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Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: Artist on December 20, 2016, 06:20

Title: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: Artist on December 20, 2016, 06:20
I have never uploaded anything to this marketplace but planning to do so. I was browsing through it and found many people are very active in the site.
Looking forward to know some of the experiences, good or bad, if anyone upload in there.
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: Sean Locke Photography on December 20, 2016, 08:08
I removed everything from there.  They pass the risk on to you, give your work away for items for resale in the standard license, and don't police their site for infringements (and don't care).

http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/creativemarket-com-any-thoughts/ (http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/creativemarket-com-any-thoughts/)
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: angelawaye on December 20, 2016, 09:36
Be aware if you are a US citizen they include "their" share in your MISC 1099 - So their money is reported on your gross sales even though you never see it.

I left them because of that - same with PhotoDune.

Also, watch out for the licensing they generously give. Set the price high to make it worth it.
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on December 20, 2016, 12:13
I likewise had started selling there, but left over their change of license terms - to include resale rights in a standard license. I had departed PhotoDune over the ridiculous changes in income reporting - you are credited with "income" that you never saw on their IRS reporting, so if I hadn't left over the license change terms, I'd have left over the tax reporting :)

And if I hadn't left over either of those two situations, the recent mess over removal of stolen content being sold on Creative Market would have probably done it

http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/copyright-infringement-by-'claus40'/msg472586/#msg472586 (http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/copyright-infringement-by-'claus40'/msg472586/#msg472586)

These "marketplaces",  the worst of which is Fiverr, make their money on a sale and don't really care about the details. I liked the ability to sell Photoshop files which offered a totally different set of options for buyers, but Creative Market isn't the place to do it, IMO
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: Artist on December 21, 2016, 01:30
I removed everything from there.  They pass the risk on to you, give your work away for items for resale in the standard license, and don't police their site for infringements (and don't care).

[url]http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/creativemarket-com-any-thoughts/[/url] ([url]http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/creativemarket-com-any-thoughts/[/url])


wow, resale rights, this is enough for not joining. And this also shows how companies think of contributors and their terms.
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: Pixart on December 21, 2016, 15:01
I'm pretty annoyed right now from the other side at them.... went to buy a $39 vector and although I could put it on my credit card, if I want to use the cash in my Paypal account I have to buy credits that I'm sure will expire before I could ever use.  So it will cost $50 U.S. or $69 Cdn.  if I want to pay cash.  No thanks!
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: Karimala on December 21, 2016, 17:59
I'm pretty annoyed right now from the other side at them.... went to buy a $39 vector and although I could put it on my credit card, if I want to use the cash in my Paypal account I have to buy credits that I'm sure will expire before I could ever use.  So it will cost $50 U.S. or $69 Cdn.  if I want to pay cash.  No thanks!

I just use my Paypal debit card for purchases on Creativemarket. Never had a problem or been required to purchase credits.
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: EmberMike on December 21, 2016, 20:19
Be aware if you are a US citizen they include "their" share in your MISC 1099 - So their money is reported on your gross sales even though you never see it.

Is that a new policy? My 1099 last year didn't reflect that, just the actual money I earned from sales.

...I left them because of that - same with PhotoDune...

To be fair, their policies are not at all like Envato's. I have some issues with how CM reports earnings, but their minor issues compared to how Envato regards each and every sale as a transaction directly between the buyer and seller. I don't fault anyone for leaving a company because of tax policy. But I think it's worth pointing out that CM and Envato are not at all alike in this regard.

CM isn't perfect but they're my #2 earner every month, not far behind Shutterstock. I'm happy to accept some of their flaws in exchange for really good earnings and an extremely fair 70% royalty rate.
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: angelawaye on December 22, 2016, 20:55
Q. Why did Creative Market report the gross and not the net on my 1099-MISC?

A. US federal income tax law requires that Creative Market report the royalties earned by Shop Owners, as the gross amount (i.e., prior to reduction for the fees charged by Creative Market). Our legal counsel instructed that this is the proper method of reporting. Please note that we are unable to comment on the operations of other businesses that may or may not do this differently.

Just make sure you know for this year.

https://creativemarket1.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/217900638-Tax-FAQ-for-US-Shop-Owners

Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: photoboxer on December 25, 2016, 19:57
Horrible support and work with. stoppped uploading.
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: EmberMike on December 26, 2016, 11:51
Q. Why did Creative Market report the gross and not the net on my 1099-MISC?

A. US federal income tax law requires that Creative Market report the royalties earned by Shop Owners, as the gross amount (i.e., prior to reduction for the fees charged by Creative Market). Our legal counsel instructed that this is the proper method of reporting. Please note that we are unable to comment on the operations of other businesses that may or may not do this differently.

Just make sure you know for this year.

https://creativemarket1.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/217900638-Tax-FAQ-for-US-Shop-Owners

That's still very different than what Envato does. At least in that kind of reporting I can pretty easily resolve the tax reporting issues. Envato treats every sale as a direct transaction between the buyer and the contributor, and creates invoices for each sale on behalf of the contributor. It's a tax reporting nightmare. At least what CM is doing still maintains the traditional relationship between agency and contributor in which the only reported transactions we need to concern ourselves with are those between the company and ourselves.

It's not ideal, for sure. But it's easy enough to work around it. Certainly worth the trouble considering where CM ranks on my earnings list each month.
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: PedroToledo on December 27, 2016, 04:51
I started there around 2 years ago. The photo sales has dropped a lot since then. With about 300 photos I was getting $100-120/month. This month with 1000 photos I have won $7 :(

Itīs a great place for fonts and photoshop graphic elements, but not for photos, IMO.
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: JaenStock on December 27, 2016, 17:12
CM is an example of how to flood a web and dissolve sales
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: Roberto on December 29, 2016, 07:58

To be fair, their policies are not at all like Envato's. I have some issues with how CM reports earnings, but their minor issues compared to how Envato regards each and every sale as a transaction directly between the buyer and seller. I don't fault anyone for leaving a company because of tax policy. But I think it's worth pointing out that CM and Envato are not at all alike in this regard.

CM isn't perfect but they're my #2 earner every month, not far behind Shutterstock. I'm happy to accept some of their flaws in exchange for really good earnings and an extremely fair 70% royalty rate.

Yes for sure, if we talk about vector market, CM it's a good business with 70% of royalties. About tax policy I can live with it.
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: Brasilnut on May 06, 2018, 14:28
I know this is an old thread, but what has been people's most recent experience at CM?

I've started uploading some on there.

Looking forward to some of your insights.
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: niktol on May 06, 2018, 17:30
meh, stopped uploading long time ago. One of those dying channels. A truly passive income.
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: dpimborough on May 07, 2018, 02:58
Total waste of time
Title: Re: Creativemarket... your experience?
Post by: Tommy on May 09, 2018, 13:19
I know this is an old thread, but what has been people's most recent experience at CM?

I quite like CM, made $90 in the last month and $2,100 in total over the last couple of years.

I seem to have got lucky though compared to others, I had certain images that got 'handpicked' and promoted by their staff, without that it likely would've been a waste of time.

It's mostly the same images that sell with the odd random sale, I don't upload everything there as the upload process is slightly painful, just things that I know have a chance to sell with their customer base.