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Author Topic: Introducing pixamba.com - by creators of ProStockMaster software  (Read 34762 times)

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« on: June 25, 2009, 19:06 »
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Hi all,
I am happy to invite you to take a look at what we have worked on during the last few months:
http://www.pixamba.com
We have just released the public Beta with 255,000 midstock images and we will be very happy to get your microstock contributions. Built on an advanced cloud computing infrastructure, Pixamba is probably the world fastest online stock agency today. Since the first introduction of ProStockMaster in June 2006 we had many opportunities to demonstrate our technology awareness and our ability to convert the imagination into the products and we proud of supportive community that we built with PSM. Starting to work with Pixamba web site today, you can expect more new services coming from our ProStockMaster - Pixamba client - server platform.

Since we have worked hard delivering the Beta release of Pixamba web site on time, Pixamba uploads are not supported by PSM yet. We are working on adding the site support to PSM and it will be available very soon.

We'll be happy to get your feedback on Pixamba. Tell us what you think by emailing me david(at)pixamba.com, reply in this thread and follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/pixamba


« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2009, 20:20 »
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I think if you want any traction with this crowd you'll need to do a lot more explaining how you will be marketing your site. We've been buried with new wanna-bees -- few of whom had the slightest clue in that department. If memory serves me the last admitted "beta version" micro stock agency site never made it out of beta.

If I were an odds maker I'd give you about a 1,000 to 1 shot on getting many of us to spend more time uploading to a new site based on what you've told us so far.

« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2009, 20:33 »
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Minimum payout amount is 100.-U$, that's way too high for a new site, 20.- would be more appropriate for a new site.

« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2009, 21:34 »
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I think if you want any traction with this crowd you'll need to do a lot more explaining how you will be marketing your site. We've been buried with new wanna-bees -- few of whom had the slightest clue in that department. If memory serves me the last admitted "beta version" micro stock agency site never made it out of beta.

If I were an odds maker I'd give you about a 1,000 to 1 shot on getting many of us to spend more time uploading to a new site based on what you've told us so far.

yep, personally I want to be 'sold' on why I should take my time to submit. 

Even then I am at pretty much near my capacity to upload, so I would want to hear of the best uploading procedure and earnings that exceed one of my low earners so they can be dropped in its place.

« Reply #4 on: June 25, 2009, 22:12 »
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Hey davidm, site sure looks purty.  It's quite refreshing to see the tangello colour theme.  I hate to contribute any negative comments, but your front page looks amazing, yet that Pixamba logo is screaming loudly "I'm a free font!!!"  Likely Florentine or Florentine Swashcaps. 

Sorry, I know you weren't looking for that kind of feedback.  My husband is building a website right now and he is getting pissed off at me for all the negative comments I keep giving him.  I don't see it as negative, who do I know that spends more time on the web than me?   

« Reply #5 on: June 25, 2009, 22:52 »
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Prices from $0,75 to $9, unlimited run included (others require an EL for that).
EL prices starting from $3,75, depending on size.
40% commission.

Doesn't thrill me... Another "me too".

« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2009, 22:59 »
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Good luck on your site. I would like to keep an eye on it, if you plan to accept vectors.

« Reply #7 on: June 26, 2009, 01:49 »
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Good Luck with your site, but in my opinion you are joining an over saturated competitive marketplace with just another microstock offering.

In todays market any new offering needs to have a unique selling point for Buyers and Photographers, looking at the lifestyle category and some of the first images I see are from Yuri Arcurs nothing new and exciting there.

The search is fast enough, but I much prefer websites where the longest side of a thumbnail is about 170px plus, it would be nice (on all sites) to be able to switch of the irritating mouse over previews.

Looking at the selected image I do not need to see 100 keywords, or the number of views or comments, these might be nice for the photographer but no use to the buyer, the downloads count does have some merit for a buyer.

As already said the $100 payout level for a new website is not good news for the photographers that needs a major re-think maybe a payout of any royalties under $100 at the year end, or is the fact that 75% of contibutors with sales never make a payout part of your business plan.

Where and how will this website be marketed, what is the unique selling point that will see the buyer downloading the same lifestyle image from Yuri Arcurs or any other Photographer from pixamba and not from any of the other major microstock websites, as a buyer I would not care if the photographers share is higher or the site is designed by yourself, only what I am getting as a buyer.

I think for any new offering entering the current market with the same model as many rivals it will be a struggle without a unique selling point, but I do wish you well.

David        
« Last Edit: June 26, 2009, 01:55 by DWL »

« Reply #8 on: June 26, 2009, 04:07 »
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Hey davidm, site sure looks puty.  It's quite refreshing to see the tangello colour theme.  I hate to contribute any negative comments, but your front page looks amazing, yet that Pixamba logo is screaming loudly "I'm a free font!!!"  Likely Florentine or Florentine Swashcaps.   

Thanks for the feedback, it's good for us to know who it looks in your eyes. We'll definitely make many changes in design as we go.

« Reply #9 on: June 26, 2009, 04:20 »
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Prices from $0,75 to $9, unlimited run included (others require an EL for that).
EL prices starting from $3,75, depending on size.
40% commission.

Doesn't thrill me... Another "me too".
Good point, thanks. Tell me what would thrill you?
Adjusting the prices and commissions at this moment, when we are just starting, is probably the least painful operation we can do :-)

RE 'me too' - everyone starts from some point, so we do. All the biggest agencies were started as small unknown web sites, sometimes competing with already existing and well established 'big brothers'. At the moment Pixamba probably looks very similar to any other agency, but it will change as we go. Of course, we can make it only with your help, not alone.

« Reply #10 on: June 26, 2009, 05:44 »
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Hope your venture goes well, however looking at the list on the right there are already a lot of new sites/low earners. Most of which I think most people don't bother with due to low return for time spent. 

some ideas that might help

No categories
No categories
Easy upload essential (FTP)
No long lock in time for submissions
Submission allowance a combination of number of photos online and % acceptance rate. eg someone with 75% acceptance with 2000 photos online gets a higher allocation than 75% with 30 online.
No categories
If subscription based site limited size of download or variable commission dependent on the size downloaded. eg customers can DL 10 small per day, or 3XXL or some combination. (artist get commission based on size)
Plan for attracting customers, preferably new customers not another dilution of the existing pool.
Extended licences are one area contributors are picky about - These should not be too cheap.
No categories
Set reasonable quality levels for acceptance inline with sales and database size. You can't expect to only accept the best with no sales because the best won't submit without some chance of return.
No categories
"best match search" takes no input from reviews from other contributors 


« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2009, 06:21 »
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Plan for attracting customers, preferably new customers not another dilution of the existing pool.
No categories

There is a massive potential New Customer base are out there, but the existing model will not attract them the images need to go to the Customers not the Customers to the images, and they need to purchase instantly via a browser plug-in, only what they need at the time, no registration, no credits and no subscriptions.

Why do you say no categories, the way forward is standardization this means categories and controlled vocabulary tools.

David

« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2009, 06:26 »
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Plan for attracting customers, preferably new customers not another dilution of the existing pool.
No categories

There is a massive potential New Customer base are out there, but the existing model will not attract them the images need to go to the Customers not the Customers to the images, and they need to purchase instantly via a browser plug-in, only what they need at the time, no registration, no credits and no subscriptions.

Why do you say no categories, the way forward is standardization this means categories and controlled vocabulary tools.

David

people begrudgingly put up with the catgories and cv at big agencies with high returns, but try and do that with a new agency with low sales and you might as well shut the door and turn off the lights as so few people will bother to upload.  who wants to put that much time doing something very tedious for little expected return

« Reply #13 on: June 26, 2009, 08:30 »
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[..] the Customers [..] need to purchase instantly via a browser plug-in, only what they need at the time, no registration, no credits and no subscriptions.

David

I agree that this is probably the best way to proceed with a new customer, thus streamlining the find-n-buy process. However, it can work with midstock+ pricing only. For a microstock payment the micro-transaction fees and the cost of handling will erase the revenue margins. That's why on all sites the credits are sold in packages, there are multi-credits/multi-days subscriptions etc, i.e. credits always come in bulks.
Also, by streamlining the buying flow and by allowing customers to 'pay-and-go' you probably going to miss the opportunity to offer them more images (same artist, same model, similar subject etc) and more services - this is another point of view on the same issue.

Trying to help the new customers to get in, we offer small 5-credits packages to start with. It's not really micro-payments yet and from the other hand it gives the buyers a quick and cheap option to try us  and to 'taste' our collection.

« Reply #14 on: June 26, 2009, 08:44 »
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Trying to help the new customers to get in, we offer small 5-credits packages to start with. It's not really micro-payments yet and from the other hand it gives the buyers a quick and cheap option to try us  and to 'taste' our collection.
David,
That package is a good offer, the problem is I cannot find the package prices on the website without registration, I would never sign up for anything without knowing the cost per credit or package before joining.

As to micropayments, the payment gateway providers like PayPal and Amazon have realized the potential and are making micropayments a viable option and affordable, so it will not be long before a company picks this system up and runs with it, I am talking more about getting new business and markets, I have just posted my thoughts on my blog about this.

David

« Reply #15 on: June 26, 2009, 09:22 »
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Trying to help the new customers to get in, we offer small 5-credits packages to start with. It's not really micro-payments yet and from the other hand it gives the buyers a quick and cheap option to try us  and to 'taste' our collection.
David,
That package is a good offer, the problem is I cannot find the package prices on the website without registration, I would never sign up for anything without knowing the cost per credit or package before joining.

As to micropayments, the payment gateway providers like PayPal and Amazon have realized the potential and are making micropayments a viable option and affordable, so it will not be long before a company picks this system up and runs with it, I am talking more about getting new business and markets, I have just posted my thoughts on my blog about this.

David

hi, just read your blog and I think integration with software will have to come (with a cut for the software producer), but then fotolia has agents / partners etc how hard would it be for software producer to get the agents cut.  Thinking about I bet there are some software producers who would definetly be keen.

The question springs to mind, how much extra would you be willing to pay to buy a single (or two) credits? (I'm not a buyer so dont know) would you, knowing you only want xsmall say pay 1.5 or 2 rather than 1.16 (sorry cant do the symbol :)) knowing that buying 12 credits gets them at 1.16 each.  Would this cover the extra costs to the agency?

Phil

« Reply #16 on: June 26, 2009, 09:57 »
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« Reply #17 on: June 26, 2009, 12:16 »
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Prices from $0,75 to $9, unlimited run included (others require an EL for that).
EL prices starting from $3,75, depending on size.
40% commission.

Doesn't thrill me... Another "me too".
Good point, thanks. Tell me what would thrill you?
Adjusting the prices and commissions at this moment, when we are just starting, is probably the least painful operation we can do :-)

RE 'me too' - everyone starts from some point, so we do. All the biggest agencies were started as small unknown web sites, sometimes competing with already existing and well established 'big brothers'. At the moment Pixamba probably looks very similar to any other agency, but it will change as we go. Of course, we can make it only with your help, not alone.

About the points I mentioned the unlimited runs for the standard license and the low EL prices are the most important. Standard license should have some limitation (e.g. 250.000 copies) and ELs should be at $50, better $100. I don't see the benefit of having size dependent ELs, if somebody wants to use my picture to re-sell prints, posters etc. he better pay a lot for that, independent of size.

The prices in general are e.g. around half of what Istock would charge. That looks a little like trying to pull customers from existing agencies via offering lower prices. But lower prices is the last thing I want to see.
So in general from a new agency I would want to see higher prices to motivate me to upload there.

The commission of 40% is not as bad as some competitors, but 50% would of course be better.

These points together clearly show the dilemma: As a newcomer to be able to charge higher prices and pay higher commissions you definitely need something else to attract customers.

And that is the most important point (as has been mentioned above by some other posters): What do you plan to do to attract (new) customers?
If you have any new, brilliant ideas on this front you will likely have a big number of supporters in short time (although I have to admit, I have no good idea what that could be - if I had, I would be starting an agency myself  ;D)

« Reply #18 on: June 26, 2009, 15:12 »
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Standard license should have some limitation (e.g. 250.000 copies) and ELs should be at $50, better $100.
Note, that at last some leading agencies start offering unlimited run, e..g. Fotolia. Thus, the limited run would not attract the buyer.

The commission of 40% is not as bad as some competitors, but 50% would of course be better.
That's right, but please take in consideration that this is a 40% commission for a non-exclusive submission. Assuming that we are going to offer more for an exclusivity (say, 60%? sounds fair?), we have to make some room between exclusive and non-exclusive fees. 40% - 60% sounds OK, I guess while 50% - 60% sounds like a very similar stuff.


And that is the most important point (as has been mentioned above by some other posters): What do you plan to do to attract (new) customers?
If you have any new, brilliant ideas on this front you will likely have a big number of supporters in short time (although I have to admit, I have no good idea what that could be - if I had, I would be starting an agency myself  ;D)
We have a few interesting ideas in our mind. However, unfortunately it is not enough to come to the market with just the ideas in your pocket. To deploy them we needed a working stock agency, so this is what we did. Hopefully, with your support we'll have enough resources to introduce the new stuff and attract the new buyers, probably expanding the current market.

« Reply #19 on: June 26, 2009, 15:35 »
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Phil:
I do not want to hijack David's thread so I have opened one up here:
http://www.microstockgroup.com/microstock-services/other-potential-new-markets-and-how-to-open-them-up/msg105622/?topicseen#new


sorry David, I had hoped you might be able to comment with your knowledge of transaction fees etc.

IMO I think 40% is smart (obviously as a contributor more is better) probably what I would offer if I was in the same situation.  I think its high enough to keep people interested but low enough that you have plenty for marketing etc. (obviously I may be way off with what others think :)

« Reply #20 on: June 26, 2009, 15:39 »
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Hi David!
Your site looks and moves pretty well and I wish you the best.
The difficult part is to get contributors onboard.
You really have to be able to show that something is happening ie. like marketing plan, what is popular, what is selling etc.

Also a forum I feel, which you are probably planning.
Like some above, I think the min payout is too high and it's off putting for a new site. I would suggest something like 50 or even less.
Sorry to say, I wouldn't consider signing up for 100 pay out.

Anyway, good luck and will keep an eye on developments.

« Reply #21 on: June 26, 2009, 15:46 »
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There are 32 agencies listed on the right side of this site. You are 33rd now. Last year people were so excited about YAYMicro which got great site technology-wise but still no sales. It's going to be very hard to convince anybody to join.

« Reply #22 on: June 26, 2009, 16:15 »
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Standard license should have some limitation (e.g. 250.000 copies) and ELs should be at $50, better $100.
Note, that at last some leading agencies start offering unlimited run, e..g. Fotolia. Thus, the limited run would not attract the buyer.

Just because ONE other agency does it, does not mean that all other agencies should immediately race to the bottom.  Almost all of the other agencies differentiate between a standard sale and an EL sale.

It has been shown time and again that buyers are not that sensitive to prices.  The fact that you seem to be racing to the bottom on price, just shows me that you really don't understand the industry and are trying to make a quick buck off of other people's work.

This type of attitude really concerns me and has left a very sour taste in my mouth in regards to your agency.

« Reply #23 on: June 26, 2009, 17:11 »
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I said no categories because I (and others) hate filling them out and slows down the upload process.
In order to attract contributors to a new site everything needs to be as easy as possible.
Istock's categories is a pain in the $$#@ but they have a solid track record of sales.
Most people also believe that customers very rarely search by category (wether this is true or not I don't know)


Plan for attracting customers, preferably new customers not another dilution of the existing pool.
No categories

There is a massive potential New Customer base are out there, but the existing model will not attract them the images need to go to the Customers not the Customers to the images, and they need to purchase instantly via a browser plug-in, only what they need at the time, no registration, no credits and no subscriptions.

Why do you say no categories, the way forward is standardization this means categories and controlled vocabulary tools.

David



WarrenPrice

« Reply #24 on: June 26, 2009, 17:12 »
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Anti-Getty Image slogans might attract contributors.  Not so sure what the effect would be on buyers.   :D


 

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