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51
« on: April 25, 2023, 01:34 »
So you would encourage Getty to send their exclusive media content to Adobe, to increase their business? It would be an advantage for them?
I would encourage Getty to make being exclusive a thing again with all the advantages that used to come from being exclusive. Being exclusive has no meaning or value anymore and the result is they shot themselves in the foot. I used to do incredibly well with them as an exclusive and it was motivational. The ever changing goal post of reaching the next level is a joke. I even went as far as closing my Getty Images account because they started paying the same rate as Istock. That said, the whole industry is a sinking ship.
Offering exclusivity to contributors is only of use if you're the biggest earner for a contributor, otherwise it would take a miracle to earn enough to replace the earnings lost from the other agencies. That boat has long since sailed for Getty / iStock. While I make reasonable money still from them, it would be like 123rf offering exclusivity... absolutely pointless.
52
« on: April 18, 2023, 04:59 »
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the updates and emails. We are looking into this and I'll provide an update when I have some information to provide.
-Mat Hayward
Thanks Mat
53
« on: April 17, 2023, 07:51 »
It seems like it's a broken link. I still have till September before I need to update so I hadn't checked it. I've tried a couple of browsers and it returns the error below. @MatHayward Mat, is this being looked into.... cheers. ------------------- This site cant be reachedCheck if there is a typo in www.adobepartneroffer.com. DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN
54
« on: April 14, 2023, 01:33 »
10 days to review files.....It is obvious that Adobe is buried with Ai.
Unfortunately yes. It was one of those obvious reactions. Now every man and his dog is submitting work because they're all "Artists" now. Sadly there is more to it than typing a couple of words and hitting return but, it won't stop many contributors (and thousands of new ones) submitting dodgy looking AI shots in the hope of making a fortune. Mean while, the rest of the contributor base suffers from long delays. I have a a couple over 14 days now.
55
« on: March 30, 2023, 06:55 »
This article may help explain why the number of "custom" versus "subscription" royalties has been growing so fast in the last couple of months:
https://petapixel.com/2023/03/21/adobe-fights-off-canva-by-making-its-alternative-impossible-to-ignore/
Interesting read and goes someway to explain the improvements of late. The first three months of this year have continued the form of 2022 with good increases. Approx 3.5k dls this month so far with 8.5k for the year. That said, SS has had a better month as well but they're nowhere near AS at this point.
56
« on: March 04, 2023, 01:04 »
The people paying for the software are unlikely to be contributors... and if they are, most likely using some other software that is cheaper as they're not making as much money from it.
I think most contributors use Adobe CC to some extent, actually. Most contributors (like me) do microstock part-time but use Adobe CC for other types of work (video editing, animation, photography, illustration, music/sound design...)
And most pass the low minimum of 250 dls per year to receive free software. Thats why I said that people paying for the software are unlikely to be contributors.
57
« on: March 03, 2023, 05:04 »
Hey folks
We teamed with Steve Heap to explore his earnings in more details than anybody before. The goal was to explore his portfolio 'half-life' over at different agencies, however we also made a deep dive into his best-sellers and their impact on earnings.
Check out a new blogpost "How passive is income from microstock photography" https://xpiksapp.com/blog/passive-income-microstock/
Really curious what do you think about it and if you agree with conclusions
Very interesting subject / read. As I approach retirement this will play a bigger part in my planning. I doubt I'll ever stop working 100% and will most likely submit work to a couple of agencies albeit at a reduced volume focusing on a couple of key subjects but it's interesting to learn how fast the income is likely to drop. It looks like it should provide a tidy amount for 10+ years and probably longer with a little extra attention along the way. Thanks
58
« on: March 03, 2023, 04:33 »
Not Just AS but I'd rather see the option to buy goods in the local currency of the company. That way I'd receive a charge from the bank for the conversion less a fee. It would make a load of goods cheaper to people in the UK/EU when buying from the US etc. And, to be fair, the other way round as well. I know of a lot of high end gear made in the UK costs a lot more than the exchange rate in the US.
Companies with physical items have the excuse that they charge extra due to logistics, getting the items to your door etc but with non physical goods that can be downloaded over the internet, parity exchange rates whether it's the Euro or doesn't stack up as easily. There maybe additional costs involved but I'd imagine they're making extra from some non US citizens with their software.
That said, market value is determined by its users as well. If people weren't happy about it they could go elsewhere and if enough do then it may bring down the price. For me, even if I wasn't getting it for free I'd still pay for the software as the difference in exchange rates is very small indeed compared to the benefits gained from the use of the software. I work faster with their software and time is. money and as such, that difference melts away within an hour or two.
Yep, we finally agree on something.  Yes, there is not much excuse for higher prices of downloaded goods because costs can't be so much different but often companies raise prices for non-US customers. Although in EU countries is VAT usually added and I don't know if some tax is included in USA prices so it's hard to compare.
Going elsewhere from Adobe's software is sadly not so easy. It is "industry standard" so other clients and designers are using their software, competition softwares are only partially compatible or not at all. So if someone is exchanging lot of files with clients, it is simply not possible to use something else.
Lol... the world is full of differing opinions, we just need to be able to talk to each other about them without fear of feeling silly because we think differently or fear being cancelled. It's what we used to call debates, hear different points of view and learn from each other. Anyway, it's the differences that make life interesting... it would be dull if we all thought, looked and behaved the same
59
« on: March 03, 2023, 04:26 »
A quick note to confirm the last few questions...
Due to the current conversion to USD, a withdrawal is temporarily not possible.
As of Friday, March 3, the payout will be possible again.
Future payouts will be processed in US Dollars.
Thank you,
Mat Hayward
thieves.
? Bizare comment... a US company pays you in US $ for you to convert into your own currency at the official exchange rate and you call them thieves?
I appreciate you maybe disappointed that you're no longer get more than the official exchange rate (some of us were getting a lot less than the official rate) but rather than call them thieves (which is inaccurate) maybe a thank you for all those years they paid you more than they had too?
adobe isn"t canadian??
by the way thr point is why they convert euro to 1 dollar credit when an 1euro exchange to 1.06$?
Adobe headquarters are in California. You're mixing the cost to the customer with the contributor exchange rate which is not possible to do. How many customers that download your images paid in euros compared to the US$, compared to the Yen or the . As you'll see above, I think they do score from the exchange rates the customers pay. But, why should that extra money only go to the people of the EU? The extra they're making isn't going to people who are paid in $ and certainly not as we we were being short changed for quite a while now... no, that extra was only going to those who were receiving more than the exchange rate. The EU being one of the biggest beneficiaries. There is no way to fairly split that extra amount to all contributors, impossible to manage and the only fair way to Pay contributors is in $ and then use the exchange rate to make sure everyone gets the correct amount. The issue around the charges to customers is a separate thing and could be better, the costs should track the exchange rates more. That said, if you're signing up to a large subs package today based on todays rate, then by the end of the year the rate will be different but they'll still be paying the same amount. AS maybe up, but also could be down a lot. If we follow the wish for payments made by clients to be exact (track the exchange rate), then don't be surprised if the amounts you receive for each download will also jump up and down a lot as the amounts the customers pay changes. No, it would be way to complex. Easier to pick an amount that gives headroom to cover these potential costs. Some years they'll win, others they'll lose but contributors don't see that fluctuation. Same with the software, the cost for non $ purchases has to wether any potential fluctuations. People seem to see the issue as black and white but it isn't. There's a whole lot of grey in there.
60
« on: March 03, 2023, 03:55 »
A quick note to confirm the last few questions...
Due to the current conversion to USD, a withdrawal is temporarily not possible.
As of Friday, March 3, the payout will be possible again.
Future payouts will be processed in US Dollars.
Thank you,
Mat Hayward
thieves.
? Bizare comment... a US company pays you in US $ for you to convert into your own currency at the official exchange rate and you call them thieves?
...while the same US company charges its EU customers in a higher price.
It's a bit sad to see how fiercly you are defending Adobe's latest actions, just because you and a very few people from one single country profit from it, when you very well know that in the whole sheme it means Adobe pays out much less of what it gets from customers to its contributors and this is just a sheme to maximaze profit on the backs of contributors.
And the same company gives away its software to contributors for free with only 250 downloads in a year! Hardly the action of thives.
The people paying for the software are unlikely to be contributors... and if they are, most likely using some other software that is cheaper as they're not making as much money from it.
What grinds me here (rather than defending AS), is the entitlement of some people that their $ should continue to be worth more than a $ is worth back in the US... Imagine if the rest of the worlds Euros were worth more than yours?!?
In business, export import, which effectively is what we are working in... exporting images to a US agency, you have to deal with currency exchange rates. Every other import/export business in the world lives by the exchange rate and the fees they're charged by the bank.
So, this is less about defending AS and more about questioning the self-entitlement of some who think they're above the system.
I am contributor and I am buying Adobe's software, I guess I am not the only one. As a buyer, I am disappointed in their policies in many ways, but that's another story.
Regarding currency change, although it was in our eurozone favor until now, I always found weird FT/AS 1= 1 calculation instead of using normal exchange rate. And now, I think no one would complain if they announced that from now official exchange rate will be used. They are already dealing with different currencies because of software so I don't believe either that this change will simplify their accounting.
Not Just AS but I'd rather see the option to buy goods in the local currency of the company. That way I'd receive a charge from the bank for the conversion less a fee. It would make a load of goods cheaper to people in the UK/EU when buying from the US etc. And, to be fair, the other way round as well. I know of a lot of high end gear made in the UK costs a lot more than the exchange rate in the US. Companies with physical items have the excuse that they charge extra due to logistics, getting the items to your door etc but with non physical goods that can be downloaded over the internet, parity exchange rates whether it's the Euro or doesn't stack up as easily. There maybe additional costs involved but I'd imagine they're making extra from some non US citizens with their software. That said, market value is determined by its users as well. If people weren't happy about it they could go elsewhere and if enough do then it may bring down the price. For me, even if I wasn't getting it for free I'd still pay for the software as the difference in exchange rates is very small indeed compared to the benefits gained from the use of the software. I work faster with their software and time is. money and as such, that difference melts away within an hour or two.
61
« on: March 03, 2023, 03:16 »
A quick note to confirm the last few questions...
Due to the current conversion to USD, a withdrawal is temporarily not possible.
As of Friday, March 3, the payout will be possible again.
Future payouts will be processed in US Dollars.
Thank you,
Mat Hayward
thieves.
? Bizare comment... a US company pays you in US $ for you to convert into your own currency at the official exchange rate and you call them thieves?
...while the same US company charges its EU customers in a higher price.
It's a bit sad to see how fiercly you are defending Adobe's latest actions, just because you and a very few people from one single country profit from it, when you very well know that in the whole sheme it means Adobe pays out much less of what it gets from customers to its contributors and this is just a sheme to maximaze profit on the backs of contributors.
And the same company gives away its software to contributors for free with only 250 downloads in a year! Hardly the action of thives. The people paying for the software are unlikely to be contributors... and if they are, most likely using some other software that is cheaper as they're not making as much money from it. What grinds me here (rather than defending AS), is the entitlement of some people that their $ should continue to be worth more than a $ is worth back in the US... Imagine if the rest of the worlds Euros were worth more than yours?!? In business, export import, which effectively is what we are working in... exporting images to a US agency, you have to deal with currency exchange rates. Every other import/export business in the world lives by the exchange rate and the fees they're charged by the bank. So, this is less about defending AS and more about questioning the self-entitlement of some who think they're above the system.
62
« on: March 03, 2023, 02:46 »
My adobe sales are growing consistently.
Same here.
63
« on: March 03, 2023, 02:42 »
A quick note to confirm the last few questions...
Due to the current conversion to USD, a withdrawal is temporarily not possible.
As of Friday, March 3, the payout will be possible again.
Future payouts will be processed in US Dollars.
Thank you,
Mat Hayward
thieves.
? Bizare comment... a US company pays you in US $ for you to convert into your own currency at the official exchange rate and you call them thieves? I appreciate you maybe disappointed that you're no longer get more than the official exchange rate (some of us were getting a lot less than the official rate) but rather than call them thieves (which is inaccurate) maybe a thank you for all those years they paid you more than they had too?
64
« on: March 02, 2023, 12:54 »
A quick note to confirm the last few questions...
Due to the current conversion to USD, a withdrawal is temporarily not possible.
As of Friday, March 3, the payout will be possible again.
Future payouts will be processed in US Dollars.
Thank you,
Mat Hayward
Thanks for the confirmation Mat... I presume when it goes live Payoneer will also be available straight away?
65
« on: March 01, 2023, 02:36 »
Excellent sale... well done! How is that even possible?! Even my best Alamy sale doesnt come close.
They do come up but they're about as common as... dare I say it, PigsInSpace 
66
« on: February 28, 2023, 15:17 »
67
« on: February 28, 2023, 14:31 »
Just got my money out  . Don't forget: tonight is the last time without the pay cut
Speak for yourself  ... I'm holding off till tomorrow to make sure I get an extra 180! Some of us have been short changed for years!
68
« on: February 28, 2023, 07:17 »
I tried to setup my Wise account but how do I link my Paypal account (which has USD as primary currency) to my Wise USD account? I can only link a bank using IBAN...But my Wise USD account doesn't have IBAN.
US banks are not using IBAN
anyway go to your wise USD account ==> Your USD account details
there are 2 tabs one for US, one for non US
and BTW you are linkinking Paypal to Wise and not the other way around, right?
I know that US banks don't use IBAN, but I want to be able to send USD from Paypal to my Wise USD account, but I can only enter IBAN banks in Paypal and not US banks.
I thought that was the whole idea, to circumvent Paypal's conversion fees. But Paypal doesn't allow me to enter the account details from the USD account.
I guess it has something to do with the fact that my Paypal account is set up from inside the EU so it has different textfields to link your bank than a US Paypal account? That would be ridiculous. Paypal isn't any help either.
I had the same problem with Paypal. I'd read some people were able to ring up and find someone who would manually enter the Dollars account for them. In my instance it was a Dollars account setup at a UK bank. I had no luck but some have found the occasional member of Paypal staff that would help. An alternative is to use Payoneer and send the dollars from there to the dollars account at Wise and then convert it to the /Euro wise account. While it works I seem to recall from my experiences that the extra hassle wasn't worth the small advantage gained so I just use Payoneer. The other day when I converted $ to the exchange rate was 0.835 and and they gave me $0.82 with no additional fees. I'm setup as a business both at Payoneer and Paypal and not sure if that reduces fees or not. Anyway, hope this may be of some use to you.
69
« on: February 27, 2023, 04:18 »
Did Adobe not know they can PAY in euros? Canstock just changed this to our benefit : I am EARNING in dollars at Canstock, but I'm PAID in euros, so I can skip the Paypal fee there.
Same with Alamy. My earnings are displayed in $, but I get paid in .
Did you think you were getting the exact exchange rate from Alamy just because you don't see the workings out behind it?
"Section 12.4 of the Contributor contract: Where your chosen currency is not US Dollars, all amounts due to you will be converted from US Dollars to your chosen currency at the exchange rate provided by Alamy or Alamy's Payment Provider on the date that the payment is made or the preceding working day in England. If the exchange rate is provided by Alamy, it will be within 2.5% of the spot rate on that day.".
So, they too take a cut which is no more than 2.5%. Smoke and mirrors. It costs them to convert the currency and they aren't going to do that for nothing! And Alamy's Payment provider does the same to them... which is even less transparent.
You can send dollars directly to your bank... but they too will charge you a commission to cover expenses etc.
No, I can't. Directly from PayPal:
We only support transfers in local currency. If you withdraw money from a foreign currency balance, there will be a conversion fee. Paypal uses a crappy conversion rate to convert $ to that is much higher than the actual rate and then on top of that they charge a conversion fee when you want to withdraw $ to a account. If Alamy pays me directly in , I get the crappy conversion rate deal, but I don't have to pay the fee for withdrawing a foreign currency on top of that.
I think you may be replying to someone else as it doesn't look like you're commenting on my post about Alamy applying up to 2.5% fee for converting you $ to your local currency. This is the same or a little more than Payoneer (depending on the agreement you have with them). I think you just have to accept you will be charged to exchange currency, no matter where you go. It's just a case of finding the cheapest one available. If you received a handful of dollars and went in in person to exchange them to Euros, they most certainly won't give you the exchange rate, it will the exchange rate less a reasonable reduction for the pleasure. They certainly won't give you more than the exchange rate like Adobe has been giving you for years.
70
« on: February 27, 2023, 03:59 »
Did Adobe not know they can PAY in euros? Canstock just changed this to our benefit : I am EARNING in dollars at Canstock, but I'm PAID in euros, so I can skip the Paypal fee there.
Same with Alamy. My earnings are displayed in $, but I get paid in .
Did you think you were getting the exact exchange rate from Alamy just because you don't see the workings out behind it? "Section 12.4 of the Contributor contract: Where your chosen currency is not US Dollars, all amounts due to you will be converted from US Dollars to your chosen currency at the exchange rate provided by Alamy or Alamy's Payment Provider on the date that the payment is made or the preceding working day in England. If the exchange rate is provided by Alamy, it will be within 2.5% of the spot rate on that day.". So, they too take a cut which is no more than 2.5%. Smoke and mirrors. It costs them to convert the currency and they aren't going to do that for nothing! And Alamy's Payment provider does the same to them... which is even less transparent. You can send dollars directly to your bank... but they too will charge you a commission to cover expenses etc.
71
« on: February 25, 2023, 13:40 »
Effectively a 10% paycut for all contributors outside the USA factoring in the conversion and rates from paypal etc.
Not a good look. Commission reduction via the back door.
So effectively people who got paid in dollars were making 10% less than the rest of the world all this time? When do we get compensated for the inequity that gave you more than us? 🤔 😈
Exactly, I didnt see any contributor complaining when they were getting more than the dollar conversion rate certainly no one from the EU was saying, common, those poor folks in the UK and other countries have been getting way less than the official exchange rate for many years! If customers pay in in Euros based on exchange rate, then its only right that contributors also receive dollars so they too can receive the proper exchange rate. As it stands at the moment, these made up exchange rates are rarely ever providing the contributor with the correct rate. The new system will but some who were benefiting while others were suffering are now upset theyve lost the additional extra above the official rate. Why should they pocket the extra others lose out on? Listen this is the last Ill say on it but to me its not a conspiracy to do the EU contributors out of earnings, its to streamline their bookkeeping, making the system easier to manage and make sure everyone is able to obtain the official exchange rate into their own currencies. The Dollar, like it or not, is classed as the international currency and Alamy and many other UK companies use it when the majority of their customers live outside the UK. Today you may be down, tomorrow you maybe up but it no longer will be someone in a grey suit in a boardroom deciding it just because they want to skim some extra money (SS), its the economy of the free world deciding the value of the exchange rate.
72
« on: February 25, 2023, 07:07 »
Most companies make nothing from that as the credit card / bank takes your and charges you X amount to convert to the dollars payment.
73
« on: February 25, 2023, 06:17 »
From my point of view i see a benefit being paid in USD.
Probably its just my opinion but i think inflation will get worse in Europe next years.
USD will do better. The 3% PayPal currency exchange rate is annoying but maybe it will be better to keep income in USD at PayPal.
Just if you don't need the microstock money every month at your Euro bank account.
If that really happens and $ becomes much stronger than , I could bet that AS won't keep 1 = 1 ratio for these currencies.
I get your point but its Unlikely theyre paying you a dollar so it doesnt cost them any more or less. Theyre saving by reducing red tape, staff and systems converting currency in house. Its the bank / payment system that takes on that job and takes a % cut by offering a slightly less favourable conversion rate.
74
« on: February 25, 2023, 03:15 »
True but that doesnt mean its right that we should be treated unfairly just to help the EU.
As I said, we will both now rely on the markets to decide the exchange rate for both of us. It may well mean the UK suffers later and the EU prospers but at least the decision is within the money markets and not some made up amount in a boardroom somewhere!
75
« on: February 25, 2023, 02:40 »
I am currently get paid in Sterling (British). I am interested to see what British contributors are going to chose?
The complaints at the moment are mainly those in the EU, Euros. The pound has been paid out at 0.75 for years even though $ exchange has been way more favourable so weve been losing out for years more than what the Euro will going forward. At least going forward any earnings will be based on the exchange rate, what ever it is, and not someones idea of what it should be like 0.75. Personally, Ill be waiting till after the 28th as it will mean Ill make an extra 100 or more. Exchange rate AS 0.75 vs real 0.83. Payoneer convert for me with no fee and last night with a rate of 0.82.
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