MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Alamy.com => Topic started by: Alamy on March 07, 2016, 09:16
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Hi there,
We're really happy to have seen a big rise in the growth rate of new photographers registering with us over the last 12 months or so. It's great to see so many new people joining the 40,000 photographers already placing their work with Alamy.
Along with these new registrations, it's understandable that there are lots of questions about how Alamy works so we've recently updated all our contributor help pages. You can get to them by following this link:
http://www.alamy.com/contributor/ (http://www.alamy.com/contributor/)
Also, we'd like to remind you of the following:
- We give 50% commission
- We're non-exclusive (so you can sell your images elsewhere)
- Our acceptance rate averages around 92%
- You can sell your work either as RM or RF
We're aware that our upload and keywording system is looking a bit tired and for many of you this is what stops you sending us more images. The good news is that we are in the process of updating this and within the next few months there's going to be a much better system in place for uploading and managing your files, we think you're going to love it. We appreciate your patience waiting for the release!
So if you're new to Alamy or haven't used us much, please check out our help pages and if you've got any questions, our Member Services team ([email protected]) will be more than happy to help. If you email us within UK office hours our average response time is less than an hour :D
If you've got a large collection (5000+ images) you would like to submit in bulk, please send me a PM and I'll see what we can do to make the process as easy as possible before the new image tools are released.
Cheers
James Allsworth
Content Partnerships Manager
Alamy
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Hello James,
As always thanks for your info and direct approach to contributors. I am looking forward for the new system :).
Mirco
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Hello James,
As always thanks for your info and direct approach to contributors. I am looking forward for the new system :).
Mirco
Thanks Mirco - so are we!
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Great news to hear! Sometimes I struggle with the "essential keywords" so it hinders me from uploading more images. I must have 1000 I want to upload with meta data but thinking about the time it takes to choose the essential keywords makes me pause... Maybe if I drink more coffee I can find the energy and focus - hehe
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Great, you are right about systematically procrastinating new uploads and keywording.
I only get motivated and push myself to do it after getting large sales ;)
Looking forward to a simplified keywording system.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
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30,000 new images per day. This, more than the keywording pain, is what keeps me from doing more microstock. As this post from Alamy makes clear, these agencies are really expecting to make it off of a flood of photos from new contributors, very few of whom will ever see an actual payoff for their work. Many will never even get a payout from Alamy.
IMHO, it's madness. But, it's also a done deal. Moving on.
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Your slow payment system is what makes me think twice about uploading new photos. I decided to upload the best of my port last November (about 700). I got my first big sale on January 5th and four more since then. It has been two months and I have yet to be paid one dime. My "cleared" balance is still showing 0. I'm beginning to wonder if I really will ever get paid. That's a large chunk of my time and effort to waste on Alamy if I never see any results from it. Why is it that contributors to every other stock site can be paid in a timely manner except yours?
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Your slow payment system is what makes me think twice about uploading new photos. I decided to upload the best of my port last November (about 700). I got my first big sale on January 5th and four more since then. It has been two months and I have yet to be paid one dime. My "cleared" balance is still showing 0. I'm beginning to wonder if I really will ever get paid. That's a large chunk of my time and effort to waste on Alamy if I never see any results from it. Why is it that contributors to every other stock site can be paid in a timely manner except yours?
I see that you dont understand yet the concept of Agencies like Alamy. Images are not bought on credits or subscriptions like Microstock. Customers license a image and get invoiced. It can take few months till a customer pays and then still on months to make the transfer to you. This is how i understand it.
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Your slow payment system is what makes me think twice about uploading new photos. I decided to upload the best of my port last November (about 700). I got my first big sale on January 5th and four more since then. It has been two months and I have yet to be paid one dime. My "cleared" balance is still showing 0. I'm beginning to wonder if I really will ever get paid. That's a large chunk of my time and effort to waste on Alamy if I never see any results from it. Why is it that contributors to every other stock site can be paid in a timely manner except yours?
Lots of reasons why it may appear to be the case, but many other agencies report sales when they receive funds from the client and not before. We report sales as soon as a bill is issued - this keeps things transparent and it keeps you in the know.
Also, unlike many other agencies, many of our sales are done on account and not with pre-paid credits and subscriptions etc. This means we have to go through a process of collecting and allocating funds which can give the impression that things are going unpaid.
The alternative is for us to report the sales only when we receive the funds like other agencies, but we feel telling you as soon as a bill has been issued is the best policy.
I don't want this thread to get sidetracked as we wanted it to point people to the contributor help pages. If you've got any other questions about this process, feel free to drop us an email.
Thanks
James A
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Hi James, been with Alamy for years and I think you are doing a great job. Not sure what you are doing with video though? I hope you will open up video for everyone. I think Pond5 has been almost like a video version of Alamy up until recent months but now there are signs that they are making changes that are bad for contributors. I'm sure Alamy could establish themselves as a serious site for video buyers if you followed the same strategy you have for stills. With 4K video being relatively new, there's a good opportunity to grab a share of the market, if you grow a big collection.
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Hi James, been with Alamy for years and I think you are doing a great job. Not sure what you are doing with video though? I hope you will open up video for everyone. I think Pond5 has been almost like a video version of Alamy up until recent months but now there are signs that they are making changes that are bad for contributors. I'm sure Alamy could establish themselves as a serious site for video buyers if you followed the same strategy you have for stills. With 4K video being relatively new, there's a good opportunity to grab a share of the market, if you grow a big collection.
I agree!
I'd also be happy to become a video contributor at Alamy if you will open up video for everyone.
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Alamy, if you were to get rid of excessive similars and tighten up on QC you could easily eliminate 10 million plus images from the library. This would be attractive to clients.
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Alamy, if you were to get rid of excessive similars and tighten up on QC you could easily eliminate 10 million plus images from the library. This would be attractive to clients.
I think it is not necessary. A agency like Alamy exist already very long and they know exactly how to run the business. For us contributors it is easy to throw some comments when we dont run an Agency ourselves. I am sure that Alamy is doing the max to make clients happy. They have the experience and knowledge what we dont have.
Mirco
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New upload editor will be great (hopefully) assuming you are doing away with the flash-based version. Cant wait.
Also ditto on the video question - can you please update us on that?
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Regarding video, we do have a help section via the link above which gives you the info on how to apply:
http://www.alamy.com/contributor/how-to-sell-footage/best-place-to-sell-stock-footage/ (http://www.alamy.com/contributor/how-to-sell-footage/best-place-to-sell-stock-footage/)
Video is a very small part of our business, which is why we don't have an online system that's open to all. We're adding around 100,000 clips a year, which although modest, does allow those with strong collections to contribute, but the process is quite manual.
Cheers
James A
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James, I think a lot of us wont want to apply to be video contributors until we see Alamy taking it more seriously. The stock sites with small collections have generally been a failure. Why would video be any different? There's a great opportunity to make video a much bigger part of your business. I'm sure a lot of us are very keen on another site that pays 50% and has higher prices. The problem is, I half expect you to give up on video if you aren't taking it as seriously as stills. I just don't see how a much smaller collection is going to attract buyers. So I have little motivation to go through your manual process.
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Just one small question to James.
Will there still be the possibility to choose for the License RM-Exclusive in the new system?
Thanks allready.
Mirco
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GO Alamy! 8)
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Just one small question to James.
Will there still be the possibility to choose for the License RM-Exclusive in the new system?
Thanks allready.
Mirco
Hi Mirco,
Although the option to select the licence type RM-Exclusive will be removed, we will still be selling exclusive licenses but we will always contact you first before proceeding.
If you're wondering why we're removing that option on the licence type, it's simply because it tends to confuse users and we would always contact you to check first anyway so we're just simplifying the process.
Cheers
James A
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Just one small question to James.
Will there still be the possibility to choose for the License RM-Exclusive in the new system?
Thanks allready.
Mirco
Hi Mirco,
Although the option to select the licence type RM-Exclusive will be removed, we will still be selling exclusive licenses but we will always contact you first before proceeding.
If you're wondering why we're removing that option on the licence type, it's simply because it tends to confuse users and we would always contact you to check first anyway so we're just simplifying the process.
Cheers
James A
Hello James,
Ok clear to me. Thanks :D.
But dont you think it could be a good option for us to somehow mark if a photo is exclusive on Alamy? Regardless if it is RM o RF? This will let the client know that they dont need to check somewhere else for the same photo and the photo is then likely to be sold faster without any way around.
Only an idea... maybe i am wrong. ;)
Thanks.
Mirco
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Forgot to add that i am not having that much time anymore to submit to Multiple Agencies and there are photos i would place only on Alamy. It is nice to show the client that the image is only available on Alamy. I am not talking about an exclusive license directly but about an info that photo is only on Alamy.
Thanks.
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Forgot to add that i am not having that much time anymore to submit to Multiple Agencies and there are photos i would place only on Alamy. It is nice to show the client that the image is only available on Alamy. I am not talking about an exclusive license directly but about an info that photo is only on Alamy.
Thanks.
Again, without wanting to sidetrack this thread, sure, we understand that view - but even if an image is marked as exclusive available, we would still contact you to check before an exclusive sale is made so the client can have peace of mind. That way we can be sure the license type was not selected by accident or that the image has not been sold elsewhere by the contributor who forgot it was exclusive on Alamy.
I'm not sure how useful it would be for regular sales to show the client the image was only available on Alamy.
Cheers
James A
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Ok thanks..... i understand. Sorry for sidetracking.
By the way lets not forget that you also have a large distribution list where we can opt in. ;)
Mirco
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Ok thanks..... i understand. Sorry for sidetracking.
No need to apologise! :)
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I would like to sell my clips on Alamy... unfortunately u don’t currently support FTP or online upload for video.
It is more convenient for me to upload via FTP, than shipping u once a month or every two months a hard drive.
Still waiting to see a FTP uploder on Alamy :) Good luck
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Great, you are right about systematically procrastinating new uploads and keywording.
I only get motivated and push myself to do it after getting large sales ;)
red... i think zerotalent says it all. it really doesn't need anything more than what i red out
... for many of the contributors who joined you from the inception but after 2,3,4 years without a sale
or even worse, single digit views, closed their accounts of lots of images
uploaded to you with closed to 90% , many 100% approvals.. of hi-res much larger than 8MPetc.
increase the percentage to the right of this page and you will see us coming back.
until then ... it really does not matter with how much you give us, or even how troublesome the editing system.
the trouble is all moot if you only have the sales .
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Great news to hear! Sometimes I struggle with the "essential keywords" so it hinders me from uploading more images. I must have 1000 I want to upload with meta data but thinking about the time it takes to choose the essential keywords makes me pause... Maybe if I drink more coffee I can find the energy and focus - hehe
Yeah, that's a bit annoying. I just bulk edit and type in "illustration" for my illustrations. Saves alot of time. 8)
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Is it only me who finds it strange that an Alamy representative opens a topic just days after Alamy has skyrocketed on the poll?
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For me not strange at all. It is like from previous user is mentioned. On month you can earn on alamy 100 dollars versus next month 1000 dollars. Sales are ranging in general from 5 till 500 dollars. Only one sale can make a difference from position x to 1. And again if you will check the Alamy forum you can see people reporting sales like 2000$, 1000$, 520$ 300$ and now more often 240$ sales. It is not an opinion but a fact. If those people will put this earnings in the poll then this jump is very realistic. Alamy is also not a microstock agency. There are "not microstock" contributors there that are not adding their results here on the poll. If they would i would expect Alamy already being much earlier on the top 5.
My experience again.....it is impossible to compare sales from Alamy with Microstock from the beginning. Microstock creates sales from day 1. Costumers downloading images from their credits or subscriptions mostly for cents till few dollars. Alamy needs more time from download, to invoicing and end payout. Also you need time to build up your ranking since you start in medium as beginning contributor. You need to take care of your keywording different then microstock. If you will just copy your keywords from microstock without putting them on the right order you will hurt your ranking and it will affect your sales.
If you want give Alamy a fair chance (like the people that are making decent money there) and build up your sales you need:
1. Keyword your images specialy
2. Avoid uploading to many similars.
3. Have some patience before regular sales come in and not just stop after few months.
4. Concentrate also on the RM direction.
Anyway like Alamy said the keywording system will be changed. We will see.
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Is it only me who finds it strange that an Alamy representative opens a topic just days after Alamy has skyrocketed on the poll?
No conspiracy here - there are just a lot of questions coming up at the moment, especially due to the poll results, and as we've updated our help pages recently we wanted to post a link to the most recent information.
Also - we've been posting here for a while trying to help out when we can, not just recently. :-\
Cheers
James A
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Every coincidence turns in to a conspiracy theory on the internet :)
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I would like to give a try with Alamy, but I have 400+ files with "ZERO" sell since May 2015 untile now in Alamy, I do have same quantity with other agencies at sametime, and they all sell good, so now I have no idea what's going on with my file in Alamy?
should I keep uploading to Alamy and give it a try?
as you can see it still "Zero" Sell since May 2015
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--kgCZtQVsbc/VuApErbsD2I/AAAAAAAAEpM/Fkc7_M_OQhs/s706-Ic42/20160309214304.jpg)
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Hello PR Image Factory,
The reason could be many things. First of all do you keyword your photos according to the Alamy guidelines? Did you had your 400+ images since the beginning or is it spread till now? Then it would mean that you have an average of 200 images. Then there is still this "waiting time" to start rolling.
I understand your concerns. I also came from Microstock and was used to get sales inmidiatly. Alamy doesnt work like that. Read previous posts from me :). This kind of Agencies need time to see regular sales. Even more. For example i am also on Age Fotostock. Also a traditional agency like Alamy. This agency needed even longer. I submitted there and for two years ZERO sales. And then in August 2015 my first sale came in. From then i have regular sales and make there more there with a handful of sales per month then on SS. Alamy is known to sell more then Age Fotostock in generał.
Just continue uploading with the right keywording and subjects. Build a large enough port... sales will come.
Mirco
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4. Concentrate also on the RM direction.
Hello authenticcreations,
Do you suggest not to add RF and only upload images as RM? Do you think that it's OK to have RM in alamy and the same image in microstock or would you avoid that?
Thanks in advance for any advice :)
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4. Concentrate also on the RM direction.
Hello authenticcreations,
Do you suggest not to add RF and only upload images as RM? Do you think that it's OK to have RM in alamy and the same image in microstock or would you avoid that?
Thanks in advance for any advice :)
Hey,
RM photos should be not microstock photos since they are RF. Costumers knows when they licence a RM that it is not available on micros. Thats an advantage. RM should be unique to Alamy.
Mirco
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Great! Thanks for the info!
Cheers
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If I was to submit a large portfolio of content can I batch process with a csv? I had a read through the info but no mention of it. From what others have written it sounds like adding meta info is tedious process?
Is this something you are working to simplify?
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If I was to submit a large portfolio of content can I batch process with a csv? I had a read through the info but no mention of it. From what others have written it sounds like adding meta info is tedious process?
Is this something you are working to simplify?
Yes this is possible. Just contact member services. They will help you very fast.
Mirco
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If I was to submit a large portfolio of content can I batch process with a csv? I had a read through the info but no mention of it. From what others have written it sounds like adding meta info is tedious process?
Is this something you are working to simplify?
Yes this is possible. Just contact member services. They will help you very fast.
Mirco
Thanks Micro
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If I was to submit a large portfolio of content can I batch process with a csv? I had a read through the info but no mention of it. From what others have written it sounds like adding meta info is tedious process?
Is this something you are working to simplify?
Yes, the new tools will simplify this process and you'll be able to get images online quicker with embedded data.
Send me a PM and I can help you out in this case though.
For anyone else with very large collections who want to get them online as quick as possible, please also send me a PM.
Cheers
James Allsworth
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Hello James,
Here i am again.... .since this thread is also about the new system that is still to come.... do you know if the flash version will be removed?
I am often on the go and it would be great if we can keyword or manage photos on a smartphone or tablet while traveling or being somewhere else.
Thanks.
Mirco
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Hello James,
Here i am again.... .since this thread is also about the new system that is still to come.... do you know if the flash version will be removed?
I am often on the go and it would be great if we can keyword or manage photos on a smartphone or tablet while traveling or being somewhere else.
Thanks.
Mirco
Hi Mirco,
Yes, I can confirm flash is being removed for the new image management tools. It was one of the first things on our list when development began :)
Cheers
James A
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I just received an email from Member Services confirming that Alamy removes any clipping paths included with JPEG submissions. No explanation as to why. As far as I know, it's the only Stock agency that does this.
Hopefully the new upload system would eliminate this problem. Buyers of isolated images love clipping paths!
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Just one small question to James.
Will there still be the possibility to choose for the License RM-Exclusive in the new system?
Thanks allready.
Mirco
Hi Mirco,
Although the option to select the licence type RM-Exclusive will be removed, we will still be selling exclusive licenses but we will always contact you first before proceeding.
If you're wondering why we're removing that option on the licence type, it's simply because it tends to confuse users and we would always contact you to check first anyway so we're just simplifying the process.
Cheers
James A
I should add to this - you will still be able to indicate if the image is available on Alamy only via an optional tick box in the image details.
Cheers
James A
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James, thanks. This was exactly what i was hoping for. Nice to hear that. Mirco
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Hi James,
Coming from microstock it is difficult to know which images to submit to Alamy rather than the other agencies.
If I am correct RF pictures can be sold on Alamy and the microstock agencies as well but not the RM ones?
Thanks!
Thomas
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Hi James,
Coming from microstock it is difficult to know which images to submit to Alamy rather than the other agencies.
If I am correct RF pictures can be sold on Alamy and the microstock agencies as well but not the RM ones?
Thanks!
Thomas
Hi Thomas. You can sell the same images on Alamy as you do on microstock sites but you shouldn't have conflicting licence types - so if you're selling work as RF elsewhere it needs to be RF on Alamy as well.
Likewise, if you've got RM work on other agencies, just make sure you place it as RM on Alamy too.
If you've got any other questions, just let me know.
Cheers
James A
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I would like to give a try with Alamy, but I have 400+ files with "ZERO" sell since May 2015 untile now in Alamy, I do have same quantity with other agencies at sametime, and they all sell good, so now I have no idea what's going on with my file in Alamy?
should I keep uploading to Alamy and give it a try?
as you can see it still "Zero" Sell since May 2015
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--kgCZtQVsbc/VuApErbsD2I/AAAAAAAAEpM/Fkc7_M_OQhs/s706-Ic42/20160309214304.jpg)
yes, i too like to hear if there is any explanation for this. as i mentioned before, i was with alamy from the inception and had a good number in port with 100% approval each upload. but after years of
-no views
-no dls (obviously due to above)
-not listed in list of photographers
i closed my a/c in frustration, a total wot.
i know it's a bit much to assume sales would be as good and regular as ss, or even is before bruce sold out. but even fotolia and dt as bad as they were still got us payout (eventually).
it's diificult for me to believe 48% for alamy in this case, based on my past record.
if however, this is due to a lot of changes at alamy, i like to know.
but again, without actual sales, i won't be lifting off my b*m for anything below ss.
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Was that video clips that didn't sell? I think you must of been doing something wrong with the keywords to not sell any images in that time.
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Hi James,
Coming from microstock it is difficult to know which images to submit to Alamy rather than the other agencies.
If I am correct RF pictures can be sold on Alamy and the microstock agencies as well but not the RM ones?
Thanks!
Thomas
Hi Thomas. You can sell the same images on Alamy as you do on microstock sites but you shouldn't have conflicting licence types - so if you're selling work as RF elsewhere it needs to be RF on Alamy as well.
Likewise, if you've got RM work on other agencies, just make sure you place it as RM on Alamy too.
If you've got any other questions, just let me know.
Cheers
James A
Thanks James.
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What about selling prints? If I have an image on Alamy as RM, can I also offer it as a fine art print on a PoD site?
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What about selling prints? If I have an image on Alamy as RM, can I also offer it as a fine art print on a PoD site?
Yes, of course. Non-exclusive means what it says.
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What about selling prints? If I have an image on Alamy as RM, can I also offer it as a fine art print on a PoD site?
Yes, of course. Non-exclusive means what it says.
Ok, that makes sense. But what if my images are RM-exclusive?
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What about selling prints? If I have an image on Alamy as RM, can I also offer it as a fine art print on a PoD site?
Yes, of course. Non-exclusive means what it says.
Ok, that makes sense. But what if my images are RM-exclusive?
Selling prints has nothing to do with licensing images, whether RM, RM-E or RF.
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James,
Do you know when the new contributor spot will be life? THANK YOU.
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James,
Do you know when the new contributor spot will be life? THANK YOU.
Sorry I'm not able to offer any concrete dates. We're not trying to be purposefully mysterious by not telling you - we'd love to - but because it's still a work in progress timescales get shifted all the time. We've got more rounds of testing to do and some things to tweak and finalise. As soon as we have a fixed date, we'll be really excited and will tell everyone!
At the moment I would say we're a few months away, but it might be less / more than that depending on how things go. One thing I can assure you though is that we are working hard on this project, every single day as a matter of priority.
Cheers
James A
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I joined Alamy 3 years ago and have sold nothing. I started uploading again and sent in 4 batches totalling 92 all of which passed QC the same day. However since uploading a batch of 80 on 25th March I have received no QC approval. Would Easter have slowed down the approval process or have I been sin binned as 5 more uploads are all awaiting QC since. I am new to Alamy and am very confused .If I am sin binned for my large upload failing should I not be stopped from further uploading as it seems that all these will also fail? I wonder is it worth the time and effort compared to SS where everything is so much easier? Thanks for your insights.
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I joined Alamy 3 years ago and have sold nothing. I started uploading again and sent in 4 batches totalling 92 all of which passed QC the same day. However since uploading a batch of 80 on 25th March I have received no QC approval. Would Easter have slowed down the approval process or have I been sin binned as 5 more uploads are all awaiting QC since. I am new to Alamy and am very confused .If I am sin binned for my large upload failing should I not be stopped from further uploading as it seems that all these will also fail? I wonder is it worth the time and effort compared to SS where everything is so much easier? Thanks for your insights.
Hi Aly,
Without knowing who you are it would be impossible for me to take a look to see what's happened - if you PM me your details I'll check it out.
Our QC pass rate is around 94% at the moment and turnaround time is on average a day or two - this is one of the quickest approval times in the business! There have been some slight delays over Easter (as expected).
If you fail QC the turnaround times may be longer.
Best
James A