Author Topic: If you think iStock treats contributors like crap... (Read 3800 times)

disorderly · « **on:** April 14, 2011, 21:27 »

You might want to read this:

http://igdaboard.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/important-advisory-about-amazon’s-appstore-distribution-terms-2/

It concerns Amazon's new app store for Android, and in particular their rather unique approach to pricing and royalties.

"'Cheer up', they said. 'It could always be worse.' So I cheered up. And you know, they were right. It got worse."

stockastic · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2011, 22:29 »

Like stock photographers, developers of smart phone apps currently have no way to sell direct.

cthoman · « **Reply #2 on:** April 15, 2011, 00:10 »

Quote from: stockastic on April 14, 2011, 22:29

Like stock photographers, developers of smart phone apps currently have no way to sell direct.

There are lots of ways to sell direct in stock, it's pretty low entry costs, there are lots of threads about it and many of us are doing it.

bunhill · « **Reply #3 on:** April 15, 2011, 06:29 »

Quote from: stockastic on April 14, 2011, 22:29

Like stock photographers, developers of smart phone apps currently have no way to sell direct.

Android developers can sell direct. Android users are not locked into downloading and installing apps only from the Android marketplace or the Amazon app store.

But if you were an app developer would you prefer to sell a few copies direct to Android users or to potentially sell many more by developing for IOS and being on the Apple app store ? An end user is far more likely to find your product if it is in a store and there is also the perception that content at a store has been vetted to some degree (if only by user review). That's why what Amazon is doing is probably very important for Android as a platform.

It's definitely analagous. I would be far more likely to buy content to use commercially from an agent than direct from someone claiming to be the photographer. An agent potentially provides a layer of validation and authority.

stockastic · « **Reply #4 on:** April 15, 2011, 09:04 »

I've heard that Google is tightening up on Droid apps. iPhone and Windows Phone 7 are tightly controlled platforms. So while some independent sales are still possible, the great majority of developems would have no possibility of making a profit that way. They couldn't price their apps high enough, given the small number of potential buyers they could reach.

Because of the risk of malware, most people wouldn't buy phone apps from unknown sources.

So the situation is really very comparable I think. In both cases the issues are sellers needing ways to connect with buyers, and buyers needing ways to verify the quality of products before purchase.

Rejections are also a big issue. A developer can spend months on an iPhone app only to have Apple say "mmmm.... no. We just don't like it."

MicrostockGroup Sponsors

Author Topic: If you think iStock treats contributors like crap... (Read 3800 times)

disorderly

stockastic

cthoman

bunhill

stockastic

Related Topics

Sponsors

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors