonable enough so it didn't deter me.

« Reply #915 on: September 26, 2010, 17:35 »
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It may have been the level system at Dreamstime. The more sales an image has the more expensive the image becomes. After you searched for it, others could have bought copies increasing the price. When you purchased it the first time you could of bumped it up to a new price level. When DT removed the sale the image dropped back to the previous level. As a seller the rising level system is one of the best things about DT.

While I'm glad for the seller, I found it a little annoying that the price suddenly changed without notice, in the course of an hour. It almost felt like a bait and switch. Still, the price was reasonable enough so it didn't deter me.

That seems to be an unintended consequence of the system that they really should try to find a way round. There's a dead period each day when only a few islands in the Pacific are awake and working, perhaps they should adjust price levels at that time rather than sticking strictly to the instant levels revision when a sale is made. The loss from waiting a few hours for the extra level would probably be less than the loss from customers feeling insulted or cheated and going elsewhere.

« Reply #916 on: September 26, 2010, 18:05 »
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Well I'm banned from the forums & sitemail haha! Called a trolls response pathetic & responded to Lobo saying I wouldn't be intimidated by his bullish behaviour and thinly veiled threats to me on sitemail.

It would appear somone is a tad insecure in their authority... go figure.

How many others have felt the light touch of the wiffle hammer?

Anyhoo - had to register somewhere and voice my displeasure at censorship. Carry on all! (and hello all on these forums!)

I think it's too funny that they ban you from sitemail too. What is the point of that? The whole banning thing seems rather childish and vindictive anyway, especially considering the random nature of the whole thing. I see people on there who have posted much more than my 10 or so posts and have been way more critical and insulting and they apparently still have their posting privileges.

As a buyer who is taking my business elsewhere now, I still get the last laugh though. :D

Well, if I remember well, you have been taking your business elsewhere sice the times where istock raised prices to 1-2-3 credits.

« Reply #917 on: September 26, 2010, 18:25 »
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You don't remember well.

« Reply #918 on: September 26, 2010, 18:46 »
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You don't remember well.

One of the two don't remeber well, but I'm not going now to dive in istock forums archives to make my point. Maybe others remember too.

« Reply #919 on: September 26, 2010, 19:06 »
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It is you whose memory is faulty. I have consistently said my purchases have decreased while OTHER buyers that I communicate with have left the site. You can look right here on MSG. Anyway, what's it to you where I buy images?

« Reply #920 on: September 26, 2010, 19:15 »
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This is a discussion forum, remember? Having read scores of posts by you every time they had a price raise at the Istock one I coudn't avoid a smile. Sorry. And you can buy your files and your food wherever you want, of course. But you can't forbid me to have my own opinion.

« Reply #921 on: September 26, 2010, 19:17 »
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One of the two don't remeber well, but I'm not going now to dive in istock forums archives to make my point. Maybe others remember too.

No, we don't. Either make your point with substantiated evidence or shut the f*ck up.

« Reply #922 on: September 26, 2010, 19:45 »
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This is a discussion forum, remember? Having read scores of posts by you every time they had a price raise at the Istock one I coudn't avoid a smile. Sorry. And you can buy your files and your food wherever you want, of course. But you can't forbid me to have my own opinion.

So? I'm free to protest price hikes and commission decreases all I want. You can't forbid me from having my own opinion either. And your memory is still faulty.

SNP

  • Canadian Photographer
« Reply #923 on: September 26, 2010, 19:51 »
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One of the two don't remeber well, but I'm not going now to dive in istock forums archives to make my point. Maybe others remember too.

No, we don't. Either make your point with substantiated evidence or shut the f*ck up.

^ do you ever wonder if anyone in your life is honest with you when you shut people down with that kind of belligerent and abusive attitude? your talent and knowledge is eclipsed by your hideous and bullish behaviour. you should really consider some yoga or something. I don't want to pick on caspixel, but if I were to make a constructive comment.....she has truly been threatening to stop buying at iStock since I joined, which was four years ago. it was one of the very first things I noticed about her username in the forums.

so, to suggest that loop's comment was anything but correct just makes you look as biased as you clearly are. seriously tired of watching you attack people, it's completely unproductive.

« Reply #924 on: September 26, 2010, 20:08 »
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^^^ I don't care what you think __ and, quite frankly, neither does pretty much anyone else.

I don't have a problem with someone making accusations against another but I do expect such allegations to be validated with the evidence that the accuser refers to. To just shrug and say they are too lazy to produce it is simply pathetic (except to someone like you of course when it is 'quite reasonable').


 

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