I have been telling all of my friends about Big White Box.com.

There are several things about this innovative new stock site that make it stand out from the crowd:

1. You earn 2 British Pounds per image download (US$3.50) while raising money for good causes

2. Yes, 60% of money from all images sold goes directly to charity organizations including Oxfam, Save the Children and Care International rather than to the site owners themselves. You can see a live breakdown of total funds raised right there on the site.

3. Your photos are stunningly presented. You really have to see it to believe it. The image previews are HUGE with a watermark that actually compliments the image rather than detracting from it.

The site is still very young and needs contributors so now is the best time to join and submit a few of your best pics. I think the image review time is currently the fastest around.

Go check it out!

well i tried to upload a photo but it ran into a php error.  perhaps they are updating the site now, or perhaps they still need to fix things.  It will be interesting to see how it goes.  This site would probably be attractive for non-profit organisations to download from.

i doubt there is much in the line of sales..

they must be making some changes to their site, because I managed to register about 2 hours ago.  ohh the stats page.. I didn't find that, where was it?

Great you signed up! The site has been working seamlessly for me so far.. If you continue having problems don't hesitate to email the admins/site manager.
To increase profits, spread the word to all you know (buyers included) and upload your very best images that you think will sell for 5 pounds.

That would have to be one of the first improvements I'd suggest.

Fortunately with such a small library your images are easy to find and a good selection of keywords is  not vital, but I'm sure it's a feature that we will see soon.

I'm sure if he knew you felt that way he'd work on including that - let him know before you give up! We must also remember the cause and the voluntary labour involved.

well i do agree that it is an interesting site, and worth checking out in the future.  I was just stating what I think about the upload process.  I will for sure check them out if they get things a little more streamlined.  I wrote them a little email allready about using iptc info.

i'm glad you like it here

I will write if I hear anything about my email.

Hi!  I'm new to the Group, and I have to say this forum has been a great find...very imformative and helpful!

Thanks for the info regarding BigWhiteBox...I signed up with them this morning.  Registration was no problem, and I sent an email to the Administrator (Dave Baiiley), regarding possible streamlining such as multiple uploads and alternate ways of obtaining model releases.  He responded almost immediately, and was very helpful.  (He said since they are just starting out, they haven't initiated a multiple upload mode, but that will probably be in the future.  Same with the model release situation.  He is very willing to listen to comments and ideas.)

And it supports good causes!

I highly recommend checking this site out. 

Sue

A friend pointed out an interesting thing.  BWB's license agreement doesn't limit much the use of the photographs by the buyer's (see exceprt below), it doesn't even say it can't be resold.  I have emailed them some time ago (also in another email I suggested some improvements regarding the upload tool), but got no reply.  I stopped uploading until this is clarified.

Regards,
Adelaide

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4. Buyer's Rights and Obligations

(a) The Buyer agrees to use the Content in accordance with the Licence and the terms and conditions of this Agreement. The Buyer acknowledges that all intellectual property rights (including, without limitation, copyright) are owned by the Seller and that no such rights are transferred to the Buyer under this Agreement.

(b) Upon payment of the relevant Licence Fee, the Buyer may download the Content up to [3] times and may, therefore, have up to [3] copies of the Content under the terms of the Licence. The Buyer may not reproduce, copy, modify or otherwise adapt the Content except as expressly allowed under the Licence and this Agreement.

(c) The Buyer must cease use of the Content if it is notified of a third party intellectual property right claim in accordance with clause 9. In the event of such claim, the Buyer's only remedies under this Agreement are those it may have in law against the Seller. The Buyer acknowledges and agrees that Mediatonic is merely acting as an intermediary and is not liable in any way if the Buyer is unable to continue use of the Content.

(d) The Buyer may not use the Content in any way that is pornographic, offensive, or defamatory, or brings any model, person or property depicted in the Content into disrepute or portrays them in an unflattering or misleading way. The Content must never be used in any way that implies that a model in the Content endorses or promotes any product or message associated with the Content.

(e) The Buyer may not use the Content as part of any logo, trademark or other unique commercial identifier.

(f) The Buyer agrees to provide complete and accurate contact information (including the Buyer's full name, address and telephone number) and keep that information up to date at all times.

Is this site audited by any other organization?  In other words, how do you know that your money is actually getting to the charities that it is advertising?

I haven't received any reply from them regarding the problems in the license agreement, so I haven't uploaded anything there.  Pity, because this fund raising is a good reason to sell photos.

Regards,
Adelaide