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Author Topic: DepositPhotos and Shotshop- standard purchases gives only subscription amounts?  (Read 132385 times)

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« Reply #175 on: February 18, 2014, 02:54 »
+6
First, THNX to our CSI dpt. for reporting this Depositphotos "fraud situation".

Second, I have been in communication with DP since first day of publishing this.
I asked them to remove all my files from ALL partner programs and API re-seller sites...
Three times.

Last reply was on Monday:
Your portfolio will be removed from our partner programs and API re-seller sites as soon as possible.

And yes, all files are today still active on all partner programs and API re-seller sites.

Maybe is this also reason, why is acceptance on DP almost 100 % ?


fotorob

  • Professional stock content producer
« Reply #176 on: February 18, 2014, 03:53 »
+1
I cant find my files anymore on shotshop.


Thats interesting! So they removed them without you asking them to?
That would mean they probably received so many emails / bad feedback that they cancelled the Shotshop API for everybody!??


Unfortunately that seems not to be the case. I just did a quick search and still found many files with only digits as file numbers (in contrast to the original Shotshop files with numbers and letters as file names): http://www.shotshop.com/search/26901455

So the API is generally still intact.

« Reply #177 on: February 18, 2014, 04:07 »
+1
I cant find my files Robert. i tried numbers and direct search, they dont show up. But the ones that are still active are still available at ibudgetphoto.com

However the files that are deactivated are gone immediately.

I havent received a reply to my email yet, I might have sent it to the wrong department or they might just be overwhelmed.

This is certainly quite a dramatic disaster. I am still sad, they made a good impression on me before...but I really had no idea what was going on. I thought they really wanted to become a major player and move up in the industry. Having well keyworded content alone would have set them apart from the normal micros.

Your instinct was correct, unfortunately.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2014, 04:10 by cobalt »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #178 on: February 18, 2014, 04:19 »
+2
I wonder if DP has to make financial amends to their partners/resellers and also future lost revenue?
1. reimburse shotshop for the purchase price of the images
2. look at the sales history of the images and pay a penalty to shotshop for lost future revenue for those images that were producing revenue for shotshop.
I can't imagine it's as simple as telling them to take down these images you purchased from us legitimately.
Good point!
Hell mend 'em.

« Reply #179 on: February 18, 2014, 05:35 »
+10
Didn't want to wait until march and requested the closing of my account. So DP is almost history for me.

« Reply #180 on: February 18, 2014, 08:25 »
+3
I wonder if DP has to make financial amends to their partners/resellers and also future lost revenue?
1. reimburse shotshop for the purchase price of the images
2. look at the sales history of the images and pay a penalty to shotshop for lost future revenue for those images that were producing revenue for shotshop.
I can't imagine it's as simple as telling them to take down these images you purchased from us legitimately.
Good point!
Hell mend 'em.

My gut tells me this will create a financial hit to DP, but who knows.  Like someone else said I directed them to this thread, so someone is probably lurking.  And like Cobalt, I was giving DP the benefit of the doubt, but now it's clear that they will try anything to screw contributors as long as they get to laugh all the way to the bank while we eat beans and franks as our gourmet meals.

« Reply #181 on: February 18, 2014, 08:54 »
+1
I asked them to remove all my files from ALL partner programs and API re-seller sites...
Three times.

Last reply was on Monday:
Your portfolio will be removed from our partner programs and API re-seller sites as soon as possible.

And yes, all files are today still active on all partner programs and API re-seller sites.

I'm sure I've said it before:

"It will take some time to remove your portfolio from API re-seller/partner sites."

"What this "some time" means? Weeks, months, year, how much time? Please, qualify your informations".

"I cannot tell you the exact time, it make take up to one month. Your portfolio will be removed from our partner programs and API re-seller sites as soon as possible."
« Last Edit: February 18, 2014, 08:56 by Ariene »

stocked

« Reply #182 on: February 18, 2014, 12:04 »
+4
Didn't want to wait until march and requested the closing of my account. So DP is almost history for me.
well I requested this a couple of days ago too but my portfolio is still online probably I have to go through every single file and deactivate them myself. I will be very careful to whom I upload anything in the future.

« Reply #183 on: February 19, 2014, 02:41 »
+12
So I deactivated all my photos just 15min ago on DP, because all my images were still on shotshop.

Now I can still see my thumbnails there but when I click the thumbnails on shotshop, no details popup, no image, only price 99$.

That means that the database on shotshop is directly linked to DP via that api, and is caching  only small previews on shotshop.

So if DP is saying it will take some time, they are just lying or they are lazy. The only thing they need to do, deactivate API for the author.

So time to quit i guess :)

update : the same happened on ibudgetphoto
« Last Edit: February 19, 2014, 02:48 by Toopy »

« Reply #184 on: February 19, 2014, 05:00 »
+2
I got a reply that my files will be removed shortly. They do sound quite defiant and mentioned that their api programs are there to boost my sales.

Sounds like they have a hard time owning up their mistakes.

But to allow the sub licensing of files and then paying the artist just a sub royalty of 30 cents even though it was a 30 euro credit sale is just transferring royalties away from the artist to the agencies.

If all agencies did this - just sublicense the content to each other, they would cut out the artist completely.

I will now go and see if I am still opted into API sales on other agencies and have my files removed from these "deals"

« Reply #185 on: February 19, 2014, 05:36 »
+2
I wonder if DP has to make financial amends to their partners/resellers and also future lost revenue?
1. reimburse shotshop for the purchase price of the images
2. look at the sales history of the images and pay a penalty to shotshop for lost future revenue for those images that were producing revenue for shotshop.
I can't imagine it's as simple as telling them to take down these images you purchased from us legitimately.
Good point!
Hell mend 'em.

My gut tells me this will create a financial hit to DP, but who knows.  Like someone else said I directed them to this thread, so someone is probably lurking.  And like Cobalt, I was giving DP the benefit of the doubt, but now it's clear that they will try anything to screw contributors as long as they get to laugh all the way to the bank while we eat beans and franks as our gourmet meals.

Why would you assume that? It's an API deal, ShotShop did not BUY any of our images. If they had BOUGHT all of my images, even at a subscription price, I would have made some decent money. But with an API deal, they just get access to all images Deposit offers and whenever one of their customers buys a license, they make a subscription download for only that single file. This is no different from any subscription buyer: You don't get a guarantee that any of the images available today will still be there tomorrow.

And the depressing part is that most likely a huge number of contributors will never hear about it or won't care at all, so out of the 20+ million images available on Deposit, ShotShop might "lose" a few hundred thousand of images now with those people reporting here in the thread.

« Reply #186 on: February 19, 2014, 05:55 »
0
Here is the reply I got:

Hello,

Our API re-sellers re-sell images not only by subscriptions but by credits as well. Your royalty rate is fixed and depends whether our API re-sellers purchased your files by credits or by subscriptions directly on depositphotos.com. Once your file is sold by credits, you will get your commissions that you usually receive  when your files are sold by credits, depending  on your contributor's level. So the point is that our partners re-sell your portfolio by credits as well throughout the world. Regardless the way your files are sold on our partner sites, Depositphotos remains your main source of revenue.
Your portfolio will be removed from our partner programs and API re-seller sites as soon as possible.
Should you have any further questions or require any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

« Reply #187 on: February 19, 2014, 06:09 »
+6
It is a speculation, but quite disturbing anyway.

Imagine that DP will create their "sister's" company, you will never know that they are connected. And now imagine that company will be doing all the marketing and promotions and selling for whatever amount, but then they will pull the images from DP for subsc. prize.

If they will do serious business, they will put all these options to you profile page for you to choose from. How hard it is to flag an account in database for different PP?

This business practice is just wrong, so I sent a closing request :/

fotorob

  • Professional stock content producer
« Reply #188 on: February 19, 2014, 06:13 »
+7
Here is the reply I got:

Hello,

Our API re-sellers re-sell images not only by subscriptions but by credits as well. Your royalty rate is fixed and depends whether our API re-sellers purchased your files by credits or by subscriptions directly on depositphotos.com. Once your file is sold by credits, you will get your commissions that you usually receive  when your files are sold by credits, depending  on your contributor's level. So the point is that our partners re-sell your portfolio by credits as well throughout the world. Regardless the way your files are sold on our partner sites, Depositphotos remains your main source of revenue.
Your portfolio will be removed from our partner programs and API re-seller sites as soon as possible.
Should you have any further questions or require any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.


This is what Orwell created the word "Doubletalk" for. They never answer why somebody can sell files via credits, but only needs to payout a subscription for it... I have not heard a reasonable explaination either from Shotshop or Depositphotos...

« Reply #189 on: February 19, 2014, 06:18 »
+1
The whole concept that they think it is acceptable to sell our files for subs and allow the reseller to sell our files for credits at whatever price they want to set is just crazy.

If it was a real API connection, where we get a credit sale and royalty if the end customer pays buys a sub license we get a sub license, it would be different. Again I am surprised the other agencies who sell via normal API deals are allowing this.

Depositphotos might have 20 million files and will still receive a lot of content every week, but the artists who supply the interesting and unusual content will have to make their decisions. Because these sub licensing deals are so lucrative for the agencies that do them, it will mean our returns will be greatly diminished. Why should the other agencies pay for our content, if they can get it all much,much cheaper from deposit?

It is a legal trick - sell the content to a reseller cheaply - cut out the artist afterwards from all follow up royalties.

If they remove my content from their resellers we will see how much deposit itself really knows how to sell. If I then find my files again at resellers, inspite of having in writing that I have been opted out,  I will remove everything.


I have considered to deactivate completely, but I do have content that is suitable for all price levels. It is up to the agency to decide what kind of content they want.

The sooner they give us an opt out button, like Dreamstime and others have it, the better. It would send the message that they listen, even if they dont post here.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2014, 09:04 by cobalt »

« Reply #190 on: February 19, 2014, 06:19 »
+2
This is what Orwell created the word "Doubletalk" for. They never answer why somebody can sell files via credits, but only needs to payout a subscription for it... I have not heard a reasonable explaination either from Shotshop or Depositphotos...
They're beating about the bush all the time. It is simply dishonest. And it shows that they have something to hide!

« Reply #191 on: February 19, 2014, 08:58 »
+1
I have also sent an email to remove my pictures from all PP and API sites, so far (three days after) I can still see them there... :( So sad. Anyway I am sure that once I reach the payout, DP will be a history for me.....

« Reply #192 on: February 19, 2014, 09:10 »
0
update : the same happened on ibudgetphoto

interesting agency as well, how much is DP paying us from those big credit sales?

just noticed DT is there as well, even more expensive, XS for 588 credits
« Last Edit: February 19, 2014, 09:14 by luissantos84 »

« Reply #193 on: February 19, 2014, 09:18 »
+3
Quote
interesting agency as well, how much is DP paying us from those big credit sales?

just noticed DT is there as well, even more expensive, XS for 588 credits

LOL - those are Indian rupees, it's not as expensive as you might think :D

A DT test sale got correctly reported as a credit sale, in the end I got 20% of the sale price at ibudget.

« Reply #194 on: February 19, 2014, 09:21 »
0
Quote
interesting agency as well, how much is DP paying us from those big credit sales?

just noticed DT is there as well, even more expensive, XS for 588 credits

LOL - those are Indian rupees, it's not as expensive as you might think :D

A DT test sale got correctly reported as a credit sale, in the end I got 20% of the sale price at ibudget.

ahah my bad, you just reminded me of Slumdog Millionaire ;D

« Reply #195 on: February 19, 2014, 09:24 »
0
A DT test sale got correctly reported as a credit sale, in the end I got 20% of the sale price at ibudget.

That is good to know. Thank you for sharing.

Does anyone have an idea how much more they earned by opting into the api of dreamstime? Or any other agency?

Is it possible to track the volume of regular sales versus API sales?


« Reply #196 on: February 19, 2014, 09:27 »
+2
It is a speculation, but quite disturbing anyway.

Imagine that DP will create their "sister's" company, you will never know that they are connected. And now imagine that company will be doing all the marketing and promotions and selling for whatever amount, but then they will pull the images from DP for subsc. prize.



That's what I've been thinking all the way.

« Reply #197 on: February 19, 2014, 09:31 »
+1
Is it possible to track the volume of regular sales versus API sales?

not at DP or DT, unless I never got a sale from a partner, never seen such information in my sales

pixmac, yaymicro, zoonar gives that info

Uncle Pete

« Reply #198 on: February 19, 2014, 10:33 »
0
Not to get into nip picking corrections Rob, but it's "Doublespeak" in Orwell's books. And yes it's still doubletalk.  :)

They never answer how the API resellers can purchase by subscription and then re-sell? Isn't that against the contract? "Our API re-sellers re-sell images not only by subscriptions but by credits as well. Your royalty rate is fixed and depends whether our API re-sellers purchased your files by credits or by subscriptions directly on depositphotos.com."


"Depositphotos remains your main source of revenue."  Only in their narrow view of things.  ::)

I do have my own answer for this mess. Never upload anything I care about to DP again. If they are going to treat it like trash and devalue my work down to selling subs for resale as subs, I'm not going to help them. They can have all the CrapStock and I'll keep the good files elsewhere. Fair enough?




Here is the reply I got:

Hello,

Our API re-sellers re-sell images not only by subscriptions but by credits as well. Your royalty rate is fixed and depends whether our API re-sellers purchased your files by credits or by subscriptions directly on depositphotos.com. Once your file is sold by credits, you will get your commissions that you usually receive  when your files are sold by credits, depending  on your contributor's level. So the point is that our partners re-sell your portfolio by credits as well throughout the world. Regardless the way your files are sold on our partner sites, Depositphotos remains your main source of revenue.
Your portfolio will be removed from our partner programs and API re-seller sites as soon as possible.
Should you have any further questions or require any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.


This is what Orwell created the word "Doubletalk" for. They never answer why somebody can sell files via credits, but only needs to payout a subscription for it... I have not heard a reasonable explaination either from Shotshop or Depositphotos...

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #199 on: February 19, 2014, 10:46 »
+2
Not to get into nip picking corrections Rob, but it's "Doublespeak" in Orwell's books. And yes it's still doubletalk.  :)
Sorry, but it's "nit-picking". Couldn't resist.  ;D
On with the serious matter in hand ...


 

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