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Author Topic: Novel Use: 24c is the new 50c  (Read 24181 times)

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« on: August 21, 2010, 11:35 »
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Just got a heap of Novel Use sales - each going for 49c of which I get 24c (because, apparently, Alamy can't work out what half of 49c is).

If I knew this was for a school project I wouldn't mind but the lack of details is worrying.

When they launched this, there was talk of $10 sales, that seems to have gone out of the window. What next, 25c sales?


« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2010, 12:07 »
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Just got a heap of Novel Use sales - each going for 49c of which I get 24c (because, apparently, Alamy can't work out what half of 49c is).

If I knew this was for a school project I wouldn't mind but the lack of details is worrying.

When they launched this, there was talk of $10 sales, that seems to have gone out of the window. What next, 25c sales?

I was less than pleased to see this as well. Initially I saw I lot of the $5 and $1 variety and then 89cents and now 49cents. I will be opting out now.

« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2010, 13:01 »
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I had a bunch of 49 cents sales as well.

Kicker is:

I opted out in April 2009  :o

Last time they had a wave of NU sales coming in (when I was also opted out) Member Services claimed that all sales occurred before 04-2009.
I wonder what their excuse is now...  :-\

« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2010, 13:13 »
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Same here!  Even SS and FT subscriptions pay more per sale!

« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2010, 13:33 »
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Same here!  Even SS and FT subscriptions pay more per sale!

Don't forget that even Crestock is paying more! Who would have thought that Alamy could/would undercut Crestock subs?

ap

« Reply #5 on: August 21, 2010, 13:43 »
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i tried to opt out, but it doesn't appear you can do that anymore. do you need to notify alamy's admin instead?

« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2010, 13:50 »
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i tried to opt out, but it doesn't appear you can do that anymore. do you need to notify alamy's admin instead?

We have August, not April now.

Once signed up your images remain in the scheme, but you can opt out each April.

ap

« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2010, 14:22 »
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thanks, hope someone will remind us then.  :)

« Reply #8 on: August 21, 2010, 16:13 »
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Ditto - huge stack of 49c sales. Had another lot of 89c earlier this month. All was balanced out by 3 regular sales netting $300 this month.

Is it taking the rough with the smooth, or are Alamy taking the proverbial.

My own fault opting in, but the question is are they sales gained (however small) or lost elsewhere?

Oldhand

« Reply #9 on: August 21, 2010, 16:30 »
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They should just tell us what the novel use is.  I was opted out but opted in, just to see if I can get some.  I am sure they don't give away full size images for that price, it's probably thumbnail size or with lots of restrictions but it would be better if they just told us.

« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2010, 17:42 »
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I was relieved to confirm I was opted out.

cmcderm1

  • Chad McDermott - Elite Image Photography
« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2010, 17:50 »
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I used to get excited to see 1-2 sales a month at Alamy.  Now it sucks, at 0.24 net!!!

lisafx

« Reply #12 on: August 21, 2010, 19:14 »
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I had a bunch of 49 cents sales as well.

Kicker is:

I opted out in April 2009  :o

Last time they had a wave of NU sales coming in (when I was also opted out) Member Services claimed that all sales occurred before 04-2009.
I wonder what their excuse is now...  :-\

OMG, seriously?!  You are still getting them? 

I am horrified to be getting .24/sale on Alamy.  Absolutely disgusting.  I haven't had a single sale there all month that wasn't Novel Use. 

I am not crazy about .25 subs either, but the sites that give them (including even TS) allow you to leave whenever you want.  It's very unethical for Alamy to keep us locked in to virtually giving away our images. 

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #13 on: August 21, 2010, 19:24 »
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I am not crazy about .25 subs either, but the sites that give them (including even TS) allow you to leave whenever you want.  It's very unethical for Alamy to keep us locked in to virtually giving away our images. 
People are still reporting files in TS when they opted out months ago (or not showing when they opted in).
That doesn't for a minute excuse Alamy, especially when they repeatedly knock the micros.

« Reply #14 on: August 21, 2010, 21:27 »
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I am doing reasonably well at Alamy.

I don't get penny sales because I have opted out of the Novel Use after a few months. If you agree to the Novel Use, you have to live with the results.

« Reply #15 on: August 22, 2010, 03:35 »
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I am doing reasonably well at Alamy.

I don't get penny sales because I have opted out of the Novel Use after a few months. If you agree to the Novel Use, you have to live with the results.

Well, that's true, except that Alamy marketed it as being in no way like microstock. I can't remember if Alamy itself was talking about $10 as the sort of expected price or if that came from somewhere else. Whichever was the case, the programme was sold on the understanding that commissions would not be down at microstock levels and now those are below Thinkstock's and the unit sale price for customers is probably below that charged by ANY significant micro.

They are also in breach of their own terms, which were that the commission rate would be 50% and they have chosen to cut it to about 48%. Whether that could be used as technical grounds for demanding to be let out of the Novel Use arrangement, I'm not sure.

lagereek

« Reply #16 on: August 22, 2010, 04:58 »
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Well guys!  we opted-in, now we have to live with it. Its a giant laugh but frankly the way Micro is going, I rather have thousands of 0.49c,  then a smack in the bollucks.

cheers everyone.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #17 on: August 22, 2010, 05:47 »
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Well guys!  we opted-in, now we have to live with it. Its a giant laugh but frankly the way Micro is going, I rather have thousands of 0.49c,  then a smack in the bollucks.

cheers everyone.
Aaaah, no-one on the Alamy forum is claiming thousands of 49cs, you must be one of the "luckier" ones.
It is very concerning, however, that people who have opted out are seeing these sales, reported here and on their forum.

lagereek

« Reply #18 on: August 22, 2010, 06:08 »
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Well guys!  we opted-in, now we have to live with it. Its a giant laugh but frankly the way Micro is going, I rather have thousands of 0.49c,  then a smack in the bollucks.

cheers everyone.
Aaaah, no-one on the Alamy forum is claiming thousands of 49cs, you must be one of the "luckier" ones.
It is very concerning, however, that people who have opted out are seeing these sales, reported here and on their forum.

Hi Sue!

nope!  not thousands,  just a figure of speech as in I would rather have that, then nothing at all. get it?

Ive really no sentiments for some of the old-style Alamy shooters,  they been knocking the Micro for years, telling everybody what fools and idiots we are selling for a few bucks and when this NU started they were extremly sarcastic, etc,  well they were the first ones to join into the NU, now when the going gets tough,  same crowd is the first one to scream.
This is inside Alamy you understand.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #19 on: August 22, 2010, 06:13 »
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Well guys!  we opted-in, now we have to live with it. Its a giant laugh but frankly the way Micro is going, I rather have thousands of 0.49c,  then a smack in the bollucks.

cheers everyone.
Aaaah, no-one on the Alamy forum is claiming thousands of 49cs, you must be one of the "luckier" ones.
It is very concerning, however, that people who have opted out are seeing these sales, reported here and on their forum.

Hi Sue!

nope!  not thousands,  just a figure of speech as in I would rather have that, then nothing at all. get it?

Ive really no sentiments for some of the old-style Alamy shooters,  they been knocking the Micro for years, telling everybody what fools and idiots we are selling for a few bucks and when this NU started they were extremly sarcastic, etc,  well they were the first ones to join into the NU, now when the going gets tough,  same crowd is the first one to scream.
This is inside Alamy you understand.
I do understand, and have been finding the irony very amusing vis-a-vis the micro-macro debate as you say, except where people have opted-out.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2010, 06:30 by ShadySue »

« Reply #20 on: August 22, 2010, 06:28 »
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Exactly! At least, Alamy gives you the option to opt out.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #21 on: August 22, 2010, 06:30 »
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Exactly! At least, Alamy gives you the option to opt out.
But in some cases, haven't respected that option having been taken

lagereek

« Reply #22 on: August 22, 2010, 06:35 »
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Exactly! At least, Alamy gives you the option to opt out.
But in some cases, haven't respected that option having been taken

Well as far as I can see,  you can only opt-out in April, although whats the point?  theyre not exactly producing large RF sales on a daily basis.

« Reply #23 on: August 22, 2010, 11:30 »
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Oh, I see. I must have opted out in Aprill.

lisafx

« Reply #24 on: August 22, 2010, 16:20 »
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Well guys!  we opted-in, now we have to live with it.

To be honest, I don't ever remember opting in to that.  It may have happened when I first joined and an Alamy admin wrote me and said a buyer was interested in purchasing through a distributor, but I was not opted in to that.  Did I want to be opted in?  I said, "sure, go ahead and opt me in."  Next thing I knew I was opted in to everything across the board.  I had no idea about Novel Use until I got dozens of $1 sales a couple of months ago, and I had to go look it up in the forums. 

Which is all a very long way to get across the point that not all of us who are in Novel Use knowingly opted ourselves into it or had it explained to us. 

lisafx

« Reply #25 on: August 22, 2010, 16:22 »
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Well as far as I can see,  you can only opt-out in April, although whats the point?  theyre not exactly producing large RF sales on a daily basis.

The point of opting out is that your average price/sale affect search placement at Alamy.  So by getting all these $1 and .50 sales we are getting dropped from visibility in searches for more lucrative licenses.  It's a big deal and not something that was initially disclosed by Alamy. 

« Reply #26 on: August 22, 2010, 16:52 »
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To be honest, I don't ever remember opting in to that. 
I was already at Alamy when they introduced the "Novel Use". If I remember it right, you would be opted in by default, but in an email they explained what this was about and how we could opt out.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #27 on: August 22, 2010, 17:17 »
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Exactly! At least, Alamy gives you the option to opt out.
But in some cases, haven't respected that option having been taken

Well as far as I can see,  you can only opt-out in April, although whats the point?  theyre not exactly producing large RF sales on a daily basis.
I'm pretty sure I read that NU was forbidden to iStock exclusives, IIRC mainly due to the novel uses not being clear to the contributer support team (nor to anyone else, if the current, soon-to-be removed, thread over on Alamy is to be believed.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2010, 17:18 by ShadySue »

lisafx

« Reply #28 on: August 22, 2010, 18:07 »
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To be honest, I don't ever remember opting in to that. 
I was already at Alamy when they introduced the "Novel Use". If I remember it right, you would be opted in by default, but in an email they explained what this was about and how we could opt out.

THanks Maria.  That explains it then.  I must have joined after it was introduced.  Didn't know a thing about it.   :(

RacePhoto

« Reply #29 on: August 24, 2010, 01:15 »
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Just got a heap of Novel Use sales - each going for 49c of which I get 24c (because, apparently, Alamy can't work out what half of 49c is).

If I knew this was for a school project I wouldn't mind but the lack of details is worrying.

When they launched this, there was talk of $10 sales, that seems to have gone out of the window. What next, 25c sales?


Interesting because I have a small RF collection and have no NU sales. Still selling Editorial Only at $75-$80 commission per sale. I find the "heap" of sales you have experienced, interesting. Is it content or size or what do you think? I believe I opted in, or didn't opt out, whichever way anyone wants to look at it. I certainly didn't expect 50 cent sales, but wouldn't have been surprised by $10 newspaper buys, which would still beat 25c on SS.

I have my RF on micro where I feel they belong and I know that IS and SS are going to handle them. I don't put large or unusual RM shots on micro, which has worked out to my benefit so far. What I mean is I place shots where I think they will get their best value, instead of just sending everything, everywhere, and competing with myself.

As for someone else's question of NU and IS exclusives. IS exclusives can't have RF anywhere else, so I'd expect that to be a moot point. I don't think my RM and Editorial images are available as NU on Alamy, just the RF material. (and I may be wrong!)

Here's the latest:

04 August 2010    
Traditional Licence    
Country: North America
Usage: Editorial
Media: Textbook - print only
Print run: up to 5,000
Placement: Inside
Image Size: 1 page
Start: 01 January 2011
End: 01 January 2014
   $ 125.00


The usual, minimum Editorial buy although most have been $200 not $125, so there might be something changing prices there as well.

No complaints. That one sale beats two years with FT, DT and 123RF combined! (which is why I've closed those accounts) I'm still very pleased with Alamy rules, acceptance and sales for the material I produce.

Interesting original information from Alamy, 2008, which may be the answer?

http://www.alamy.com/Blog/contributor/archive/2008/11/12/3756.aspx

"Alamy has teamed up with rights licensing experts Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) to help create a revolutionary new way for corporations to access pre-licensed images for internal business uses."

From Alamy: Please be assured that you stand opted out of the novel use and this sale is not related to the period after you opted out.

The Novel Use sales that have been posted on your account this week originate from a trial project which we conducted over a long period with one potential customer. We apologize that these have only just been reported and billed but the nature of some of these novel use projects are such that long reporting times are often inevitable.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2010, 02:24 by RacePhoto »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #30 on: August 24, 2010, 02:06 »
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Here's the latest:

04 August 2010    
Traditional Licence    
Country: North America
Usage: Editorial
Media: Textbook - print only
Print run: up to 5,000
Placement: Inside
Image Size: 1 page
Start: 01 January 2011
End: 01 January 2014
   $ 125.00



Yebbut that's gross. To be fair, you should have quoted what you get out of that.
F'rinstance, I have six sales grossing $536.33, but of that I'll get, when the last two have cleared, $259.25.

RacePhoto

« Reply #31 on: August 24, 2010, 02:36 »
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Here's the latest:

04 August 2010    
Traditional Licence    
Country: North America
Usage: Editorial
Media: Textbook - print only
Print run: up to 5,000
Placement: Inside
Image Size: 1 page
Start: 01 January 2011
End: 01 January 2014
   $ 125.00



Yebbut that's gross. To be fair, you should have quoted what you get out of that.
F'rinstance, I have six sales grossing $536.33, but of that I'll get, when the last two have cleared, $259.25.

I thought I did? I get $75 out of that, which is 60%, same as the $200 sales where I get $120. The average of $80 commission per sale, is just that.

Plus another correction which someone posted that's not true. NU sales do not effect placement and rank.

But the edit was for an answer from Alamy stating that the recent batch of NU sales were long delayed in being reported, and people who are opted out, did not have sales in the recent period. I thought that was helpful for anyone who got some of these 49c wonders and was opted out in April. Stale sales getting reported according to Alamy.

« Reply #32 on: August 29, 2010, 01:55 »
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I'd like to know where people got the information:

A) that NU sales undermine Alamy rank
B) that NU sales do not undermine Alamy rank

so that I can check which is accurate.

« Reply #33 on: August 29, 2010, 03:34 »
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Well guys!  we opted-in, now we have to live with it.

To be honest, I don't ever remember opting in to that.  It may have happened when I first joined and an Alamy admin wrote me and said a buyer was interested in purchasing through a distributor, but I was not opted in to that.  Did I want to be opted in?  I said, "sure, go ahead and opt me in."  Next thing I knew I was opted in to everything across the board.  I had no idea about Novel Use until I got dozens of $1 sales a couple of months ago, and I had to go look it up in the forums.  

Which is all a very long way to get across the point that not all of us who are in Novel Use knowingly opted ourselves into it or had it explained to us.  
Yep!

I am on Alamy for a three months and I never opt in for "novel use" but checkmark is there and will be, till April...

lisafx

« Reply #34 on: August 30, 2010, 18:23 »
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I'd like to know where people got the information:

A) that NU sales undermine Alamy rank
B) that NU sales do not undermine Alamy rank

so that I can check which is accurate.


I had read in the Alamy forums, confirmed by an Alamy administrator, that the amount of the sale price DOES affect Alamy rank.  At the time it was generally assumed in the thread that this would be a problem for people with NU sales.

I can't find that thread now, but did find a newer one where an Alamy forum admin stated that NU sales are NOT included in the ranking calculations.  

This is a big relief considering how many of them I seem to be getting lately.

I don't think a link to the conversation found through Alamy search will work, so here's a screen shot: 
« Last Edit: August 30, 2010, 18:26 by lisafx »

RacePhoto

« Reply #35 on: August 31, 2010, 03:35 »
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I'd like to know where people got the information:

A) that NU sales undermine Alamy rank
B) that NU sales do not undermine Alamy rank

so that I can check which is accurate.

See lisafx post, I was going on the information posted to the forum from "Alamy", which I consider better than the rumors and contributors opinions.  ;D

Just like the thread on payment changes where people want to lobby to add Paypal, when it was already an option. Or maybe people who are against getting charged a fee to receive money, when it the person sending it who usually incurs those fees. By the way, some banks charge to cash checks from out of the country, so I would have to pay a fee for payments from a Canadian magazine, unless I was willing to deposit them and wait two weeks. I didn't mind waiting.

Point is, there seems to be a fee or potential problem with every method. The best answer is that we have a choice of which one, so it works best for our particular location and situation.

Anything that can be confused by multiple people reading something and assuming that they have the answer, will be represented by conflicting conclusions, on an open forum!  ;)

RacePhoto

« Reply #36 on: September 01, 2010, 22:47 »
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Along with the antique and dead NU images, selling for Micro prices, I just ran across this thread on Alamy for Highest sale values. It's sure not a buck.  ;D

http://alamy.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&t=8446

I con understand people with higher numbers of micro shots, working on volume. It's a better long term goal and should produce a flow of money, even if micro drops, it's still going to have a flow. On the other hand, my shots appear to be one sale wonders and I prefer they are up for sale where I can get one buyer to pay what I'd get from micro in five years... maybe?

Both work depending on the image and the market.

« Reply #37 on: September 07, 2010, 07:32 »
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This is from Alamy's site:

In an ever changing marketplace we are constantly exploring new avenues for revenue. We can also miss sales opportunities from organisations requesting licence agreements that require us to operate outside our normal model. If you sign up to the Novel Use scheme you are giving Alamy permission to sell your images at any price and by any method we feel is appropriate. Novel Use means we can make these sales and you can share in this additional revenue whilst still having all of your images available for conventional licence sales.

What is Novel Use?
■An optional scheme, you have to Opt-in to be included.
■Our sales team will negotiate or set prices which will vary depending on the project and could include high volume and/or low value sales.
■All your images, except those with a restriction, are included if you sign up.
Both RF and RM images are included.
■Novel Use sales are made through Alamy and not through its distribution network.
■Your images may be used for pilot schemes, prototypes and trials.
■Novel Use will not undermine Alamys existing business.
How it works
■You can Opt-in at any time
■Once signed up your images remain in the scheme, but you can opt out each April.
■You receive 50% of Novel Use sales.
■Your normal termination rights of 45 days are not affected.


 

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