MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: Noedelhap on November 21, 2013, 08:26
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As if prices weren't cheap enough already...
I have not received an email telling us about this sale, so where's this coming from all of a sudden?
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(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8294845/vectors.JPG)
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I saw that plastered over the Internet yesterday and thought, I wonder if the vector artists know about this? It is just getting so hard to make any money that only a sweet Yuri deal can bail us out :P :P
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I got the email yesterday morning and a reminder this morning.
Check you haven't been auto-opted-out from emails, if you have signed up to get them.
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Yep, I mentioned their amazing half-price sale, which is running and reducing my earnings without a hitch, in the thread about the lack of sales data that never seems to be able to be fixed.
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I like how the celebration for an artist milestone results in a discount for the buyers. ::)
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
YEP! ;D
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As far as I know the vector artists (if indy) get 20% of the sale price.
It does seem odd when sites either celebrate w/ a discount or screw up and offer a condolence discount that they don't eat the discount themselves.
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
YEP! ;D
According to Shelma1 its not.
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
YEP! ;D
According to Shelma1 its not.
I have not understood what are the Shelma1's sources.
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I was being ironic...
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
No. We get half as much as usual. And some of my files are more than 50% off. For example, 5-credit files have been reduced to 2 credits.
On the other hand, when Shutterstock has a sale we still get the same amount of money.
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On the other hand, when Shutterstock has a sale we still get the same amount of money.
YEP!
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
No, you always get a percentage of the acutal price paid.
Even when the site has been down and they give away discount codes in compensation, we lose out, though clearly it wasn't our fault.
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
No, you always get a percentage of the acutal price paid.
Free credits are paid at a rate of $1 per credit AFAIK.
That's not what it says in the ASA, and the official who said that was quoting something from IIRC 2009, but at any rate before we were forced to sign (or leave altogether) a revised ASA which said they could use our files for promotion without us getting any compensation.
It may be that we get $1, but that wasn't officially confirmed on the relevant thread over there.
The Exclusve ASA specifically says (Clause 3b):
In addition to the foregoing grant iStockphoto and its Distribution Partners may post, reproduce, modify, display, make derivative works or otherwise use any Exclusive Content for their own business purposes relating to the promotion of the Site, the Exclusive Content and their distribution programs, and promote the licensing of Exclusive Content (including, without limitation, the use of the Exclusive Content and the Supplier's registered and unregistered trademarks for marketing, sales and promotional efforts whether on the Site or through third parties). The Supplier agrees that iStockphoto shall have exclusive rights to design marketing literature for the Exclusive Content, at its own expense, and the Supplier agrees to cooperate in that regard. No compensation shall be due to the Supplier for use of Exclusive Content for such business purposes.
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
No, you always get a percentage of the acutal price paid.
Free credits are paid at a rate of $1 per credit AFAIK.
That's not what it says in the ASA, and the official who said that was quoting something from IIRC 2009, but at any rate before we were forced to sign (or leave altogether) a revised ASA which said they could use our files for promotion without us getting any compensation.
It may be that we get $1, but that wasn't officially confirmed on the relevant thread over there.
The Exclusve ASA specifically says (Clause 3b):
In addition to the foregoing grant iStockphoto and its Distribution Partners may post, reproduce, modify, display, make derivative works or otherwise use any Exclusive Content for their own business purposes relating to the promotion of the Site, the Exclusive Content and their distribution programs, and promote the licensing of Exclusive Content (including, without limitation, the use of the Exclusive Content and the Supplier's registered and unregistered trademarks for marketing, sales and promotional efforts whether on the Site or through third parties). The Supplier agrees that iStockphoto shall have exclusive rights to design marketing literature for the Exclusive Content, at its own expense, and the Supplier agrees to cooperate in that regard. No compensation shall be due to the Supplier for use of Exclusive Content for such business purposes.
That's not the same thing as free credits that's for use by iStock for marketing, two very different things.
Can you find anything official which says we get $1 for free credits? I had a big lookaroun the last time this came up and couldn't find anything, other than Rob's posting over there, and he admitted that he wasn't sure it's still the case.
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
YEP! ;D
According to Shelma1 its not.
I have not understood what are the Shelma1's sources.
Her own earnings !
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
No. We get half as much as usual. And some of my files are more than 50% off. For example, 5-credit files have been reduced to 2 credits.
On the other hand, when Shutterstock has a sale we still get the same amount of money.
That's only true for sub sales other sales work on a % just like the iStock sale. They 'flow' the discount on to the contributor.
How do you know? You are not even submitting to SS. I never got a discounted ODD or EL.
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
No. We get half as much as usual. And some of my files are more than 50% off. For example, 5-credit files have been reduced to 2 credits.
On the other hand, when Shutterstock has a sale we still get the same amount of money.
That's only true for sub sales other sales work on a % just like the iStock sale. They 'flow' the discount on to the contributor.
How do you know? You are not even submitting to SS. I never got a discounted ODD or EL.
That's what Shutterstock has said:
"our contributors are paid in percentage terms, if there are discounts that will flow through to the contributors" - Thilo Semmelbauer (President and Chief Operating Officer of Shutterstock)
[url]http://seekingalpha.com/article/1214061-shutterstocks-ceo-discusses-q4-2012-results-earnings-call-transcript?page=6&p=qanda&l=last[/url] ([url]http://seekingalpha.com/article/1214061-shutterstocks-ceo-discusses-q4-2012-results-earnings-call-transcript?page=6&p=qanda&l=last[/url])
You are doing the same as what you accused others of doing, posting half a quote to make it sound different. LOL.
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How does this sound
And actually we’re getting great feedback on what they’re starting to see in terms of their payouts, much higher dollar per images.
Compared to what people are saying about IS discounts?
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Thats not what I asked.
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Half the price means that the customer pay it half the price.
But I think that the contributor will be paid the same price as ever.
Right?
No. We get half as much as usual. And some of my files are more than 50% off. For example, 5-credit files have been reduced to 2 credits.
On the other hand, when Shutterstock has a sale we still get the same amount of money.
That's only true for sub sales other sales work on a % just like the iStock sale. They 'flow' the discount on to the contributor.
How do you know? You are not even submitting to SS. I never got a discounted ODD or EL.
Me neither. There was a thread on the iStock forums the first time they had a half price sale, and though some contributors got double the usual sales (me included), we didn't earn any additional money. Some people had a drop in earnings. That's what's happening to me right now. If you run a half price sale on top of a sitewide half price promotion and you do it repeatedly, it's not so special any more.
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How does this sound
And actually we’re getting great feedback on what they’re starting to see in terms of their payouts, much higher dollar per images.
Compared to what people are saying about IS discounts?
It's the same when iStock sells images at a higher price point you get more money, when it's discounted you get less money. Exactly the same thing. That's how % works.
I'm not sure if that is true when the files are paid without credits (with credit card), or when credits or files are sodl in foreing currencies.
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How does this sound
And actually we’re getting great feedback on what they’re starting to see in terms of their payouts, much higher dollar per images.
Compared to what people are saying about IS discounts?
It's the same when iStock sells images at a higher price point you get more money, when it's discounted you get less money. Exactly the same thing. That's how % works.
I'm not sure if that is true when the files are paid without credits (with credit card), or when credits or files are sold in foreign currencies.
If it's a cash sale, we get paid our normal percentage of that, but if it's foreign currencies, we only get paid as a percentage of credits in US dollars. iSLawyer pointed out that it's in the contract, though it wasn't that obvious at first reading, and I can't find it ATM onthe Royalty Schedule page.
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Yes, we get at least 50% less RPI.
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Yes, we get at least 50% less RPI.
That's how sales work. They are trying to get more volume, attract new buyers, or bring back ones that left. The idea is to make more money overall than you would without it, hopefully it works.
I don't remember the manufacturer agreeing to the discounted price for the sales team. ;)
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Yes, we get at least 50% less RPI.
That's how sales work. They are trying to get more volume, attract new buyers, or bring back ones that left. The idea is to make more money overall than you would without it, hopefully it works.
Except they've already tried it and asked for feedback for contributors, and nobody seemed to earn any more money. If the contributors aren't earning any more, then iStock isn't either.
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Yes, we get at least 50% less RPI.
That's how sales work. They are trying to get more volume, attract new buyers, or bring back ones that left. The idea is to make more money overall than you would without it, hopefully it works.
I don't remember the manufacturer agreeing to the discounted price for the sales team. ;)
Then they can probably get out of the contract immediately.
I fired those sales reps awhile ago. They were starting to lose their touch and living off old accomplishments. ;D
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Yes, we get at least 50% less RPI.
That's how sales work. They are trying to get more volume, attract new buyers, or bring back ones that left. The idea is to make more money overall than you would without it, hopefully it works.
Except they've already tried it and asked for feedback for contributors, and nobody seemed to earn any more money. If the contributors aren't earning any more, then iStock isn't either.
I seem to remember a few people doing very well or at least being very happy about the sale.
[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357676&page=1[/url] ([url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357676&page=1[/url])
[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=353935&page=1[/url] ([url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=353935&page=1[/url])
Well, the iStock forums are a sad place to be. You must be happy, happy joy joy or your thread is closed, you're banned, etc. Even knowing that, I don't see anyone reporting higher earnings, just expressing hope that the sale will make a difference.
And you are freakily well-informed if you are not a paid employee of iStock.
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Yes, we get at least 50% less RPI.
That's how sales work. They are trying to get more volume, attract new buyers, or bring back ones that left. The idea is to make more money overall than you would without it, hopefully it works.
Except they've already tried it and asked for feedback for contributors, and nobody seemed to earn any more money. If the contributors aren't earning any more, then iStock isn't either.
I seem to remember a few people doing very well or at least being very happy about the sale.
[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357676&page=1[/url] ([url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357676&page=1[/url])
[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=353935&page=1[/url] ([url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=353935&page=1[/url])
Well, the iStock forums are a sad place to be. You must be happy, happy joy joy or your thread is closed, you're banned, etc. Even knowing that, I don't see anyone reporting higher earnings, just expressing hope that the sale will make a difference.
And you are freakily well-informed if you are not a paid employee of iStock.
It doesn't take much work to look this stuff up, I also remember the last time there was a sale and basically the same discussion happened back then (many of these types of discussions have happened before). When there is a sale in 6 months we'll have it again. I make my living from stock so I feel like I have a duty to myself to be as well informed as possible.
Great! Then you can point us to the thread where people reported higher earnings during a sale? Or no?
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There does seem to be one happy seller:
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357676&page=1 (http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357676&page=1)
a few more happy here:
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357662&page=1 (http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357662&page=1)
If the long-term aim is to bring back customers, it'll be impossible for us to assess.
It's difficult to believe that that is the aim of the sale, as it's not cut price credits, it's specificically a Vector sale, not a credits sale. So theoretically a buyer could use up all their credits, getting twice as much, then leave.
They might just be trying out price points.
Or just joining in Sale Mania. I'm getting daily emails offering me sales on this, that or the other.
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I'll be glad when it's over. I think most of the happy istockers fail to do the numbers. Yes, you might sell twice as many illustrations but what counts is the cash you'll be getting, which you'll be earning 50% less. Some people are also happy they have Getty income to shore up their falling istock sales, again think earnings and percentages, not just sales numbers. It shows that since istock has dropped the ball in advertising and marketing, they need to have "50% off" sales to boost downloads. Why not have a credit sale instead? But hey, what do I know? Having a big sale seems to work for this guy's appliance store:
(http://www.houseofshane.com/test/mickey-cohen-sale.jpg)
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I'm not sure if there was an email telling the artists that it was going to happen. It would be nice if they did send one.
My take on it is that they are trying to get a buying frenzy going. People get excited by the prospect of cheaper prices and buy more than they intended. My sales numbers over those two days were about 70% extra but dollar wise I'm under by about 15% over the two days. If I'm down in dollar terms I guess istock is too.
Also, it occurred before thanksgiving so maybe they are trying to pull some of the next weeks purchases forward.
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I'm not sure if there was an email telling the artists that it was going to happen. It would be nice if they did send one.
I got one, and I'm not even in vectors (so far).