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Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: JetCityImage on September 19, 2019, 14:32

Title: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: JetCityImage on September 19, 2019, 14:32
91 refunds.

Just shaking my head.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Brasilnut on September 19, 2019, 14:43
Pure disaster. 22cents/download.

Congrats on the Turd of the Month Agency nomination!
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Sebastian Radu on September 19, 2019, 14:43
91 refunds.

Just shaking my head.

33 refunds also here !!!!! Worst month in the last years (3y +...) !!!!!!!!!

I'm wandering if it's worth it....

Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on September 19, 2019, 14:56
I have only a tiny fraction of my portfolio at iStock any more (about 100 images I can't license anywhere else) but I haven't seen negative bars on the earnings chart since Getty switched to ESP.

But even with that tiny portfolio, the geniuses at Canva managed to process two refunds!! 

I don't know any more than the PDF statement details, but I find it more than a little odd that in both cases, the earlier sale that was refunded was followed by one for the same image at a lower price - although with in one case months (29 May to 5 Aug) between the two.

I don't know who I loathe more, Getty or Canva :)
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: stephano on September 19, 2019, 15:01
Me too. 45 refunds from -2.23$ to -0.01$. Can't understand that it is possible to get a refund for such small amounts. Looks like I'm a masochist  >:(
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Uncle Pete on September 19, 2019, 15:10
Is that what these are? Kind of strange as I haven' seen this before.

-0.07$    2    iStockphoto    PHOTO
-0.07$    2    iStockphoto    PHOTO
-0.25$    2    iStockphoto    PHOTO
-0.60$    12    iStockphoto    PHOTO

So I earned a minus .60 or there were 12 downloads, at .05 which were all returned? What I see is the refunds are more than the credits, which means I'm paying to let people use my images, which is worse than free!  >:(

I guess for me, the point of, I'll let the uploads ride and take what I get, has become a liability and I should just close down. I won't miss the $70 a year, but honestly how bad can this get before I say, OK I've had enough abuse and leave a bad relationship.

Something is terribly wrong!


Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: philopenshaw on September 19, 2019, 15:14
Are you all getting these from Australia? It's canva isn't it?
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: JustAnImage on September 19, 2019, 15:22
IStock/Getty is a joke
- 42.8% of my downloads are 'RF image' - all of them from australia
- after refunds total earnings are $3.14

And to make it complete, i got this email from getty:
"We’ve noticed a trend in your account—when uploading files, there appears to be a significant number of duplicates or files that are too similar to each other."
-> Submission limit 50 images a week

A question, maybe someone knows:
Do i get my money, if i close my account and did not reach the payout limit?

Thanks
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: dino on September 19, 2019, 15:24
Lots of refunds too! Yes, they seem to be from Australia.

Can someone explain this?
(CALIFORNIA)   0.00   Mar-2019   31-Dec-2018   Fixed Usage Fee       iStockphoto

Seen it in many photo stats ... 0.00  :o


RPD 0.12$
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: avr001 on September 19, 2019, 15:29
38 refunds  >:( all from Australia
0.32 average this month

Very sad  :(
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on September 19, 2019, 15:33
...A question, maybe someone knows:
Do i get my money, if i close my account and did not reach the payout limit?

You should check with support (who may or may not reply promptly) but I think you will not. Most of the sites will hang onto money below the payout threshold.

Although (gallows humor) if they keep going at this rate, you'll get enough refunds that you may be able to leave with a zero balance :) (Sorry! I know it's not funny that these agencies behave so badly, and it's our money they're playing around with...)
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: JetCityImage on September 19, 2019, 15:34
It looks like all the images bought from Australia were purchased for an amount, refunded, and bought at a lower price. Crappy, but not fatal, I guess.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: leremy on September 19, 2019, 15:41
iStock August 2019. Lowest earnings since... maybe in the past 5 years. iStock is the only agency that is steadily declining.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Brasilnut on September 19, 2019, 15:44
Australia = Canva???  ::)
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: philopenshaw on September 19, 2019, 15:47
Australia = Canva???  ::)

Seems to be..
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on September 19, 2019, 15:48
Australia = Canva???  ::)

If you download a PDF version of your statement, it'll say specifically what is Canva
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: JustAnImage on September 19, 2019, 15:56
You should check with support (who may or may not reply promptly) but I think you will not. Most of the sites will hang onto money below the payout threshold.

Although (gallows humor) if they keep going at this rate, you'll get enough refunds that you may be able to leave with a zero balance :) (Sorry! I know it's not funny that these agencies behave so badly, and it's our money they're playing around with...)
Thanks for you answer and no need to say sorry for humor - made me laugh ^^

So i will just let the account where it is and wait until i reach the $100 once - just some month away :-)
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: tomn on September 19, 2019, 15:57
Are you all getting these from Australia? It's canva isn't it?

I got a bunch of refunds as well, from Australia (Partner Portal) and I ended up with around $3.60 for the month. I've never seen anything like this before. What's going on?
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: llvllagic on September 19, 2019, 16:00
Are you all getting these from Australia? It's canva isn't it?
yes. It is Canva from Australia for me too. It looks strange. Never got any negative earnings but last month and this month.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Yakystockero on September 19, 2019, 16:15
  Downloads 690 photos sold     RPD 0.06 average   , countless refunds, all from Australia!   what!!!

In July my rpi was 0.43 !!!

I´m going to write to support immediately ...
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: ShadySue on September 19, 2019, 16:27
A question, maybe someone knows:
Do i get my money, if i close my account and did not reach the payout limit?
Yes, unless they've changed that policy recently.
As Jo Anne said, best check with support.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: ShadySue on September 19, 2019, 16:37
Highest number of sales of the year and two good sales meant August was my second top month of 2019 and better than Aug 18 and (narrowly) Aug 17, meaning it was only my third worst Aug since Aug 2007, when I was only exclusive for half of the month. Woo-hoo.
But it is all dependent on getting some decent-value Getty sales, which isn't usual for me nowadays. And it's only 32% of my best August (2011).

One refund from a sale made in January, not connected to these large numbers of Canva refund/resales. (Via DM, I see I've never made a sale via Canva. Is this a record?)

Slightly curious/worried about these two sales on the same file, on the same day, of a file which hasn't sold since April, and not that often before then:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/huj7bp28ytibmna/dichotomy.jpg?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/huj7bp28ytibmna/dichotomy.jpg?dl=0)
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: tomn on September 19, 2019, 16:43
Can anyone help me? I want to contact support and ask them a question but I can't seem to find how. I always end up in their faq section.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: PhotoBomb on September 19, 2019, 16:53
I'd really like for someone to explain this to me.

9 Canva Sales netting me .60 each - all on Aug 22

all corresponding with ...

9 Canva refunds costing me -.86 each  - all on Aug 14
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: stephano on September 19, 2019, 16:55
I quote from Wikipedia about Canva Australia:
'In May 2019, Canva acquired Pexels and Pixabay, two German-based, very prominent and popular free stock photo sites.'

Maybe this is an explanation?
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: ShadySue on September 19, 2019, 16:59
Can anyone help me? I want to contact support and ask them a question but I can't seem to find how. I always end up in their faq section.
Right at the bottom of the FAQ page is their link to 'contact us'.
At this moment, however, ticking on that link leads to an error message:

"Oops! An unexpected error has occurred.
The error may be transient but has been logged. If you continue to encounter problems, you can contact customer support.
Click here to contact customer support."

Hahaha, obviously that link just comes round to the error message again, as the error page is the 'contact cusotmer support' page.
Try later or tomorrow!

Later: now working: https://accountmanagement.gettyimages.com/Help/SupportTicket (https://accountmanagement.gettyimages.com/Help/SupportTicket)
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: charged on September 19, 2019, 17:00
I'd really like for someone to explain this to me.

9 Canva Sales netting me .60 each - all on Aug 22

all corresponding with ...

9 Canva refunds costing me -.86 each  - all on Aug 14

It seems last month Canva negotiated a lower rate that applied retroactively too all sales from all previous months. Hence the large refunds and repurchase at the lower rate. My guess anyway.   
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Mantis on September 19, 2019, 17:30
It's just become laughable.  Made $200.  Exactly 1/2 of last Aug and 30% less than last month.  With a shi t load of refunds. I had 137 refunds.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: trek on September 19, 2019, 17:31
456 Canva entries.  About half are refunds.  Lunacy. 
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: PhotoBomb on September 19, 2019, 20:37
I'd really like for someone to explain this to me.

9 Canva Sales netting me .60 each - all on Aug 22

all corresponding with ...

9 Canva refunds costing me -.86 each  - all on Aug 14


It seems last month Canva negotiated a lower rate that applied retroactively too all sales from all previous months. Hence the large refunds and repurchase at the lower rate. My guess anyway.

Thanks for the explanation but that borders on criminal.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: tomn on September 19, 2019, 21:12
Can anyone help me? I want to contact support and ask them a question but I can't seem to find how. I always end up in their faq section.
Right at the bottom of the FAQ page is their link to 'contact us'.
At this moment, however, ticking on that link leads to an error message:

"Oops! An unexpected error has occurred.
The error may be transient but has been logged. If you continue to encounter problems, you can contact customer support.
Click here to contact customer support."

Hahaha, obviously that link just comes round to the error message again, as the error page is the 'contact cusotmer support' page.
Try later or tomorrow!

Later: now working: https://accountmanagement.gettyimages.com/Help/SupportTicket (https://accountmanagement.gettyimages.com/Help/SupportTicket)

Thanks for your help, but I still can't get anywhere. I must be doing something wrong.  :( I go to that page and choose the "Royalty Statements and Download Counts" category but then from there I can just see some canned answers and I don't see a way to actually send them a message.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: charged on September 19, 2019, 21:54
Can anyone help me? I want to contact support and ask them a question but I can't seem to find how. I always end up in their faq section.
Right at the bottom of the FAQ page is their link to 'contact us'.
At this moment, however, ticking on that link leads to an error message:

"Oops! An unexpected error has occurred.
The error may be transient but has been logged. If you continue to encounter problems, you can contact customer support.
Click here to contact customer support."

Hahaha, obviously that link just comes round to the error message again, as the error page is the 'contact cusotmer support' page.
Try later or tomorrow!

Later: now working: https://accountmanagement.gettyimages.com/Help/SupportTicket (https://accountmanagement.gettyimages.com/Help/SupportTicket)

Thanks for your help, but I still can't get anywhere. I must be doing something wrong.  :( I go to that page and choose the "Royalty Statements and Download Counts" category but then from there I can just see some canned answers and I don't see a way to actually send them a message.

They may or may not read emails at this email address. I have no idea. [email protected].

Or on this link you tried, https://accountmanagement.gettyimages.com/Help/SupportTicket (https://accountmanagement.gettyimages.com/Help/SupportTicket)]https://accountmanagement.gettyimages.com/Help/SupportTicket try submitting your question under Technical/Site Issues.

Or here https://www.gettyimages.com/customer-support (https://www.gettyimages.com/customer-support) and click on email. Though this link is meant for customers and not contributors. 
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on September 19, 2019, 22:02
...I still can't get anywhere. I must be doing something wrong.  :( I go to that page and choose the "Royalty Statements and Download Counts" category but then from there I can just see some canned answers and I don't see a way to actually send them a message.

I just went there to see and they're making it hard to actually send them a ticket. For some of the topics, however, you can (if you wade through the pages of canned advice) get to an entry that says "I've tried all of that and I still can't xxxx". Click "Next" there and you get a support ticket to fill in and send.

I was able to see that from the "Minimum payment amounts & carried forward balances" starting point:

How to download & view a statement in PDF format -> How to see if my payment was carried forward in a PDF royalty statement  ->  Cannot download my royalty statement -> I've tried the above but am still experiencing issues

It's truly shameful that they make it so difficult, but they clearly don't want you to submit a ticket :)

They say they want a full screen capture of your error, but I'd send them anything just so the ticket is complete. You might be able to find another route to a ticket, but I found lots of dead ends where there was no support ticket...
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: marthamarks on September 20, 2019, 00:25
I continue to be delighted — no thrilled!!! — that I bailed out of iStock in 2011. Sometimes it really does pay to go with your gut.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: tätarätä on September 20, 2019, 01:11
Wow !!!
July was really poor. So i didn't expect August will be much better.
So i was real surprised by this good August numbers at istock.
There are alway lots of sales at istock. But sometimes ( or most times)  RPD is very low. This time downloads were better than usual for August and RDP was better than usual for istock.
Didn't expect a good month at istock, but it was.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Stockmaan on September 20, 2019, 01:52
Byee istock  8)
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Pauws99 on September 20, 2019, 01:55
What a let down lots of refunds for me too.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: stockyme on September 20, 2019, 02:23
In my case it says Revenue -2.66 USD

Can anybody explain what happened here? I've 256 downloads but no earning at all?

 :-\
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Travelling-light on September 20, 2019, 02:33
Ouch! We had 426 refunds and 479 sales from Canva, net loss there of $58.42 for the month. Average RPD on iStock from them is down from $0.39 to $0.22 with the new pricing.

Canva turned us down as direct contributors - not the right content for their customers...
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: HalfFull on September 20, 2019, 02:51
Looking at the CSV file, the refunds (for me anyway) date back as far as June 2018. This is not acceptable behaviour and admin saying, "Refunds are part of the business" is completely unacceptable!!!

Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: BaldricksTrousers on September 20, 2019, 03:04
Unbelievable. The worst month since April 2004 (yes, 15.5 years ago). More dodgy shenanigans, opaque pricing and, now, refunds as well.
Can anyone tell me what the proceedure is for telling Getty to shove their business (in the nicest possible way, of course)
No need. I just quit. It's actually quite easy.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: rene on September 20, 2019, 05:23
Many refunds too, all from Canva Australia. Some are comming from 2018 sales !
I sent a ticket.
Btw, sending tickets for a relevent reason is impossible, I had to use an aproximate category.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: suz7 on September 20, 2019, 08:02
I haven't had a refund this month
But I did have a biggish one a while back and it was something that had been sold like 6 months before.
If you buy something in a shop the maximum you get is 30 days normally. How can they do that?
And if people are saying there are refunds over a year ago?
Bonkers.
I'm not uploading to iStock but just leaving the images I have.
It was a particularly good month but this refund malarkey makes me doubt if the money will stay mine!
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Visualab on September 20, 2019, 08:20
they will grab you every last penny if you let them do it...i left this agency 4 years ago with no regrets...
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Dumc on September 20, 2019, 08:58
Not the best, not the worst month here. Second best mont this year, but that doesn't mean, it was good month, it's just, that all other months have been disastreous.

EDIT: 2 refunds here. -0,25$, -0,05$.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: candidcruiser on September 20, 2019, 09:00
Can someone explain this connection with Canva.    Do we get credited with a sale every time our photo sells on Canva.  I didn't think someone could buy your photo and then just resell as part of their collection. 
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Chichikov on September 20, 2019, 09:01
Royalty Free Still -14% ???????????
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: tomn on September 20, 2019, 09:13
So I managed to send them a ticket now. I'm curious what they will say (if anything). I stopped uploading to iStock since they started refusing StockSubmitter submissions but I still have quite a few images there.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: ShadySue on September 20, 2019, 09:29
from info earlier on this thread, on their forum thead and other forums, it seems that iS had a deal with Canva, which was renegociated for a much lower price, and in retrospect!

BTW, this happens with Alamy too: if a buyer reaches a threshold, they can get a reduction applied retrospectively.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: MicroVet on September 20, 2019, 10:44
Around 60 refunds and the worst August since 2007 and a 33% drop from last year. iStock/Getty are just despicable. If I did not depend from stock income solely I would drop them in a heartbeat.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Noedelhap on September 20, 2019, 11:35
No refunds here, just very minimal sales, except for one 'big' credit pack sale.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: MotionDesign on September 20, 2019, 11:48
on istock i have only 50% of my portfolio (about 2700 images and 400 videos),
but i'm around 400/600$ every month (little over 600 on august)...not so bad...
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on September 20, 2019, 15:20
Apparently there were two categories of mistakes made in reporting of Canva sales. The corrections show up as refunds - one person had 500 refunds and another 650...

1. reporting Australian $ sales as US $ amounts

2. Reporting sales at double the actual value

Getty also apparently apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Tossers!
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: charged on September 20, 2019, 15:24
Saw on esp.gettyimages.com just now. Copied and pasted below.

---------------


Update to contributors on spike in returns on August statements.
just now
There were a number of licenses from one of our distribution partners, Canva, that were refunded on the August 2019 royalty statements and then re-reported at a corrected amount. There were two reasons for this:

1. Some Canva licenses of Essentials images were reported using the incorrect currency (USD instead of AUD). These were initially reported on the June 2019 statement, and corrected on the August 2019 statement.

2. Throughout 2018 to July 2019, a number of other Canva licenses were reported incorrectly to us at double the actual revenue. This resulted in an over-payment of royalties to contributors. These were corrected on the August 2019 statement.

In both examples, contributors impacted by this would see the original license removed and the correct relicense amount reported, which will be lower than the original license. All refunds appear in red on the royalty statement.

If you are seeing a number of refunds associated to Canva, we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and for not notifying you in advance. We’re looking to our processes to try to ensure we can avoid this kind of issue in the future.

The Getty Images Contributor Relations Team
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: steheap on September 20, 2019, 15:32
It would be nice if once, just once, they agreed to swallow the mistake between them (Canva and Getty) and keep the contributors whole...

Steve
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: christiano on September 20, 2019, 15:39
Saw on esp.gettyimages.com just now. Copied and pasted below.

---------------


Update to contributors on spike in returns on August statements.
just now
There were a number of licenses from one of our distribution partners, Canva, that were refunded on the August 2019 royalty statements and then re-reported at a corrected amount. There were two reasons for this:

1. Some Canva licenses of Essentials images were reported using the incorrect currency (USD instead of AUD). These were initially reported on the June 2019 statement, and corrected on the August 2019 statement.

2. Throughout 2018 to July 2019, a number of other Canva licenses were reported incorrectly to us at double the actual revenue. This resulted in an over-payment of royalties to contributors. These were corrected on the August 2019 statement.

In both examples, contributors impacted by this would see the original license removed and the correct relicense amount reported, which will be lower than the original license. All refunds appear in red on the royalty statement.

If you are seeing a number of refunds associated to Canva, we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and for not notifying you in advance. We’re looking to our processes to try to ensure we can avoid this kind of issue in the future.

The Getty Images Contributor Relations Team

this is pure BS
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Pauws99 on September 22, 2019, 07:01
It would be nice if once, just once, they agreed to swallow the mistake between them (Canva and Getty) and keep the contributors whole...

Steve
Sadly it just shows where the balance of power lies between the agencies and their suppliers.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Mantis on September 22, 2019, 07:34
It would be nice if once, just once, they agreed to swallow the mistake between them (Canva and Getty) and keep the contributors whole...

Steve
Sadly it just shows where the balance of power lies between the agencies and their suppliers.


Exactly. And their debt is a huge lever. Canva, among others, can pull the puppet strings when Getty is in such debt.  http://press.gettyimages.com/getty-images-completes-equity-investment-and-debt-refinancing-activities/ (http://press.gettyimages.com/getty-images-completes-equity-investment-and-debt-refinancing-activities/) and https://www.ft.com/content/f8f08ae4-b052-11e8-8d14-6f049d06439c. (https://www.ft.com/content/f8f08ae4-b052-11e8-8d14-6f049d06439c.) They are desperate to find something that works, or they just keep trying things until something sticks.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: qunamax on September 22, 2019, 13:49
If that is true, I wonder if the person(s) that made the mistake of USD/AUD got fired or something.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: JetCityImage on September 22, 2019, 14:44
"or something."
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: HughStoneIan on September 22, 2019, 21:13
I only got 6 refunds, so I should feel better than you, right?

And how is it that on shutterstock I never got a single refund in 12 years with mostly the same images?
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: MRommens on September 23, 2019, 06:42
91 refunds.

Just shaking my head.
91 * 0,01 =... :)
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: Microstockphoto on September 23, 2019, 11:22
soon you will all be paying to upload your images...mwuahahahahahaaaaaa

not funny, but that comes to mind seeing these bs accounting practices from the almighty getty. never seen a company with such a poor financial administration and so many errors.
Title: Re: August numbers are out and all I can say is wow.
Post by: fotoVoyager on September 24, 2019, 07:45
soon you will all be paying to upload your images...mwuahahahahahaaaaaa

not funny, but that comes to mind seeing these bs accounting practices from the almighty getty. never seen a company with such a poor financial administration and so many errors.

They've already tried that - 'Photographer's Choice' they called it.