Author Topic: Did you receive FT's email and do you have images at TS or PD? (Read 17057 times)

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #25 on:** September 27, 2011, 23:44 »

Quote from: stockmarketer on September 27, 2011, 21:21

Is there a web page somewhere that compares the commission rates and prices of all the major agencies?

It'd be a full time job to keep such a thing up to date! OTOH we could just have a piece of software that automatically cut the commissions in the chart every 9 months and it'd be close enough

Seriously, I'm not aware of anything like this

luissantos84 · « **Reply #26 on:** September 28, 2011, 01:11 »

http://www.spiderpic.com/examples

Microbius · « **Reply #27 on:** September 28, 2011, 02:59 »

We need a page on this forum with tables we can collectively keep updated

leaf · « **Reply #28 on:** September 28, 2011, 03:25 »

Quote from: Microbius on September 28, 2011, 02:59

We need a page on this forum with tables we can collectively keep updated

that's what the wiki is for...

http://wiki.microstockgroup.com/

helix7 · « **Reply #29 on:** September 28, 2011, 12:52 »

Wonder if they'll target GraphicRiver contributors. It's in the same family of sites (Envato) as PhotoDune.

Kind of wonder what Yuri thinks of all this. And Collis at Envato. Anyone know if they've commented?

Antonio S. · « **Reply #30 on:** September 28, 2011, 13:36 »

Depositphotos is Fotolia target
In the Italian Fotolia forum after a heated discussion with the members, administrator said that

gostwyck · « **Reply #31 on:** September 28, 2011, 13:51 »

Quote from: Antonio S. on September 28, 2011, 13:36

Depositphotos is Fotolia target
In the Italian Fotolia forum after a heated discussion with the members, administrator said that

Interesting. Thanks for that.

lisafx · « **Reply #32 on:** September 28, 2011, 14:57 »

Quote from: Antonio S. on September 28, 2011, 13:36

Depositphotos is Fotolia target
In the Italian Fotolia forum after a heated discussion with the members, administrator said that

Thanks for this info.

travelstock · « **Reply #33 on:** September 28, 2011, 15:36 »

Quote from: leaf on September 28, 2011, 03:25

Quote from: Microbius on September 28, 2011, 02:59
We need a page on this forum with tables we can collectively keep updated

that's what the wiki is for...
http://wiki.microstockgroup.com/

Err.... the only info on there seems to be about an SEO company?!?

thesentinel · « **Reply #34 on:** September 28, 2011, 16:35 »

Quote from: holgs on September 28, 2011, 15:36

Quote from: leaf on September 28, 2011, 03:25
Quote from: Microbius on September 28, 2011, 02:59
We need a page on this forum with tables we can collectively keep updated

that's what the wiki is for...
http://wiki.microstockgroup.com/

Err.... the only info on there seems to be about an SEO company?!?

Another HackAttack it seems

leaf · « **Reply #35 on:** September 28, 2011, 16:54 »

Quote from: thesentinel on September 28, 2011, 16:35

Quote from: holgs on September 28, 2011, 15:36
Quote from: leaf on September 28, 2011, 03:25
Quote from: Microbius on September 28, 2011, 02:59
We need a page on this forum with tables we can collectively keep updated

that's what the wiki is for...
http://wiki.microstockgroup.com/

Err.... the only info on there seems to be about an SEO company?!?

Another HackAttack it seems

fixed. More like spam. I have to find a way to make it so the spam accounts can't sign up to the wiki.

OM · « **Reply #36 on:** September 28, 2011, 18:42 »

THE CHAD is on FT forum delivering his message but, as you might expect, no names of agencies are named.

Quote

THE CHAD
27/09/2011 20:38

Hello Fotolians,

It has come to our attention that some new agencies are selling the same contributor content at prices far less than most other microstock agencies. We feel that this is bad for both photographers and stock agencies. We do understand photographers are free to choose their own destiny in a free market economy, and our intention in these actions is to encourage everyone to support fair pricing for customers and commissions for contributors. Only a handful of sites and contributors have been identified thus far, and we will communicate with them before taking any action.

By sponsoring and uploading to sites that undercut prices, photographers put the whole industry in jeopardy - and we feel our duty is to take action. If the community agrees with our approach, the status quo remains. If the community wants to place down pressure on pricing, we'll adjust accordingly, as a measure to be fair and respectful to our costumers and stay competitive . Keep in mind that when rankings drop, the ability to charge more for images goes away - and that hurts everyone's bottom line, including ours .

Chad Bridwell
Director of Operations
Fotolia.com

rimglow
27/09/2011 21:47

Please advise us what sites you are talking about. How are we to avoid these sites if we don't know which ones you consider unfair?

godfer
27/09/2011 21:49

Chad, could you tell us which agencies you are referring to? It is sometimes very complicated to work out exactly how some of the sites compare against each other and I would hate for any of us to get put down to white level just because of contributing to a site where we probably aren't making any money anyway,
thanks
mandy

Jim Barber
27/09/2011 22:13

I don't remember seeing this in the contributors agreement. Does this mean that you are expecting us to work under the constraints of exclusivity without the benefits? This is a very confusing policy. What sites are you referring to? What price level do you consider unfair?

Cory Thoman
27/09/2011 23:42

Hello Mr. Pot. Meet Mr Kettle. lol

Darla Hallmark
28/09/2011 16:17

If you pay attention when submitting to sites, you will KNOW how much they pay. Set yourselves a minimum acceptable price, and stick to it.

Especially, don't give your stuff away in one place, if you are selling it in another.

rimglow
28/09/2011 22:31

If we are to be unwilling participants in a war on other sites, I would like to know who I'm at war with. Maybe they're friends of mine. I support Fotolia, but you are going to have to name names.

No names so far..............do you really expect names! Everything is nice and arbitrary at the moment.........you get downgraded and they never have to tell you why specifically and you wouldn't be able to take legal action IMHO.

Xalanx · « **Reply #37 on:** September 29, 2011, 01:52 »

But you CAN do something though. I don't care which sites they're after, the very moment after they put me back to white I'm gone, together with my 7000 files.
I'm doing GREAT at DepositPhotos, btw. And I wouldn't give up on them.

Eireann · « **Reply #38 on:** September 29, 2011, 07:06 »

Deposit Photos?
Why would they be targeting Deposit Photos?
It makes no sense whatsoever, sorry.

Deposit Photos pays a higher commission and their subscription payment is higher than Fotolia's, (at least at my level, it is). How can they target Deposit Photos, an agency that pays more?

(Can we have the link in Italian please? Not that I don't believe you, but I just want to read it myself

).

Well, I don't know, but I'm still firmly convinced Fotolia's new rules, specially at this time, are a direct response to last month's IStock's decision to force independents to contribute to ThinkStock.
I might be wrong, of course, but it makes a lot more sense to me.
Time will tell, meanwhile good luck everyone

RT · « **Reply #39 on:** September 29, 2011, 07:13 »

Quote from: Xalanx on September 29, 2011, 01:52

But you CAN do something though. I don't care which sites they're after, the very moment after they put me back to white I'm gone, together with my 7000 files.

Likewise, and I think they'll be a great many others too.

borg · « **Reply #40 on:** September 29, 2011, 07:20 »

Fotolia is not talking about our commission and our part of subscription... They are pointing their finger in prices...
But, as I said before, we are on "lower price agencies" because of them and their percentages, (Fotolia's 13% and Istock's 15%-19%) that is too small part for us...
We should have 35-50% on FT and IS, then we won't search for an alternative earning...

travelstock · « **Reply #41 on:** September 29, 2011, 08:20 »

Quote from: borg on September 29, 2011, 07:20

Fotolia is not talking about our commission and our part of subscription... They are pointing their finger in prices...
But, as I said before, we are on "lower price agencies" because of them and their percentag, (Fotolia's 13% and Istock's 15%-19%) that is too small part for us...
We should have 35-50% on FT and IS, then we won't search for an alternative earning...

Exactly - they don't care about the artist - it may well be that 50% of $1 = 50c, and 13% of $2 that they pay = 26c, as may well be the case at FT if you're being paid in $$.

Really there's nothing that FT has said or done in the last few years that has been in any way in favour of contributors. Its their own revenue that they're worried about now as always.

heywoody · « **Reply #42 on:** September 29, 2011, 08:47 »

Quote from: RT on September 29, 2011, 07:13

Quote from: Xalanx on September 29, 2011, 01:52
But you CAN do something though. I don't care which sites they're after, the very moment after they put me back to white I'm gone, together with my 7000 files.

Likewise, and I think they'll be a great many others too.

Target the herd and you'll get lots of complaints and possibly not much action, target the individual and it's personal and a real deal breaker....

Antonio S. · « **Reply #43 on:** September 29, 2011, 09:06 »

Quote from: Eireann on September 29, 2011, 07:06

Deposit Photos?
Why would they be targeting Deposit Photos?
It makes no sense whatsoever, sorry.

Deposit Photos pays a higher commission and their subscription payment is higher than Fotolia's, (at least at my level, it is). How can they target Deposit Photos, an agency that pays more?

(Can we have the link in Italian please? Not that I don't believe you, but I just want to read it myself ).

Well, I don't know, but I'm still firmly convinced Fotolia's new rules, specially at this time, are a direct response to last month's IStock's decision to force independents to contribute to ThinkStock.
I might be wrong, of course, but it makes a lot more sense to me.
Time will tell, meanwhile good luck everyone

http://it.fotolia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=36254

page 5, reply 28/09/2011 13:05
admin: "Il punto è: se compro una macchina a 30mila € e poi trovo la stessa a 5mila dietro l'angolo, come ci resto da compratore? e che cosa faccio la prossima volta? e quanto guadagna il produttore di quella macchina se il prezzo finale è 5mila?

se proprio tenete a restare nel deposito almeno andate in massa a chiedergli di alzare i prezzi. Molti hanno cancellato già i loro portfolio e molti stanno chiedendo di equiparare i prezzi a quelli del mercato. Fatelo per voi se non volete farlo per le altre agenzie dove collaborate...

one day after was modified in:
Il punto è: se compro una macchina a 30mila € e poi trovo la stessa a 5mila dietro l'angolo, come ci resto da compratore? e che cosa faccio la prossima volta? e quanto guadagna il produttore di quella macchina se il prezzo finale è 5mila?

se proprio tenete a restare nel sito almeno andate in massa a chiedergli di alzare i prezzi. Molti hanno cancellato già i loro portfolio e molti stanno chiedendo di equiparare i prezzi a quelli del mercato. Fatelo per voi se non volete farlo per le altre agenzie dove collaborate...

packerguy · « **Reply #44 on:** September 29, 2011, 10:05 »

Quote from: Antonio S. on September 29, 2011, 09:06

[http://it.fotolia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=36254

page 5, reply 28/09/2011 13:05
admin: "Il punto è: se compro una macchina a 30mila € e poi trovo la stessa a 5mila dietro l'angolo, come ci resto da compratore? e che cosa faccio la prossima volta? e quanto guadagna il produttore di quella macchina se il prezzo finale è 5mila?

se proprio tenete a restare nel deposito almeno andate in massa a chiedergli di alzare i prezzi. Molti hanno cancellato già i loro portfolio e molti stanno chiedendo di equiparare i prezzi a quelli del mercato. Fatelo per voi se non volete farlo per le altre agenzie dove collaborate...

one day after was modified in:
Il punto è: se compro una macchina a 30mila € e poi trovo la stessa a 5mila dietro l'angolo, come ci resto da compratore? e che cosa faccio la prossima volta? e quanto guadagna il produttore di quella macchina se il prezzo finale è 5mila?

se proprio tenete a restare nel sito almeno andate in massa a chiedergli di alzare i prezzi. Molti hanno cancellato già i loro portfolio e molti stanno chiedendo di equiparare i prezzi a quelli del mercato. Fatelo per voi se non volete farlo per le altre agenzie dove collaborate...

Here is the gooogle translation of above:
Page 5, 09/28/2011 13:05 reply
admin: "The point is: if I buy a car for € 30 thousand and then find the same at 5 thousand around the corner, as we rest from buyer? and what do I do next time? and how much money the manufacturer of the machine if the final price is 5 thousand?

if you keep going at least to remain in the store in droves to ask him to raise prices. Many have already canceled their portfolios and many are seeking to equate prices than the market. Do it for you if you do not want to do it for other agencies where she worked ...

One day after was modified in:
The point is: if I buy a car for € 30 thousand and then find the same at 5 thousand around the corner, as we rest from buyer? and what do I do next time? and how much money the manufacturer of the machine if the final price is 5 thousand?

if you keep going at least to remain at the site in droves to ask them to raise prices. Many have already canceled their portfolios and many are seeking to equate prices than the market. Do it for you if you do not want to do it for other agencies where she worked ...

Eireann · « **Reply #45 on:** September 29, 2011, 10:34 »

Aha Antonio!
I get it now, mille grazie

He changed it quickly, didn't he?

Oh, so this is not about ThinkStock/Istock?
I was wrong all the time!
This is about selling images at lower prices than Fotolia, right?
Deposit Photos is cheaper (to designers) than Fotolia, right?
Fotolia feels threatened by Deposit Photos's success, right?

Well, I don't like lowering prices, that's for sure.
But my question is how is DepositPhotos, a new agency compared to Fotolia, able to sell files at lower prices AND pay photographers a higher royality at the same time?
If they can do it, (and they certainly can), why can't you, Fotolia?
Chin up, Fotolia!
No need to lower the prices and definitely no need to cut artists' commissions (yet, again!). You're one of the best agencies in the world, offices all over the place, plenty of profits, you'll survive this fine-and-dandy, I'm sure!
Instead of lowering our payments, what about raising them up, to at least match Deposit Photos? It's an incentive for us and it shows good will from you. It works

Until that day don't ask us to choose between you and Deposit Photos. It's stabbing us in the back and not a good thing to do.
I like Deposit Photos a lot. And they have never treated me in any other way but fair. Not the same can be said about you.
This move, being the latest example of your unfairness and corporate greed.
Not recommended.

sharpshot · « **Reply #46 on:** September 29, 2011, 14:20 »

Didn't Fotolia start off very similar to Deposit Photos? It was before my time but I read that they paid people to upload. Their commissions seemed quite reasonable when I first started uploading and I'm sure prices were lower.

Deposit Photos might seem good now but I can't help feeling that if they get in to the big 4, their investors are going to want a return on their money. They've spent a lot paying us to upload and giving new buyers free credits. Establishing a successful microstock site quickly must be very expensive now. I just hope they don't follow the FT strategy in the future and find an alternative way to keep their investors happy.

borg · « **Reply #47 on:** September 30, 2011, 03:33 »

DP site looks exactly like FT... Even upload system is the same...

disorderly · « **Reply #48 on:** September 30, 2011, 07:20 »

Quote from: borg on September 30, 2011, 03:33

DP site looks exactly like FT... Even upload system is the same...

How do you figure that? DP lets me edit and submit a batch of images in one go; it's fast and easy. FT is more like DT, requiring that I submit each image individually. In most other respects, FT and DP are no more similar than any other two agencies.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #49 on:** September 30, 2011, 10:18 »

Quote from: disorderly on September 30, 2011, 07:20

Quote from: borg on September 30, 2011, 03:33
DP site looks exactly like FT... Even upload system is the same...

How do you figure that? DP lets me edit and submit a batch of images in one go; it's fast and easy. FT is more like DT, requiring that I submit each image individually. In most other respects, FT and DP are no more similar than any other two agencies.

I disagree and agree with borg! they look very similar not just the upload but also the way a buyer seach and look at the pic and the all size structure, the design is very close

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Author Topic: Did you receive FT's email and do you have images at TS or PD? (Read 17057 times)

Jo Ann Snover

luissantos84

Microbius

leaf

helix7

Antonio S.

gostwyck

lisafx

travelstock

thesentinel

leaf

OM

Xalanx

Eireann

RT

borg

travelstock

heywoody

Antonio S.

packerguy

Eireann

sharpshot

borg

disorderly

luissantos84

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