Author Topic: Vector Royalty Rates Increasing (Read 8201 times)

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #1 on:** May 15, 2013, 16:07 »

Apparently, enough people were tired of the previous royalty. They've managed to figure out that increasing royalties = happy contributors. Wow.

cthoman · « **Reply #2 on:** May 15, 2013, 16:07 »

It's about 2 years too late for me, but I'm glad to see something moving in a positive direction.

ShadySue · « **Reply #3 on:** May 15, 2013, 16:35 »

It's certainly an 'interesting' and surprising move.

cobalt · « **Reply #4 on:** May 15, 2013, 16:50 »

Well, that is good news.

Too bad photography is one of the most popular hobbies on the planet.

Sadstock · « **Reply #5 on:** May 15, 2013, 16:53 »

So paying a bit more than obscenely low vector royalties suddenly became sustainable again? So does that mean RCs for independent contributors no longer matter?

Anyone think images will follow?

tickstock · « **Reply #6 on:** May 15, 2013, 16:57 »

pancaketom · « **Reply #7 on:** May 15, 2013, 18:44 »

So decreasing royalty rates is now "unsustainable". I wonder if photos will follow. I doubt it, but it would be nice - probably too little too late for most of us by now though.

Istock could have completely ruled the microstock universe had they not become greedy and stupid.

THP Creative · « **Reply #8 on:** May 15, 2013, 19:03 »

Making this change to photos as well would at least be one tiny step in the right direction, and would impact more contributors view of iStock than just vectors alone.

Do you think they are finally starting to get it? I mean, when was the last time we heard the words 'iStock' and 'contributor royalty increase' in the same breath?

ShadySue · « **Reply #9 on:** May 15, 2013, 19:09 »

It's hard to interpret.
A few weeks ago, they made the bizarre and apparently illogical statement that very few vectorians were uploading to their limits, so they were removing the limits. It may be that that didn't bring in many more vectors, as would seem logical - if they weren't loading e.g. 20 a week (or whatever) it's not likely they would upload 999.
So since they clearly want more vectors (maybe as a result of market research), they had to up the payment.

I'm not sure the situation is the same for photos. A lot of indie photographers are able to fill their slots and have backlogs.

Logorilla · « **Reply #10 on:** May 15, 2013, 19:10 »

Wowee I didn't expect them to do that! Though it doesn't affect my %, it looks like a step in the right direction..

Noedelhap · « **Reply #11 on:** May 15, 2013, 19:35 »

I can hardly believe it. Good to see they're taking a step in the right direction.

EmberMike · « **Reply #12 on:** May 15, 2013, 20:03 »

I can't believe that there is good news to talk about regarding istock.

But I'll gladly take the increase. It's a big positive after years of negatives. And while it doesn't solve all of the problems over there, it's a step in a good direction.

Allsa · « **Reply #13 on:** May 15, 2013, 20:52 »

I'm wondering if I should start uploading vectors again, but there's the infamous 'Google Deal' to consider. Were vectors included in the Google Deal?

davidgoh · « **Reply #14 on:** May 15, 2013, 23:30 »

This is a very good sign in my eyes! Doesn't affect me as I recently hit the old RC target for 30%, but it's a change where nobody loses and a large portion of contributors gain. Congrats to all illustrators!

Monkeyman · « **Reply #15 on:** May 16, 2013, 02:58 »

Not very exciting news for the exclusives who sell the most. So this is another change that makes you suspect that they're planning to get rid of the exxlusive program completely and push everybody down to 20%.

By slowly making the exclusive program less and less attractive people will leave exclusivity by themselves... and when there aren't many exclusives left they can just shut down the program without many complaints...

ShadySue · « **Reply #16 on:** May 16, 2013, 04:20 »

Quote from: Monkeyman on May 16, 2013, 02:58

Not very exciting news for the exclusives who sell the most. So this is another change that makes you suspect that they're planning to get rid of the exxlusive program completely and push everybody down to 20%.

By slowly making the exclusive program less and less attractive people will leave exclusivity by themselves... and when there aren't many exclusives left they can just shut down the program without many complaints...

Probably true enough, though conversely all iS exclusive vectors are being mirrored on Getty.

gostwyck · « **Reply #17 on:** May 16, 2013, 04:30 »

Quote from: Monkeyman on May 16, 2013, 02:58

Not very exciting news for the exclusives who sell the most. So this is another change that makes you suspect that they're planning to get rid of the exxlusive program completely and push everybody down to 20%.

By slowly making the exclusive program less and less attractive people will leave exclusivity by themselves... and when there aren't many exclusives left they can just shut down the program without many complaints...

Maybe it's the customers who object to paying more for an 'exclusive' image? Higher prices can be justified on the grounds of higher quality or scarcity. If an exclusive image is not of noticeably high quality and, with images generally being so plentiful in supply, the premium for scarcity also becomes less justifiable.

I'd assume that these recent abrupt changes from Istock are the result of what they learned from the fancy customer survey they commissioned (the one in which respondents were offered free iPads).

We all know what they need to do to turn the ship around. It'll be interesting to see how committed they are to actually doing so ... if indeed it can still be done.

leaf · « **Reply #18 on:** May 16, 2013, 04:59 »

It looks like they are trying to encourage uploads (again).. which is interesting. Perhaps it seems like enough people giving them the cold shoulder is working.

Noedelhap · « **Reply #19 on:** May 16, 2013, 04:59 »

What I don't understand is, about 6 months ago iStock made some changes which made it seem they wanted to get rid of indies (by favoring exclusives), and now, indies are being pleased at the expense of the exclusives.

cidepix · « **Reply #20 on:** May 16, 2013, 05:54 »

This is NO good news imo.. photographers not being included clearly shows they still don't give a * about contributors in general.. and I am saying this as a vector contributor..

The motivation behind this move is obviously the lack of vector uploads.. what we have been doing is clearly working, so what we should do is to continue doing what we have been doing..

If the royalties are not universally raised, this is not a sincere move and they will go back to abysmal levels as soon as istockphoto got what they want..

Definitely not resuming uploads.. it is good that existing files will be getting %20, instead of %15 though..

ShadySue · « **Reply #21 on:** May 16, 2013, 06:00 »

Quote from: cidepix on May 16, 2013, 05:54

If the royalties are not universally raised, this is not a sincere move and they will go back to abysmal levels as soon as istockphoto got what they want..

Sadly, I suspect that this will be the case.

tickstock · « **Reply #22 on:** May 16, 2013, 06:29 »

cidepix · « **Reply #23 on:** May 16, 2013, 07:18 »

Quote from: ShadySue on May 16, 2013, 06:00

Quote from: cidepix on May 16, 2013, 05:54
If the royalties are not universally raised, this is not a sincere move and they will go back to abysmal levels as soon as istockphoto got what they want..
Sadly, I suspect that this will be the case.

posted the same thing on their forum.. let's see how long it will take for them to remove it..

cidepix · « **Reply #24 on:** May 16, 2013, 07:32 »

so after all, we were right that istockphoto were screwed

all those lies by their representatives that business was good and growing was total BS..

I have a new nickname for them: iSadstock

so sad that they swallow their words..

sustainable? unsustainable? sustainable again?

screw them! my anger against iSadstock just came back.. royalties are not a toy.. you just don't * with them!

Tryingmybest · « **Reply #25 on:** May 16, 2013, 07:59 »

That dumb upload system they have at iStock is a big part of the problem why we can't get 5% of our vector 999 upload slots. I'm glad they'll pay us a little more. It's still not enough. It should be 50/50. Give the exclusives 60%. Just my opinion. I'm sure their rich bosses would hate it.

Quote from: ShadySue on May 15, 2013, 19:09

It's hard to interpret.
A few weeks ago, they made the bizarre and apparently illogical statement that very few vectorians were uploading to their limits, so they were removing the limits. It may be that that didn't bring in many more vectors, as would seem logical - if they weren't loading e.g. 20 a week (or whatever) it's not likely they would upload 999.
So since they clearly want more vectors (maybe as a result of market research), they had to up the payment.

I'm not sure the situation is the same for photos. A lot of indie photographers are able to fill their slots and have backlogs.

Jetsetter78 · « **Reply #26 on:** May 16, 2013, 09:08 »

As a new exclusive contributor, i am very disappointed with them. What is the differences between 20% for non exclusive and 25% for new exclusive like me?

Istock should be named Iquit since many valuable contributors are leaving.

tickstock · « **Reply #27 on:** May 16, 2013, 09:10 »

vlad_the_imp · « **Reply #28 on:** May 16, 2013, 09:43 »

Quote

Istock should be named Iquit since many valuable contributors are leaving.

If it's so bad why don't you leave too then? You don't even know what percentage you earn there, which is rather surprising.

Jetsetter78 · « **Reply #29 on:** May 16, 2013, 10:55 »

Quote from: vlad_the_imp on May 16, 2013, 09:43

Quote
Istock should be named Iquit since many valuable contributors are leaving.

If it's so bad why don't you leave too then? You don't even know what percentage you earn there, which is rather surprising.

I have already left there for a month ago. I didnt even know about the royalty increase until i read it in this thread. Previously, i was paid 25% but the current 30% and previous 25% isnt much of a differences.

tickstock · « **Reply #30 on:** May 16, 2013, 10:59 »

cthoman · « **Reply #31 on:** May 16, 2013, 11:05 »

Quote from: tickstock on May 16, 2013, 10:59

It's a 20% increase, I would say that's a lot.

It's more, but I wouldn't say it's a lot. I wouldn't go back for 30% even as a non-exclusive.

Monkeyman · « **Reply #32 on:** May 21, 2013, 06:06 »

If they were really aiming for domination on the market by getting as many exclusives as possible, they would offer more perks for exclusives but instead they've done the opposite for the past years. This time with the royalty changes and the changes in the search algorithm which will give non-exclusive files a better placement in the search results, which will result in less sales for exclusives.

I think they would make more money if they had no exclusives. A few thousand exclusive members at iStock doesn't really give them any advantage since there are tens of thousands of non-exclusives that are just as talented and are selling the same types of photos/illustrations elsewhere.

Microbius · « **Reply #33 on:** May 21, 2013, 08:12 »

I wasn't too thrilled at getting 20% back in the day, so not too thrilled now either.

They could force a low commission on you back them because they were the market leader, guess what; they ain't no more, and 20% still sucks.

It's a pigeon step in the right direction though....

Monkeyman · « **Reply #34 on:** May 22, 2013, 04:51 »

I agree that it's a small step in the right direction.

Unfortunately I think vector prices would also have to be lowered quite a lot to get the buyer's back... my sales have gone down every month this year and I don't think I'm the only one with poor sales. But since I'm exclusive I don't know how the situation is at other sites... maybe there's a downward trend everywhere because of the hysterical competition.

Microbius · « **Reply #35 on:** May 22, 2013, 06:29 »

Not for me, just on IStock.

MicrostockGroup Sponsors

Author Topic: Vector Royalty Rates Increasing (Read 8201 times)

EmberMike

vlad_the_imp

Microbius

Microbius

Related Topics

Sponsors

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors