MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Author Topic: BigStock Selling HD Videos for $0.15 !!  (Read 86663 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

« Reply #50 on: November 13, 2014, 12:49 »
+13
Our apologies for any confusion. As many of you know, Bigstock is oriented towards the consumer market and independent creatives and the needs of that audience are different than traditional stock footage customers (think of enthusiastic YouTube creators vs. professional video editors). Bigstock is developing a small collection of videos to test how first-time and casual footage customers respond to different entry-level products. The contributors who are participating have all opted-in and all of the content is being appropriately licensed with their consent. The collection will be limited and these early packages represent some initial efforts to test and generate interest in footage among non-traditional buyers. We will continue to work with participating contributors as we learn more about this new market.

Michal on behalf of Bigstock
This is just whooey. The same argument was given years ago about how micro was just for small users and RF was just for low budget mom and pop operations. You are creating a problem by setting ridiculously low prices that other buyers will want from other collections, all to no one's benefit.


« Reply #51 on: November 13, 2014, 13:06 »
+3
This is Shutterstock doings, not Bigstock. There is no Bigstock per se anymore. Bigstock is under Shutterstock management and is the experimental playground for Shuttestock.

I dont have my account at Bigstock anymore so i dont worry about Bigstock as itself. But this definitely has strongly shaken my trust in Shutterstock. Especially now that you can only pull your port with a 90 days delay, they can do anything they want to you for at least 90 days. And, given that they are the largest source of income for most of us, they may screw us up anytime now and most of us can still do nothing about it.


I completely agree and shutterstock is now run by the venture capital crowd.

This is who is key in making decisions now. http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/help-looking-for-list-of-negatives-stock-events/msg385570/#msg385570

They worry about stock prices & granting themselves further options at a cost of $0, once they have sold what they currently hold via autotrades each month.

http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/help-looking-for-list-of-negatives-stock-events/msg385570/#msg385570

« Reply #52 on: November 13, 2014, 13:21 »
+7
This is very worrying news indeed. On fotolia at least the subs download was limited to web size files.

There is no market saturation in video, the whole market is just starting out.

if they really want to offer lower price files, then they could offer different price points and allow the contributor to opt in voluntarily with individual files. testshots or outtakes.

But to opt in all files is very strange. they know that the contributors did not upload their content for this price model.

I was just talking about Bigstock with a friend yesterday, wondering if uploading videos to Bigstock was a good idea.

But I suppose this means we have to stay away.

i sincerly hope SS will not copy this model. i really like working with SS.

so this looks like really bad news.

« Reply #53 on: November 13, 2014, 13:22 »
+9
When BigStock introduced bargain basement subscriptions for photos & illustrations last year with insane royalties I wrote asking for an opt out (I was not part of the bridge program, either because I'm too small a fish or because I was exclusive when it was started and they didn't continue to add contributors).

They said no, so I left.

I am glad that the toxic royalty scheme of BigStock subscriptions hasn't migrated to Shutterstock - which is what I was afraid of. I don't think writing to anyone will make any difference - they need to be starved of content which is the only message they'll pay any attention to.

It should be fairly easy for major contributors to pull their video from BigStock - I'm assuming they're no bigger an earner there than with other media. I don't know if contacting those who have opted in to this program to ask them to reconsider and opt out would do any good, but that would get some attention.

When iStock was trying to get contributors to opt in to the Partner Program (way back when) and the royalties were such crap that many of us didn't, they came back to the table a few months later with improved royalties (they were still crap and not an incentive to change, IMO). Sites can change the deal if they don't get enough content (obviously things since have shown there's no stopping an agency that repeatedly pushes the self destruct button).

Anyone know their way around the video contributor community enough to have a clue as to how to contact those who are supplying this mess?

« Reply #54 on: November 13, 2014, 13:24 »
+10
i sincerly hope SS will not copy this model. i really like working with SS.
What?  This is Shutterstock's model, they own Bigstock.  Do you think Bigstock did this without Shutterstock knowing?  How would that even be possible.

« Reply #55 on: November 13, 2014, 13:27 »
+8
One of my goals for next year was to start shooting stock video to shore up my dropping income from stills.  Now I don't see the point of uploading video.  This the first step to eroding the whole market.  Video can't be produced or sold in the volumes of stills, which is why it needs to sell at much higher prices to make it viable to produce.

And for the SS fan club, wake up.  This is their doing.

« Reply #56 on: November 13, 2014, 13:28 »
+9
YouTube quality? Bollocks! Does this person think we won't take a look?

You tell me if either of these look like YouTube cheap and cheerful to you - they sure as heck don't to me! I just did two searches and there were HUNDREDS of thousands of results for both.

http://www.bigstockphoto.com/video-75113944/

http://www.bigstockphoto.com/video-75033223/

Here are the producers' SS portfolios (1,700+ clips in one and over 5K for the other)

http://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/BigFootSLV-2691292/

http://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/ESB-Films-1903019/
« Last Edit: November 13, 2014, 13:32 by Jo Ann Snover »

shudderstok

« Reply #57 on: November 13, 2014, 13:29 »
0
i sincerly hope SS will not copy this model. i really like working with SS.
What?  This is Shutterstock's model, they own Bigstock.  Do you think Bigstock did this without Shutterstock knowing?  How would that even be possible.

it will keep the market share growing, that has been the strategy of SS since day one. you either support it or you don't. nuff said.

« Reply #58 on: November 13, 2014, 13:30 »
+8
i sincerly hope SS will not copy this model. i really like working with SS.
What?  This is Shutterstock's model, they own Bigstock.  Do you think Bigstock did this without Shutterstock knowing?  How would that even be possible.

it will keep the market share growing, that has been the strategy of SS since day one. you either support it or you don't. nuff said.
Yep we heard that with Fotolia's DPC.  It was a bad argument then and it is a bad argument now.

« Reply #59 on: November 13, 2014, 13:36 »
+4
i am sure this is SS's idea. But this doesn't mean it will be automatically transferred to SS.

My video income is 90% pond5 and SS. So having to drop SS, or downgrading them to a place "for testshots only" would be really sad.

Mostly I worry about  agencies taking in content under one business model, then abruptly changing that business model without giving us an opt out, the way fotolia did with DPC.

if this new subscription offer was a new standalone agency and they invited contributors to upload content...

who would send them files for this?

I think they would have a very hard time attracting normal content.

« Reply #60 on: November 13, 2014, 13:42 »
+3
i am sure this is SS's idea. But this doesn't mean it will be automatically transferred to SS.

My video income is 90% pond5 and SS. So having to drop SS, or downgrading them to a place "for testshots only" would be really sad.
I hope you wouldn't even consider uploading test shots if they are going to be sold for 15 cents.

« Reply #61 on: November 13, 2014, 13:51 »
+2
This is very worrying news indeed. On fotolia at least the subs download was limited to web size files.

There is no market saturation in video, the whole market is just starting out.

if they really want to offer lower price files, then they could offer different price points and allow the contributor to opt in voluntarily with individual files. testshots or outtakes.

But to opt in all files is very strange. they know that the contributors did not upload their content for this price model.

I was just talking about Bigstock with a friend yesterday, wondering if uploading videos to Bigstock was a good idea.

But I suppose this means we have to stay away.

i sincerly hope SS will not copy this model. i really like working with SS.

so this looks like really bad news.

It is not strange at all, "If" you consider who we are actually dealing with.

The VC crowd stands to make many more millions by driving up SSTK stock prices, than they ever will via microstock or video revenue. These guys are in it for the short term and they will do what ever it takes to get what they want.

It is abundantly obvious that they do not consider the welfare of contributors.

If contributors fail to stand up to them, we can count on video pricing following microstock's downward trend. We are dealing with the same company who has not raised pricing or given raises since 2008 so that they could capture the lions share of the market.

Insight Venture Capitol also own a significant portion of SSTK stock under various entities. These are large and easily tracked INSIGHT VENTURE PARTNERS V L P, SHUTTERSTOCK INVESTORS I LLC, as well as Institutional holdings via INSIGHT HOLDINGS GROUP, LLC

SSTK Insider Activity (SEC Form 4)

http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/sstk/insider-trades

Top 5 Insider Trades
SHUTTERSTOCK INVESTORS I LLC       2,835,697
ORINGER JONATHAN       2,530,000
INSIGHT VENTURE PARTNERS V L P       1,610,000
INSIGHT VENTURE PARTNERS V L P       1,610,000
INSIGHT VENTURE PARTNERS V L P       1,300,000


Top 5 Holders of Institutional Holdings
1.      PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/    2,729,747
2.      WELLS FARGO & COMPANY/MN    1,923,913
3.      WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT CO LLP    1,344,486
4.      JACKSON SQUARE PARTNERS, LLC    1,318,414
5.      INSIGHT HOLDINGS GROUP, LLC    1,289,748

Insight Venture Partners
Creating a Successful IPO
http://www.insightpartners.com/assets/Uploads/SuccessStory/Shutterstock.pdf

Re the Above Document reports that Insight Venture Partners worked closely with Jon, to recruit a new executive team at Shutterstock, in particular the President, CFO, CTO, VPCD and other mid-level managers.

Shutterstock Team At Insight Venture Partners: Jeff Lieberman, Jeff Horing, Hilary Gosher, Cian Cotter

Jeff Lieberman Board Director At Shutterstock, Inc.
Independent Director at Shutterstock, Inc. and a Managing Director at Insight Venture Management LLC. He is on the Board of Directors at Cvent, Inc., Shutterstock, Inc., Call24, Inc., HauteLook, Inc., Karmaloop, Inc., Ecova, Inc., Mimecast Ltd., and Tongal, Inc.
http://people.equilar.com/bio/jeffrey-lieberman-cvent--inc./salary/530332#.U6hBt7FRdeA

Insight Venture Partners Tech Support
Mentored and worked closely with shutterstocks existing technology development team prior to James Chou CTO joining Shutterstock

James Chou CTO
Chief Technology Officer at Shutterstock, Inc.
Insight Venture Partners Introduced James Chou to Shutterstock from Insights network
http://people.equilar.com/bio/james-chou-shutterstock--inc./salary/800789#.U6hB8LFRdeA

Thilo Semmelbauer President
President and Chief Operating Officer at Shutterstock, Inc.

http://people.equilar.com/bio/thilo-semmelbauer-shutterstock--inc./salary/723350#.U6hCVrFRdeA

Timothy E. Bixby CFO
Chief Financial Officer at Shutterstock, Inc.

http://people.equilar.com/bio/timothy-bixby-shutterstock--inc./salary/27954#.U6hCp7FRdeA

David Fraga VPCD
Vice President, Corporate Development at Shutterstock

Previously an Insight Venture Partners Employee - Analyst at Insight Venture Partners
http://tinyurl.com/q4xdd6k

Recent INSIGHT VENTURE MANAGEMENT's SSTK stock sales. http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/Stock/SSTK/insideractions

http://www.nasdaq.com/quotes/institutional-portfolio/insight-holdings-group-llc-651789

http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/sstk/ownership-summary#ixzz3IafANBvJ
« Last Edit: November 13, 2014, 15:03 by gbalex »

« Reply #62 on: November 13, 2014, 13:52 »
+1
i would need to see proof of super high volume downloads, like hundreds a day or thousands a week. like on istock in 2004 with photos.

but I doubt the video market will ever have a size where 30 cent sub downloads will bring sensible returns.

It is too specialized, video has never been as big a hobby as photography.

« Reply #63 on: November 13, 2014, 13:55 »
+5
Our apologies for any confusion. As many of you know, Bigstock is oriented towards the consumer market and independent creatives and the needs of that audience are different than traditional stock footage customers (think of enthusiastic YouTube creators vs. professional video editors). Bigstock is developing a small collection of videos to test how first-time and casual footage customers respond to different entry-level products. The contributors who are participating have all opted-in and all of the content is being appropriately licensed with their consent. The collection will be limited and these early packages represent some initial efforts to test and generate interest in footage among non-traditional buyers. We will continue to work with participating contributors as we learn more about this new market.

Michal on behalf of Bigstock


If this moves forward will the bridge program FORCE IN OUR VIDEOS or will we be able to opt out? It is CRITICALLY IMPORTANT that we have an opt out from this scheme to erode video to worse than photos.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2014, 14:58 by Mantis »

« Reply #64 on: November 13, 2014, 13:58 »
+4
i would need to see proof of super high volume downloads, like hundreds a day or thousands a week. like on istock in 2004 with photos.

but I doubt the video market will ever have a size where 30 cent sub downloads will bring sensible returns.

It is too specialized, video has never been as big a hobby as photography.
The good salesperson from BS, is that a poetic coincidence by the way, will say that by stretching the market with "affordable" downloads, that such numbers would happen naturally. We'd all get rich. Math is so much fun when you keep it theortical.

« Reply #65 on: November 13, 2014, 14:06 »
+9
This is total crap and makes me glad I am exclusive today! I took a look at the videos and there is some high end content there.

KB

« Reply #66 on: November 13, 2014, 14:14 »
+9
Our apologies for any confusion. As many of you know, Bigstock is oriented towards the consumer market and independent creatives and the needs of that audience are different than traditional stock footage customers (think of enthusiastic YouTube creators vs. professional video editors). Bigstock is developing a small collection of videos to test how first-time and casual footage customers respond to different entry-level products. The contributors who are participating have all opted-in and all of the content is being appropriately licensed with their consent. The collection will be limited and these early packages represent some initial efforts to test and generate interest in footage among non-traditional buyers. We will continue to work with participating contributors as we learn more about this new market.

Michal on behalf of Bigstock
This is the almost identical argument that iStock / Getty used when they first introduced Thinkstock: It was aimed at an entirely different market and buyers who didn't overlap iStock's traditional customers.

We all know how true that argument was.

However, true or not, the very idea of giving away (almost literally) clips at these prices undermines the entire market.  SS should know better, but apparently doesn't.  >:(

« Reply #67 on: November 13, 2014, 14:49 »
+2
This is total crap and makes me glad I am exclusive today! I took a look at the videos and there is some high end content there.
At a place that reduced the pricing of video by a factor of 3?

« Reply #68 on: November 13, 2014, 15:00 »
+2
I am exclusive and my $$ per sale has gone up not down!

« Reply #69 on: November 13, 2014, 15:03 »
+9
Mind boggling that Shutterstock can be selling a high volume of footage clips for great prices one moment, and then introduce footage sales at world record low prices the next, in fact footage sales even cheaper than DFC giveaway photo prices. It's not April, so what's going on? Is there a collective wish at SS to wind down and bankrupt the company? Are they on drugs?


Lightrecorder

« Reply #70 on: November 13, 2014, 15:04 »
+5
i contacted support to kill all my files at bigstock. This guys..  >:(
Make sure they confirm the deletion of their servers as they just hide your portfolio. You need to demand they delete them from their servers otherwise they wont.

« Reply #71 on: November 13, 2014, 15:09 »
0
This is total crap and makes me glad I am exclusive today! I took a look at the videos and there is some high end content there.
At a place that reduced the pricing of video by a factor of 3?
Good point.  Selling video at iStock for between $48 and $65 is about the same as selling video at Bigstock for between 60 cents and 15 cents a clip.  Shutterstock is selling the same videos for $79 that they are now selling for 15 cents, can you tell us what factor that is reduced by?
« Last Edit: November 13, 2014, 15:14 by tickstock »

« Reply #72 on: November 13, 2014, 15:10 »
+3
I am exclusive and my $$ per sale has gone up not down!
Yes, but with the continuing pressure to reduce prices, as with this post, you are not immune. And should be well aware of how quickly things change.

« Reply #73 on: November 13, 2014, 15:15 »
+9
This is total crap and makes me glad I am exclusive today! I took a look at the videos and there is some high end content there.
At a place that reduced the pricing of video by a factor of 3?
Good point.  Selling video at iStock for between $48 and $65 is about the same as selling video at Bigstock for between 60 cents and 15 cents a clip.

I never thought I'd say this but if BigStock and SS moves forward with this without an opt out, pond 5 does not make me enough money to remain Indy. I would seriously consider putting all of my video eggs into the Istock basket simply because they pay somewhat better and pipe some or all of the videos to Getty. Certainly I hope Bigstock/SS offers opt outs. In any event, Bigstock can spin it any way they want....a buyer who is paying full price on shutterstock that learns they can get the same video on Bigstock for. 99.9% discount will most certainly move there for their purchases.  Bigstock isn't going to tell them no because they aren't the right purchasing demographic. They will gladly take their money even though they say it targets a different set of buyers, which is utter bullsh1t.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2014, 15:17 by Mantis »

« Reply #74 on: November 13, 2014, 15:17 »
0
This is total crap and makes me glad I am exclusive today! I took a look at the videos and there is some high end content there.
At a place that reduced the pricing of video by a factor of 3?
Good point.  Selling video at iStock for between $48 and $65 is about the same as selling video at Bigstock for between 60 cents and 15 cents a clip.  Shutterstock is selling the same videos for $79 that they are now selling for 15 cents, can you tell us what factor that is reduced by?
I'm not sure what your point is. "Selling for" and "getting paid" are also factors. This deal with BS is just that, but true to form, all of a sudden, iStock isn't so bad anymore.


 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
5 Replies
6601 Views
Last post May 13, 2013, 07:43
by click_click
12 Replies
9361 Views
Last post December 15, 2015, 18:13
by trek
12 Replies
7666 Views
Last post February 12, 2017, 03:19
by izustun
2 Replies
3618 Views
Last post July 23, 2017, 19:20
by SuperJeff
16 Replies
7445 Views
Last post August 19, 2018, 14:49
by increasingdifficulty

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors