Author Topic: Buyers Bailing on Istock (Read 390576 times)

Phil · « **Reply #225 on:** September 15, 2010, 16:01 »

Quote from: hawk_eye on September 15, 2010, 12:59

85% profit is not an accurate number. sigh. too bad, leaving takes away your support from many artists in fact.

leaving gives more to the artists. There are some great exclusives but go back through the istock forums, take the view you are an independant and see the snide, derogatory remarks about the independants. 6 indys for each excl, but on the forum it's about 1 to 20 the other way.

personally yaymicro are now offering 20% for referrals thats more than istock are offering me for my own sales.

I'm still yet to see a good reason to support istock in all this.

istock will increase marketing to compensate for royalty loss (yeah right), but that is stealing my customers from other sites where I earn more. Thinkstock was created to go after SS, where I earn more. They get applauded for it, but we get critisiced?

vlad_the_imp · « **Reply #226 on:** September 15, 2010, 16:23 »

Quote

I'll let you know in 9 months how I'm doing as an independent.

Well I wish you luck and hope it's good new to report. I'd like to know how you get on and would be more than happy if it's a success, it will give hope to everyone.

lisafx · « **Reply #227 on:** September 15, 2010, 16:24 »

Seems that some of the buyers really have relocated. Since there has been a big push to get them to try out Stockfresh, I find it interesting that I have had more sales at SF the past three days than I did the previous 6 weeks my portfolio was up there.

Hard to imagine this is just a coincidence.

dgilder · « **Reply #228 on:** September 15, 2010, 20:03 »

WOW, the Agency collection is already hitting iStock. Remember how it wasn't supposed to have things on par with iStock's current collection? Check this one out, and note the prices:

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-14241845-woman-reading-airplane-ticket-outside-of-airport.php

A bunch of images from this photographer just moved through the queue, and I haven't seen much that I would think would qualify for Vetta, let alone a higher price point. Note the new Vetta pricing tops out at 150, this one is 200 just for XXL.

The new 'The Agency' contributor's portfolio link doesn't work yet because the images haven't been indexed. Guess we will find out tomorrow or the day after just how they will fall into the search rankings.

Poor, poor buyers. These are the 'top images' that will be bumped even higher than Vetta in the search results.

dgilder · « **Reply #229 on:** September 15, 2010, 20:05 »

Here are two more:

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-14241908-man-holding-gift.php

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-14156766-beautiful-young-woman-with-shopping-bags.php

OMG iStock, this is what you are pinning your future one?

Phil · « **Reply #230 on:** September 15, 2010, 20:38 »

look at the keywording of the airline ticket one

cathyslife · « **Reply #231 on:** September 15, 2010, 20:48 »

Quote from: hqimages on September 15, 2010, 13:28

Yup, I'm downloading from Stockfresh now.. it's the only good alternative for me anyway.. but it feels good that there is an alternative with similar quality to istock, and better % for uploaders..

Thanks Hilary!

caspixel · « **Reply #232 on:** September 15, 2010, 20:49 »

Another buyer bailing, in case anyone misses it. I think the crap storm is going to hit hurricane force here again soon after a slight reduction to a tropical storm over the past couple days.

I think more painful than the changes themselves was how iSP has tried to pull one over on people by:

- Making the explanation of the changes as confusing as possible (read the original thread)

- Including only positivity in the announcement of the changes, including saying things like most people would not receive less commission, which as evidenced by the vast amount of negative replies, is clearly false.

- Sticking with said positivity in their 2nd thread after a sea of negative response

- Creating this "look what we've done for you people" thread to pat themselves on the back while urging contributors to let their royalty rates get raped.

- Not maintaining a dialogue with this sentiment from their contributors throughout this debacle.

I am not a contributor...I merely came here to buy stock photos, and have spent a decent amount of money here over the past few years. I have never boycotted a business in my entirely life before now. Congratulations, iSP...you are the first! How's it feel to be #1?

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=253522&messageid=4734982

cathyslife · « **Reply #233 on:** September 15, 2010, 20:50 »

Quote from: lisafx on September 15, 2010, 13:01

Quote from: mericsso on September 15, 2010, 12:57
I contribute to iStock for fun. My real job is Art Director at a Canadian Magazine. I'm starting to feel like I'm supporting a big corporation instead of the artists. After I burn up my last batch of credits, I'll be taking my business elsewhere. 85% percent is just too much profit IMO.

Thanks a lot Mericsso! Really appreciate your taking such a principled stand.

I am sure you will find what you need elsewhere, and probably cheaper too

Ditto, thanks for the support, it is most appreciated!

cathyslife · « **Reply #234 on:** September 15, 2010, 20:52 »

Quote from: caspixel on September 15, 2010, 20:49

Another buyer bailing, in case anyone misses it. I think the crap storm is going to hit hurricane force here again soon after a slight reduction to a tropical storm over the past couple days.

I think more painful than the changes themselves was how iSP has tried to pull one over on people by:

- Making the explanation of the changes as confusing as possible (read the original thread)

- Including only positivity in the announcement of the changes, including saying things like most people would not receive less commission, which as evidenced by the vast amount of negative replies, is clearly false.

- Sticking with said positivity in their 2nd thread after a sea of negative response

- Creating this "look what we've done for you people" thread to pat themselves on the back while urging contributors to let their royalty rates get raped.

- Not maintaining a dialogue with this sentiment from their contributors throughout this debacle.

I am not a contributor...I merely came here to buy stock photos, and have spent a decent amount of money here over the past few years. I have never boycotted a business in my entirely life before now. Congratulations, iSP...you are the first! How's it feel to be #1?

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=253522&messageid=4734982

Excellent! I hope you are right about the hurricane and crap storm.

caspixel · « **Reply #235 on:** September 15, 2010, 20:58 »

The initial royalty reduction announcement was handled incredibly poorly, but I think this Agency rollout might trump even that. All I can say is wow to what I'm witnessing. I really didn't think things could get much lower. I bet vector artists are on the edges of their seats to hear what their "good news" is going to be.

caspixel · « **Reply #236 on:** September 16, 2010, 00:28 »

Although its been said many times already, I just have to add: Wow.

As a partner/creative director at a web design firm, I've used and steered numerous client to istock for years. I just added up our invoices and we've spent over $6000 here in the past few years.

However, once our credits run out, we will no longer purchase from istock or any other getty sites. It is insane how the contributors here are being treated, and I cannot in good conscious support a company that abuses its suppliers in these manners.

I urge you all to remember that you have a choice; creating thousands of posts is a good way to let of some steam, but I'd encourage you to spend that effort moving your content to other sites, of which I hope to see and buy your work.

Change, take action, send a message.

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=255782&messageid=4742382

TheDman · « **Reply #237 on:** September 16, 2010, 01:18 »

Quote from: dgilder on September 15, 2010, 20:05

Here are two more:

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-14241908-man-holding-gift.php

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-14156766-beautiful-young-woman-with-shopping-bags.php

OMG iStock, this is what you are pinning your future one?

Proves what I've been saying for years - we at istock are already beating the pants off Getty in the quality department. Sure there's a lot of lower-end stuff to wade through, but that's a small price to pay to avoid having to spend $300 on a single photo, and you can usually find a better quality one to boot.

Xalanx · « **Reply #238 on:** September 16, 2010, 02:26 »

Quote from: dgilder on September 15, 2010, 20:05

Here are two more:

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-14241908-man-holding-gift.php

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-14156766-beautiful-young-woman-with-shopping-bags.php

OMG iStock, this is what you are pinning your future one?

Hahaha, how lame

The one with the woman looks like at least one of the strobes didn't fired

ThomasAmby · « **Reply #239 on:** September 16, 2010, 04:02 »

Just added the last four comments posted in here. I've been busy with a client the last couple of days and I'm finding it hard to keep track of all the relevant buyer comments. Probably missed a lot already.
But please, keep them coming. Post it in here whenever you see one.

iclick · « **Reply #240 on:** September 16, 2010, 08:09 »

This one just now in the "We the undersigned vote of no confidence" thread Lisa

Quote: "name removed Contributer and buyer (2800 files purchased so far)"

caspixel · « **Reply #241 on:** September 16, 2010, 08:58 »

I just got a mail from a friend who always purchased his pictures here, saying that he've had enough and will go elsewhere next time.

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=253522&messageid=4746452

lisafx · « **Reply #242 on:** September 16, 2010, 09:25 »

Thanks a lot Carolynne, for posting these! You deserve credit as both and ethical buyer and as someone who has always advocated for fairness for both buyers and sellers.

Thanks, Thomas for keeping your post updated. Glad you were able to get away for a couple of days and get some real work done. More than I have managed since this fiasco started....

And yeah, those Agency images are just horrible. Complete embarrassment. The buyers that don't know or care about the contributor situation will surely start leaving when they see that crap cluttering up the searches

ThomasAmby · « **Reply #243 on:** September 16, 2010, 09:35 »

Quote from: lisafx on September 16, 2010, 09:25

Thanks, Thomas for keeping your post updated. Glad you were able to get away for a couple of days and get some real work done. More than I have managed since this fiasco started....

Believe me, it was a big struggle to get started but we agreed upon a deadline before all of this mess. I even had to postpone it with three days and give a discount because my thoughts were elsewhere (and still are)

cthoman · « **Reply #244 on:** September 16, 2010, 09:46 »

Quote from: hawk_eye on September 15, 2010, 12:59

85% profit is not an accurate number. sigh. too bad, leaving takes away your support from many artists in fact.

You're right it's not. I assume IS has some average that they are trying to achieve. My guess would be somewhere between 20-25%. I assume if enough independents leave to mess up their ratio, they'll have to come back and lower exclusives' portion again. Whatever that target number is somebody has to suffer to help them hit it. Right now, it's mostly independents, but exclusives may have to carry the weight in the future.

lisafx · « **Reply #245 on:** September 16, 2010, 15:19 »

Another buyer leaving, posted here in the Istock thread:

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=253522&messageid=4746452

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #246 on:** September 16, 2010, 15:45 »

They're offering 10% off prices for minimum 50 credit packs for the next week as an apology for today's outage. Is that normal? Or is it a sign of other concerns?

lisafx · « **Reply #247 on:** September 16, 2010, 16:18 »

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on September 16, 2010, 15:45

They're offering 10% off prices for minimum 50 credit packs for the next week as an apology for today's outage. Is that normal? Or is it a sign of other concerns?

You bet it is!

But of course what concerns me is that this is a discount we contributors will be paying for. Once again we get to eat Istock's mistakes.

gostwyck · « **Reply #248 on:** September 16, 2010, 16:24 »

Quote from: lisafx on September 16, 2010, 16:18

Once again we get to eat Istock's mistakes.

Istock? Mistakes? When?

caspixel · « **Reply #249 on:** September 16, 2010, 18:27 »

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on September 16, 2010, 15:45

They're offering 10% off prices for minimum 50 credit packs for the next week as an apology for today's outage. Is that normal? Or is it a sign of other concerns?

If you read the fine print, that expired in July...or was there yet another outage where they changed the message, because this is the one I saw: To reward your patience, get 15% off your next purchase of 50 credits or more next time you visit by using promo code UPGRADE. But use it fast — it's only good for a little while (offer expires July 10, 2010).

In other news, I was just discussing stock photos with a colleague and told her I am phasing out iStock as my stock site and gave her the names a couple other sites. She said she did not know they existed, but was relieved to know there are others out there, because she is seeing all the Vetta images and was beginning to get outraged about the prices. And then I told her about the commission fiasco and she was appalled. She is no longer going to be shopping at iStock.

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Author Topic: Buyers Bailing on Istock (Read 390576 times)

Phil

vlad_the_imp

lisafx

dgilder

dgilder

Phil

cathyslife

caspixel

cathyslife

cathyslife

caspixel

caspixel

TheDman

Xalanx

ThomasAmby

iclick

caspixel

lisafx

ThomasAmby

cthoman

lisafx

BaldricksTrousers

lisafx

gostwyck

caspixel

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