It is with deep regret we must announce Zymmetrical is closed. The stock industry and the economy in general are a hard situation these days, and we have made the difficult decision to close the operation, preserving our health and future potential.

We met a lot of friendly image producers & agents who are doing great things and working hard in these turbulent times. Sales were up, business systems were finally getting stable and fast, but you need to know when to fold. When your job is not making you happy any more then it's one of those times - and what makes us happy is creatives getting properly paid for the output they produce, in a sustainable way.

All content on Zymmetrical will be securely deleted from the system, with the same attention to detail and respect for Artists that we exhibited throughout the short life of Zymmetrical. Flyerstarter Services Ltd. will carry on growing at our original site, Flyerstarter.com. Vector designers are strongly encouraged to have a look, if you are already had a Zymmetrical account you can login with those credentials. Business is booming and we have some great new features coming online.

Keith Tuomi will continue leading Flyerstarter.
Paul Melcher can continue to be found saying it like it is on his blog.

I would personally like to express eternal thanks to everyone who participated, your patience and understanding is truly appreciated.

A special note here to thank Tyler (Leaf) for creating and maintaining the MSG Community.

Sincerely,
Keith Tuomi
Director, Flyerstarter Services Ltd.

Very sorry to hear that!

Good luck Keith, stay in touch, wherever you might be.

(slightly disgruntled since I uploaded a bunch of new full-size shots 2 days ago and lost an hour on it - but that's life)

Yes sorry to hear that Keith, I hope you continue to contribute here.

Altough I quit last year I really thought Zym had fair chance to survive this crisis.
Good luck in what ever you gonna do.   

I didn't upload to Zymmetrical but sorry to hear that 
good luck!

That news really made me sad. Good luck in the future Keith. You deserve it.

Wow, saw my "final payout" and came here to see any news.

Sorry to see Zymm go, and nicely suprised with the decency in paying us. Thanks and all the best.

Very sorry to see Zymmetrical go!  I admire Keith and I'm sorry that he has had to make a choice like this.  Hopefully Flyerstarter will explode (in a good way) now that he doesn't have to split his time between the two agencies.  

I received my final payout this morning without requesting it, so it looks like they are closing shop the right way.  

Isn't it troubling that micro has become a 4-site show and there is very little room for a new player to elbow into the game?

Quote from: Pixart on December 30, 2009, 18:22Isn't it troubling that micro has become a 4-site show and there is very little room for a new player to elbow into the game?

Photos are sold too cheap. I got an IM yesterday from a friend in Manila telling me he saw a photo-travel book on the shelves about the Philippines (he forgot the name) with at least 10 landmark/landscape shots of me in it. The credit was for "ShutterStock".
He thought I was rich by now and we could have a nice diner the next time I was there. I didn't have the guts to tell him I probably made 3.3-3.6$ on those shots. Maybe enough for 2 coffees in a cheap joint.

With about 200 usable CR2s on my disk, I just closed photoshop and I'm going to watch some movies instead. The Zymm and the Featurepics concept didn't make it. The future belongs to the 0.20$ or 15p sites. That's great, but not with me.

Quote from: FD-amateur on December 30, 2009, 18:53

Photos are sold too cheap. The future belongs to the 0.20$ or 15p sites. That's great, but not with me.

God you are so right buddy!
As I see my pictures on the covers of books I have that feeling that many would call "rip-off" but we accepted being part of this system. In the end they market us, sell our works and give us a good exposure: this has a cost anyway.
At least the editor should have a good coscience to credit the ARTIST and not the agency... sheees!

Quote from: Giuseppe Parisi on December 30, 2009, 19:02At least the editor should have a good coscience to credit the ARTIST and not the agency... sheees!

iStock for instance does it. And I can't be 100% sure since I didn't see the book myself. But prices are getting too low in general, considering the work it takes to make a shot presentable, and all "new" sites we see emerging now are playing on the price-competition field. The good sites like Zymm go down, and some other ones will follow. Honestly, I had more fun at DeviantArt 5 years ago, even if it was free. I kept a few good friends from that period.

I see what you mean and I agree.
That act is that what makes agencies go on are the buyers and they all want the best at the lowest price, who can blame them?
I'm not wishing that the sales revenues went ridiculously high but it would be much better if they raised the $0.20-0.30 limit to $1.00 per download.

Quote from: FD-amateur on December 30, 2009, 19:16

Quote from: Giuseppe Parisi on December 30, 2009, 19:02At least the editor should have a good coscience to credit the ARTIST and not the agency... sheees!

iStock for instance does it. And I can't be 100% sure since I didn't see the book myself. But prices are getting too low in general, considering the work it takes to make a shot presentable, and all "new" sites we see emerging now are playing on the price-competition field. The good sites like Zymm go down, and some other ones will follow. Honestly, I had more fun at DeviantArt 5 years ago, even if it was free. I kept a few good friends from that period.

sorry to see Zymm lost their fight , which like PhotoShelter, was all in good faith ...FOR THE CONTRIBUTORS.
I agree with FD in that the sites that truly want to give us what we deserve will all die a horrible and quick demise, with only the "peanut vendors" thriving.
But all in all, we the photographers , are responsible for that. We shoot ourselves in the foot
when we opt in for the sites that offers to give us less and less for our hard work.

If everyone says enough is enough, sites like Zymm would not be saying goodbye so soon.
But, who among us have the gall to lead the battle of saying enough is enough, hmm???

I am both sorry and surprised to see Zymmetrical go. They were one of the "new" sites I had the most hope in. I wish Keith much success in his future business.

Good luck to Keith and all the Zymmetrical team.  I enjoyed being paid 70% while it lasted, especially for those $100 EL sales.  It is a shame we can't work together to keep the site going but I can understand why you have reached your decision.  It is going to be very tough for any sites to get a decent slice of the market now.  I still hope one site that pays us a decent commission and doesn't have to keep giving more profits to its investors will make it one day.

Many thanks for the final payout guys. All the best for the future

Very sorry to hear the news. I have really believed in Zymmetrical since its start. Good luck Keith and thank you for all your help!

Quote from: Perseu on December 30, 2009, 21:19
But, who among us have the gall to lead the battle of saying enough is enough, hmm???

I think maybe that's happening, just not all at once.  During the year I've been doing (a little) microstock and watching this forum, I've noticed increasing discouragement. Hardly anyone draws the line, says "I'm out" and closes their microstock accounts; but I suspect that many contributors are just submitting fewer and fewer photos as time goes by.  Unless your subject matter can generate big numbers of sales, the return just isn't there.  So we slowly turn our interest to other things.

Very sorry to hear this Keith. Thanks for all your help! Stay in touch!

Quote from: stockastic on December 31, 2009, 03:51

Quote from: Perseu on December 30, 2009, 21:19
But, who among us have the gall to lead the battle of saying enough is enough, hmm???

I think maybe that's happening, just not all at once.  During the year I've been doing (a little) microstock and watching this forum, I've noticed increasing discouragement. Hardly anyone draws the line, says "I'm out" and closes their microstock accounts; but I suspect that many contributors are just submitting fewer and fewer photos as time goes by.  Unless your subject matter can generate big numbers of sales, the return just isn't there.  So we slowly turn our interest to other things.

Hasn't the number of new images being submitted to the sites increased this year?  I think we see a lot of people complaining here but it looks like there are much more that are uploading more than they ever have.  It is easy to get a false impression, I am sure that people are more likely to post about how bad their sales are than brag about how well they are doing.  I hope it tails off in 2010, less competition would be good.

What is with small amounts like mine 18,90 $, should I get it on my Payoneer account or what?

I had closed my account months ago, but sorry to hear that.
Good luck!

Keith, Very sorry to see Zymmetrical closing. Good luck for your future and thank you for the last payout.

What a shame, sorry to hear that Keith. I wish you all the best in your upcoming ventures!
take care
Laurent