Quote from: Ron on November 21, 2013, 12:05

Quote from: tickstock on November 21, 2013, 11:36

Quote from: Shelma1 on November 21, 2013, 11:31

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on November 21, 2013, 10:45

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)
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1214061-shutterstocks-ceo-discusses-q4-2012-results-earnings-call-transcript?page=6&p=qanda&l=last

You are doing the same as what you accused others of doing, posting half a quote to make it sound different. LOL.

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?

Thats not what I asked.

Quote from: tickstock on November 21, 2013, 11:36

Quote from: Shelma1 on November 21, 2013, 11:31

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on November 21, 2013, 10:45

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.

Quote from: tickstock on November 21, 2013, 12:20

Quote from: Ron on November 21, 2013, 12:19

How does this sound

Quote

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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Quote from: Shelma1 on November 21, 2013, 13:57

Quote from: tickstock on November 21, 2013, 13:48

Quote from: Noedelhap on November 21, 2013, 13:45

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.
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357676&page=1
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=353935&page=1

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.

Quote from: Shelma1 on November 21, 2013, 14:07

Quote from: tickstock on November 21, 2013, 14:00

Quote from: Shelma1 on November 21, 2013, 13:57

Quote from: tickstock on November 21, 2013, 13:48

Quote from: Noedelhap on November 21, 2013, 13:45

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.
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=357676&page=1
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=353935&page=1

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?

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:

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).