Agency Based Discussion > Alamy.com
$0 sale on photo
HalfFull:
Looking at my distributor sales over the last year, I can see the US and EU are ok but there are a bunch of ROW which I have a feeling maybe China. Anyway, I've removed Asia and Africa off this year and if it continues I'll remove all next year.
Firn:
I have removed China as well, though a lof of my 0.17 sales were from the UK. ::)
Uncle Pete:
--- Quote from: Mantis on March 31, 2022, 21:30 ---It’s April by Alamy standards and I opted out of everything except regular sales. Just got 29 dl’s of anout 3 pennies per image net. Screw that. Now to monitor if I still get this crappy sales.
--- End quote ---
That's my point. People may be flogging their computers, opting out and clicking with smiles and anticipation because they stopped the foul smelling sales. It's possible, in July we'll see no change.
Just in time for the cut from 40% to 20% and Alamy could see a mass exodus. What do they care? They have millions of images, all kinds of similar. They can pay us chicken feed and rake in the money, because everyone won't quit. This is how Microstock has evolved.
The agencies paid fairly enough for people to work hard at building. They promoted and encouraged referrals. They filled the collections to million of images, in excess. And now, they have all they need, plus the reserves, and I don't mean all of this is just Alamy but the entire industry, so they don't care if the inventory drops in half. They still have all they need. None of them care or need the artists to upload much new... they have an overstock inventory of images.
Mantis:
--- Quote from: Uncle Pete on April 01, 2022, 09:04 ---
--- Quote from: Mantis on March 31, 2022, 21:30 ---It’s April by Alamy standards and I opted out of everything except regular sales. Just got 29 dl’s of anout 3 pennies per image net. Screw that. Now to monitor if I still get this crappy sales.
--- End quote ---
That's my point. People may be flogging their computers, opting out and clicking with smiles and anticipation because they stopped the foul smelling sales. It's possible, in July we'll see no change.
Just in time for the cut from 40% to 20% and Alamy could see a mass exodus. What do they care? They have millions of images, all kinds of similar. They can pay us chicken feed and rake in the money, because everyone won't quit. This is how Microstock has evolved.
The agencies paid fairly enough for people to work hard at building. They promoted and encouraged referrals. They filled the collections to million of images, in excess. And now, they have all they need, plus the reserves, and I don't mean all of this is just Alamy but the entire industry, so they don't care if the inventory drops in half. They still have all they need. None of them care or need the artists to upload much new... they have an overstock inventory of images.
--- End quote ---
Exactly. The other agencies see what SS did and there will be other agencies that will continue further down this pathway. On Pond5 I am seeing more and more $2-3 net on videos.
Uncle Pete:
--- Quote from: Mantis on April 01, 2022, 09:25 ---
--- Quote from: Uncle Pete on April 01, 2022, 09:04 ---
--- Quote from: Mantis on March 31, 2022, 21:30 ---It’s April by Alamy standards and I opted out of everything except regular sales. Just got 29 dl’s of anout 3 pennies per image net. Screw that. Now to monitor if I still get this crappy sales.
--- End quote ---
That's my point. People may be flogging their computers, opting out and clicking with smiles and anticipation because they stopped the foul smelling sales. It's possible, in July we'll see no change.
Just in time for the cut from 40% to 20% and Alamy could see a mass exodus. What do they care? They have millions of images, all kinds of similar. They can pay us chicken feed and rake in the money, because everyone won't quit. This is how Microstock has evolved.
The agencies paid fairly enough for people to work hard at building. They promoted and encouraged referrals. They filled the collections to million of images, in excess. And now, they have all they need, plus the reserves, and I don't mean all of this is just Alamy but the entire industry, so they don't care if the inventory drops in half. They still have all they need. None of them care or need the artists to upload much new... they have an overstock inventory of images.
--- End quote ---
Exactly. The other agencies see what SS did and there will be other agencies that will continue further down this pathway. On Pond5 I am seeing more and more $2-3 net on videos.
--- End quote ---
My usual comment, the other agencies saw what IS did, then followed. SS was the last of them to stab us in the back. Alamy held out, but now new owners, that's the end of that original group that paid us fairly.
I just thought of something this morning and I should add, that in a way, SS did lead the way, when they bought BigStock and cut the commissions from 50 cents down to 25 cents. (2010) But now they have improved the returns:
From To In USD
1 199 $0.25
200 999 $0.27
1,000 1,999 $0.29
2,000 9,999 $0.31
10,000 19,999 $0.33
20,000 49,999 $0.35
50,000+ $0.38
iStock introduced Thinkstock in 2010 and killed it in 2018. Meanwhile everything shifted to Getty servers and we all (except exclusives) got set at 15%, no levels, no changes, just 15% forever for photos. Connect sales (are those like the Alamy new sales?) and a promise of a minimum of 2 cents. Oh that's so kind, 2 cents? Which makes SS and the 10c almost look better, but both are an insult.
My point is, SS was not the leader in this shift, and more like a follower after the rest had cut us down. Alamy is the last for now as they went from 60% to 50% to 40% and now 20%. Plus Alamy added these absurd partner or distributor sales that give us 12 cents in return.
Supply and demand and the agencies have all the images they need, so they aren't going to pay us fairly anymore. None of them can compete on price when everyplace else in the world is offering the same for less. One of them could pay us more and commit suicide?
And what is a large segment of the competition? FREE!
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