MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: sharpshot on September 25, 2010, 04:53
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Thought it might be interesting to see how many images people here are deactivating on istock in protest at the commission cuts. Just add to the number every time you deactivate images. Here's my first lot.
121
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If I was going to deactivate images I might as well cancel my membership of the site. Dumping non-sellers won't achieve anything and pulling my best sellers which might have a tiny effect on them would destroy my sales (20:80 and all that).
The crucial element in all of this is and always will be the reaction of buyers.
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If The crucial element in all of this is and always will be the reaction of buyers.
... is the right answer. Unfortunately.
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If I was going to deactivate images I might as well cancel my membership of the site. Dumping non-sellers won't achieve anything and pulling my best sellers which might have a tiny effect on them would destroy my sales (20:80 and all that).
The crucial element in all of this is and always will be the reaction of buyers.
I know that, hasn't this all been discussed already in other threads? I still think it would be interesting to see how many images istock have lost from members of microstock group. If you want my reasons for deactivating and not leaving, look in the other threads.
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Thought it might be interesting to see how many images people here are deactivating on istock in protest at the commission cuts. Just add to the number every time you deactivate images. Here's my first lot.
121
There is an easy way to find it out. Go to istockcharts.multimedia.de sort by New Files 30Days and then switch to page 574. That's all ;)
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I am more curious how many people have actually stopped uploading? I did the moment Istock came up with their new politics but whhen I look at portfolios of many concerned critics they still upload images to Istock....
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If The crucial element in all of this is and always will be the reaction of buyers.
... is the right answer. Unfortunately.
+2
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I am more curious how many people have actually stopped uploading? I did the moment iStock came up with their new politics but when I look at portfolios of many concerned critics they still upload images to Istock....
I stopped uploading when I found out about their plan to cut royalties, but I haven't deactivated anything. I think that if most of iStock's contributors stopped uploading, customers would notice the lack of fresh content and shop elsewhere. IMO, spreading the word about iStock's poor treatment of contributors, and stopping all new uploads, are the most effective things we can do to fight back.
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300 plus images on the partner program that I activated the week before the announcement. Every little bit helps.
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I am not uploading for the time being; and I removed 20-30 of old non-selling pics. Not really a protest, but I was considering that for a while and now is a good moment :)
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I haven't deleted any yet, but I've given my notice to drop exclusivity and intend to move on when my commitment is over.
I think that all of the choices come at a cost of some sort.
Best regards to all, in whatever you decide.
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i haven't uploaded since the announcement but I haven't deleted any.
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I've stopped uploading since the announcement also, but I haven't deactivated anything yet. I still have some x-mas videos waiting for approval. Once Jan. comes around I will deactivate them. I canceled some other uploaded videos before they got reviewed.
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I don't see a reason to deactivate anything now, I will be withdrawing my images in December.
Oh, first post on here. Hi everyone!
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This was a fun topic. I deleted my port 2 years ago because I thought they did not put out enough to be so high maintenance. Then I had to delete it again when StockXpert was acquired. If it gets acquired again I think I would just leave it up, it was work to get my images up.
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Haven't done anything with my stuff there, but thinking of sending them a bunch of garbage images for one last upload just to tie up a reviewer.
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Every little bit helps.
The more you delete the better for people selling and uploading. How do you imagine deleting an minute percentage of the files on IS will harm anyone other than yourself?
I think IS has behaved very badly but you need to be realistic about the effects you may have.
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Every little bit helps.
The more you delete the better for people selling and uploading. How do you imagine deleting an minute percentage of the files on IS will harm anyone other than yourself?
I think IS has behaved very badly but you need to be realistic about the effects you may have.
I think you were responding to me, the files I deleted were partner program files being sold as subs for pennies and competing against the same ones on IS. The effects it will have hopefully will be a failing thinkstock but Im not going to lose too much sleep over that.
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I revoked permissions for the partner and promotions programs. I discovered that I had files in the dollar bin and deleted them. I have also deleted some images from 2004.
88 so far. I only had 730 to start with.
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0
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Whether or not buyers are the crucial determining forces on sites in general, history shows the short and long-term results of many individuals deciding to "just follow orders" - It tends to be good news, just not for "the good guys."
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Deactivated nothing. Still uploading, but at a slow rate. The rate of reviews is very slow right now and it's hard to keep slogging away at tricky PS work when you're not sure if they're going to accept the results.
Time to get back to some nice, bland studio shots on plain white background. It may not be what buyers want to see all the time, but it's what I know I can shoot and upload with a consistent acceptance rate.
With some big "names" at IS evidently going AWOL, I can guess that there is some upheaval going on over there. It's a matter of speculation exactly what the plan is, if any - whether it's simply beancounters gone wild, Getty jerking the strings for reasons not related to the health of IS or its contributors, or some kind of overall plan to move from IS micro to midstock. Whatever it is, it's clouding the future somewhat.
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I stopped uploading the day of the announcement, but I haven't deactivated any images. Chances of me uploading anything more at iStock is slim to none.
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Why not simply let iStock/Getty slowly commit suicide? Their policies are heading that way and they need little help from us.
10 years ago they started messing with us macro guys, diluted and cannibalized the great brands they bought, and over the years many of us have slowly but surely moved away and regard them as nothing more than a necessary evil. If you care to look Corbis now have by far the stronger collection of RM and RF...and a far more appealing site...Getty's looks like a supermarket...finding great images on there is like trying to find organic food at Safeway.
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^^^ So why do iStock/Getty still have more buyers? Istock have raised prices a lot over the years. They have exclusive images but the other sites have millions of images that they don't have. Until they start losing buyers on a big scale, I think they will continue to be the No. 1 in the industry and they will continue squeezing as much money out of their contributors as possible.
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1,012 so far
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None deactivated so far.
As the lowered commissions kick in next year, I will start deactivating then, not before.
It will be interesting to see what happens in January, as I assume many independents who plan to delete their portfolios will wait until then. Only then we will see if that will lead to a significant number of images disappearing from Istock or not.
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Stopped uploading.. still considering removing port..
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None yet. Too early. I haven't uploaded to micros in two years, I think.
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I just stopped uploading since the announcement.
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ive only upl'd 4 images to istock this year, since it takes so long to submit, AND their sales have been miserable compared to other agencies; for me IS consistently comes in 5 or lower
so i'm not bothering doing anything - if what's there sells, fine, i've already done the work. oddly, this month is about twice my monthly avg over the past year
steve
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If I was going to deactivate images I might as well cancel my membership of the site. Dumping non-sellers won't achieve anything and pulling my best sellers which might have a tiny effect on them would destroy my sales (20:80 and all that).
The crucial element in all of this is and always will be the reaction of buyers.
they would react to finding a half empty site.