Author Topic: How long before Crestock increases subs commissions? (Read 8433 times)

ironarrow · « **on:** August 15, 2008, 10:03 »

Leaf, you did the right thing by locking the other thread.. Anyway, I seriously thought I made some points on the other thread and I would like someone from Crestock, probably Josh, to kindly answer this serious question..

@ anyone from crestock...
what is your thoughts of 0.25c subs commission?! do you ever consider increasing them in the next 20 years? (this is no sarcasm)

Because everybody did, don't you feel like it is your turn? Same for StockXpert.. They need to increase their 0.30c too..

Crestock has been paying the same 0.25c since the first time I saw your site.. In the meantime, dollar sank, + every expense of life got more expensive while your commission remains the same..

My point is to discuss the low subs commissions of crestock.. I am expecting an answer from someone from crestock just as they knew to kindly tell me in another thread that all the websites have a minimum payout..

if we are gonna take other websites as examples, ALL THE WEBSITES PAY MORE SUBS COMMISSIONS THAN CRESTOCK as well.. This is a fact..

Please share your thoughts?

sharpshot · « **Reply #1 on:** August 15, 2008, 10:12 »

I have stopped uploading to crestock. They have said before that they want to spend money marketing the site and I see they have been doing that. The problem is, they wont get enough content to keep the buyers if they are only paying us 25 cents for subs downloads.

The simple solution is to increase our commissions and keep marketing the site. This will cost them more money in the short term but will keep buyers and sellers happy and will profit them in the long term. Without us, it doesn't matter how much they spend on marketing.

ironarrow · « **Reply #2 on:** August 15, 2008, 10:24 »

Quote from: sharpshot on August 15, 2008, 10:12

I have stopped uploading to crestock. They have said before that they want to spend money marketing the site and I see they have been doing that. The problem is, they wont get enough content to keep the buyers if they are only paying us 25 cents for subs downloads.

The simple solution is to increase our commissions and keep marketing the site. This will cost them more money in the short term but will keep buyers and sellers happy and will profit them in the long term. Without us, it doesn't matter how much they spend on marketing.

yes, no more excuses like marketing.. serious answers please.. I really don't see why the contributors have to pay for marketing..

let's see;
- contributors provide the high quality products..
- contributors pay for marketing..

what does crestock do? 0.25c commission has no excuse!

you should come with somethin original..

rene · « **Reply #3 on:** August 15, 2008, 11:48 »

Why simply not let them die? That will remind the others that nobody is invulnerable. If Leaf needs 3 months to get 50$ that means that someone like me needs much much more. That's ridiculous, especially that they dare of speaking about “high-quality”. They closed their forum, there is a reason for that.

Lee Torrens · « **Reply #4 on:** August 15, 2008, 12:50 »

It looks simple from out point of view: "25 cents is lower than the market! Raise it! Sacrifice a little short term profit to attract more contributors so you can attract more buyers!"

The term "gross oversimplification" comes to mind. If it was that simple to build a successful agency then we'd all be doing it and succeeding. Give these agencies some credit. It takes a fair amount of money to do what Crestock have done so far, and you don't get to be in control of that amount of money if you're not very smart. Look at all the low-budget agencies that have failed!

Crestock don't need to answer to you. They will listen more to their portfolio growth rates than what contributors write on a forum. They'll read it to understand their metrics and acknowledge it for the sake of good public relations, but in reality you will only have any influence by voting with your portfolio. If the agency doesn't inspire you, don't contribute.

Also, top agencies are accepting up to 50,000 new photos per week! Unless you're shooting something nobody else can shoot or you're famous enough to command a brand premium, you're participating in a commodity market. In commodity markets there's little use focusing on medium or long term gains. Get what you can for your product now. In microstock this means look at how much money the agency is putting into your PayPal account at the end of the month. Commission rates mean nothing because buyers will sooner buy from another photographer than switch agency to get 'your' image.

(Crestock advertise on my blog, but my comments are the same for any agency)

ironarrow · « **Reply #5 on:** August 15, 2008, 13:16 »

Quote from: Lee Torrens on August 15, 2008, 12:50

It looks simple from out point of view: "25 cents is lower than the market! Raise it! Sacrifice a little short term profit to attract more contributors so you can attract more buyers!"

The term "gross oversimplification" comes to mind. If it was that simple to build a successful agency then we'd all be doing it and succeeding. Give these agencies some credit. It takes a fair amount of money to do what Crestock have done so far, and you don't get to be in control of that amount of money if you're not very smart. Look at all the low-budget agencies that have failed!

Crestock don't need to answer to you. They will listen more to their portfolio growth rates than what contributors write on a forum. They'll read it to understand their metrics and acknowledge it for the sake of good public relations, but in reality you will only have any influence by voting with your portfolio. If the agency doesn't inspire you, don't contribute.

Also, top agencies are accepting up to 50,000 new photos per week! Unless you're shooting something nobody else can shoot or you're famous enough to command a brand premium, you're participating in a commodity market. In commodity markets there's little use focusing on medium or long term gains. Get what you can for your product now. In microstock this means look at how much money the agency is putting into your PayPal account at the end of the month. Commission rates mean nothing because buyers will sooner buy from another photographer than switch agency to get 'your' image.

(Crestock advertise on my blog, but my comments are the same for any agency)

lol

I already have my solution about crestock.. I do NOT upload to crestock.. and neither will I...

But I feel for my fellow contributors who do upload there..

All I can do is to warn everyone to pull their images from crestock and show them who's the boss..

0.25c is not funny.. even 0.30c is an insult so artists have been double-insulted by crestock..

And yes, your advice is very good.. Do NOT upload to crestock!! I will never upload to crestock if the commissions stay in an insulting level..

Crestock is one of the first agencies I discovered last year.. I had no idea where they stood in this industry but I learnt about them very quickly..
As soon as reading their commissions for subs I knew I would not upload to them.. Then I discovered this forum and saw they are ranked even higher than what they deserve..

I can not do much.. But, I can call as many contributors as possible to either stop uploading to CS, or never even get into it..

And I am just an artist who has a common sense.. Just like all the other real artists who care about how their work is treated..

Maybe I will start another thread like "10 great reasons not to upload to CS"

leaf · « **Reply #6 on:** August 16, 2008, 11:09 »

Quote from: rene on August 15, 2008, 11:48

If Leaf needs 3 months to get 50$ that means that someone like me needs much much more.

just to keep clear up this 'detail'
I said I get a payout every three months... meaning $100 I don't keep track of what is the minimum payout on each site, I just collect my payouts at the beginning of each month if they are over $100.
so i make around $35-$40 a month on crestock.

DanP68 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 16, 2008, 11:54 »

20% commission + 25c sub sales speaks for itself. If Crestock believes they must do this to properly fund advertising and growth, so be it. But remember that Bigstock grew while paying 50% commissions and have not yet introduced sub sales.

Lee Torrens · « **Reply #8 on:** August 16, 2008, 12:09 »

Quote from: DanP68 on August 16, 2008, 11:54

20% commission + 25c sub sales speaks for itself. If Crestock believes they must do this to properly fund advertising and growth, so be it. But remember that Bigstock grew while paying 50% commissions and have not yet introduced sub sales.

Good points, and all true. I earned more on Crestock than BigStock last month and it's the same for this month so far. Two months is hardly a firm trend, but I see Crestock 'out and about' a lot more than BigStock. I think Crestock are aiming a lot higher.

ironarrow · « **Reply #9 on:** August 16, 2008, 13:32 »

why support this kind of site in the first place?!

contributors MUST be more carefull with who they decide to make rich!!

Crestock!?

WRONG!!! WRONG DECISION?!!

Everyone must be more carefull... we don't need them, they need US!!!

at least choose a site that pays a decent commission and make them rich..

@ crestock!! have you ever thought why dreamstime became the 3rd big site in a very short time???

Because they pay %50 commission on PPD and up to %70 for exclusives.. + They now pay 0.35 cents per sub DL..

Learn from dreamstime!! if they can run a business paying %50, you can do it too.. Anyway, you could have been much bigger had you paid half of what dreamstime pay..

My fellow contributors, it is time to ask for your rights..

Why make them rich, while you can make yourself rich?

sharpshot · « **Reply #10 on:** August 16, 2008, 15:49 »

Quote from: Lee Torrens on August 16, 2008, 12:09

Quote from: DanP68 on August 16, 2008, 11:54
20% commission + 25c sub sales speaks for itself. If Crestock believes they must do this to properly fund advertising and growth, so be it. But remember that Bigstock grew while paying 50% commissions and have not yet introduced sub sales.

Good points, and all true. I earned more on Crestock than BigStock last month and it's the same for this month so far. Two months is hardly a firm trend, but I see Crestock 'out and about' a lot more than BigStock. I think Crestock are aiming a lot higher.

Some people don't do well with bigstock. There doesn't seem to be an obvious reason why. I have done much better with them than crestock every month. The poll results here show crestock stuck in 7th place. I can see snapvillage overtaking them, if they get it together.

Phil · « **Reply #11 on:** August 17, 2008, 17:46 »

one week on BigStock is more than a month on crestock for me, every time

icefront · « **Reply #12 on:** August 29, 2008, 17:55 »

I believe, Crestock is open for this kind of subjects.

In the past I opened a topic at the Crestock forum about the payout of 20% after a per-photo sale and they raised the comission to 30% after somebody sells 100 photos. Thank you, again, Crestock!

Meantime I agree, the 0.25 cent revenue after a subscription sale is very low. Apparently it can be good to have low prices for the buyers but as I see, at the more expensive micros there are more many buyers as 0.30$ sales grow to a considerable amount.

I suggest to be on the level of the other agencies, regarding the prices.

However, me and my wife, we stopped uploading to Crestock, several months ago. This can sound stupid, because without more uploads we can't have more revenues but there is another thing in our mind: if the agency doesn't support us with decent commissions and with a good number of downloads per month, then we cannot support the agency with fresh images IN FAVOR OF other agencies where we upload regularly and we earn regularly.

Also there is an open question in my mind: do agencies bring new buyers or they share the given amount of buyers between them?

Dreamframer · « **Reply #13 on:** August 30, 2008, 03:52 »

I don't upload there anymore...

grp_photo · « **Reply #14 on:** August 30, 2008, 09:28 »

I never uploaded to them because of the above reasons nevertheless i have to say that their editing is far superior to most other micros. With these kind of editing you could aim customers which are able and willing to pay much much higher prices.
But instead to do a marketing in this direction they play the bottom-feeder.
I agree if nothing changing radically at crestock its best for us to let them failure.

stokfoto · « **Reply #15 on:** August 30, 2008, 09:36 »

I 'll to drop them if I ever reach the pay out;imo it's not worth the hassle unless they change things there.(low sales, low commissions,too picky)

MicrostockGroup Sponsors

Author Topic: How long before Crestock increases subs commissions? (Read 8433 times)

ironarrow

sharpshot

ironarrow

rene

Lee Torrens

ironarrow

leaf

DanP68

Lee Torrens

ironarrow

sharpshot

Phil

icefront

Dreamframer

grp_photo

stokfoto

Related Topics

Sponsors

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors