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Agency Based Discussion => New Sites - General => Topic started by: FiveDollarPhotos on March 07, 2018, 16:28

Title: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: FiveDollarPhotos on March 07, 2018, 16:28
Greetings,

First, thanks to all of you participating here. I've learned a lot, even in a short time as a "lurker." I'm glad this kind of place exists for discussion and collaboration.

I wanted to let you know about a site we are creating - FiveDollarPhotos.com (http://FiveDollarPhotos.com).
The name is pretty self-explanatory. Find a photo . Spend $5. Download the image. Simple.

For photographers, we are also starting at a 75% royalty rate.

As a consumer, I found myself frequently frustrated by the subscriptions, credits, pricing tiers, and so on when searching for an occasional photo to use for my projects. I wanted to create a solution that was easy to understand and simple to use. In my opinion, many of the larger stock photo sites make it unnecessarily complicated for individuals to purchase photos.

I do not pretend to be a professional photographer, but I've had an occasion to sell some of my personal work online. I was always frustrated by the low royalty rates offered to artists. In addition to making FiveDollarPhotos easy for consumers, I wanted to make it profitable for artists.

Obviously, any stock photo site's success depends upon a large collection of high quality photos for sale and we hope that you will consider being a part of that. To help make that happen, we are offering an incentive to photographers willing to join us early during this development phase.
Currently, we are building our database of high quality stock photos and developing the shopping cart and artist payment systems. While we work on those phases and prior to our public launch, any contributor that signs up and uploads photos for sale will have a royalty rate of 75% on all of their photos. Forever. Every photo that sells at $5, the contributor will receive $3.75.
After we launch to the public for sales, the standard rate will go to 50% (which is still a great deal).

My vision for FiveDollarPhotos is simple - make an easy marketplace for buyers that pays a great commission to contributors. I hope that you will share that same vision and join us for this journey. If you do, please go to FiveDollarPhotos.com (http://FiveDollarPhotos.com) and register as a contributor.

Obviously, we are working to make this the best website possible. If you see things that are not working properly or would like to make suggestions on how to make it better, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Jay Lynn, President
FiveDollarPhotos.com
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: DiscreetDuck on March 07, 2018, 16:35
Well... hem...
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Shelma1 on March 07, 2018, 16:44
Prepare to be eviscerated. Lol.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Sean Locke Photography on March 07, 2018, 16:45
Take a look at GL Stock Images.  They are dead simple to use, lots of images, but unfortunately zero sales.  Figure out where they went wrong and then fix those issues.

You need to provide the licensing terms before many will join.

We don't really know who you are.  There's no info on the site.

The name kind of ties you in forever to that price point.  Maybe not a good idea.

Just a few thoughts...
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: THP Creative on March 07, 2018, 17:18
Your viewport is unnecessarily small for a site being built in 2018. I have loads of unused space on my 21" 4k iMac, can only image a 27".

Also no https...doesn't inspire confidence in security practises.

Plus all of what Sean said...
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Brasilnut on March 07, 2018, 17:58
Wait until someone comes up with "FourDollarPhotos"...

Reminds me of the classic scene from There's Something About Mary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2di69FmhE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2di69FmhE)
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: mlwp on March 07, 2018, 19:51
You boast of a high royalty percentage but, in all honesty, 75% of $5 isn't much.  If you want serious consideration, particularly if you are touting high quality imagery, I would set your selling price considerably higher. 

I wish you luck but it will be a tough sell.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Zero Talent on March 07, 2018, 20:34
Wait until someone comes up with "FourDollarPhotos"...

Reminds me of the classic scene from There's Something About Mary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2di69FmhE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2di69FmhE)

Good one!  ;D
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: cthoman on March 07, 2018, 23:47
You lost me at five dollars. My advise would be to figure out how to make money marketing a small group of contributors, then move on from there. Right now, we are all being under-represented. A couple five dollar sales isn't going to change that for anybody.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: SuperPhoto on March 08, 2018, 00:29
Hi,

Took a look at the site. It may work.

But the site needs some work. It looks like something you whipped up in about 3-4 hours. I know it probably took much longer to do than that - but I am just saying.

What are your plans for marketing though? I'd be interested in that... and if you have some good marketing to generate sales, could submit something there.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: SpaceStockFootage on March 08, 2018, 01:25
Curious about the comments on the price. I thought Shutterstock's payout per sale was 35 cents or something like that... are they the exception and not the norm? Is the average higher than $3.75? I don't sell any still images, so I've no idea!
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Pauws99 on March 08, 2018, 01:42
Curious about the comments on the price. I thought Shutterstock's payout per sale was 35 cents or something like that... are they the exception and not the norm? Is the average higher than $3.75? I don't sell any still images, so I've no idea!
An average RPD of $3.75 would be good for me as its at about 67c on SS. I like the idea of the simple concept but I just think the market is saturated...if the upload process is very simple I might give it a go.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Chichikov on March 08, 2018, 02:36
Wait until someone comes up with "FourDollarPhotos"...

Reminds me of the classic scene from There's Something About Mary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2di69FmhE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2di69FmhE)

I propose $3.99
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: stockman11 on March 08, 2018, 03:30
Nobody competes with fiverr with less than $5 per work, so it's a good chance that $5 photos stays unique. Sounds catchy, it offers simplicity, so with a good marketing it can be OK.

The keyword is a good marketing, this is what made the difference between successful sites and the rest. This is why from the new sites only Canva succeeded while the others failed, and this is why from the little older sites Depositphotos is in the middle tier, while others are pretty much nowhere. Even with the coolest site in the world and excellent content, you will hardly go anywhere without a good marketing.

And by good marketing, I don't mean ads on Google and Facebook, not many will click on that, by good marketing I mean right people who know the right people and who really know how to attract buyers and spread the word. Which is easier said than done. That's why there is a difference between successful sites and the others.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: increasingdifficulty on March 08, 2018, 03:39
Nobody competes with fiverr with less than $5 per work

??? ?
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: stockman11 on March 08, 2018, 03:53
Nobody competes with fiverr with less than $5 per work

??? ?
If I'm not mistaken, on fiverr the minimum pay per work done is $5. And I don't know for any similar site on which you can offer less than that per work, despite the fact that there are people, especially from India, who would offer their work for cents if they could.

Similar is with stock, I don't think that there will be sites which will offer less than $5 per image, unless there are subscription plans, or smaller prices for smaller sizes, or different licensing, like Canva's $1 per 1 usage. I think that so called race to bottom in microstock stops here.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Justanotherphotographer on March 08, 2018, 05:22
Take a look at GL Stock Images.  They are dead simple to use, lots of images, but unfortunately zero sales.  Figure out where they went wrong and then fix those issues.

You need to provide the licensing terms before many will join.

We don't really know who you are.  There's no info on the site.

The name kind of ties you in forever to that price point.  Maybe not a good idea.

Just a few thoughts...
The new owners screwed the site.
I used to get a nice (for a small site) three figure monthly return prior to the new ownership.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: namussi on March 08, 2018, 06:11
Nobody competes with fiverr with less than $5 per work, so it's a good chance that $5 photos stays unique. Sounds catchy, it offers simplicity, so with a good marketing it can be OK.

The keyword is a good marketing, this is what made the difference between successful sites and the rest. This is why from the new sites only Canva succeeded while the others failed, and this is why from the little older sites Depositphotos is in the middle tier, while others are pretty much nowhere. Even with the coolest site in the world and excellent content, you will hardly go anywhere without a good marketing.

And by good marketing, I don't mean ads on Google and Facebook, not many will click on that, by good marketing I mean right people who know the right people and who really know how to attract buyers and spread the word. Which is easier said than done. That's why there is a difference between successful sites and the others.

So all you have to do is get the right people. It's that simple.

I wonder if that strategy has ever been tried before in other industries.


Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Pauws99 on March 08, 2018, 07:07
Nobody competes with fiverr with less than $5 per work, so it's a good chance that $5 photos stays unique. Sounds catchy, it offers simplicity, so with a good marketing it can be OK.

The keyword is a good marketing, this is what made the difference between successful sites and the rest. This is why from the new sites only Canva succeeded while the others failed, and this is why from the little older sites Depositphotos is in the middle tier, while others are pretty much nowhere. Even with the coolest site in the world and excellent content, you will hardly go anywhere without a good marketing.

And by good marketing, I don't mean ads on Google and Facebook, not many will click on that, by good marketing I mean right people who know the right people and who really know how to attract buyers and spread the word. Which is easier said than done. That's why there is a difference between successful sites and the others.

So all you have to do is get the right people. It's that simple.

I wonder if that strategy has ever been tried before in other industries.
Obviously but although its blindingly obvious not as often as you might think.....hence the number of new agencies who come here and talk about commission and have nothing to say about marketing.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: cathyslife on March 08, 2018, 09:37
You are starting by giving 75% to contributors. Once you have a nice library, that will disintegrate to 10%, because 75% won’t be sustainable. That’s how it usually goes.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: SuperPhoto on March 08, 2018, 10:42
I wouldn't say its not 'sustainable'... I'd say sites just tend to get greedy, and think 'wow! look at all the money we are making! if we take a higher %, we'll make even more!', not thinking that then contributors think, maybe they should stop submitting, and go find somewhere else to submit to...
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on March 08, 2018, 11:30
...You need to provide the licensing terms before many will join.

You have the terms and conditions for the site up now (https://www.fivedollarphotos.com/terms_of_service.php), but not the license you plan to offer buyers, and as Sean indicates, anyone who's been selling for more than 5 minutes will want to see the license - if you're offering the equivalent of extended licenses for a $5 price, it's a non-starter regardless of royalty rate. If you offer the content to partner sites, do we have the ability to opt out of those (which typically are a crappy deal for contributors as there are three mouths to feed instead of two).

Another red flag for me (from the terms and conditions) is the 90 day delay in removing content, especially for a new site with an unknown owner. I can appreciate you don't want to spend all the money to review content only to have contributors delete it on a whim, but look at it from the contributor side. Submitting valuable content to a brand new site is a risk - you could be the next big success as a stock agency or be bundling our files up to sell behind our backs and  until there's a track record for your agency, we won't know which it is. Even if we want to leave as a result of a change in the terms you impose a 30 day wait.

As others have noted above, you need to talk about how you're planning to market the site. Uploading images to a new site is work - no marketing means no return for our work.

Why will anyone buy from you when they can buy $5 images from Shutterstock's huge collection? Yes, they have to pay $49 for 10 images, but there's no commitment beyond that. Dreamstime has a one month "subscription" of 5 images for $25 (smaller collection than SS, but still a decent size). 123rf has a one month "subscription" of 10 images for $39. I don't think you can make price and a single item purchase much of a differentiator, especially when you're just starting out with a small collection.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: FiveDollarPhotos on March 08, 2018, 11:46
Thanks, everyone, for the great discussion and comments. And, thanks for not "eviscerating" me. :)

In particular, a special thanks to those of you that did venture over to the site and sign up.

A few responses and comments on the issues raised -

The site is definitely a work in progress. While it did take considerably more than a few hours to construct, we're taking a very hands-on approach to developing it just the way we want it to work, not relying on third-party plugins to get where we want to go. It's still early in the process and recruiting some initial contributors is essential to really putting the site through its paces before launch. As our lead developer says, "No site survives first contact with the customer."
As for some specific concerns:
https - Obviously, this is a big deal. At this point, the site should be completely secure. If you encounter something specific where it doesn't seem to be working, don't hesitate to let us know.
Site Info - Good point. We want to be as transparent as possible. We'll work on that.
The Terms of Service are linked from several pages, but we'll take a look at making them even more obvious.

Regarding the price point, there's not much to say. Obviously, the entire site is locked into the fivedollarphoto price point "gimmick." That's been a given from inception. We think there is a market for that price point, but you should of course follow your instincts. As artists, you should certainly value your work where you feel it deserves.

Honestly, the royalty payout for early adopters at 75% is about as high as you can go at a $5 price point and still pay for hosting and development. As the site owner, I will not be moving below 50% after launch. We are a small team and intend to keep it that way, allowing us to maintain those levels of payment. Also, I should clarify that those royalty rates are not assigned to the images, but to the contributor. No matter when you upload a photo, your royalty rate remains the same as when you first signed up.

Great comments regarding marketing. Any venture lives or dies by its marketing efforts and we recognize that. Approaching all of you here in this forum is a first step towards fostering good relationships as the site grows and laying the foundation for good marketing. We want to connect with contributors as a part of a community. We hope that you will come to feel like collaborators in that process and not just faceless contributors.

Thanks again for all of the comments and great discussion.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: obj owl on March 08, 2018, 12:01
Thank you for not coming out with all the corporate buzzword crap we usually get, except for your lead developers contribution, you can sack him or her.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: stockman11 on March 08, 2018, 12:15
Your watermarks have to be better than this: https://www.fivedollarphotos.com/product.php?id=131 (https://www.fivedollarphotos.com/product.php?id=131)

especially when you offer a full size preview...
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: ArenaCreative on March 08, 2018, 13:20
Here's my two cents, take it or leave it.  I'm not trying to discourage you, but it's my dead honest opinion after being in this industry for over 10 years on all ends of the spectrum.

The website looks really rough at first glance.  It's going to need a lot of development.  What good is a 75% payout to a contributor, if you have zero traffic; no content... dude you really can't put the cart before the horse.  Many of us here have even had our own agency websites, and shut them down because the costs outweighed the income. 

You will have to also compete with places like StockPhotoSecrets (http://"https://shop.stockphotosecrets.com/?urefid=IMSUSER:D26ACB81-ACED-1C11-8FC258B858678EF2") that offer over 5 million images for a $99 yearly subscription, and 200 total downloads.  No, they don't sell single images... because dealing with customer service issues from numbskulls who don't know their mouse from their elbow isn't worth it, when you're making $1.25 gross per image.     

Sell used DVD's on ebay.  That's even a better business model, than this. 
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: stockman11 on March 08, 2018, 14:03
He can't market or go anywhere without the content. And he can't get any traffic without the content.

So as the 1st step this is what he does - he tries to get as much content as possible. It would be easier for him to get the content if he would say something relevant and promising regarding the next step (marketing - getting actual buyers), but that's the other issue. And of course, the site must be already better developed and fully functional, so maybe he came for the content too early.

Offering the cheapest plan is not the way to success, it's marketing and to some degree quality. Plain and simple.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: photoboxer on March 08, 2018, 16:12
White font on black background is killing my eyes.  :o
I will upload a few pictures as support. As soon as the full size preview watermark issue is solved.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Maui on March 09, 2018, 05:03
This is what I get when searching for 'girl':

Code: [Select]
Failed to connect to MySQL: Access denied for user 'fivedollar_admin'@'ps591164.dreamhost.com' (using password: YES)
Warning: mysqli_real_escape_string() expects parameter 1 to be mysqli, boolean given in /home/photos_dev/fivedollarphotos.com/find_a_photo.php on line 88
Failed to connect to MySQL: Access denied for user 'fivedollar_admin'@'ps591164.dreamhost.com' (using password: YES)
Warning: mysqli_query() expects parameter 1 to be mysqli, boolean given in /home/photos_dev/fivedollarphotos.com/includes/sql_fns.php on line 231
Failed to connect to MySQL: Access denied for user 'fivedollar_admin'@'ps591164.dreamhost.com' (using password: YES)
Warning: mysqli_query() expects parameter 1 to be mysqli, boolean given in /home/photos_dev/fivedollarphotos.com/includes/sql_fns.php on line 231
Failed to connect to MySQL: Access denied for user 'fivedollar_admin'@'ps591164.dreamhost.com' (using password: YES)
Warning: mysqli_query() expects parameter 1 to be mysqli, boolean given in /home/photos_dev/fivedollarphotos.com/includes/sql_fns.php on line 231
Failed to connect to MySQL: Access denied for user 'fivedollar_admin'@'ps591164.dreamhost.com' (using password: YES)
Warning: mysqli_query() expects parameter 1 to be mysqli, boolean given in /home/photos_dev/fivedollarphotos.com/includes/sql_fns.php on line 231
Failed to connect to MySQL: Access denied for user 'fivedollar_admin'@'ps591164.dreamhost.com' (using password: YES)
Warning: mysqli_query() expects parameter 1 to be mysqli, boolean given in /home/photos_dev/fivedollarphotos.com/includes/sql_fns.php on line 231
Failed to connect to MySQL: Access denied for user 'fivedollar_admin'@'ps591164.dreamhost.com' (using password: YES)
Warning: mysqli_query() expects parameter 1 to be mysqli, boolean given in /home/photos_dev/fivedollarphotos.com/includes/sql_fns.php on line 231
No Results Found
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: SpaceStockFootage on March 09, 2018, 06:30
Story of my life. I've been searching for girls for years, and something always goes wrong.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Bereng La Bhoreq on March 09, 2018, 07:07
This is only for Photos (bitmap) ? Is there any place for eps Vector?
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: niktol on March 09, 2018, 08:47
Not a photographer, but still. Owners or representatives of new agencies pop up on this site every now and then, but it seems like noone gets it, it is amateur hour. Portfolios of best contributors are expensive assets. Some (and not very rarely) may very well be worth a million bucks or more on the market. Asking to manage them without some sort of a legally enforcible promise or a collateral or a buy-in is ridiculous. Noone presents any guarantees that they will be secure on their new unknown to anyone sites either. Try to walk into a car dealership, tell them that you are going to start a car rental company and ask to borrow 10-20 cars until you reap the profits and see where they are going to send you.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Desintegrator on March 09, 2018, 09:55
Your watermarks have to be better than this: https://www.fivedollarphotos.com/product.php?id=131 (https://www.fivedollarphotos.com/product.php?id=131)

especially when you offer a full size preview...

This!
You really have to solve this issue.
Also, be more selective with accepting images, this one looks so out of focus..
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Desintegrator on March 09, 2018, 09:57
I've searched for car. Lots of unrelated images came up. I've checked one to see why it was in the results... in the keywords i've only seen "postCARd"... this is not good.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: ShadySue on March 09, 2018, 11:48
Also, be more selective with accepting images, this one looks so out of focus..
This!
... and the keywords are so minimal as to be useless. Not wildlife, nature, Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis plus whichever Turnstone it is and its scientific name, USA, birds etc.
A LOT of work to do on quality control, of both images and keywords.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: SuperPhoto on March 09, 2018, 12:44
One thing I guess I will ask though...

Who are you, I just noticed this is a brand new account, and you only have two posts. Do you have a different account here, and/or your own personal website/portfolio, etc?

Thanks!
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: dpimborough on March 09, 2018, 15:28
Sorry but this site is a none starter its just not thought thru properly

$5 is just not enough what about extended licenses?
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: FiveDollarPhotos on March 09, 2018, 19:29
Thanks, All.

Sorry for the delay in responding. Lots of stuff going on. Also, SuperPhoto, sorry for not responding you your PM right away. I will try and address what I can here and now.

I think stockman11's assumption is astute - perhaps we came looking for content too soon. As I mentioned, the site is a work in progress. The cart, search, and payment features are not completed. We had no idea if it would take days or months to build a catalog of sufficient size prior to launch, so recruiting photographers willing to be a part of this process was one of the reasons for reaching out here on this forum. If a "work in progress" or a new, unproven business makes you nervous, then by all means take a step back and check us out later.

As for some of the specific and relevant concerns,
Maui's comment showing the database errors was mostly bad timing. In moving the server to a more robust and secure setup, the database migration barfed and started giving those errors. It's fixed now,

however...

I'll say it again, the search function is still a little wonky and the database is mostly empty of images - that's why I came here. We're looking for photos and relationships with contributors and have most of those functions up and running. If you're approaching the site as a customer, then you'll have trouble "finding a girl" :-).

The watermark is a genuine concern. Unfortunately, the image you referenced is just a small placeholder image used for testing. Subsequent uploads display the watermark appropriately.

Keywords are as good as the uploader. We won't be modifying anyone's keywords.

As for the "who are you" question, no, I don't have another profile here and don't make my living as a photographer. Personally, I'm an entrepreneur who has started several profitable online businesses and this is my latest project. While I have sold a (very) few stock images from design work done years ago, my inspiration for this site comes from the position of the individual consumer. Since I have an infrequent need for quality images, a subscription or credit pack is not a value to me.The idea for a quick and simple process for single purchases was the seed idea for this site.

The need for clearer licensing is well noted. We'll make sure that's taken care of. The Terms of Service have been available from the start.

We will give some thought as to what would be useful information to share regarding marketing. I won't bombard you with useless marketing-speak.

I appreciate all of the comments regarding pricing. Obviously the site title alone sets some of the parameters. Our focus remains on a simple, single transaction model for one-time and and repeat customers. We are happy to collaborate with anyone willing to join us in this. However, if your photography portfolio is worth a million dollars, then maybe FiveDollarPhotos is not the right fit. You should certainly get the value you want for your creative work.

Thanks again for all of the constructive comments AND a special thanks to those of you who have already signed up.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: pkphotos on March 10, 2018, 04:28
You could have teamed up with the infamous 'Dollar Photo Club', in only they weren't defunct.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Maui on March 10, 2018, 04:56
I looked at the site's WHOIS entry and see that all registrant information is hidden through a proxy service.

Code: [Select]
REGISTRANT CONTACT
Name:PROXY PROTECTION LLC
Organization:PROXY PROTECTION LLC
Street:417 ASSOCIATED RD #324
C/O FIVEDOLLARPHOTOS.COM
City:BREA
State:CA
Postal Code:92821
Country:US
Phone:+1.7147064182
Email:[email protected]

Also, there is no imprint on the site as far as I can see.

This is a BIG red flag.

Sending your valuable content to an anonymous party would be a completely silly thing to do.

Good luck.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: SpaceStockFootage on March 10, 2018, 05:19
I looked at the site's WHOIS entry and see that all registrant information is hidden through a proxy service.

Code: [Select]
REGISTRANT CONTACT
Name:PROXY PROTECTION LLC
Organization:PROXY PROTECTION LLC
Street:417 ASSOCIATED RD #324
C/O FIVEDOLLARPHOTOS.COM
City:BREA
State:CA
Postal Code:92821
Country:US
Phone:+1.7147064182
Email:[email protected]

Also, there is no imprint on the site as far as I can see.

This is a BIG red flag.

Sending your valuable content to an anonymous party would be a completely silly thing to do.

Good luck.

Not a big deal for me, it's not exactly uncommon to hide your domain info.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Shelma1 on March 10, 2018, 06:54
As others have pointed out, marketing is a huge deal. Every couple of months someone comes along with a new site and asks us to upload our images, and every time they have no idea how to attract customers. You've offered to fix all the "easy" stuff...watermarks, search, etc.... which are just the base requirements for running a stock site. But running a SUCCESSFUL stock site requires a brilliant marketing strategy.

"I'm not gonna bombard you with marketing speak" just means you don't have a clue.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: SuperPhoto on March 10, 2018, 07:49
Yes. bombard me with marketing speak. I LIKE marketing speak. What are the other successful sites you've run?
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: ShadySue on March 10, 2018, 10:11
Keywords are as good as the uploader. We won't be modifying anyone's keywords.
Yeah, we really need another agency whose search results are embarrassing to show potential buyers.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Uncle Pete on March 10, 2018, 12:42
Last time I mentioned Foap to people in this business, they all said "Who?" https://www.foap.com/ (https://www.foap.com/) a successful crowd-source, phone photos, designed for apps, not desktops or laptops, photo agency. One price, 50/50 and they added missions now. So I'm just going to say, it's another FOAP. They charge $10 and contributors get $5. Good luck fivedollarphotos

I think it's a fair question to ask, who's running the show and the agency? Doesn't matter if you are a photographer or primarily a business person, I think most everyone would like to have some attribution along with, "we want your photos".  :)

I'm also a little confused by the 50% minimum royalty and the intro here saying 75%? You need clear license terms for the artist and the buyers.

Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: SpaceStockFootage on March 11, 2018, 07:02
I'm also a little confused by the 50% minimum royalty and the intro here saying 75%? You need clear license terms for the artist and the buyers.

75% if you sign up now... 50% if you sign up after launch. So 'minimum of 50%' is just a slightly streamlined and quicker way of saying that. I guess saying 'a minimum of 50%' also gives them room to manoeuvre if things go well and they want to up the rate at some point in the future.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Noedelhap on March 11, 2018, 08:54
An anonymous owner, no experience in the field, no clear marketing plan, no clear license rules, a work-in-progress website, no content, no unique selling points, no security and 10 years too late to the game. What could possibly go wrong?
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Oldhand on March 11, 2018, 10:49
I'd fix your HTTPS before anything else, come May your chances of appearing organically will be minimal: https://moz.com/blog/half-page-one-google-results-https

On the plus side - checked your backlinks and you've now two from this site - so you've doubled the amount you have in total..

Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: stockastic on March 12, 2018, 13:01
Just noticed this thread.  I won't repeat what's already here, but have one thought to add.

It's no use trying to do just what numerous other sites already do, only pay the contributors more and market it harder.   Some sort of fresh approach is needed. 

Contributor returns are so low that even if you don't feel like a fool, it isn't even worth the time and effort to upload hundreds or thousands of photos.  Obviously that has to change - we need to get a few bucks on a sale.  And all this redundant uploading is waste of time. Couldn't we keep all our work on single a cloud server and give multiple agencies access to it?

And maybe the whole idea of 'marketing' belongs in the past. 

I absolutely agree that the big micros like SS have made everything 10x too complicated for both buyers and producers. 

I have no ideas to offer - but I never saw the web coming, either.  Somehow the whole path of "I need an image - how would I find one - how would I pay for it" needs new alternatives.   Maybe - text some keywords to an AI that responds with a link to some pages of images... and its an iterative process, you text back "no, too many people, I just want one face" or "more of a closeup of that one building on the right" and the AI tries again...


Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: HughStoneIan on March 12, 2018, 13:35
I looked at the site's WHOIS entry and see that all registrant information is hidden through a proxy service.

Code: [Select]
REGISTRANT CONTACT
Name:PROXY PROTECTION LLC
Organization:PROXY PROTECTION LLC
Street:417 ASSOCIATED RD #324
C/O FIVEDOLLARPHOTOS.COM
City:BREA
State:CA
Postal Code:92821
Country:US
Phone:+1.7147064182
Email:[email protected]

Also, there is no imprint on the site as far as I can see.

This is a BIG red flag.

Sending your valuable content to an anonymous party would be a completely silly thing to do.

Good luck.

Lots of reasons to leave this one at the end of a 20-foot-pole, big time. Maui's point is one of the best ones.

Another good reason is "We had no idea if it would take days or months to build a catalog of sufficient size prior to launch...."  Oy vay!!

(Not trying to be nasty here, but business is business. Joining istuck would be preferable to this.)
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: alijaber on March 12, 2018, 13:35
If I'm a serious buyer I'll create an account at storyblocks, I'll have their 400,000 photos for 149$, and I can license any picture in their marketplace at 3.99$.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Noedelhap on March 12, 2018, 17:01
.  And all this redundant uploading is waste of time. Couldn't we keep all our work on single a cloud server and give multiple agencies access to it?
(...)
I have no ideas to offer (...)

Actually that's a great idea. Upload to the cloud, allow access to specific agencies with a unique key and then it's up to the agencies to adapt their infrastructure to present the images from the cloud to their customers.

But this idea could only work with sufficient support from big agencies. I know ToonVectors uses Dropbox to sync uploaded files to their system. If more (and bigger) agencies would hook up to this idea,it could (and should) become an industry standard.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: ShadySue on March 12, 2018, 17:30
If I'm a serious buyer I'll create an account at storyblocks, I'll have their 400,000 photos for 149$, and I can license any picture in their marketplace at 3.99$.
But FiveDollarPhotos isn't targetting that market, it's targetting people who just need one or a few images at a time.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: stockastic on March 12, 2018, 19:10
.  And all this redundant uploading is waste of time. Couldn't we keep all our work on single a cloud server and give multiple agencies access to it?
(...)
I have no ideas to offer (...)

Actually that's a great idea. Upload to the cloud, allow access to specific agencies with a unique key and then it's up to the agencies to adapt their infrastructure to present the images from the cloud to their customers.

But this idea could only work with sufficient support from big agencies. I know ToonVectors uses Dropbox to sync uploaded files to their system. If more (and bigger) agencies would hook up to this idea,it could (and should) become an industry standard.

Well it could at least reduce their storage costs.  And if an agency p!ssed me off I could shut them off in a heartbeat, not waste my time begging them to close my account.   

Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: alijaber on March 13, 2018, 02:52
If I'm a serious buyer I'll create an account at storyblocks, I'll have their 400,000 photos for 149$, and I can license any picture in their marketplace at 3.99$.
But FiveDollarPhotos isn't targetting that market, it's targetting people who just need one or a few images at a time.

I know, but this is another competitor that the owner of fivedollaphotos should be aware of. The big buyers will go to the big agencies (shutter, adobe..), buyers with lower budgets will go to storyblocks (maybe envato?), the other buyers who buy few pictures per year from fivedollarphotos will barely be enough for their Operational costs
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: YadaYadaYada on March 15, 2018, 09:07
If I'm a serious buyer I'll create an account at storyblocks, I'll have their 400,000 photos for 149$, and I can license any picture in their marketplace at 3.99$.
But FiveDollarPhotos isn't targetting that market, it's targetting people who just need one or a few images at a time.

I know, but this is another competitor that the owner of fivedollaphotos should be aware of. The big buyers will go to the big agencies (shutter, adobe..), buyers with lower budgets will go to storyblocks (maybe envato?), the other buyers who buy few pictures per year from fivedollarphotos will barely be enough for their Operational costs

We don't need more new agencies that sell the same old pictures or any that offer $5 photos. This is a bad idea from start to ending.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: ArturoDV96 on March 16, 2018, 16:36
For photographers, we are also starting at a 75% royalty rate.

But it says 50% on the home page ... ?
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: SpaceStockFootage on March 17, 2018, 00:06
75% for anyone that signs up prior to launch, 50% for anyone after.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: ArturoDV96 on March 17, 2018, 21:48
Oh, OK. Since they haven't launched yet, it would be 75% then? Even though it says 50% on the home page?
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: Zalee on March 17, 2018, 23:30
The search is really bad, I searched for "baby" and of the four irrelevant pics that came up none had baby in the tags or even part of a tag.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: pkphotos on March 18, 2018, 03:56
This charade will struggle to get off the ground. The website looks amateur at best, and let's face it, a stock library is defined by the quality of its website to a large extent
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: THP Creative on March 19, 2018, 14:29
Be very careful what (if) you choose to upload here. Eg:

https://www.fivedollarphotos.com/watermark.php?id=160 (https://www.fivedollarphotos.com/watermark.php?id=160)

Full size image on display with terrible watermark. You're basically giving away your images.

For me I'm not going along with it. All the best for those who do.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: leaf on March 20, 2018, 05:42
This charade will struggle to get off the ground. The website looks amateur at best, and let's face it, a stock library is defined by the quality of its website to a large extent

Agreed.  The cost of the image is mostly in the time it takes for the designer to find it.  Usability of the site, accurate search results, and library quality are what matters.  I'm afraid this site gets low grades on all accounts.
Title: Re: FiveDollarPhotos.com
Post by: rinderart on April 07, 2018, 00:47
If you or anyone really knew how bad all of us would LOVE to see a new site come along that was fresh and fair it would shock you and you wouldn't be able to handle the load, No one would. I have to agree with leaf. sorry. I've been doing stock Long Before micro and the Internet when we sold 35MM slides for $400 to Tony Stone circa 1970.....thats $2,400 in todays Money and here we are getting 38 Cents. we did it to ourselves.And every goofball with a camera willing to take it. That was then. this is now.Things are gonna change....
I'll bet anyone here a Box of donuts 20Cents will again be the commission Like it was when MS started. save your money guys.
Or get some clients and go to work. It will go back to the few guys unless 20 Cents sounds good and there ain't gonna be any shortage of uploads Not with the money there spending Farming suppliers..LOL

Good Luck to Ya.