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Author Topic: Alamy is going to sell VECTORS  (Read 40001 times)

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Ron

« Reply #50 on: October 02, 2013, 04:52 »
0
Thanks James. Up until July I was doing fine with Alamy. I was actually gearing up and getting ready to upload a lot more images, but sales fell dead 2.5 months ago.

I have seen people with 8,000 10,000 12,000 45,000 images reporting 4 - 5 - 6 sales, for a couple of hundred dollars. I dont think me adding another 1000 images is going to make any change to my chances James. I have been keywording very relative and tight. As a result I had more zooms then ever. I figured I would see more sales too,,but the opposite happened. And I am not the only one seeing this trend.

So, it seems backwards for me to submit a ton of images, hoping to see the odd sale. I am sure Alamy is doing well with 40.5 million images, but for me its no longer working.

I am always open to change my mind, but its hard to see reasons to put in more work, for no return.


« Reply #51 on: October 02, 2013, 05:02 »
0
Thanks James. Up until July I was doing fine with Alamy. I was actually gearing up and getting ready to upload a lot more images, but sales fell dead 2.5 months ago.

I have seen people with 8,000 10,000 12,000 45,000 images reporting 4 - 5 - 6 sales, for a couple of hundred dollars. I dont think me adding another 1000 images is going to make any change to my chances James. I have been keywording very relative and tight. As a result I had more zooms then ever. I figured I would see more sales too,,but the opposite happened. And I am not the only one seeing this trend.

So, it seems backwards for me to submit a ton of images, hoping to see the odd sale. I am sure Alamy is doing well with 40.5 million images, but for me its no longer working.

I am always open to change my mind, but its hard to see reasons to put in more work, for no return.

Of course Ron, it's totally your decision!

"Up until July I was doing fine with Alamy"

That was only 2 / 3 months ago - with a collection your size, you cannot determine any trend during this period of time.

"So, it seems backwards for me to submit a ton of images, hoping to see the odd sale"

It's a shame you feel that way. There are many photographers who see a huge increase in sales as they continue to build a portfolio of good quality work. Unfortunately many of these photographers are perhaps not as 'vocal' on forums and the like as those who are seeing a downward trend so it can sometimes give a distorted view.

I do hope you continue to work with us and see an increase in sales. If you had some early successes with us there is no reason to not expect this to continue as your collection grows.

Cheers

James A

« Reply #52 on: October 02, 2013, 05:04 »
0
Ron, I think you could probably do better than some of those people that just upload thousands of walkabout travel photos.  There are some people who do quite well with alamy with a more commercial portfolio.  I think part of the problem with us microstockers is that buyers can do an image search and find our images cheaper on other sites.

I'll carry on uploading to alamy because every now and then they sell something over $100 and that keeps me interested.

Ron

« Reply #53 on: October 02, 2013, 05:40 »
+1
James and Sharpshot, you are basically making the same observation, which has me thinking.

Ok, what I can do is instead of uploading RM, first get my whole RF portfolio online and see how it goes.

I will reconsider my options.

Thanks.

« Reply #54 on: October 02, 2013, 08:23 »
+3
James, I would like to say thanks for all the replies here to Ron, that is incredible good from an agency owner, good stuff!

have an issue myself which I have emailed Alamy today, I "had" my 1st payout this month (balance cleared) but I haven't got my payment details configured so it saying I got funds transferred but in fact I never entered any details so I wonder where the money went, I have now setup my Paypal details and I hope to have this problem sorted out ASAP, cheers!

« Reply #55 on: October 02, 2013, 12:12 »
0
@Alamy : why not launching a "latest images sold" page ? it would be very useful to know what's actually selling.

« Reply #56 on: October 02, 2013, 12:15 »
+1
I understand that with Alamy, a report of a "sale" doesn't mean the sale was completed.  But I guess I don't see the usefulness of this information.  All it tells me is "someone has been given your photo, and may or may not decide to eventually pay for it. "   As others have pointed out, it just causes aggravation when the money is "refunded" later; and Alamy has to continually explain this policy.




« Reply #57 on: October 02, 2013, 14:56 »
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I don't know about Vectors, but for sure Alamy is going to sell UFO pics...  8) 8) 8)

Alamy rules!!!

« Reply #58 on: October 04, 2013, 07:18 »
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James, I would like to say thanks for all the replies here to Ron, that is incredible good from an agency owner, good stuff!

have an issue myself which I have emailed Alamy today, I "had" my 1st payout this month (balance cleared) but I haven't got my payment details configured so it saying I got funds transferred but in fact I never entered any details so I wonder where the money went, I have now setup my Paypal details and I hope to have this problem sorted out ASAP, cheers!

all sorted out, cheers Alamy!

« Reply #59 on: October 04, 2013, 10:02 »
-2
I haven't been in the business of sell stock photography (not photography itself, just Stock) for all that long and my online portfolio is still at just under 250. This is the "testing" phase before I carry on (or not). I already have started with the Symbiostock route to see how that goes.

Alamy is kind of a favourite of mine because it was the first agency to accept me and has generally accepted a large part of my 250 images. Having said that, I have not sold ONE image on Alamy since I started in April :)

You could say my work is all crap or it is just not marketable. I do, however, sell regularly through 3 or 4 other agencies with no problem. One of them is iStock which surprised me.

I've also started with Vectors but telling me unless I have a huge portfolio you are not interested... that is a rather nasty backhand. I think I'll sell them elsewhere...

No, I'm not interested in waiting for 2014. I want to sell my vectors now, today, tomorrow, not next year. I Think you are making a very silly mistake.

« Reply #60 on: October 04, 2013, 10:50 »
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I use a lot of different web sites and alamy has been very good for me. They are often in my top 3 earners. I would upload vectors there.

« Reply #61 on: October 04, 2013, 10:55 »
-2
I've also started with Vectors but telling me unless I have a huge portfolio you are not interested... that is a rather nasty backhand. I think I'll sell them elsewhere...

they should do the same in every other agency, it would quickly fix the oversaturation and oversupply issue !

after all if you don't have at least 1000 saleable images you're not a stocker so these agencies are not for you anyway.

vectors are a bit different as it takes a lot more time to make 1000 vectors, and same for videos.


« Reply #62 on: October 04, 2013, 11:00 »
+2
I've also started with Vectors but telling me unless I have a huge portfolio you are not interested... that is a rather nasty backhand. I think I'll sell them elsewhere...

they should do the same in every other agency, it would quickly fix the oversaturation and oversupply issue !

after all if you don't have at least 1000 saleable images you're not a stocker so these agencies are not for you anyway.

vectors are a bit different as it takes a lot more time to make 1000 vectors, and same for videos.

that isn't totally right because there are a few exceptions, I am talking about portfolios below 1k files and doing extremely well, in this case I believe that Alamy might be losing a bit but in fact it will be open in 2014 for all contributors so I don't get why some folks are getting annoyed and upset with this announcement

« Reply #63 on: October 04, 2013, 14:24 »
0
How are you going to handle the vectors James?

I'm wondering since my port is mainly jpg illustrations of vectors.  Will there be an easy way to add the vector to their corresponding jpg file?

I don't have 1,000+ vectors so I'll have to wait until next year.  But it would be nice if the process to add the eps file to existing content would be made simple.

Thanks.

« Reply #64 on: October 07, 2013, 06:19 »
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James, I would like to say thanks for all the replies here to Ron, that is incredible good from an agency owner, good stuff!

I would love to be the agency owner but alas I am merely a worker... James West is the big boss. Glad your issue is sorted. :)

@Alamy : why not launching a "latest images sold" page ? it would be very useful to know what's actually selling.

We've considered it in the past and it may become a feature. The argument against it is that as a photographer, if you've got a good selling niche, you might not want details of it published out publicly and therefore perhaps copied.

I understand that with Alamy, a report of a "sale" doesn't mean the sale was completed.  But I guess I don't see the usefulness of this information.  All it tells me is "someone has been given your photo, and may or may not decide to eventually pay for it. "   As others have pointed out, it just causes aggravation when the money is "refunded" later; and Alamy has to continually explain this policy.

The usefulness of it depends on your situation as a photographer. Some won't see the benefit (and that's fair enough) but others like to know exactly what's going on and what's in the pipeline. If you know an image has been licensed for a campaign and you have another client enquiring with you directly about another license (perhaps exclusive) and they want to know where the image is already being used it's useful. Also, some photographers will spot trends from sales. If they can see 5 images have been licensed that are cut-outs, it might make them devote their next shoot to cut-outs. It's just about keeping the photographer in the loop as quickly and as live as possible.


I've also started with Vectors but telling me unless I have a huge portfolio you are not interested... that is a rather nasty backhand. I think I'll sell them elsewhere...

No, I'm not interested in waiting for 2014. I want to sell my vectors now, today, tomorrow, not next year. I Think you are making a very silly mistake.

This is just about the initial phase. There is no online upload of vectors just yet so content needs to be sent in via DVD or hard drive which means manual processing our side. It's not a sensible use of resources to manually process submissions that contain a small amount of vectors - it only makes sense to focus attention on larger volumes. When online upload is available, there will be no minimum amount.

How are you going to handle the vectors James?

I'm wondering since my port is mainly jpg illustrations of vectors.  Will there be an easy way to add the vector to their corresponding jpg file?

I don't have 1,000+ vectors so I'll have to wait until next year.  But it would be nice if the process to add the eps file to existing content would be made simple.

This depends on a few things being finalised, but we'll probably be able to copy the existing data you have associated with the jpegs over to any newley uploaded .eps files provided the file name was the same.


Cheers everyone,

James Allsworth
Content Executive
Alamy
« Last Edit: October 07, 2013, 06:21 by Alamy »

« Reply #65 on: October 07, 2013, 08:02 »
0
@Alamy : why not launching a "latest images sold" page ? it would be very useful to know what's actually selling.

We've considered it in the past and it may become a feature. The argument against it is that as a photographer, if you've got a good selling niche, you might not want details of it published out publicly and therefore perhaps copied.
When I started with Alamy few years ago I really missed this, and today, when I have some niche sales I must say that's great Alamy didn't change it. So be it.

« Reply #66 on: October 07, 2013, 10:37 »
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Thanks James that's the answer I was looking/hoping for.

« Reply #67 on: October 11, 2013, 07:50 »
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- Sale clearing times. Unlike many other agencies, we report sales in real time. This means, you get notification of the sale when the licence is ordered, not when the client pays. When the client pays, the sale becomes cleared and your balance updated in your Alamy account. Why do sales take at least 45 days to clear? For account customers, depending on who they are and their deal with us, some will have long payment terms. This is normal in the industry, and that's one reason for the time delay. The other, is to allow a grace period where a refund can be issued for the customer. Projects get swapped around and changed frequently and we need to be flexible and allow cancellations of licences within a short time period. If you've ever had a 'refund' on an Alamy sale as a contributor, then it's likely that the sale had never cleared. With that in mind, a refund is more like a cancellation.

"At least 45 days" is very vague. I had a $245 sale in early July, and we are going on 3 months without clearance yet. It doesn't give me much confidence that the buyer still hasn't committed to the image after a quarter of a year.

Hi Dan, same here, 21 June, I emailed MS and their reply was distributor sales will take longer than 90 days to clear. MS said it could take up to 120 days or more !!!

So I have to wait another 3 months to get paid, thats 8 months. Screw that, I am dropping Alamy as soon as that payment has cleared.

I've been waiting for a payment to clear since June 2012, that's well over a year now!!!! I think I can say goodbye to that sale.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #68 on: October 11, 2013, 07:53 »
0
I've been waiting for a payment to clear since June 2012, that's well over a year now!!!! I think I can say goodbye to that sale.
Even if you've contacted them before, contact them again to give a little nudge. Can't do any harm!

« Reply #69 on: October 11, 2013, 08:33 »
0
I've been waiting for a payment to clear since June 2012, that's well over a year now!!!! I think I can say goodbye to that sale.
Even if you've contacted them before, contact them again to give a little nudge. Can't do any harm!

Yes, I had contacted them before and all the reply basically said was that it sometimes takes a long time, but that they were quicker than most agencies for getting the money in and that I should be patient haha. Yeah, I'll send them another email but I don't hold out much hope, I've already written it off in my own head even though it stays on my account.

« Reply #70 on: May 17, 2014, 04:51 »
0
Does anybody have experiences selling vectors at Alamy?

I'm considering to contact them and send a batch, but it takes a lot of work to do that batch so I was wondering if it's a dead market for vectors.

With my crappy snapshots I've had 3 sales in 1,5 year there :D

« Reply #71 on: May 19, 2014, 03:27 »
0
Does anybody have experiences selling vectors at Alamy?

I'm considering to contact them and send a batch, but it takes a lot of work to do that batch so I was wondering if it's a dead market for vectors.

With my crappy snapshots I've had 3 sales in 1,5 year there :D

You'll need a batch of 1000+ vectors sent by mail.

« Reply #72 on: May 19, 2014, 03:35 »
0
Does anybody have experiences selling vectors at Alamy?

I'm considering to contact them and send a batch, but it takes a lot of work to do that batch so I was wondering if it's a dead market for vectors.

With my crappy snapshots I've had 3 sales in 1,5 year there :D

You'll need a batch of 1000+ vectors sent by mail.

I know and that's why I would like to have some advice is it worth to do that big batch with all metadata keywording etc.

Here's also number #1 tip for new vector artists: Save your EPS and JPG's with metadata to some specific folder and keep them in order so that it's easy to send them later in a batch.


 

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