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Author Topic: Fotolia: New Subscription Commissions  (Read 59823 times)

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« Reply #25 on: August 16, 2011, 10:50 »
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For Illustrators it's really horrible. 70% less then now !


« Reply #26 on: August 16, 2011, 10:56 »
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I've been able to claw my way up the ranks at FT so this will amount to a 5-10% hit to my FT earnings, based on a quick glance over my past 100 or so sales.  I have to balance this against the fact that I seem to be dodging the FT trend... my sales have been shooting up in the past several months.  So the commission cut stinks, but put in perspective, I can deal with it.  

What would really stink is if they moved the goal posts (again) to get to the next level.  Then I would revolt.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2011, 10:59 by stockmarketer »

« Reply #27 on: August 16, 2011, 11:22 »
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Wow I must not be good enough to even receive the * email from them regarding this.  Can't tell you how much I enjoy being treated like a POS.  They roll that out they can say bye-bye to my port.  Course they probably won't care if a small fish like me leaves.

« Reply #28 on: August 16, 2011, 11:37 »
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Can you believe this?  I just turned emerald 1 week ago, after crawling up very slowly to 25000 downloads.  So 1 week ago I went from 33 to 34 cents for subscriptions ...  ;D ha ha ha, now I'm back to 33 cents!  (with a larger loss for the XL subs). 
Oh well, they did allow me to celebrate for 1 week ...

« Reply #29 on: August 16, 2011, 11:45 »
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They are trying everything they can do to drop from the top tier down to middle tier - almost there....

Xalanx

« Reply #30 on: August 16, 2011, 11:49 »
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I am Silver at Fotolia and I am seriously contemplating removing my portfolio from there. I surely don't like to cannibalize my sales at the other sites. I've seen clients leaving fotolia and moving to shutterstock, and perhaps this move is a desperate one. Well, whatever - I will not be a part of this mockery.

Slovenian

« Reply #31 on: August 16, 2011, 11:59 »
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I believe this is benefiting IS in two ways: now they won't be treated by some ppl as the worst agency in the industry for cutting commissions, since FT has already done it twice this year and with SS rejecting almost every image, a lot of ppl will byte into the rotten apple that their exclusivity has become in the last year. I fear they'll once again become by far the strongest agency, this is surely going to happen if SS won't stop messing around with rejections and on a large scale if they'd also cut commissions. That would be a disastrous scenario, unless something good came out of it like a new licencing system (that would be fair to contributors). But there's no chance of that happening, since the buyers aren't idiots, who are willing to pay more, since they get to use an image for almost any purpose for a dollar or less. And because most contributors would still be submitting even if commissions got split in half in the next year or so (in a few steps, ppl are more and more willing to accept it ever time it happens). Quality would surely drop, since the best photographers would either stop doing it altogether or at least start doing it the low budget way, just the same as all the rest.

Yeah forget about the "something good could come out" of it scenario. It'll be just like the recession: those who screwed it all up, got bailed out, the bill was handed to the tay payers and so it goes on and on, those who cause crisis get saved, those who are paying to save them and make sure they keep on getting huge bonuses for short term profits will get hit again and again and again. It's neoliberalism baby;). BTW we're the taxpayers (so that even the stupid ppl will get it;)

« Reply #32 on: August 16, 2011, 12:22 »
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Can you believe this?  I just turned emerald 1 week ago, after crawling up very slowly to 25000 downloads.  So 1 week ago I went from 33 to 34 cents for subscriptions ...  ;D ha ha ha, now I'm back to 33 cents!  (with a larger loss for the XL subs). 
Oh well, they did allow me to celebrate for 1 week ...

Congrats on going Emerald, for what it's worth.

Looks like you haven't decided to double your prices?  Did you know that's an option?  Just wondering if it's something you considered... and if you did, what your thoughts are.

« Reply #33 on: August 16, 2011, 12:53 »
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So are people going to stop uploading to FT, remove their portfolios or just carry on like nothing happened?

I'm stopping uploads but that's not much of a change because I haven't uploaded much this year.

« Reply #34 on: August 16, 2011, 12:59 »
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I stop uploading images.
Nor is much, Fotolia is fifth in my ranking. And I am a very small fish, but I prefer give the opportunity to other banks.

« Reply #35 on: August 16, 2011, 13:01 »
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I don't know what to do, if i stop fotolia, i'm losing almost 200$/month, that's huge amount for me. I can not stop until i've/we've found a solution to stop royalties decreasing in many microstock sites. It's a shame that international laws don't exist about a fixed minimum price.
We all know that the price can be 1$ by subscription download, even more! Actually photographer are feeding more and more stingy beasts who don't care about contributors and don't want anymore to share the cake.   
 
« Last Edit: August 16, 2011, 13:06 by Smithore »

helix7

« Reply #36 on: August 16, 2011, 13:04 »
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For Illustrators it's really horrible. 70% less then now !

Am I reading the update info correctly? What was a $1.11 Premium subscription Vector royalty is now a $0.29 royalty at Silver level? Holy crap...

« Reply #37 on: August 16, 2011, 13:05 »
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I don't know what to do, if i stop fotolia, i'm losing almost 200$/month, that's huge amount for me. I can not stop until i've/we've found a solution to stop royalties decreasing in many microstock sites. It's a shame that international laws don't exist about a fixed minimum price.
 
There's already a simple solution, just use sites that pay a reasonable commission and haven't cut it.  Unfortunately we wont all agree to do that.  What other chance is there?

Xalanx

« Reply #38 on: August 16, 2011, 13:07 »
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I don't know what to do, if i stop fotolia, i'm losing almost 200$/month, that's huge amount for me.

if you keep your port there you'll lose money anyway because they've just cut your commission. You are also likely to lose cash from other agencies if some customers move to ft because it's cheaper. I for one wouldn't like to get 0.29 for subs instead of 0.38 as I have on SS.

helix7

« Reply #39 on: August 16, 2011, 13:15 »
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I love this line:

Quote
With this latest release, we have revised our subscription plans to align with what is happening in the marketplace.

I only recall one other company cutting rates, recently, so to the best of my knowledge, this is not what is happening in the larger marketplace.

Looks like more B.S. to paint a prettier picture of a huge royalty cut.

WarrenPrice

« Reply #40 on: August 16, 2011, 13:17 »
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I don't know what to do, if i stop fotolia, i'm losing almost 200$/month, that's huge amount for me.

if you keep your port there you'll lose money anyway because they've just cut your commission. You are also likely to lose cash from other agencies if some customers move to ft because it's cheaper. I for one wouldn't like to get 0.29 for subs instead of 0.38 as I have on SS.

The problem seems to be, "Which agency hasn't cut commission?"  Will YOU abandon iStock and Dreamstime?  Which site do we choose?  And, I'm being serious.  Which one do you trust?   I even lost respect for John at Cutcaster.  They all are in business for themselves ... NOT US!!!

I just can't believe that the guys with big ports are going to bail on any site that pays their rent/mortgage.  
I feel irrelevant because I am a minor player.  I deleted all of my images earlier but came back to Fotolia when everyone else seemed to be making money.  I've still not reached a payout.  

I dumped 123rf in a fit of anger.  Now, they moving up quite well, it seems.

I don't know the answer.  Someone make a recommendation

helix7

« Reply #41 on: August 16, 2011, 13:22 »
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To put a dollar amount on this cut for vectors, I expect the new pricing will cost me about $1,100 per year at FT.

Thanks, guys.

« Reply #42 on: August 16, 2011, 13:26 »
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So are people going to stop uploading to FT, remove their portfolios or just carry on like nothing happened?

I deleted everything except one image in January. I remember when I first turned Silver I got paid 37%, and they've lowered royalties every year since.

The problem seems to be, "Which agency hasn't cut commission?"  Will YOU abandon iStock and Dreamstime?  Which site do we choose?
I wouldn't trust any of them. It would be nice to abandon them all.

« Reply #43 on: August 16, 2011, 13:34 »
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For the past year, Fotolia represented 8.6% of my stock earnings.  A year earlier they were 13%.  This month they're 4.2%.  I can see that percentage only going lower.

I stopped uploading after their last royalty cut.  And like an idiot, I decided to get back in and bring them current with my portfolio.  Just finished in time to see this announcement.

So what will I do?  I've already started deleting low earners from my port there.  But not a few a day as I've been doing with iStock, but in big chunks.  I'll leave up all the new uploads.  Heck, I've done the work, so now let their reviewers earn their keep.  But they won't stay up long; at the rate I'm going, I'll be mostly gone within a couple of months.

lagereek

« Reply #44 on: August 16, 2011, 13:39 »
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Few months back they FUUCCKKED up their search,  this is why.

« Reply #45 on: August 16, 2011, 13:39 »
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The same dickwads that came up with this one were sitting around naked drinking one night coming up with better ways to screw with their loyal followers.  (See last line "The sexual tension around here is unbelievable).  This photo is exactly the image I have of this number one European agency.    They posted this on their website.  Seriously???????????

« Reply #46 on: August 16, 2011, 13:42 »
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Can you believe this?  I just turned emerald 1 week ago, after crawling up very slowly to 25000 downloads.  So 1 week ago I went from 33 to 34 cents for subscriptions ...  ;D ha ha ha, now I'm back to 33 cents!  (with a larger loss for the XL subs). 
Oh well, they did allow me to celebrate for 1 week ...

Congrats on going Emerald, for what it's worth.

Looks like you haven't decided to double your prices?  Did you know that's an option?  Just wondering if it's something you considered... and if you did, what your thoughts are.

Thanks for the congrats!  Yes I know about the option of doubling my prices, and I already doubled them for 10 or 15 images.  I think in the end I'll only do it for unique photos, and not for the ones where a customer gets 100.000 hits after typing his keyword(s)  ;D

« Reply #47 on: August 16, 2011, 13:50 »
0
Can you believe this?  I just turned emerald 1 week ago, after crawling up very slowly to 25000 downloads.  So 1 week ago I went from 33 to 34 cents for subscriptions ...  ;D ha ha ha, now I'm back to 33 cents!  (with a larger loss for the XL subs). 
Oh well, they did allow me to celebrate for 1 week ...

Congrats on going Emerald, for what it's worth.

Looks like you haven't decided to double your prices?  Did you know that's an option?  Just wondering if it's something you considered... and if you did, what your thoughts are.

Thanks for the congrats!  Yes I know about the option of doubling my prices, and I already doubled them for 10 or 15 images.  I think in the end I'll only do it for unique photos, and not for the ones where a customer gets 100.000 hits after typing his keyword(s)  ;D

That's an interesting approach... testing it out on some of the more unique images and not on the ones that have the most competition.  Makes sense.  Keep us posted to let us know if those images with increased prices see fewer downloads after the price change.

I think if and when I get to Emerald (assuming the goal posts aren't moved before I get there) I'll have them switch all the images at once, test it for a month to see if I come out ahead, and decide whether to stay at that level or go back.  I know I'll have fewer sales due to the higher prices, but I'm guessing it won't be a 50% decrease, which means I come out ahead.

dbvirago

« Reply #48 on: August 16, 2011, 14:04 »
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It seems like the changes will go in effect when Fotolia releases their V3 version of the website. Until then they pay the old commissions. Might be a reason to hope it will take a while to V3 :-)
If the introduction of V2 is anything to go by, than we better hope V3 isn't coming for a long time  :P

What I was thinking. V2 was a disaster.

« Reply #49 on: August 16, 2011, 14:14 »
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Mustabin what six months since the 'rewards' were last lowered?


I don't think its been quite that long....


 

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