Author Topic: 500px Prime - commercial licensing marketplace (Read 64668 times)

jeffclow · « **Reply #25 on:** March 07, 2014, 18:39 »

Quote from: gbalex on March 07, 2014, 18:30

Quote from: jeffclow on March 07, 2014, 17:56
Quote from: cobalt on March 07, 2014, 16:42
Maybe I'll write to them and ask what I am doing wrong? Do they have a selection process or do they take everything you upload? Edited collection or more like Photoshelter?

It is always nice to be invited and I appreciate it. So I would definetly like to try them out and see what happens.

Obviously 70% of 250 dollars sounds great.

But can they sell?

stocksy is doing a fantastic job and have set a very high bar for what is possible as a start up. And Westend61 is an established Macro House with excellent reputation in Germany.

They do not take everything you upload - they have editors going through the vast 500px photo library and inviting specific photos. I've had about three dozen photos of mine invited this way.

They sure have a great website and a lot of new venture capital backing according to the Toronto press. Do they have buyers? Unknown.

But I'd rather give them a shot then see my stuff devalued at Getty.

Hello Jeff, I am not understanding the process very well and wonder if you would be kind enough to answer a few question I have. I have an old account on 500px with some older photos that have editors choice awards and high popularity. I am no longer active and not set up to sell on the site.

Are you saying that they are going thru images on the site and they are inviting only those images that they choose to participate in the prime site?

Or are they including images in the the prime marketplace that have been added to your store when you enable the store function in your 500px account?

Remember - I'm just a beta photo contributor. I don't have any other affiliation with 500px.

My understanding is that your images do have to be enabled in the 500px store (at least currently) before any of those photos would be invited. And they have to meet the minimum size requirements of 2000x3000.

I also believe (note - I don't KNOW this for a fact) that the photos of mine that have been invited are those that had high popularity (views/comments/faves) and thus were chosen by the editors for possible inclusion in the beta test of this initiative.

The big unknown is whether they have any buyers lined up? They can have a great product but without buyers, any photo sales site will have a very short lifespan.

cobalt · « **Reply #26 on:** March 07, 2014, 19:25 »

So I need to upload files to the normal store, hope they get likes or comments and then maybe they get invited into prime?

Sounds very complicated.

I'd rather just put my files up for sale. If they don't like them, I 'll take the series elsewhere.

I'll have a look at it, but it sounds like a photo club, but I probably just don't understand their system.

stockastic · « **Reply #27 on:** March 07, 2014, 19:57 »

Quote from: cobalt on March 07, 2014, 19:25

So I need to upload files to the normal store, hope they get likes or comments and then maybe they get invited into prime?

Sounds very complicated.

Uploading all my best photos just to wait for an invitation that may never come... to get into a program that may never sell anything... can't get motivated I guess. Maybe if there was a way to at least ask that a photo be considered.

qwerty · « **Reply #28 on:** March 07, 2014, 20:40 »

3 millions photographers ?? In beta ? I'm confused

tickstock · « **Reply #29 on:** March 07, 2014, 20:51 »

gbalex · « **Reply #30 on:** March 07, 2014, 22:20 »

Thank you for the info Jeff

jeffclow · « **Reply #31 on:** March 08, 2014, 00:48 »

Quote from: gbalex on March 07, 2014, 22:20

Thank you for the info Jeff

You are very welcome. Here's some more from one of the founders at 500px:

http://500px.com/blog/1043/500px-prime-making-the-world-of-photography-a-better-place/#comments

What a pleasant surprise to read that a company still values the content providers - yes, the photographers that create all that salable content. Getty goes in one direction and 500px goes the opposite way.

Will it be a success? Who knows. But I sure know which route I'm taking - even if its a gamble.

Hobostocker · « **Reply #32 on:** March 08, 2014, 04:33 »

where we can find an invitation code ? i could give them a try.

fotoVoyager · « **Reply #33 on:** March 08, 2014, 06:48 »

So it's 70% with no image exclusivity? That's pretty good, I wish them well.

I suspect the problem will be that they'll be too selective and end up with too small a collection to be marketable, but they deserve support for trying.

Ariene · « **Reply #34 on:** March 08, 2014, 07:27 »

They are missing good watermark now... If they do that, offer will be attractive.

Mantis · « **Reply #35 on:** March 08, 2014, 09:40 »

Quote from: Ariene on March 08, 2014, 07:27

They are missing good watermark now... If they do that, offer will be attractive.

I think Tickstock said it all: "Hard to believe that one second they want to charge 70% and then the next they decide they can still be profitable charging 30%."

The incredible shift in commissions to me anyway is a massive red flag, not to mention you basically are selling your image rights. Forget it. Don't be fooled by this. The $175 commission might sound like a good carrot but in reality it's a rotten apple.

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #36 on:** March 08, 2014, 09:44 »

Well, at least this seems like something in a positive direction for contributors for once.

They're charging higher prices and contributors are getting 70%.

Now we'll need to see if they can attract buyers. If so, great.

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #37 on:** March 08, 2014, 10:04 »

Quote from: Mantis on March 08, 2014, 09:40

Quote from: Ariene on March 08, 2014, 07:27
They are missing good watermark now... If they do that, offer will be attractive.

I think Tickstock said it all: "Hard to believe that one second they want to charge 70% and then the next they decide they can still be profitable charging 30%."

The incredible shift in commissions to me anyway is a massive red flag, not to mention you basically are selling your image rights. Forget it. Don't be fooled by this. The $175 commission might sound like a good carrot but in reality it's a rotten apple.

Yeah, I just noticed that this looks like an "unlimited" license. So it's probably a extended license offered as standard. But I wonder what percentage of micro RF photos are being purchased as a standard license but are getting used under extended terms anyway?

Even if this isn't ideal it still seems to be somewhat of a step in the right direction. We normally get something like "we're raising prices to $10 for unlimited use and we're adjusting your royalty from %10 to 1%.

But I'd agree it's a red flag. Pretty drastic change. Like at 30% theres still plenty of room for them to make a massive profit. Or maybe they have no idea what the right split is and will adjust it when they figure out they're not making enough money. And if this takes off and contributors move all their content to 500px they can just as quickly shift it back to 30%.

jeffclow · « **Reply #38 on:** March 08, 2014, 10:14 »

Quote from: Mantis on March 08, 2014, 09:40

Quote from: Ariene on March 08, 2014, 07:27
They are missing good watermark now... If they do that, offer will be attractive.

I think Tickstock said it all: "Hard to believe that one second they want to charge 70% and then the next they decide they can still be profitable charging 30%."

The incredible shift in commissions to me anyway is a massive red flag, not to mention you basically are selling your image rights. Forget it. Don't be fooled by this. The $175 commission might sound like a good carrot but in reality it's a rotten apple.

I disagree. I've been selling microstock and macro stock for many years and there are only a few sales (out of thousands of sales) that have netted me $175 for one photo with one client after the agency took their share.

The founders at 500px have stated that they listened to photographers and changed the commission rate after realizing that they needed to do so. Why is that a red flag? They made an informed business decision. They want to launch and attract photographers - that makes perfect sense.

And if you are routinely making more than $175 per image per client - then you probably won't want to take advantage of this offer. That makes sense.

But with the revenue per image per year at most agencies in the $1.00 to $5.00 range - then a $175 payout is pretty darn attractive to many of us.

I just see it differently. You may be right. I may be right. Only time will tell.

fotoVoyager · « **Reply #39 on:** March 08, 2014, 10:22 »

Don't forget 500px core business is charging photographers an annual fee to host their images on the site, so they should easily be able to afford 70% royalties. Whether they invest properly in sales and marketing to make it a success as an agency is another matter.

jeffclow · « **Reply #40 on:** March 08, 2014, 11:11 »

Quote from: fotoVoyager on March 08, 2014, 10:22

Don't forget 500px core business is charging photographers an annual fee to host their images on the site, so they should easily be able to afford 70% royalties. Whether they invest properly in sales and marketing to make it a success as an agency is another matter.

Well said.

I'm hoping they are going to be a success so that the photography community will have another viable option that actually pays out decent rates.

But it all depends on the buyers. I've seen a lot of agencies fail - and it wasn't because they didn't have good content. They did. What they didn't have was enough buyers.

Time will tell. But 500px's launch is coming at a good time when so many of us are looking to move our stuff out of Getty.

Ariene · « **Reply #41 on:** March 08, 2014, 14:07 »

Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on March 08, 2014, 10:04

Yeah, I just noticed that this looks like an "unlimited" license. So it's probably a extended license offered as standard. But I wonder what percentage of micro RF photos are being purchased as a standard license but are getting used under extended terms anyway?

I've found a lot, to much of mine and that's why I left some microstock sites and I'm going to all of them (pricing 1-5$ for DL). I'm not having fun with selling my work that cheap, loosing control over my business, no joy, not at all...

Rage · « **Reply #42 on:** March 08, 2014, 23:29 »

Well I got the invite code and joined in. Typical 500px layout, full of images and very neatly put. Couldn't find the contributor section of the prime site though. I guess it's only for the buyers and the contributions still happen at the 500px store?

Can someone help me out

cobalt · « **Reply #43 on:** March 09, 2014, 03:23 »

Jeff,

thank you for all the info.

I hope they are reading here and will designate an admin who comes to talk to us.

I have read that their faqs, but as an image producer, I really don't understand how the process works.

I did read that for prime they want never before seen exclusive images. This makes a lot of sense of course. At 250 dollars you cannot offer the same old stuff that is being flogged at other macro houses already.

And the 175 dollars for an extended license seems fine to me.

If as a photographer you usually get more, then you are lucky. But the rest of us get extended licenses in the 10 - 80 dollar range. So this is a very sensible offer.

Ariene · « **Reply #44 on:** March 09, 2014, 04:15 »

Quote from: izzikiorage on March 08, 2014, 23:29

... Couldn't find the contributor section of the prime site though. I guess it's only for the buyers and the contributions still happen at the 500px store?

Yes, now it's only for buyers.

Quote from: cobalt on March 09, 2014, 03:23

And the 175 dollars for an extended license seems fine to me.

"You will get $2 from every digital download, and 75% of what is left over after NewEra includes their cost, shipping, and materials from the sale. On average, photographer can expect a payout of $60 per print."

Yesterday evening I uploaded 10 test images to see how it works. In few hours I got 2,048 Views. Today morning (it's only few hours!) I got email with this: "500px | Sale of your photo was completed"
This is so fast!

But still don't understand how the prints are pricing, who was talking about $175?

Ron · « **Reply #45 on:** March 09, 2014, 04:32 »

I am completely missing how this works. I have opened my store, but how do I get this invite code? Are there two stores? One regular and one for 70%.?

Do I just upload images and put them in my store and 500px will pick the special ones?

I dont get it.

stockphotoeurope · « **Reply #46 on:** March 09, 2014, 05:53 »

I uploaded two test images, but there are some things that I don't get as well:

- for my images, there's only a "Buy print" button, not a "Download" button, despite enabling both options!
is the download option only for "Prime" or "Editor's choice"?

- any way to add a watermark or reduce size of (very large) preview?
they disabled right-click, but that does not prevent screeshots of course

- no ftp?

Ariene · « **Reply #47 on:** March 09, 2014, 08:14 »

@ stockphotoeurope,
"In reference to watermarks on Prime, we currently only show a small version of the photo as a preview on the system, so there are no watermarks on them. I will pass that feedback to our team to consider though."

@ Ron,
"If you already have an account, then you should be fine. We are currently selecting photos by going through the 500px database so if any of yours are selected, we will email you with further instructions."

Quote from: stockphotoeurope on March 09, 2014, 05:53

- for my images, there's only a "Buy print" button, not a "Download" button, despite enabling both options!
is the download option only for "Prime" or "Editor's choice"?

Get to: profil --> Seetings --> Store --> Settings

There you should see:

Default sale options

V Downloads
V Prints

Save changes

Did you do this and it doesn't work? Can you put link here?

jeffclow · « **Reply #48 on:** March 09, 2014, 08:53 »

Quote from: Ron on March 09, 2014, 04:32

I am completely missing how this works. I have opened my store, but how do I get this invite code? Are there two stores? One regular and one for 70%.?

Do I just upload images and put them in my store and 500px will pick the special ones?

I dont get it.

There are two different initiatives at 500 px. The 500px print store sells prints and digital downloads. The 500px Prime site is a beta test (for buyers only currently) that showcases images hand selected by their editors from people who are in the 500px store and have been invited to have some of their images offered for sale via 500px Prime. The Prime test is the one that offers the sale of an image for $250 with the 70% royalty to the photographer.

More here:

http://500px.com/blog/1043/500px-prime-making-the-world-of-photography-a-better-place/#comments

stockphotoeurope · « **Reply #49 on:** March 09, 2014, 09:14 »

Quote from: Ariene on March 09, 2014, 08:14

@ stockphotoeurope,
"In reference to watermarks on Prime, we currently only show a small version of the photo as a preview on the system, so there are no watermarks on them. I will pass that feedback to our team to consider though."

I wouldn't say small. It's still way larger than "small" or "blog" size on all other sites. However I am glad they are considering it.

Quote from: Ariene on March 09, 2014, 08:14

Default sale options

V Downloads
V Prints

Save changes

Did you do this and it doesn't work? Can you put link here?

Yes. But now I see the download button too.

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Author Topic: 500px Prime - commercial licensing marketplace (Read 64668 times)

jeffclow

cobalt

stockastic

qwerty

tickstock

gbalex

jeffclow

Hobostocker

fotoVoyager

Ariene

Mantis

PaulieWalnuts

PaulieWalnuts

jeffclow

fotoVoyager

jeffclow

Ariene

Rage

cobalt

Ariene

Ron

stockphotoeurope

Ariene

jeffclow

stockphotoeurope

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