MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Cutcaster => Topic started by: Marburg on July 09, 2008, 15:01
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Hurray! I just had some sales at CutCaster.
Marburg
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Congrats!
All the best for more.
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Thanks. I hope so too.
Congrats!
All the best for more.
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Congratulations! Hope there will be many more for all of us!
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Awesome work Marburg. Here is to many more. ;D
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congrats marburg, was it one of those old photos you were asking us about, in the other thread?
hey johngriffin, nice to see you here too! hope all's well at cutc!
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Had my first sale today. The buyer asked for a lower price but my commission was $2.40, so I agreed. Will upload more now.
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Had my first sale today. The buyer asked for a lower price but my commission was $2.40, so I agreed. Will upload more now.
2.40 sounds fine. much better than 25 cents. good show! 8)
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Congrats sharpshot. I have to look to see which image sold. Here is to many more!
@tan510jomast Thanks. Just want to learn as much as I can from the community and also make sure I know how we are doing. The good, the bad and the ugly. hahaha. Are you signed up over at CC?
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@tan510jomast Thanks. Just want to learn as much as I can from the community and also make sure I know how we are doing. The good, the bad and the ugly. hahaha. Are you signed up over at CC?
oh my goodness, sorry about that John. this is just a variation of my real name. of course i'm signed up with you, been there since you came here to invite us. you chose my work as spotlight the day i joined .
remember AXIS BLUE?
it's not in my portfolio anymore, but that was me. i'm still there , but with my real monicker . cheers for asking!
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hahahaha. those usernames are good at covering up true identities. great to hear matt. loved the blue axis image.
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I had my first sale at Cutcaster today too!
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I had my first sale at Cutcaster today too!
you ppl are certainly on the roll. congrats!
hope i'll be next, or else i'll start whining and kicking like a spoilt brat ;D
seriously, good for all of you, and john too.
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I like CutCaster. I sent them a small batch of images - just to test them - a few days ago and have had two sales so far! And the commission is excellent. I will most certainly go on uploading there. Well done, CutCaster!
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Thanks peep. I was just as excited as you were ;-) Here is to many more sales as well.
Can I ask you a question? Were they bids you received and accepted or negotiated OR were they people just buying your content ala carte, on demand? Thanks
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They were accepted bids.
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Mine was an accepted bid and I have just had another bid.
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I had 2 bids, negotiated them and 1 was accepted.
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After Labor day should be even better. We are still small which is good and bad but we are growing and going in the right direction. Thanks guys for trusting me and congrats. Here is to many more.
John
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Yes it was.
congrats marburg, was it one of those old photos you were asking us about, in the other thread?
hey johngriffin, nice to see you here too! hope all's well at cutc!
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great work marburg.
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I am intrigued by the fact that buyers can bargain with us sellers - how would you guys compare the sales at cutcaster? Does cutcaster earn you as much as say, Crestock per month? Or is it a long way from that? I've had my eye on it for a while - I'd be willing to cut loose one of my dud sites in order to make time for giving cutcaster a chance.
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Cutcaster is nowhere near crestock at the moment. I doubt many of us are going to see sales there yet but if we upload, John will have more of a chance of persuading buyers to use the site. If we all hold off waiting for sales, they wont come.
The odds on any new site making it at the moment look long but sometimes I put money on a horse at 20/1 and it wins. Lucky Oliver fell at the first fence but I haven't learnt my lesson yet and I am having another punt. Come on cutcaster :)
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I have spoken with John before and he was quick to reply and very helpful. I have only had one sale there, but more pleased with it than crestock's 25 cent sales. If crestock sold wicked awesome like Shutterstock it would be great, but a 25 cent sale every week is hardly anything to smile about. Oh well, it's my fault for keep uploading. ::)
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Thanks for the feedback, I think I'd be willing to give cutcaster a try as soon as I'm caught up on a few other of my newer sites. I still have a looooot of image pushing to do. I wish I had a clone.
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I'm listening and we are growing at Cutcaster with everyones help. If you guys have advice for me please let me know.
@graficallyminded If you have any questions you can shoot me an email on the site. I am more than happy to help out. John
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I'm doing my part, John, small though it is. I've commited to exclusive submissions. Now, I (we) need some good news ... SALES! :o
I know this takes time but patience is not a virtue in sales. Hope WE hit the jackpot soon.
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Got my first sale today ;D No bids though just a image licensed
Hope more will come !
L
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I've had enough sales on CC to request a payment. It was paid very quickly and accompanied by a nice email from John.
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congrats all who are getting their payouts. this should keep John Griffin out of trouble , as he'll be too busy sending you ppl money. ;D
The only time I got close to a sale was around the time I first joined John's co , and was offered $5 for my image entitled "Bird of fire". But I declined as I withdrew the image for some future exhibition here with a photo-co-op in this lovely city of Halifax.
Still ,no regrets (yet), as I still submit images to Cutcaster whenever I can.
I am rooting for John to succeed selling some images for all of us in 2009.
I sure like to buy him a pint of Guinness. So John, what are you waiting for? ;)
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I got my first sale the other day too. 11 bucks
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/cutcaster-watermarked/watermarked_48d1c1804d39eCC_20080402_9_241.JPG)
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I don't honestly grab how it works. Looks cumbersome to me. Do you really have to log in twice per day to check your "deals"? What if you log in just now and then? Designers are impatient and want the image now. Can't sales just be automatic?
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I don't honestly grab how it works. Looks cumbersome to me. Do you really have to log in twice per day to check your "deals"? What if you log in just now and then? Designers are impatient and want the image now. Can't sales just be automatic?
the sales are automatic but they also have the option to bid if they don't want to pay what the artist is asking.
Mine was automatic
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No need to login. I was notified immediately by email when a bid was posted. I suppose it could be a problem if you aren't near your computer or a blackberry?
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I had forgotten it worked like that.. I am not sure what email I used.. or if it is one I check. LOL I need to look because I imagine you get a email if someone bids on it. Cant I just say yes to all of the offers? LOL
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I checked.. no offers yet. ;D
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I suppose it could be a problem if you aren't near your computer or a blackberry?
I live most of the time in a semi-war zone with 60% poverty (<3 $ daily). Walking around with a blackberry is nice for Obama in the White House, but not exactly clever in a place like the Bronx ;D
I just hope on the automatic thing. Can't imagine that a designer with an hourly wage that is a multiple of the bargains he could make (a few dollars) would put time in dealing.
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I had forgotten it worked like that.. I am not sure what email I used.. or if it is one I check. LOL I need to look because I imagine you get a email if someone bids on it. Cant I just say yes to all of the offers? LOL
i suppose that's one way to grab a sale. you should suggest this to John Griffin. like maybe a checkbox, accept reasonable bids, or something like that. usually the bid is for 5 dollars, which isn't bad compared to other sites.
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I suppose it could be a problem if you aren't near your computer or a blackberry?
I just hope on the automatic thing. Can't imagine that a designer with an hourly wage that is a multiple of the bargains he could make (a few dollars) would put time in dealing.
Isn't that the best case? He just pays your asking price and moves on ... just like at most other sites.
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I've been uploading like a banshee - 1800 live so far, but no bids or sales just yet. It's only been a couple of weeks, though. I'm sure we'll all be seeing some action soon enough.
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speak of the devil...just sold my first
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Congrats!
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Hurray! I had a sale at Cutcaster (http://www.cutcaster.com/ref/692026169)!
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/cutcaster-watermarked/watermarked_48cea86b6ba56CC_Church-Top-IMG_5813.JPG) (http://www.cutcaster.com/viewmedia/view/100081155/Photo/ref)
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Congrats oboy, well done ;D
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Congratulations! :)
I have yet to make a sale there but I like the site and will stick with it and these news are encouraging.
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Update: just checked my email used for CC and discovered I had 3 automated sales too this month. Have to add I only started uploading during the New Year recess. I also should add those shots didn't sell anywhere else and that they are totally atypical for me, a food shot, go figure. The percentage of 40% turns off a bit but hopefully they can make up by volume...
John apparently digged into a new customer base. Whatever, keep the sales coming. Better 40% of many than 70% of nothing.
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/cutcaster-thumbnails/thumbnail_495b25e7c44d0CC_N071103_057_u_s.jpg)(http://s3.amazonaws.com/cutcaster-thumbnails/thumbnail_495cbe3980c65CC_DSC08660_u_s.jpg)(http://s3.amazonaws.com/cutcaster-thumbnails/thumbnail_495f4a41ab81aCC_DSC00353_u_s.jpg)
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Congratulations FlemishDreams!!!...It looks like John is getting things rocking and rolling!...personally I've not gotten a sale yet but I'm hopeful, I think the site has potential...way to go ;D
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Business is booming ... images are selling everywhere. Just had two more at Cutcaster and an EL at DT. This is starting to feel like a JOB. ::)
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/cutcaster-watermarked/watermarked_494a9e78deba0CC_19820613s570_e1.jpg)
Plus a portrait of the rider.
Thanks, John, for leaving the door open long enough for my foot to get in. ;D
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Business is booming.
I hope it won't be like Mostphotos, YAY and Zymmetrical. The first months those sites sell well. Then when they hurrayhs go all over the forums and the blogs, the crowd and the volume uploaders get in and the site dies for the first mice, as the number of buyers doesn't catch up at the same pace.
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Business is booming.
I hope it won't be like Mostphotos, YAY and Zymmetrical. The first months those sites sell well. Then when they hurrayhs go all over the forums and the blogs, the crowd and the volume uploaders get in and the site dies for the first mice, as the number of buyers doesn't catch up at the same pace.
Thanks for the encouragement. I too hope the site grows and drags us "mice" along with it. I believe there are several "big cats" on board. Isn't that how the buyers are attracted to new sites?
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Maybe for a couple of contributors there are a few sales but for the majority of us nothing. I've been with them since 06/08 and I have very little traffic. My type of images I guess isn't popular. I give each site a year to generate sales before I close my account. I've got a couple coming up.
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Nothing since I have enrolled...
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Business is booming.
I hope it won't be like Mostphotos, YAY and Zymmetrical. The first months those sites sell well. Then when they hurrayhs go all over the forums and the blogs, the crowd and the volume uploaders get in and the site dies for the first mice, as the number of buyers doesn't catch up at the same pace.
Thanks for the encouragement. I too hope the site grows and drags us "mice" along with it. I believe there are several "big cats" on board. Isn't that how the buyers are attracted to new sites?
well, there are just as many mice who joined John at first call here in the forum, but have stopped submitting due to no sales . so for the crowd to come, this could offset the piece of the cheese that you fear would be reduced.
personally, i only had one offer of $5 but when i declined , so did my offers. should have taken it though, since 2.50 is still a lot more than 25 cents.
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Just had my first sale at Cutcaster after only a few days there. I really hope this site does better for me then either bigstock or snapvillage and so far it's promising..
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Because of this thread I registered at Cutcaster and uploaded two photos. Once those 2 get through, I will start uploading my entire portfolio. I have 2 questions:
1) My first two photos have been Pending for 6 days now. Are reviews that slow? If not, maybe I did something wrong.
2) How do you specify that you will accept enhanced options? This automatically comes up No for me and I see no way to change it.
Thanks
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hey sbonk. i just checked the backend and it looks like your two files were reviewed and accepted probably today. Maybe just double check that they are in your studio but 6 days is way too slow and i am sorry if it took that long. We are always improving and my goal is to be one of the most thorough and fastest reviewers out there. Here is a link to the review process so we can shed some light on what takes place once you submit your files. http://www.cutcaster.com/info/Content-submission-review
In the upload area you can click on the submit tab and that will take you to a page where you can assign the extended licensing option to any of your images. I have it set to no just bc I want people to decide if they want in instead of just assuming they do. Let me know if you have any problems.
On a side note, we have been working our asses off and happy to see sales coming through. I am very happy for everyone and estactic that things feel good and moving in the right direction. I want to say thanks for giving me a chance and i promise not to let you down without a major fight. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
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Hey John, sorry to say guy, but reviews are taking pretty long lately, I understand that you guys are doing the best that you can and probably getting a ton of photos, but please if there is anything that you can do to make the process a little faster I'm sure we will all appreciated...the posted time for reviews that you're providing on the link of 24 to 48 hours is actually very far from the actual time for reviews nowadays.
Best regards, and have a great weekend yourself. ;)
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The review times do seem a bit sporadic. I've had some batches where one file will be approved quickly while others wait days for any action.
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yeah I am definitely working on that and coming up with better ways to set up our backend so the reviews takes less time. I appreciate the feedback and will work on that harder. Thanks
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You are a breath of fresh air John and I'm keeping my fingers crossed you guys make it!!
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Thanks John!!! ;D
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I have yet to have a sale at CC. I'm hoping we get an email or something if someone license an image. I became frustrated when my Clip folders all disappeared for no apparent reason. I'm not spending the couple of hours it took before to but that together again.
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@azurelaroux are the clipfolders still missing? i never saw anything about in our error logs or heard anything. do you want to let me know?
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I've still got zero sales at CC. I had a lot of my illustrations as jpegs on CC but have now uploaded a lot in vector format too.
@ John, how are your vector sales going? do you get many vector buyers at the site?
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Business is booming.
I hope it won't be like Mostphotos, YAY and Zymmetrical. The first months those sites sell well. Then when they hurrayhs go all over the forums and the blogs, the crowd and the volume uploaders get in and the site dies for the first mice, as the number of buyers doesn't catch up at the same pace.
FlemishDream,
To compare us with Mostphotos and Yaymicro is not really fair. We did not announce, like the two others, that we had millions of dollars in funding nor that we were part of another big business. Keith and I have been very hard at work investing all our hard earn dollars and time into update, fixes and marketing. It might be a slower growth than "richer" companies, but it is still a growth. You might see bumps, hills and valleys in your sales report and its normal, at first. Remenber, unlike others, we are in for the long haul and not the fast track marketing craze. we are not a bubble. Maybe because the bulk of our recent sales have migrate to Norther Europe and you images might be less appealing there? Difficult to know.
I hope you agree with the difference and looking forward to making you and all our members millionaires.
Best
Paul M
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Thanks for Hijacking the topic!
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@Krisdog To be really honest I see a lot of traffic hitting our site from Google looking for vectors and released all your files yesterday as vectors are making a lot of sales on our site and will be a big part of our future. I am honored to have your work and love to see the eps files come in.
@Paul "I hope you agree with the difference and looking forward to making you and all our members millionaires." ?????
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Thanks very much John, I'll keep my fingers crossed for lots of sales!
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@ John, Krisdog...
Sorry guys, I was just responding to a comment Flemishdreams had made in this thread about Zymmetrical. But I do wish Cutcaster all the success it deserves.
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FlemishDream,
To compare us with Mostphotos and Yaymicro is not really fair.
For the record Paul, this remark was about CutCaster, not about Zymmetrical. Some nested quotes got mixed up. But while we're at it, Cutcaster can be compared with Zymmetrical on many points, with the difference that Zymmetrical is a year ahead. Both can't be compared with YAY which has subscriptions for 0.5 euro. After the failure of FeaturePics, I hope both sites will thrive (Zym and CC).
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I've still got zero sales at CC...
Same here...
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I've still got zero sales at CC...
Same here...
Have you had vectors on the site for long?
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0 for me as well :-[
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I'm working my butt off so hopefully you will have a sale and many coming up.
Keep an eye out over the next day or two. We are just about to roll out a new credit system where buyers can buy credits in bulk and get a discount when they do (I am eating the discount to get them to use the site more frequently) and also the introduction of corporate accounts for very large buyers. I have been talking to a lot of publishers and advertisers lately who say they really like both these options and they are both in beta testing now. Things are moving along on the site as i am sure you guys see the improvements on a daily basis from your feedback and I continue to say thank you for giving me a chance to prove myself and work for you.
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Thanks John, I like that you are so open with what's going on at the site. None of the "we'll be making an announcement about a very exciting announcement at a time to be announced" rubbish that some of the other sites partake in!
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@azurelaroux are the clipfolders still missing? i never saw anything about in our error logs or heard anything. do you want to let me know?
I posted a link to one of the folders in a request thread on the CC forums. The next day all the folder were gone. The original post was made on Dec 9th. http://www.cutcaster.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=126 (http://www.cutcaster.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=126)"Travel Images for Guidebooks". I've mentioned it before in a thread but I can't remember where.
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Have you had vectors on the site for long?
A few months now.
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@azurelaroux i remember and now see that you did post in the forums and i redponsded. the only thiing i can think of why a clipfolder would be deleted is if it only had one image or less in it. we did a big cleanup of neglected clipfolders and anyone that only had an image or less got thrown out. maybe that was the reason. in any case, you can always email me if you have problems so please let me know in the future. thanks.
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Have you had vectors on the site for long?
A few months now.
That's not good, with a portfolio as good as yours I would have hoped you'd of at least had a couple.
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@azurelaroux i remember and now see that you did post in the forums and i redponsded. the only thiing i can think of why a clipfolder would be deleted is if it only had one image or less in it. we did a big cleanup of neglected clipfolders and anyone that only had an image or less got thrown out. maybe that was the reason. in any case, you can always email me if you have problems so please let me know in the future. thanks.
There were at least 10 images in each folder.
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@azurelaroux just shoot me an email at john at cutcaster.com and I will figure that out.
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I just had my first sale on CutCaster :)
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I just had my first sale on CutCaster :)
Great news, well done. Would you mind sharing the important details?
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Thank you! Not at all. The price was set automatically to be at $6.44. My part was $2.58.
This is the image:
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/cutcaster-thumbnails/thumbnail_4929f124557dfCC_Lighthouse_on_Rocky_Coast.jpg) (http://www.cutcaster.com/viewmedia/view/100144926/Photo/Lighthouse-on-Rocky-Coast)
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Well, I just spent 15 minutes writing the most beautiful ( ;D) reply on this topic. I accidentally hit a button somewhere on the screen and went into never-never-land. And it was really good! Can't remember it all now, so this will be a shortened version.
I joined CC at the very beginning. Was very excited about being on the ground floor. John is absolutely incredible. He's the nicest guy in the world to work with. And he ALWAYS responded almost immediately to any emails with more courtesy, consideration, and professionalism than you'll find with any of the other sites.
My complaint is not with John, though. My problem has been very, VERY low to no views. I have had one $5 sale since the very beginning. I've talked about this with John many times, and he's always trying to find ways to get the images seen more. But it just hasn't worked for me. I finally stopped uploading. No matter how easy the process is, it just doesn't make sense to spend the time uploading to a site where your images never get viewed.
I told John I'd give it a year, and I'm almost there now. I know I won't close my account, but will probably just leave them there "just in case". Maybe from time to time an image of mine will find its way to someone who likes it enough to purchase. And maybe one day those sales will add up to a payout for me.
In the meantime, I am very happy for all of you who ARE having success with CC. John has worked his butt off getting this company going, and I hope that it is very successful for him. Better yet, I'd love to see things turn around so much that others like me will regain some confidence in CC and start uploading again. Good luck, John!
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I had 2 sales last year but nothing this year. I have carried on uploading but I will have to stop until I see some sales. Hopefully John can get sales going but it looks like an extremely difficult task, lots of new sites are struggling to produce any significant sales.
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I also have had no sales at CC BUT! I have only been at it a month with John and have a port of some 600 images, when I first started, John sent me an email welcoming me and asking a bit about myself, I was floored by this as stocks just don't take the time to do that, he has communicated again with me and once again it was chatty and genuine conversation.
John does have a very large hill to climb, his task will be easier if he has an inventory of good quality images, so I for one will continue to upload to him after all the system of upload is not a lot of work especially if you keyword off site.
This is one stock agency I would like to see fly, not just because I have images there but I believe his model is equitable for contributors and buyers alike.
I think some of my older images are now seeing about 3 views which does not make me believe I will get sales any time soon, but who knows you have to be in it to win it.
Well done John
David
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Ooops delete this please
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I have no sale on CC with my cca 400 images, BUT I will continue to upload because stock market system of trade (bid,ask) is future for microstock...
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very few views and no sales. I've got less then three months and I'll have a year with them. I'll close my account and delete my images then.
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I've had several sales at CC. I think I got lucky and found a Niche. All my sales have been motocross racing and mostly vintage. They are editorial.
I did help John. I've referred several of my buyers to him. That has included buyers for book publishers and magazine editors. I sometimes wonder if that was foolish. I could have kept everything. BUT... if John catches on with these buyers, we all profit in the end. John can sell our images for more than we get across the general microstock industry. At least, mine sold for more than microstock.
PS: I have CutCaster sales pending for next week.
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I've had several sales at CC. I think I got lucky and found a Niche. All my sales have been motocross racing and mostly vintage. They are editorial.
I did help John. I've referred several of my buyers to him. That has included buyers for book publishers and magazine editors. I sometimes wonder if that was foolish. I could have kept everything. BUT... if John catches on with these buyers, we all profit in the end. John can sell our images for more than we get across the general microstock industry. At least, mine sold for more than microstock.
PS: I have CutCaster sales pending for next week.
Does pending mean there are bids, if I may ask?
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No bids, Jerry. The subject and editor are meeting on April 7 to select "which" images to use.
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One day, we will put our images on Cutcaster exclusively for some period (few months) ,then after we get good price for premiere we will continue upload same images to other sites...
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No bids, Jerry. The subject and editor are meeting on April 7 to select "which" images to use.
Thanks for the reply, Warren. Wish you the best.
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I canīt find views. where is it ?
Or isnīt zero showing?
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Select "My Studio" then click on the "Downloads" tab. Your views and downloads will be listed under each image.
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Select "My Studio" then click on the "Downloads" tab. Your views and downloads will be listed under each image.
Ah... Thanks!
No views in the middle of portfolio. Seems they attack from the front or the back :D
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I have to say, I am quite impressed. I sent 20 photos few days ago, the same photos I sent to Zymmetrical, all of them approved on both sites. However, in just a matter of days, I got first sale at Cutcaster, this one (http://www.cutcaster.com/viewmedia/view/100230805/Photo/Sad-girl). Very nice! I'm off to upload some more content now.
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John, one question:
This month I finally had one sale (at least according to received email)
I was trying today, and could not find any hint on the site how to get to my earnings. Is there any way that I do not see ?
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I had 3 sales in a row 2 months ago, then nothing. The prices are set much lower than Zymmetrical and the commission they ask is much higher so I'm afraid they will end on the loser's side of the line new sites/no income - new sites/low income. Upload (it's easy), forget, and check every 6 months.
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John, one question:
This month I finally had one sale (at least according to received email)
I was trying today, and could not find any hint on the site how to get to my earnings. Is there any way that I do not see ?
Main page>My Studio>Transactions>( then in drop down menu chose what you want): My transaction,My sale,My payouts
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I really like the site, and John is excellent as an administrator, I also know he's doing the best that he can to increase sales on the site, but so far for me, is sales= 0 and views= very poor...I'll keep uploading for a while (short or long I don't know)...since is hard to take away time from producing sites to keep uploading there. :-\
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No sales. I check a few times per month, but the effort is best spent elsewhere.
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It doesn't look good for the site,with majority of contributors getting 0 sales.
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Thanks for all the comments. I am working on getting more and more sales but we are definitely picking up and people are getting more sales as you can see. Not everyone but I still need your support if we are going to create a future together that isn't selling images for 25c a pop. Thanks for all your support and faith that we won't stop fighting and creating an alternative to what is out there now.
Right now we are looking for a variety of new images. If you check out our blog or our forums you will see that we have a bunch of things that people are looking for which you can use for ideas. If you shoot those you will have more of a chance at selling images bc I know buyers are looking for those at this moment. I talk to a bunch of buyers a day and always try to write down and communicate what they are looking for to you guys. I hope it helps.
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I was trying today, and could not find any hint on the site how to get to my earnings. Is there any way that I do not see ?
Main page>My Studio>Transactions>( then in drop down menu chose what you want): My transaction,My sale,My payouts
Thanks a lot! Do not understand why I couldn't find it :)
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I had a sale on the 5th of March. I was surprised as I had just joined. I still don't have many photos there. The sale was $6.59, which gave me a grand total of $2.64. I do like Cutcaster and wish this was the more predominant model type out there. Microstock sites are good too, but think subscription sales only really benefit those with massive portfolios. I'm left with an unpleasant taste in my mouth, for any revenue received less than 50 cents.
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The subscription sales are killing my interest too. I'm thinking about opting out of them at all the sites I'm using, just take whatever 2-dollar sales I might get, and try to build on the subjects that sell. But I suspect the microstocks punish you somehow for refusing subs, maybe by pushing you lower in the 'new' image rankings
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You won't get punished by us for refusing because we dont offer subs. I always felt that this just killed any pricing power that photogs had so never went w it after all our research. It does make an agency lots of money. Just something I won't do at the expense of others and devaluing work.
The thing about subs is you make 25 to 50c and get what feels like a bunch of downloads which is exciting but doesnt really add up in the long run. At CC you can have a sale for 10 bucks and make 50% which is 5 bucks a download. You need to have 10-20 downloads with subs to get that total. I think sometimes getting an email that you had a download excites people and they lose sight of the fact that they aren't making that much from the subs sales and the agency is making all the money. I wish more photographers would move away from subs and more towards pay per download.
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Hi,
I'm new here. My englisch is not good, I'm from Germany.
The following interests me, I have belonged from Cutcuster. Do you have there regular sales?
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No, not many sales at all. I still hope it picks up but after seeing sites with more sales close, it is hard to be optimistic.
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Keep your chin up sharpshot. We are getting more sales each month and there is NO WAY we are closing anytime soon. I run a tight ship budget wise and am in this for the LONG HAUL. I know getting up to the top 3 is a challenge but Rome wasn't built in a day and no one ever said this was easy.
Keep up your support. I need everyone's help in order to change the system the way it is now.
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Keep your chin up sharpshot. We are getting more sales each month and there is NO WAY we are closing anytime soon. I run a tight ship budget wise and am in this for the LONG HAUL. I know getting up to the top 3 is a challenge but Rome wasn't built in a day and no one ever said this was easy.
Keep up your support. I need everyone's help in order to change the system the way it is now.
Well said. Patience guys. The system is so much nicer for contributors as we have more control over how we price our images, you can go for microstock prices if you want or price it higher if you think the image is worth more. I got my first payout with Cutcaster last year, with 5 sales and I only have 70 odd images with them. So they are attracting buyers, it does take time to establish a business like this and we can help by uploading and keeping our images with them. Even if you don't see any results immediately or in the near future, you never know what the future holds.
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Hi,
I'm new here. My englisch is not good, I'm from Germany.
The following interests me, I have belonged from Cutcuster. Do you have there regular sales?
Small but regular sales including extended licences. Still well worth supporting the site.
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you never know what the future holds.
Where did I hear that before? LuckyOliver, Zymmetrical...
You have to take the market with a good pole position like 3DS or with shock and awe (deep pockets, pay to upload) like DepositF.
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Hi,
I'm new here. My englisch is not good, I'm from Germany.
The following interests me, I have belonged from Cutcuster. Do you have there regular sales?
Small but regular sales including extended licences. Still well worth supporting the site.
How small?What comes out, besides?
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Keep your chin up sharpshot. We are getting more sales each month and there is NO WAY we are closing anytime soon. I run a tight ship budget wise and am in this for the LONG HAUL. I know getting up to the top 3 is a challenge but Rome wasn't built in a day and no one ever said this was easy.
Keep up your support. I need everyone's help in order to change the system the way it is now.
Well said. Patience guys. The system is so much nicer for contributors as we have more control over how we price our images, you can go for microstock prices if you want or price it higher if you think the image is worth more. I got my first payout with Cutcaster last year, with 5 sales and I only have 70 odd images with them. So they are attracting buyers, it does take time to establish a business like this and we can help by uploading and keeping our images with them. Even if you don't see any results immediately or in the near future, you never know what the future holds.
I have lots of patience and don't regret using Lucky Oliver and Zymmetrical. I stick with sites, never seen the point in deleting portfolios, unless the site does something like cut commissions or has security issues. But I am far from the typical microstock contributor. People complain about the big sites, then delete their portfolios from the smaller sites when they don't get many downloads after a few months. Then the buyers just go to the sites with the bigger collections. It is just hard for me to see how Cutcaster can get around that problem. I still hope John can do it and make people wish they had more patience but I think he needs to come up with something to break this trend.
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I've had two payouts at Cutcaster. I have a collection of images there that are exclusive to Cutcaster. You may want to consider doing the same. It seems to justify the higher prices.
PS: I am new to this business and slowly making progress. Why should I expect more from a new site. Make us wealthy, John. ;D
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January will be my BME at Cutcaster 2 EL's and 2 DL
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I don't see the point in deleting images from a site unless there is a specific issue with the site or that image. That said I have no real reason to continue uploading to CC either. I've been here for over a year and have yet to get a sale. I currently have 335 images online and another 14 or so waiting to be edited. Some glitch removed the titles from the last batch of uploaded images so their sitting in the "pending" section.
I won't remove them but what's the motivation to continue uploading when after a year you still haven't sold anything?
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I don't see the point in deleting images from a site unless there is a specific issue with the site or that image. That said I have no real reason to continue uploading to CC either. I've been here for over a year and have yet to get a sale. I currently have 335 images online and another 14 or so waiting to be edited. Some glitch removed the titles from the last batch of uploaded images so their sitting in the "pending" section.
I won't remove them but what's the motivation to continue uploading when after a year you still haven't sold anything?
My feelings exactly. I've had more downloads in 6 days since being accepted at SS than I have in four months at CC . The comparison is not quite fair given the time in the business and high profile of SS - but zero sales in three months is uneconomical to pursue.
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Although the number of downloads at CC isn't spectacular, the few I had so far are worth it - 3 downloads at CC in 6 months made me more than the combined total of Crestock, Veer and Featurepics (a total of roughly 50 images sold in the same time span) Admittedly, my portfolio at CC is larger than at Crestock and Featurepics, and the CC sales were Extended Licenses, but still...
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I don't see the point in deleting images from a site unless there is a specific issue with the site or that image. That said I have no real reason to continue uploading to CC either. I've been here for over a year and have yet to get a sale. I currently have 335 images online and another 14 or so waiting to be edited. Some glitch removed the titles from the last batch of uploaded images so their sitting in the "pending" section.
I won't remove them but what's the motivation to continue uploading when after a year you still haven't sold anything?
My feelings exactly. I've had more downloads in 6 days since being accepted at SS than I have in four months at CC . The comparison is not quite fair given the time in the business and high profile of SS - but zero sales in three months is uneconomical to pursue.
I've also had good sales at SS ... over 200 sales in a month. But, my revenue is only $50. I've had 8 downloads at Cutcaster in over a year. But, I've had two payouts totaling much more that $50.
The comparison really is a case of apples and oranges.
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I've also had no sales at CC, and stopped uploading quite a while ago. But if I ever got just one sale, it would tell me that the CC concept could, possibly, work - and I'd start uploading again.
I don't do business handshakes, or anything that's going to sell big. I do odd things that sell once in a while, probably to people who want that particular subject and would be happy to pay $5. At 25 cents a sale, they're not worth doing, but at $5, they are. So why can't the big microstocks let me set my own price? Because they're now addicted to the opium of subscription sales, where every product has the same price tag.
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I am glad to see more sales. I am constantly working on telling more buyers about the site and signing up deals to get on large buyers vendor lists. It is a hard process but I am making good inroads and happy w the progress. I'm off to make more sales calls and follow up with customers but wanted to say thank you again for the patience and congrats on the sales. I am happy that more are coming in and for the ones who have not sold yet I hope that you won't throw in the towel and will keep supporting us so we don't end up in a world dominated by 25c subscription payouts and 16% commissions.
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Great to see you are still positive and working at it John. I don't have a large portfolio with you and I don't have any sales, I'm keeping my images with you, cos you never know.
When you talk to potential buyers is price ever a serious objection?
I have my images priced using your system, do you adjust this as you get more feedback?
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1 EL after months of nothing. I will keep waiting :-)
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From what I can gather through telephone conversations is that price isn't a factor or are they shopping at Cutcaster, finding what they want, and then shopping somewhere else to buy it cheaper. Has that happened though in the past? Maybe.
Price is rarely a discussion and when it is I think buyers are sort of shocked that people price their images so low bc most are used to seeing $100-1000+ invoices.
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I hope that time is coming when contributors will choose agencies with good prices for their work...
We will be next part of internet photo stock evolution...
Good business John, I am for BID ASK pricing system, always...
Regards!
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I still only have one sale, but I also haven't had many images on Cutcaster until recently. Hopefully the increased uploads will bring in some sales.
In light of recent events with StockXpert closing, the crappy ThinkStock deal, Fotolia's (mis)management, etc., I'm more hopeful than ever that sites like Cutcaster see increased growth. It would be great to see Cutcaster grow to the point where it is a serious threat to some of the bigger agencies.
Kick some ass, John. We're pulling for ya. :)
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I appreciate it and am not stopping. I'm doing everything I can to tell people about Cutcaster and talk to as many photo and vector buyers as possible.
More good things to come. What do people think about the new lightboxes we just released?
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I had a sale on Jan 5th but never got an email or notification. I happened to check my account in February and noticed it. With so few sales (1 a year) it would be nice if we could get an email option.
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I appreciate it and am not stopping. I'm doing everything I can to tell people about Cutcaster and talk to as many photo and vector buyers as possible.
More good things to come. What do people think about the new lightboxes we just released?
The lightboxes are fine and I'm seeing plenty of views. If I could get sales I might kick some exclusives/best work CC's way and drop some agencies. Hope you will enable me to do that because I'm getting ripped off at subscription prices.
Good luck to you.
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I appreciate it and am not stopping. I'm doing everything I can to tell people about Cutcaster and talk to as many photo and vector buyers as possible.
More good things to come. What do people think about the new lightboxes we just released?
The lightboxes are fine and I'm seeing plenty of views. If I could get sales I might kick some exclusives/best work CC's way and drop some agencies. Hope you will enable me to do that because I'm getting ripped off at subscription prices.
Good luck to you.
We seem to be caught in the same "Catch-22" Red Dove. I would be glad to make more images exclusive if I were getting sales. Maybe we need to make images exclusive to get sales???? :-\
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I am glad to see more sales. I am constantly working on telling more buyers about the site and signing up deals to get on large buyers vendor lists. It is a hard process but I am making good inroads and happy w the progress. I'm off to make more sales calls and follow up with customers but wanted to say thank you again for the patience and congrats on the sales. I am happy that more are coming in and for the ones who have not sold yet I hope that you won't throw in the towel and will keep supporting us so we don't end up in a world dominated by 25c subscription payouts and 16% commissions.
It just gets better and better. Sold a package of 7 images yesterday.
Keep it up, Cutcaster. You're looking more and more like our answer to subscriptions.
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12 of my images are exclusive there but so far no sales yet. Just wonder what I'm missing to get in on the sales.
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Uploaded a tone more images recently and got 2 sales yesterday. Things are looking up...
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12 of my images are exclusive there but so far no sales yet. Just wonder what I'm missing to get in on the sales.
I don't know the answer, Anita, but I think linking a lightbox to all the search engines with keywords included has helped bring buyers to my portfolio. There is a blog article on Cutcaster explaining how to create these links.
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12 of my images are exclusive there but so far no sales yet. Just wonder what I'm missing to get in on the sales.
I don't know the answer, Anita, but I think linking a lightbox to all the search engines with keywords included has helped bring buyers to my portfolio. There is a blog article on Cutcaster explaining how to create these links.
I'll look into that tonight to see if it'll help. Thanks
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Ok, I know many people won't want to reveal their CC pricing, but I'm not shy - mine are all $5 and I have yet to make a sale after several months. I do get some views, making me wonder if even $5 is too much. But, these images sell on other sites for typical micro prices.
It also seems like my views have fallen way off in the months since I first submitted. I wish I could reset the view counts to 0 to see if I'm really getting any at all, these days.
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Ok, I know many people won't want to reveal their CC pricing, but I'm not shy - mine are all $5 and I have yet to make a sale after several months. I do get some views, making me wonder if even $5 is too much. But, these images sell on other sites for typical micro prices.
It also seems like my views have fallen way off in the months since I first submitted. I wish I could reset the view counts to 0 to see if I'm really getting any at all, these days.
I don't mind, Stockastic. Mine were all exclusive and editorial only. Prices were from $20 - $25. I just requested my third payout from Cutcaster ... $108. I'm tickled pink.
John suggested that I raise my prices. ;D
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Warren,
wow, I have no sales till now. What is your secret? :-)
Can I see somewhere on the CC which images were sold to give some idea what type of images are requested?
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Yes, Warren is truly the "CutCaster Master". I'm encouraged by his success although my shots are nothing like his, and maybe the right buyers aren't there yet.
Right now I'm trying to motivate myself to upload some more. Hey maybe my prices have been too low :)
Say Warren, what's a "lightbox to all the search engines"? I see the blog posts explaining lightboxes, but what's the "search engines" link you're referring to?
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Warren,
wow, I have no sales till now. What is your secret? :-)
Can I see somewhere on the CC which images were sold to give some idea what type of images are requested?
Mine is a "niche market," IF. They are motocross racing from the 80s. Here is a link to the lightbox:
http://www.cutcaster.com/clipfolders/viewclipfolder/Motocross-Legends/1218 (http://www.cutcaster.com/clipfolders/viewclipfolder/Motocross-Legends/1218)
Notice that many are black and white. The sell too.
Maybe I should move these to the Macro Market? ;D
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duplicate post deleted
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Yes, Warren is truly the "CutCaster Master". I'm encouraged by his success although my shots are nothing like his, and maybe the right buyers aren't there yet.
Right now I'm trying to motivate myself to upload some more. Hey maybe my prices have been too low :)
Say Warren, what's a "lightbox to all the search engines"? I see the blog posts explaining lightboxes, but what's the "search engines" link you're referring to?
Stockastic,
It is a blog article explaining how to click the "share" button and link your collection to any and all available "social networks" and search engines ... google, yahoo, facebook, and many, many more. It is more than a year old. If you can't find it in blog articles, email John and ask for a repost. John swears by it himself.
I do too. More than 2300 views of the Motocross Legends Clipfolder (lightbox)
Also, try a google search on Motocross Legends or just Motocross. Cutcaster is on the earlier pages ... 3 or 4, I guess.
edited by op: Oooops... make that PAGE ONE!!!
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Thanks Warren. For small potatos like myself who will never enter the Promised Land of IStock Exclusitvity, I think maybe the future will be all about bypassing the search engines on the microstocks themselves and getting our images picked up by Google, Bing and the rest. How Facebook might fit into this, I don't yet know.
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Thanks Warren. For small potatos like myself who will never enter the Promise Land of IStock Exclusifity, I think maybe the future will be all about bypassing the search engines on the microstocks themselves and getting our images picked up by Google, Bing and the rest. How Facebook might fit into this, I don't yet know.
I really think it is a combination of approaches. Talk to John. I think his philosophy is to help his contributors help him make sales. It really is a team approach and following his lead, we small potatoes will make some pretty good soup. ::)
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As proof of my endless will to believe in the possibility of a better future, I've resumed uploading to CC and just had a batch approved. The CC "algorithm" assigned various prices to them, for what reasons I know not; is there a way I reset them to the same value, all at once, myself?
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I see you can change them one by one by clicking on the image and Edit Media Details. For bulk change, I think if you ask John to do it, he will. I think I saw another post somewhere where someone asked the same question. IIRC, no guarantees.
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@stockastic and Cclapper:
During the upload process you have three choices. The default is the cutcaster algorithm. Or, you can select a "starting price" or a "minimum price."
After the upload, you must change each individually ... again, selecting either the "starting price" or a "minimum" price.
Selecting the "starting price" allows the price of the image to vary over time, depending on sales or lack thereof.
Selecting the "minimum price" fixes the price to stay at that minimum.
Also, notice that prices may vary according to size of the image downloaded.
PS: I just had another large payout and am working on another. Plus, was just contacted by a Belgian Magazine editor looking for images from 1980. John is working it now.
A lot of success at cutcaster is dependent on your niche; niche and self-promotion.
Good Luck.
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Oh what the heck. I'll just leave them at whatever prices CC set. It's just one big shot in the dark anyway.
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Warrren, is this the CC blog post you were referring to?
http://blog.cutcaster.com/2009/07/07/share-button-leads-to-more-views-and-sales/ (http://blog.cutcaster.com/2009/07/07/share-button-leads-to-more-views-and-sales/)
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Yes... I think that is the one. But, I can tell you that it works best with the search engines (google, yahoo, etc) rather than social networks. Use your keywords generously.
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Keep your chin up sharpshot. We are getting more sales each month and there is NO WAY we are closing anytime soon. I run a tight ship budget wise and am in this for the LONG HAUL. I know getting up to the top 3 is a challenge but Rome wasn't built in a day and no one ever said this was easy.
Keep up your support. I need everyone's help in order to change the system the way it is now.
Well said. Patience guys. The system is so much nicer for contributors as we have more control over how we price our images, you can go for microstock prices if you want or price it higher if you think the image is worth more. I got my first payout with Cutcaster last year, with 5 sales and I only have 70 odd images with them. So they are attracting buyers, it does take time to establish a business like this and we can help by uploading and keeping our images with them. Even if you don't see any results immediately or in the near future, you never know what the future holds.
I have lots of patience and don't regret using Lucky Oliver and Zymmetrical. I stick with sites, never seen the point in deleting portfolios, unless the site does something like cut commissions or has security issues. But I am far from the typical microstock contributor. People complain about the big sites, then delete their portfolios from the smaller sites when they don't get many downloads after a few months. Then the buyers just go to the sites with the bigger collections. It is just hard for me to see how Cutcaster can get around that problem. I still hope John can do it and make people wish they had more patience but I think he needs to come up with something to break this trend.
For what its worth ... and I hope its worth something :) ... I signed up to Cutcaster through your referral link. I greatly appreciate your insights here on MSG as a champion for non-exclusives.
-Mark
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I got my first 2 sales yesterday! ;D
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1 year - 100 images - 0 sales. New images not even getting any views. But, it's spring, and hope refuses to die.
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1 year - 100 images - 0 sales. New images not even getting any views. But, it's spring, and hope refuses to die.
Bleh, that's not good news.
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1 year - 100 images - 0 sales. New images not even getting any views. But, it's spring, and hope refuses to die.
Bleh, that's not good news.
Ha!
One and half year!
750 images, only one sale...
I ll be patient till 1000, after that....
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Are you making any of your cutcaster images exclusive?
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To be fair, I have to say my images aren't red hot stock. They're all object things, but they're nice, and they all sell now and then on SS, DT and IS. A few of them are doing fairly well, by my modest standards. But CC probably just doesn't have enough a wide enough spectrum of buyers, my images there aren't even getting touched.
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Are you making any of your cutcaster images exclusive?
No, I haven't exclusive files there?
Is it point in that???
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Are you making any of your cutcaster images exclusive?
No, I haven't exclusive files there?
Is it point in that???
I think there is. Prices at Cutcaster seem to be higher, at least mine are. Only my exclusive images have sales.
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Are you making any of your cutcaster images exclusive?
No, I haven't exclusive files there?
Is it point in that???
I think there is. Prices at Cutcaster seem to be higher, at least mine are. Only my exclusive images have sales.
Finally some stats to back up what I said here months ago, and most members laughed at the idea! Web sites like cutcaster will HAVE to get exclusive images in order to survive.. you simply cannot stick a price of 70 euro on an image (as I saw heavyweight stock uploaders do on Zymmetrical) and sell the EXACT same image on istock for 5 euro same size.. it just makes a laughing 'stock' of the mid-stock model, pardon the pun ;) :)
I'm a heavy buyer of stock images, to the point that I browse the sites so much looking for similar type of images I can spot a duplicate a mile off, and I'm not the only buyer this astute, even if the price different is 2 euro, it's still the exact same product, at a more expensive price, would you pay extra?
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I could believe that people are finding images on CC and then immediately searching for them cheaper elsewhere. Of course since I'm not even getting any views, I guess that's not my problem. :)
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I could believe that people are finding images on CC and then immediately searching for them cheaper elsewhere. Of course since I'm not even getting any views, I guess that's not my problem. :)
I search everyday for images on istock as part of my work.. I then go visit another web site, and see the same images.. doesn't take much brain power really ;)
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I could believe that people are finding images on CC and then immediately searching for them cheaper elsewhere. Of course since I'm not even getting any views, I guess that's not my problem. :)
I search everyday for images on istock as part of my work.. I then go visit another web site, and see the same images.. doesn't take much brain power really ;)
And actually, I am trying to get my company to change from istock to another site that gives better return to the photographer, but at the same price or cheaper than us.. but there's no enough consistency with pricing yet to implement it.. for example on cutcaster, if we move our account to there because there are three photographers producing lots of new images we like, who's to say on their next batch of images they won't increase the price.. it's a tough model to sell..
But besides that my main gripe is people charging more when they set the price themselves, than their lower price elsewhere, it will put all midstock sites offering a higher return to them, out of business..
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I've set most of my images on CC to $5 for the largest size.
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And actually, I am trying to get my company to change from istock to another site that gives better return to the photographer, but at the same price or cheaper than us.. but there's no enough consistency with pricing yet to implement it.. for example on cutcaster, if we move our account to there because there are three photographers producing lots of new images we like, who's to say on their next batch of images they won't increase the price.. it's a tough model to sell..
isn't there a site that does price comparison across the board for a particular image? wouldn't that be more helpful to you?
so, as a buyer, are you placing all the images you like into your own private lightboxes and then search for them cheaper elsewhere? this seem to be happening to me at is. my lightboxes that covert to sales are about 2.5:1.
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The exclusivity issue was subject of an intense discussion back in the early days of the cutcaster forum. It is sort of a damned if you do; damned if you don't kind of issue. Making images exclusive means you have to trust cutcaster to find a buyer. That could mean a long wait with no sales. My idea was to make them exclusive for a year; give cutcaster a chance. If no sales, spread them around. Spreading around, of course, would mean cutting the prices. I got lucky. :P
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Some sites I have tried have had success selling the same microstock images at higher prices. Perhaps some buyers will spend time looking for cheaper prices but there are also buyers that are used to paying a lot more and find midstock cheap. When FP lowered their prices, it didn't make any difference, sales are still low there, I made much more with zymmetrical selling at higher prices. I don't think prices are the problem with cutcaster, the buyers can put in a lower bid if they want to. There just aren't enough buyers there at the moment and that is probably because they started much later than the other sites, they haven't had a big enough collection of images to attract new buyers and they have spent much less than the big sites on marketing. I still hope cutcaster can attract more buyers but it is going to be a difficult task.
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And actually, I am trying to get my company to change from istock to another site that gives better return to the photographer, but at the same price or cheaper than us.. but there's no enough consistency with pricing yet to implement it.. for example on cutcaster, if we move our account to there because there are three photographers producing lots of new images we like, who's to say on their next batch of images they won't increase the price.. it's a tough model to sell..
isn't there a site that does price comparison across the board for a particular image? wouldn't that be more helpful to you?
so, as a buyer, are you placing all the images you like into your own private lightboxes and then search for them cheaper elsewhere? this seem to be happening to me at is. my lightboxes that covert to sales are about 2.5:1.
No not at all, as I said above somewhere, I buy on istock every day practically, and I'm always searching for images on that web site.. I then go to visit a new web site, and I can pick out the istock images IMMEDIATELY (they usually form about 90% of images on a new site on the market imo), so obviously if I have already seen them on istock, or I know that photographer is on istock, I can then look at the price on the new site and compare.. basically any new site that enters the market, needs to compete with istock, and if it's the same image they're selling, at an inflated price, they can't break into that market..
It's not just cutcaster, I saw it on Zym (rip), and on em.. whats that one Crestock.. Crestock I really thought was a joke, because you have an entire database of instantly recognisable istock photos being sold at inflated prices.. I don't know how they are still around, but I guess they did create a more clean database of a higher standard so maybe some buyers will pay extra in order to find the image they want faster..
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The exclusivity issue was subject of an intense discussion back in the early days of the cutcaster forum. It is sort of a damned if you do; damned if you don't kind of issue. Making images exclusive means you have to trust cutcaster to find a buyer. That could mean a long wait with no sales. My idea was to make them exclusive for a year; give cutcaster a chance. If no sales, spread them around. Spreading around, of course, would mean cutting the prices. I got lucky. :P
It's true it's tricky.. it's a problem for each photographer really, the fact that you are uploading to a new site means you are NOT exclusive with istock, so you enjoy that bit of independance.. maybe have a set of exclusive images separate from the rest of your work, and move it around choosing whichever site gives the best % back to you! If everyone did it, the photographers could actually ensure the success of a new web site.. but you'd have to do it in conjunction with pricing for your other non-exclusive images, so only price at the lowest price you sell elsewhere if the image is being sold somewhere else..
Oh and giving exclusive images in order to price them a bit higher/lure customers to the better web site for return to you, they need to be properly exclusive, not one outtake from a series you have on istock with the same model/set/lighting.. I will still recognise that as an istock image, as will others, I think an exclusive image should be a series of pics that go together, keep them all together and exclusive rather than splitting them up, cos again, buyers are more clever than you think ;)
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Some sites I have tried have had success selling the same microstock images at higher prices. Perhaps some buyers will spend time looking for cheaper prices but there are also buyers that are used to paying a lot more and find midstock cheap. When FP lowered their prices, it didn't make any difference, sales are still low there, I made much more with zymmetrical selling at higher prices. I don't think prices are the problem with cutcaster, the buyers can put in a lower bid if they want to. There just aren't enough buyers there at the moment and that is probably because they started much later than the other sites, they haven't had a big enough collection of images to attract new buyers and they have spent much less than the big sites on marketing. I still hope cutcaster can attract more buyers but it is going to be a difficult task.
Well I'm a buyer, and the reason I haven't moved to cutcaster for example, is because I see a lot of istock images there, and my company already uses istock, the only way I could get my company to use a new site, is if they have images we want, that we can't get/are hard to get on istock..
Then on top of that price the istock image at a higher price on the new site and you have put the nail in the coffin really as regards buyers who already know the market.. I'm sure you'll get some new buyers, but then the opposite might happen to them, where they see the same images they are buying from cutcaster on istock, and realise they save money with istock.. so you'll have to deal with that no matter what or where the buyer came from..
(Also you mention Zymettrical as making you more money, but Zym could never survive long-term selling istock images at inflated prices, Yuri had just joined before Zym closed down, and you saw a flood of istock images, at a more expensive price, not blaming anyone, but it is a problem.. however on cutcaster I think he has actually stuck to the istock pricing pretty much, still I won't move unless he's half the price he is on istock - but then, that might still give a larger return to him so you should include this kind of thinking in your strategy.. ie. if the web site gives me 50% return, then I can afford to price my image cheaper than istock, but still make more $ in my pocket per download, now THAT would get me/my company to move - istock images at a cheaper price, and exclusive images of the type we are looking for, with the pool being added to frequently)
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There it is. Very interesting to hear from a buyer and thank you hqimages for taking the time. Much appreciated from me.
No sales for me in six months and views have also dropped. I have a few "exclusives" on there, mostly stuff I wouldn't have bothered to submit to IS or SS, to be quite frank. Only reason CC took them is to build their portfolio I suppose. For me, CC is too much of at risk at the present time to divert any exclusive images....I'm not a factory anyway, usually upload 5+ images a week to the top 3.
I've stopped uploading to CC since end of February - have to go where my port works for me.
Cheers and good luck.
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Some sites I have tried have had success selling the same microstock images at higher prices. Perhaps some buyers will spend time looking for cheaper prices but there are also buyers that are used to paying a lot more and find midstock cheap. When FP lowered their prices, it didn't make any difference, sales are still low there, I made much more with zymmetrical selling at higher prices. I don't think prices are the problem with cutcaster, the buyers can put in a lower bid if they want to. There just aren't enough buyers there at the moment and that is probably because they started much later than the other sites, they haven't had a big enough collection of images to attract new buyers and they have spent much less than the big sites on marketing. I still hope cutcaster can attract more buyers but it is going to be a difficult task.
There is a problem with that "lower bid" option, Sharpshot. It may require educating the buyers. I had a return buyer complain about my price increase on March 1. I suggested that he place a bid and he did not know how ... He is French. Finally, John had to intercede by actually lowering the price in the data base.
Also, as for views, I posted a while back about the option to link your images or lightboxes to external search engines ... Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc. My bigsellers are in a lightbox that has received more than 2500 views. I'm positive that most of those are referrals from Google Searches. Try a search on "motocross legends" and you will see what I mean.
My successful agency in microstock (or any stock) has been with Cutcaster. But, it is very niche oriented.
And, John Griffin is a pleasure to work with.
HQimages ... my images at cutcaster are very unique. They are scans of 30-year old black and white pictures. Nobody else wanted them. ;D
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I'm a very small player and my opinon hardly matters, but here it is.
1. I'd like to never get another email from Fotolia saying "Congratulations!! You just sold an XXL image for 35 cents!!".
2. I'd be happy to have all my images exclusive at a place like CC even if they initially made considerably less than what I'm getting at FT, SS, and IS, because this is just a part-time thing for me, and dealing with all those sites is a time consuming pain, and the reviews (especially at IS) are getting progressively weirder as they try to hold back the flood.
3. I'd like to make just one sale at CC so I know you guys aren't pulling my leg.
4. Even if I decided to go exclusive, there's that obnoxious 6-month shutdown waiting period at DT holding me back.
5. CC has to give me a way to reset the prices on all my images at one time, whenever I want.
6. We'd all have to price our images realistically at CC.
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The DT lock in only matters if you want to go exclusive with istock, as they don't let you sell any RF images anywhere else. That is too restrictive for me but several other sites let you upload images exclusively while letting you upload different images to other sites. That is the way cutcaster do it but I still haven't uploaded anything exclusively there yet. If the summer is good here and I can get out and take loads of photos, I will give it a go but at the moment I am not producing enough images to justify experimenting with cutcaster.
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Sales at CutCaster! What sales? With about 500 images and many moons of uploads = ZERO Sales.
I guess I should stop shooting Golf and start shooting Motorcross Races.
Disappointed,
-Larry
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What I think Warren is telling us is that he had a set of somewhat unique images, and was able to make a CC lightbox directly available to Google searches. So someone was Googling on motocross, and up popped his images, and there was CC all set up to sell them
For a topic like 'motocross' someone is likely to use Google. For 'isolated apple' or 'confident doctor' they're probably more likely to go to a big microstock site because Google would flood them with junk.
Warren could also be selling these images directly, from his own web site, if Google could find it, and Warren could set up the site to process transactions and supply the resized files - not a trivial job. And, maybe, a lightbox in CC floats up higher in Google's results than Warren's unknown site?
I still don't quite understand how to expose a CC lightbox to Google's crawler.
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Exclusive or unique are the keywords here. With Thinkstock now cold calling IStock clients (see other thread) to push subscription sales I can't see how the CC model can work at their price points unless they have exclusivity..or some value add to clients I don't know about.
There's a race to the bottom and there will be blood on the carpet this year. We all have to duck and dive to make sure it's not ours.
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What I think Warren is telling us is that he had a set of somewhat unique images, and was able to make a CC lightbox directly available to Google searches. So someone was Googling on motocross, and up popped his images, and there was CC all set up to sell them
For a topic like 'motocross' someone is likely to use Google. For 'isolated apple' or 'confident doctor' they're probably more likely to go to a big microstock site because Google would flood them with junk.
Warren could also be selling these images directly, from his own web site, if Google could find it, and Warren could set up the site to process transactions and supply the resized files - not a trivial job. And, maybe, a lightbox in CC floats up higher in Google's results than Warren's unknown site?
I still don't quite understand how to expose a CC lightbox to Google's crawler.
Playing both ends against the middle, Stockastic. The website ranks pretty high in the motocross world, but only if I keep the blog current. Rather than handle the business end of selling, I refer website queries to John at Cutcaster. Do a Google search on names like Brad Lackey, Andre Malherbe, David Bailey, Danny LaPorte, Herbert Schmitz, Velky, Jobe, vintage motocross, etc. It all leads to SALES. ;D
I also stay on good terms with all my contacts from the olden days in motocross publications. I'll get a few assignments in April and June ... If I ain't too old to work my way around a track. Thirty years from now, my grandson will be selling this stuff. :P
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3. I'd like to make just one sale at CC so I know you guys aren't pulling my leg.
Me, too.
I think that John is working hard to get things going, though. I just did a search of my name and found my images on ImageTrail. John explained to me that it is NOT a partner program. If someone wants to buy an image from ImageTrail, they get linked directly to the Cutcaster site (for now...but it looks like they are working on having the prices right on the ImageTrail site). That is very clear on the ImageTrail site and my copyrights are intact. I am hoping this extra exposure will give me at least ONE sale soon. :)
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My photos at CC are totally dead in the water - not getting any views. But, I guess there's no reason not to leave them there, as long as no funny games are being played with "partner" sites or giveaways, like FT.
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I had another EL last week. Don't get many sales but there is a high proportion of EL's that keeps me interested.
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Just so you guys know, we don't have partner sites that rep our work like other sites do and report back sales to us.
We want to know when we make sales for our contributors and don't want to rely on thrid parties to report back to us.
We work with companies like ImageTrail, for example, so they index our content and send us interested traffic back to the Cutcaster site so we keep track of the transactions internally and can be completely transparent about sales. We pay the referral fee from any sales that are generated out of the percentage that Cutcaster takes so it doesn't eat into your payout. Your work gets more exposure but it doesn't get murky with regards to who holds the copyright and whether your content has sold. You agreed to sell through Cutcaster and that is what we offer. Sales through Cutcaster. We get traffic from other sources and ImageTrail and Peter are a great source plus Peter is a really nice guy. We only work with companies like ImageTrail if they are open to a referral type deal and don't do transactions on their own site so we don't have to worry about reporting or lack thereof in some off cases.
We want everything to be upfront, transparent, fair and real-time. This is so contributors can see how much they are selling and how much they earn AND don't have to rely on the integrity of murky reporting and partnerships. I can't stand that some companies don't show contributors who is selling their images if they are not a part of the mother company you uploaded to in the first place. Who knows what is going on with the images and sales and you have to trust someone you don't know.
And thanks for your support. I am working my butt off and it is starting to payoff. There are more ELs and more daily downloads by the week. We want to work with you and present another alternative for your photos and illustrations to earn you money.
What we need now is a few more exclusive photos.
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I am lucky to have first sales in my cutcaster after uploading like 30 images. But due to new to cutcaster i am not familiar with their system. I got an bid offer from buyer to ask $4 for a vector that listed as $14.45 by cutcast algorithm. I accepted the bid and the sales are done. I realise that i only got paid $1.60 out of $4 sales. anyway, it is a sale. thanks cutcaster too.
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got a sale in August 2009, since that nothing, around 1000 photos!
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John,
I uploaded about 36 images a couple days ago. Described and submitted and now they are nowhere to be found.
What happened to them?
Thanks
Steve
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I will email you Steve to see what happened.
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I will email you Steve to see what happened.
Thanks
and btw 2 sales today
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I'm hoping for 20 sales not just 2 but its a start for a day. Once this new search platform is released the whole site and search will be vastly improved. Should be released shortly.
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Yay Me! Got my first sale today! I knew that if I hung around long enough, even with a portfolio as small as mine, I would get a sale.
Thanks CC!
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I really like John's attitude and how Cutcaster treats contributors. Though I dropped my portfolio there, it will be my first "return" if it moves couple positions up in the poll
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I really like John's attitude and how Cutcaster treats contributors. Though I dropped my portfolio there, it will be my first "return" if it moves couple positions up in the poll
I loved John's attitude but I just didn't see one sale in months. I, too, pulled my port but I wish the best for the site. John seems like a good guy.
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I am not going to pull my port: once the hard work is done (both for photographers and reviewers), I can't see no reason to delete pictures unless I have doubts about the legitimity of a site - but luckily it's not the case with CC.
But months without sales made me disillusioned about this site and I'm not uploading anymore.
The day I will start to see the results of the hard work John says is doing (and I believe him), I will start again.
Sorry but I'm doing microstock part-time and it's already taking many hours a day and overnight FTP uploads are using all my bandwidth, so I must concentrate on sure avenues.
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1 sale overall...
I will upload to 1000 photos online, then I will stop...
1000 is enough to see eventual positive trend in the future...
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I will upload to 1000 photos online, then I will stop...
1000 is enough to see eventual positive trend in the future...
i stopped at 32...
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1 sale in January per 1300 images. Stopped uploading and hardly even checking sales there.
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Pull my photos out of there (about 400) at the beginning of the year...
1 SALE IN ALMOST A YEAR!!!... :o
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I've had a really good run at Cutcaster, but only with exclusive images and all were editorial only. I really should be offering more support for John. I haven't uploaded in quite awhile but certainly won't be pulling the portfolio.
If it makes any difference to anyone ... I think we have noted from the very beginning that John's is a unique site and the most logical approach to "pricing your own" is offering them exclusively.
Or, price them in the same range as Big Four Credit Sales.
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I've had a really good run at Cutcaster, but only with exclusive images and all were editorial only. I really should be offering more support for John. I haven't uploaded in quite awhile but certainly won't be pulling the portfolio.
If it makes any difference to anyone ... I think we have noted from the very beginning that John's is a unique site and the most logical approach to "pricing your own" is offering them exclusively.
Or, price them in the same range as Big Four Credit Sales.
How about automatic price setting algorithm? I got impression it should set most optimal price.
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^^^ That was the intention, I suppose. Does it seem to work for you?
I prefer the "no less than" choice.
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Ok, it's not happening yet. But I see no reason not to leave my images there, and will probably resume uploading.
I recently closed my account at Fotolia because I basically didn't trust them - their goofy non-responses to questions, and growing ring of shadowy "partner" sites gave me a bad feeling.
None of that is going on at CutCaster. The more images John has, the more he'll be able to attract new customers. Pricing, search functionality, etc. can all be changed, new approaches can be tried, as long as he has enough content to work with.
I can start to foresee microstock changing for the better (from my point of view). I think some of the really big producers will start putting up their own sites and selling direct - pulling their portfolios from the microstocks. If that starts happening, today's 'big' microstocks won't have such an overwhelming advantages over sites like CutCaster. Arcurs is great at what he does, but he doesn't do what I do. My small group of oddball object shots makes a decent number of sales, but not enough to be worthwhile at 25 cents per download. What might work better for me is to get away from sites where pricing is structured for high-volume images and has no flexibility.
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Is there a way to change the pricing in bulk for images you already have on sale?
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Is there a way to change the pricing in bulk for images you already have on sale?
You need to contact John...
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Is there a way to change the pricing in bulk for images you already have on sale?
Apparently not, and we really need a way to do that.
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Updated your prices so they reflect what you want.
Thanks for your support. We need your images guys so we can compete and hopefully make changes for the betterment of everyone who is not happy with 25c downloads from subscription sites. I know I need more buyers and that is GOAL NUMBER ONE but I need more new content so I have unique stuff to show the buyers that we have and also satisfy what our buyers are asking for in the ProjectRequest section where they request unique content they can not find.
Thanks for your support and know that we are working our butts off to make improvements and also get more buyers. If you have ideas for how we can get more buyers or can help us get more buyers I would love to hear your thoughts. You can email me or post here if you have something helpful.
John
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i submitted to cut early on, and after LO it was about the most frie3ndly site around with good suppoty, but after a year w just 1 sale it's realy KIA if not DOA. i stopped upl'ing long ago. too bad, but i dont have the time
steve
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I just had one extended license sale on Cutcaster! I have to say I was surprised as i didn't have any sales in a long time. I guess I am finally getting my first payout, too. I really hope things change for the better there. I appreciate the great support John has provided.
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I just had one extended license sale on Cutcaster! I have to say I was surprised as i didn't have any sales in a long time. I guess I am finally getting my first payout, too. I really hope things change for the better there. I appreciate the great support John has provided.
Hurray for your EL!
I am a little perturbed at my latest experience with Cutcaster. I asked that my photos be removed back in May and John handled that promptly. He removed my photos and closed my account. Last week I came across some of my pictures on ImageTrail. I have opted out of all partner programs (months ago) so I couldn't figure out why there were there. When I followed my image link, they trailed back to four pages of my images that were up on Cutcaster! My account was back open and there were images there! Images and my account that I verified had previously been deleted. No sales.
Yeah, I know, everybody makes mistakes blah, blah blah. I'm sorry, I feel the same way about this as I felt about the Thinkstock debacle, which was when I had been opted out of partner programs on IS for months and yet my images showed up on Thinkstock. I think you might as well consider me invisible and run your SUV right over me fifty times, because I think it shows a supreme lack of respect for other peoples property. Of ALL the things that should be done professionally and correct, it's the handling of contributors property.
But none of this really matters because nothing is going to change at any of the sites. In fact, I think it's getting worse.
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CClapper,
I understand your frustration but I have to say we handled your issue immediately (within 2 mins of getting your email), your images were deleted immediately once you asked me and wished you well. I just re-read our emails to make sure.
Secondly, Imagetrail indexes Cutcaster content and tries to make money on affiliate fees and is their own company. ImageTrail has no subdistribution deal with us, nor does any other 3rd party company for that matter. I like to control our contributors assets and only want sales transactions made through Cutcaster for reporting reasons. They are not a part of Cutcaster like Thinkstock and iStock are to Getty and I don't really know how their technology or crawling works. I don't have a ton of control over what Image Trails' web crawlers index and how the company updates their database to purge older records.
All I can say is I am sorry you feel so jaded about the industry and I have learned from this experience that even if you try to do the right thing, technology and web crawlers can come back and bite you sometimes.