Author Topic: Surprise and Disappointment (Read 6867 times)

w7lwi · « **on:** July 21, 2013, 21:03 »

Surprise ... I had two downloads on Alamy this month (I'm usually lucky to get just one).

Disappointment ... One of the sales was for a grand sum of $6.99. After Alamy's 30% and the distributor's 40% I get the princely sum of $2.09. And I get the privilege of waiting an untold number of months for it to clear accounting so I can go and put a down payment on a Big Mac.

tab62 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 21, 2013, 22:25 »

I can trump your Surprised and Disappointment-

Try getting two sales were my net was over $300 and both were returned on day number 28! Since then I don't count my sales on this site- if they sell and CLEAR than it is a bonus...

lisafx · « **Reply #2 on:** July 21, 2013, 22:49 »

I hear you. I've eleven sales this month and made just over $30 in total. Time was when 11 Alamy sales in a month would yield several hundred $.

Alamy sales definitely aren't what they used to be.

stockastic · « **Reply #3 on:** July 21, 2013, 23:12 »

Quote from: w7lwi on July 21, 2013, 21:03

... I get the princely sum of $2.09.

After weeks of nothing, I just had one that netted me $100. But I know from experience there's a good chance it will be cancelled after weeks or months, and the $100 will be 'deducted' from my account.

Why they go through this nonsense - showing photographers sales that aren't really sales - is totally beyond me. It does nothing but alienate the photographer. And these deadbeat "buyers" get free use of our photos for all that time.

tab62 · « **Reply #4 on:** July 21, 2013, 23:15 »

If the system allowed I would give Stockastic two hearts for his last comment! Why get us excited on a pending sale only to be sadden when if it returned...

bunhill · « **Reply #5 on:** July 22, 2013, 04:09 »

2 sales reported last week netted me over $120 each. Both are showing as paid but not yet cleared. Different clients and uses. Returns would be quite a let down !

I think it is the best outlet available to me for some sorts of RM editorial pictures which would be lost to the best match at iStock - and I doubt that someone would go to iStock for either of these sorts of editorial subjects. They are pics which I set out to take because I thought they would be useful. They both came from a to-do list of stuff to shoot. So I am feeling quite positive about these sales. Neither picture would get *liked* on FB or at say Flickr or 500px. They are not glamorous or stylish! Really quite mundane.

That said I am an Alamy newbie. I have very few pics there yet and I only made payout twice. So maybe I should wait quite a while longer before drawing too many positive conclusions. My feeling is that if an image is going to only be an occasional seller then it needs to be somewhere where potentially it can be found and sell for a better number.

ShadySue · « **Reply #6 on:** July 22, 2013, 07:04 »

Quote from: lisafx on July 21, 2013, 22:49

I hear you. I've eleven sales this month and made just over $30 in total. Time was when 11 Alamy sales in a month would yield several hundred $.

Alamy sales definitely aren't what they used to be.

Grief, Lisa, are these RF sales? I was led to believe that RF sales sell for more than RM.
I've had some small RM sales, of one image in particular, but it has sold four times at a very low price, presumably to the same UK newspaper, the one which James said at last realised it had a messed up accounting system and fixed it, known on Alamy as the "Daily Muddle" (the one where you had to contact Alamy three then six months after seeing it 'in use', and their support person would then tell you it was 'just about to be billed'). Anyway, all I'm saying is that possibly the small RM IQ sales can lead to repeated use sales, but that won't happen in RF.

ShadySue · « **Reply #7 on:** July 22, 2013, 07:06 »

Quote from: bhr on July 22, 2013, 04:09

2 sales reported last week netted me over $120 each. Both are showing as paid but not yet cleared. Different clients and uses. Returns would be quite a let down !

Last month I had a 50% refund on one of my best value sales of last year, almost 11 months after it sold. Queried it and was told the client hadn't used it and they'd allowed the 50% refund after such a very long time as they are 'key clients'.

bunhill · « **Reply #8 on:** July 22, 2013, 07:16 »

Quote from: ShadySue on July 22, 2013, 07:06

Quote from: bhr on July 22, 2013, 04:09
2 sales reported last week netted me over $120 each. Both are showing as paid but not yet cleared. Different clients and uses. Returns would be quite a let down !
Last month I had a 50% refund on one of my best value sales of last year, almost 11 months after it sold. Queried it and was told the client hadn't used it and they'd allowed the 50% refund after such a very long time as they are 'key clients'.

Bad news for you but seems fair if they did not use it. Editorial schedules do change. One thing I have noticed is how far in advance these uses are often booked - eg a sale in May for a magazine article at the end of the year. I guess it shows how far into the future a use can be planned and priced.

Out of interest - did the refund take place after the payment had cleared?

ShadySue · « **Reply #9 on:** July 22, 2013, 08:54 »

Quote from: bhr on July 22, 2013, 07:16

Out of interest - did the refund take place after the payment had cleared?

Yes. It was recorded as sold last August, was paid last October and partially refunded last month. When I calmed down, it did seem like a reasonable compromise, but at the time it was a bit of a shock as iStock was so bad last month but Alamy was picking up, then suddenly the total dropped.

pancaketom · « **Reply #10 on:** July 22, 2013, 09:51 »

I sold my one image I sold last month again - for less than the sale last month which they returned. So my sale lost me almost 3$. oh well. They certainly were doing better for me around the beginning of the year. Hopefully this is just ebb and flow and not a systemic change.

lisafx · « **Reply #11 on:** July 22, 2013, 11:24 »

Quote from: ShadySue on July 22, 2013, 07:04

Grief, Lisa, are these RF sales? I was led to believe that RF sales sell for more than RM.
lead to repeated use sales, but that won't happen in RF.

Yep, all RF. Some were Novel Use, which I expect to be low, but more than half were regular sales, the HIGHEST commission of which was $4.02.

ShadySue · « **Reply #12 on:** July 22, 2013, 11:30 »

Quote from: lisafx on July 22, 2013, 11:24

Quote from: ShadySue on July 22, 2013, 07:04

Grief, Lisa, are these RF sales? I was led to believe that RF sales sell for more than RM.
lead to repeated use sales, but that won't happen in RF.

Yep, all RF. Some were Novel Use, which I expect to be low, but more than half were regular sales, the HIGHEST commission of which was $4.02.

:-(

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Author Topic: Surprise and Disappointment (Read 6867 times)

w7lwi

tab62

lisafx

stockastic

tab62

bunhill

ShadySue

ShadySue

bunhill

ShadySue

pancaketom

lisafx

ShadySue

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