MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => GLStock => Topic started by: Beppe Grillo on April 28, 2014, 02:52
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Few time ago I wrote this http://www.microstockgroup.com/21769/21769/msg362398/#msg362398 (http://www.microstockgroup.com/21769/21769/msg362398/#msg362398)
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Today, looking better my statistics, it appears that every 8 hours I earn the same money on Shutterstock than in one year with Graphic Leftovers!!…
So… I decided to stop to upload more until I will not see some increment in sales on this site.
What is the situation for other users? How are your sales there?
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I quit there last year and removed my entire portfolio due to very low sales. I got loads of image flames but that made no difference to the saleability of my images.
I don't think they get much traffic and were complaining last year that the changes to the Google Image Search hit them very hard indeed. If I remember they laid quite a few staff off as a result of that development.
If my memory serves me correctly Sean Locke uploaded some images onto their site, maybe he could shed some light on his successes there, as far as I know he's still there but there again he may have quit too.
EDIT***
Sean Locke appears to be still there, he has a portfolio of around 2,600 images.
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I don't sell a lot but
A) easy uploading system
B) good royalty percentage
C) artist friendly people
So it doesn't cost me much to keep them in my list for agencies to upload to.
Why should I stop (or even remove my images) from an agency unless it takes steps that are against my interest as a contributor?
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Sean Locke appears to be still there, he has a portfolio of around 2,600 images.
and the last ones from April 18th
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100% of nothing, working with friendly people, spending little time, still means 0 dollar and time wasted.
I've quit them. Its business, I dont care if they are friendly people. Sell images is all they need to do, if they dont sell, its not worth a second of my time.
This is entirely my personal opinion. I am not directing my comment at anyone, just my thoughts on the OP.
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Only 500 images there and 12 sales during a year. The reason why downloading tends to remain, it's 20 images day limit. Why not 100-150 on one week or so?
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The daily limit confuses me and I seem to lose files if I upload too many no sales for ages - on backburner
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I don't upload to GL stock any more but I haven't removed my images. There are occasional sales and they haven't done anything bad (that I'm aware of) so I'm inclined to just leave my existing files there.
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I've had 5 sales at GL this year. Right now I'm $2 from a payout.
At Alamy, I've had exactly 1 sale all year. And Alamy's payment threshold is still $175, right? I might as well close my account because it looks like I'll be dead before I get another payout.
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I don't upload to GL stock any more but I haven't removed my images. There are occasional sales and they haven't done anything bad (that I'm aware of) so I'm inclined to just leave my existing files there.
Unfortunately, they just haven't gotten the sales I had hoped for. I know Kelly mentioned there was some new blood there that was going to help things move. However, the upload is just so darn easy, I don't mind sending more content.
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I've had 5 sales at GL this year. Right now I'm $2 from a payout.
At Alamy, I've had exactly 1 sale all year. And Alamy's payment threshold is still $175, right? I might as well close my account because it looks like I'll be dead before I get another payout.
You could always try exercising and eating right. ;)
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Alamy's payment threshold is still $175, right?
No, Alamy reduced payout threshold to $75 a while back.
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Alamy's payment threshold is still $175, right?
No, Alamy reduced payout threshold to $75 a while back.
Ok, thanks. So I won't be dead, just in assisted living.
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I've had one sale this year and a total of 26 sales since 2010. Earnings stand at $45.76. I'm not uploading any longer and just waiting till I hit payout ($50.00?) before closing my account.
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"Give me some reasons to continue to upload to them"
I don't see any reasons not to.
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"Give me some reasons to continue to upload to them"
I don't see any reasons not to.
Good for you…
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Shutterstock is the best for downloads, but last year they locked my account because of an image I uploaded. My account was locked for seven days. That is when I started uploading to more sites because I wanted more options than Shutterstock. Stock Agencies are like girl-friends, one can never have too many.
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Stock Agencies are like girl-friends, one can never have too many.
I agree on have several microstock companies at a time but prefer to have only one girlfriend that I can trust and love at a time which I do now and I even married her 8)
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...Stock Agencies are like girl-friends, one can never have too many.
I don't have any girlfriends - and one husband is plenty :)
I had a surprisingly good May at GL Stock - still low earner but it was nice to see a bit more activity than over the last 6 months. I'm not uploading new stuff, but I might review that if the additional sales activity is sustained.
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The easiest upload process in the business and 52% commissions are enough to keep them on the upload list for me. I had stopped uploading there for a while due to almost no sales but started again because sales picked up for me in May as well - more than the previous year combined. If others are reporting a similar uptick then hopefully something has changed. Everybody always complains about low commissions but then they don't want to support sites with low sales. GL is one that clearly has thought about how to make it very easy for contributors and also pays a majority of sales in commissions, with OK image prices and no subs. Additional time to upload there is just what it takes to open a bookmark in Cyberduck and drag over the image icons - literally five seconds or less per batch. This is the kind of agency we should be supporting regardless of sales - even if I never get to a payout there at least I can feel good about it instead of just complaining about every other site. Not worth making images just for them, but since the images are created anyway for other sites it is definitely worth the additional 5 minutes or less per year it takes me to upload to GL.
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The easiest upload process in the business and 52% commissions are enough to keep them on the upload list for me...
Agreed. With so many companies doing wrong by contributors, it's pretty painless to keep supporting one that is doing right, even if sales there are dismal. We can at least hope that things eventually pick up.
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The easiest upload process in the business and 52% commissions are enough to keep them on the upload list for me...
Agreed. With so many companies doing wrong by contributors, it's pretty painless to keep supporting one that is doing right, even if sales there are dismal. We can at least hope that things eventually pick up.
Or we could help it pick up... if every submitter posted a tweet or facebook like it may help. Let's support the good guys.
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I don't sell a lot but
A) easy uploading system
B) good royalty percentage
C) artist friendly people
So it doesn't cost me much to keep them in my list for agencies to upload to.
Why should I stop (or even remove my images) from an agency unless it takes steps that are against my interest as a contributor?
I agree with the reasons above. I'll add that having a larger selection of images helps attract and retain buyers too. About 18 months ago I was searching for a specific image for a promotional card I was putting together for my husband's business. I searched GL and Stockfresh first but couldn't find a suitable image. Ended up buying from Bigstock. Did a search on the same keyword last night and saw a much bigger selection with several that would have worked. I just logged in a few months ago to see a nice sale paying $44.20 - pretty good incentive to add more images if I can start getting more of those.
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The easiest upload process in the business and 52% commissions are enough to keep them on the upload list for me...
Agreed. With so many companies doing wrong by contributors, it's pretty painless to keep supporting one that is doing right, even if sales there are dismal. We can at least hope that things eventually pick up.
Or we could help it pick up... if every submitter posted a tweet or facebook like it may help. Let's support the good guys.
Attractive website, easy upload and one of the best royalty rates.
Doesn't make sense to only bash the "bad guys" without supporting the "good guys"! There are still a few "good guys" but if they disappear because of the lack of support, our options will become extremely limited. Continuing to upload to GL amounts to a positive push back against the nastiness elsewhere.
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I like to upload their since I know their standards are high and like to see I my images make the grade...
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We keep complaining about unfair treatment yet we do not support those who deserve it. Sure we upload a few and then give up after having no sales. Do you really expect GL to have a chance in the market if we upload the same work to other agencies at a much lower price?
Here is what we should do to give this a proper tryout. For a period of time, one month or more, upload only to GL and promote your latest work in social media as mentioned before, we have to drive customers to GL to make this work. Same as with symbiostock but GL has the advantage being an established agency.
This doesn't mean we should give up on those agencies who currently provide food on our table but we can gradually move into agencies with better conditions making sure the clients will follow by selectively uploading or promoting those who truly deserve it (stocksy is a good example in the midstock market)
For those not familiar with GL here is a quote from their website:
Fair Trade Contributor Site
Valuing the Work of Others
GL Stock Images understands how much time and dedication our contributors invest into every image, so we feel they should be compensated fairly for their efforts. All GL contributors receive 52% of each sale including extended licenses.
We value the work of our contributors, so we hope you’ll appreciate our higher earning structure to benefit our contributors, because without their talents and creativity we would cease to exist.
I am not affiliated with GL nor do I make regular sales there but I expect nothing more since I upload the same work elsewhere. We can only make this work if we stick together one more time. A few individuals cannot make a difference. Or we can drop our pants, bend over and go back to what we are accustomed to.
Either way, my respect goes out to each and every one. It is a shame to see so much fighting amongst us contributors while we should in fact be a tight group.
I can only hope that some day Tyler and other talented people here with experience in the field (design, coding, marketing, etc) will transform this forum into a fair trade agency. Now that would be something!
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I keep uploading. My uploading process is automated, so all it costs me to send images to GL is some bandwidth. Sales are very low, but I want to give them a chance.
The only problem is their daily limit. If I exceed it, all images above the limit are automatically rejected. There's no notification or anything, they just go to rejected and if I want to re-upload them, I would have to find out which images were rejected and upload those again a day later... which is something I can't be bothered to do for almost-zero profit, so they're just losing those images. This upload limit seems completely pointless to me.
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Upload is easy, they pay fairly well when there's a sale. I trust them so far and as agencies die like I predict FT will, someone will pick up their customers. Maybe GL will snag a few, get some traction and if/when they do my work will be there. However, my position wouldn't be this if their behaviors were like some other agencies we no longer trust. I feel the same way about StockFresh and Pond 5. But if * happens I will pull my port fast.
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I was unfamiliar with GL, so I took a look. $1-$6 per image means I'd make .50-$3/sale. That's more or less what I make per sale at Shutterstock, and I make a lot of sales there.
I understand about wanting to support sites that pay fairer royalties. But if you need to tweet and Facebook to help sites that give you a fair percentage, why not just start your own Symbiostock or other site and use your twitter and Facebook time promoting that? Then if you get six sales a year you make 97%, and you can charge higher prices if you like.
Right now I see the decision being to go with the big guys and get a smaller percentage, or build my own site and get it all if I'm only gonna make a few sales per year.
I suspect the reason iS and SS are more successful is because they take that extra money and pour it into marketing. Not that I wouldn't mind them giving me more money, of course.
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I was unfamiliar with GL, so I took a look. $1-$6 per image means I'd make .50-$3/sale. That's more or less what I make per sale at ...
Same here. I didn't know GL, after all this enthusiasm here I took a look at their prices and... sorry, not interested. I closed my many micro accounts lately (last year) because of that low prices. I'd like to see any reason why should I come back to selling images for so cheap. We talk about RF licese, not one usage of (extra - web) small size, right?
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I was unfamiliar with GL, so I took a look. $1-$6 per image means I'd make .50-$3/sale. That's more or less what I make per sale at ...
Same here. I didn't know GL, after all this enthusiasm here I took a look at their prices and... sorry, not interested. I closed my many micro accounts lately (last year) because of that low prices. I'd like to see any reason why should I come back to selling images for so cheap. We talk about RF licese, not one usage of (extra - web) small size, right?
it defaults to $6. You can change that to $15. All of my images are set at $15.
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I was unfamiliar with GL, so I took a look. $1-$6 per image means I'd make .50-$3/sale. That's more or less what I make per sale at Shutterstock, and I make a lot of sales there.
I understand about wanting to support sites that pay fairer royalties. But if you need to tweet and Facebook to help sites that give you a fair percentage, why not just start your own Symbiostock or other site and use your twitter and Facebook time promoting that? Then if you get six sales a year you make 97%, and you can charge higher prices if you like.
Right now I see the decision being to go with the big guys and get a smaller percentage, or build my own site and get it all if I'm only gonna make a few sales per year.
I suspect the reason iS and SS are more successful is because they take that extra money and pour it into marketing. Not that I wouldn't mind them giving me more money, of course.
Too bad we are not sharing in their success ;)
Here are some details from GL:
Account Settings, each 3 options:
- Portfolio Price: $6 / $10 / $15
- Portfolio License: Standard License only / Standard and Merchandise Licenses / Standard, Merchandise and Ultimate Licenses
As mentioned before we only get a few sales on GL because our work is available elsewhere and much cheaper. GL lacks the promotion which is why we have to help out a little. It is a very small agency compared to SS/IS so I do think the higher royalty rate/price is worth the extra effort here. It's a bit unrealistic to expect SS/IS volume sales right after joining them. This has to be built up, just like Stocksy or Symbio but GL has the advantage of being known already so it can grow at a much faster rate. Other small agencies do not have that advantage.
Well at least we know fair agencies do exist out there but that they don't have to count on our support. We'll keep supporting the top/middle tiers and get back to complaining about the downward trend in microstock, soon to be called freestock.
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My prediction is that before the year is out, SS will make some sort of 'exciting announcement' that will amount to a significant giveaway scheme, a thinly disguised royalty cut or some other really bad news. It will be a sign that the future at SS means less and less money for more and more photos. If that happens, I'll pull the plug. The money I make from microstock is barely enough to be fun, and it no longer motivates me to do new work. I'll just close my account at SS and forget about them.
Alamy totally died for me this year so I'll probably close that account too.
That will leave me with just DT and GL. DT has yet to really p!ss me off, but I'm pretty sure that if SS drops a bomb they'll follow in time.
I think eventually I'll only sell my stock photos through GL. Maybe, after enough time, this trend will continue and they'll start to get some market presence.
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My prediction is that before the year is out, SS will make some sort of 'exciting announcement' that will amount to a significant giveaway scheme, a thinly disguised royalty cut or some other really bad news. It will be a sign that the future at SS means less and less money for more and more photos. If that happens, I'll pull the plug. The money I make from microstock is barely enough to be fun, and it no longer motivates me to do new work. I'll just close my account at SS and forget about them.
Alamy totally died for me this year so I'll probably close that account too.
That will leave me with just DT and GL. DT has yet to really p!ss me off, but I'm pretty sure that if SS drops a bomb they'll follow in time.
I think eventually I'll only sell my stock photos through GL. Maybe, after enough time, this trend will continue and they'll start to get some market presence.
Perhaps, but it seems unlikely based on their history. They seem to be seeking ways to increase earnings for themselves and their contributors, by introducing options that either pay higher royalties or the same royalties for smaller-sized images (a la the Facebook deal).
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For all you GL naysayers out there, I made $6.76 in May. ;D ;D
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Give me some reasons to continue to upload to them?
Sorry, no reason!