MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Author Topic: boycott shutterstock  (Read 39224 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

« Reply #25 on: September 11, 2020, 18:00 »
+2
Old, retired, battle-ax nurse here.  You know...the kind who would yank you up outta your hospital bed the day after hip replacement surgery saying "you lay down, you die!".  ;)
Maybe totally boycotting the Bass-turds was a bit too much to ask since so many lost their "real" jobs due to the Covid crap.  Don't even get me started on just how unbelievably evil that was!  Maybe instead we could try to convince people to commit to a "Shutter-shite Last" policy.  If you absolutely HAVE to upload new material to them at least commit to putting them last on the list, 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, whatever.  Maybe the word would "accidentally" get out that most new files go to other agencies first?
I honestly don't know what to do about them.  I do still sell there (I wish I could afford not to), but deleted the top 25% of my port and in the future they only get "new" photos that don't sell anywhere else after a year.


marthamarks

« Reply #26 on: September 11, 2020, 18:11 »
+1
Thanks for the laugh you crochety, crakety, cranky, grumpy, crabby, cranky crones. ;D

Hey, we do aim to please! :D :D :D

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #27 on: September 11, 2020, 19:45 »
+1
Cranky, crotchety old crone here too.

Cathy, here's a thought:

Maybe we cranky and crochety old crones should start our own microstock sales site.

Just think of the fun promotions we could put out!

PS: Shelma probably isn't a cranky and crochety old crone just yet, but she might want to consider joining us, too. :D

Definitely cranky, crotchety, outright b*itchy and over 60. So I guess Im a nasty old hag.

marthamarks

« Reply #28 on: September 11, 2020, 20:43 »
0
Cranky, crotchety old crone here too.

Cathy, here's a thought:

Maybe we cranky and crochety old crones should start our own microstock sales site.

Just think of the fun promotions we could put out!

PS: Shelma probably isn't a cranky and crochety old crone just yet, but she might want to consider joining us, too. :D

Definitely cranky, crotchety, outright b*itchy and over 60. So I guess Im a nasty old hag.

Nasty old hag? Nah, that doesn't fit at all.

But still, you're entirely welcome to join our fun little CC&CC Club! :D
« Last Edit: September 12, 2020, 16:14 by marthamarks »

marthamarks

« Reply #29 on: September 11, 2020, 20:44 »
+1
Old, retired, battle-ax nurse here. 

You're warmly welcome to the CC&CC Club, too!

« Last Edit: September 12, 2020, 16:15 by marthamarks »

« Reply #30 on: September 12, 2020, 13:24 »
+3
Being on the wrong side of 60 I'll join the CC&CC!

I got into ss in 2008 on the first try too which didn't seem like a big deal. I remember making $60+ a month with under 100 images back then but feeling badly that I was only get a few cents for a license. Who knew more than a decade later prices would be even lower and that macrostock sites would follow shutterstock's lead? I joined the boycott and sold my ss stock, but still need to go in and actually delete my portfolio, hoping I don't have to do it one photo at a time. I wasn't making enough there to make it a hard decision and really admire those who gave up real $$$$ to do so.

I also admire people who take good bird photos - one of the hardest subjects out there. My best sellers are lighthouses LOL - easy to shoot since they don't move!

Cranky old ladies and birdwatchers unite!  8)

marthamarks

« Reply #31 on: September 12, 2020, 13:57 »
+1
Being on the wrong side of 60 I'll join the CC&CC!
...
Cranky old ladies and birdwatchers unite!  8)

Yep. We cranky old ladies and birdwatchers must stick together. (And BTW, I'm on the wrong side of 70, so leading the pack around these parts, I suspect.)

Welcome to the CC&CC Club!
« Last Edit: September 12, 2020, 14:06 by marthamarks »

« Reply #32 on: September 12, 2020, 14:18 »
+1
Being on the wrong side of 60 I'll join the CC&CC!
...
Cranky old ladies and birdwatchers unite!  8)

Yep. We cranky old ladies and birdwatchers must stick together. (And BTW, I'm on the wrong side of 70, so leading the pack around these parts, I suspect.)

Welcome to the CC&CC Club!

Thanks!  8)

Justanotherphotographer

« Reply #33 on: September 13, 2020, 04:00 »
+2
Of course the REASON they cut now and so severely is precisely because they KNEW not as many people could stop uploading because of the desperation caused by the pandemic. You are seeing it all over with corporations using the opportunity to **** their workers. It is 100% because of the pandemic, just not they way they claim.

« Reply #34 on: September 14, 2020, 17:37 »
+1
Of course the REASON they cut now and so severely is precisely because they KNEW not as many people could stop uploading because of the desperation caused by the pandemic. You are seeing it all over with corporations using the opportunity to **** their workers. It is 100% because of the pandemic, just not they way they claim.

how dogmatic!  no chance that there may be other non-pandemic reasons?  a policy change like this doesnt come out of thin air and the bigger the company the slower to make drastic changes.

not to mention the US-centric view -- MOST of the world is getting back to work; the US has been crippled by ignorant 'leaders' who have cost 10's of thousands of lives

Justanotherphotographer

« Reply #35 on: September 15, 2020, 06:20 »
+5
Of course the REASON they cut now and so severely is precisely because they KNEW not as many people could stop uploading because of the desperation caused by the pandemic. You are seeing it all over with corporations using the opportunity to **** their workers. It is 100% because of the pandemic, just not they way they claim.

... no chance that there may be other non-pandemic reasons?...
There is only one reason, putting money in their pockets. Pandemic isn't the reason, it the tool that gave them the opportunity to **** us to a degree that they never could have contemplated in better times.

marthamarks

« Reply #36 on: September 15, 2020, 10:15 »
0
the US has been crippled by ignorant 'leaders' who have cost 10's of thousands of lives

Amen to that.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #37 on: September 15, 2020, 11:56 »
+4
Of course the REASON they cut now and so severely is precisely because they KNEW not as many people could stop uploading because of the desperation caused by the pandemic. You are seeing it all over with corporations using the opportunity to **** their workers. It is 100% because of the pandemic, just not they way they claim.

how dogmatic!  no chance that there may be other non-pandemic reasons?  a policy change like this doesnt come out of thin air and the bigger the company the slower to make drastic changes.

not to mention the US-centric view -- MOST of the world is getting back to work; the US has been crippled by ignorant 'leaders' who have cost 10's of thousands of lives

Personally I think this plan was created when Jon was turning over the power to Stan. That long ago, before the Pandemic. Corporate is not fast moving or flexible. I think others here have worked in "big business" where nothing happens without, study, committee, reviews, policy, legal and then revisions. I honestly don't think that SS said, "Oh pandemic, perfect time to screw all the contributors, because the economy is going to be down, sales low and they will be desperate."

In fact the plan stinks and is poorly timed if SS actually cared about keeping their best content? Would anyone intentionally offend the best suppliers and drive them to other agencies?

This was poorly timed by SS and poorly enacted, when it should have been held back. However new CEO needs to make his improved earnings in order to get his big bonus and prove his worth to the corporation, so that tops any content or contributor concerns.
 
"Shutterstock founder and CEO Jon Oringer today (Feb. 13, 2020) announced that he will be stepping down as the chief executive of the publicly traded image marketplace. Stan Pavlovsky, Shutterstocks current president and COO, will take over as CEO starting April 1, 2020. Oringer, who owns 45% of Shutterstock, will move to executive chairman. "

This plan was likely in the works, irrespective of any virus or world pandemic.

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #38 on: September 15, 2020, 14:23 »
+9
It was in the works long before Pavlovsky became CEO, IMO. Getting rid of customer service for contributors, tons of rejections for established contributors, flooding the site with similars, allowing 50 identical keywords until we put up a big stink, smaller and smaller royalties and fewer and fewer big sales...that all started years ago.

Shutterstock was never about helping contributors make a living or being a viable business long term. Its only purpose was to make Oringer, the investors and a couple of chosen others rich.

H2O

    This user is banned.
« Reply #39 on: September 16, 2020, 05:10 »
+1
As well as contributing to Stock sites, I often buy from them as well, I am in the middle of upgrading a website, am I going to be buying from Shutterstock, well I don't think so, I am off to Adobe.

How many other designers will do this, my guess is just about all of them.

Shutterstock have really annoyed the very people who not only sell on their site, but the buyers as well, in my opinion it is just a matter of time until they are in the Middle Tier for earnings.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #40 on: September 18, 2020, 12:55 »
+2
It was in the works long before Pavlovsky became CEO, IMO. Getting rid of customer service for contributors, tons of rejections for established contributors, flooding the site with similars, allowing 50 identical keywords until we put up a big stink, smaller and smaller royalties and fewer and fewer big sales...that all started years ago.

Shutterstock was never about helping contributors make a living or being a viable business long term. Its only purpose was to make Oringer, the investors and a couple of chosen others rich.

Ding Ding Ding and a Bingo.  ;D

And none of the other sites are either. Many have pretended, but the truth is, this is nothing but getting images and video for the lowest cost, and making the most profit for the owners.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #41 on: September 18, 2020, 13:28 »
0
And why the boycott? I have about 100 photos there, I sometimes get royalties. There have never been any problems.

Have you done a google reverse image search for your photos?  You may be surprised to see them in use in more places than your royalties can account for.

You talking about Dreamstime or Deposit Photos?


« Reply #42 on: September 19, 2020, 00:08 »
0
And why the boycott? I have about 100 photos there, I sometimes get royalties. There have never been any problems.

Have you done a google reverse image search for your photos?  You may be surprised to see them in use in more places than your royalties can account for.

You talking about Dreamstime or Deposit Photos?

What? I have seen my Deposit files in other places but linked to Deposit.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #43 on: September 19, 2020, 10:23 »
0
And why the boycott? I have about 100 photos there, I sometimes get royalties. There have never been any problems.

Have you done a google reverse image search for your photos?  You may be surprised to see them in use in more places than your royalties can account for.

You talking about Dreamstime or Deposit Photos?

What? I have seen my Deposit files in other places but linked to Deposit.

Not linked, not sourced, not credited.

Have you seen you iStock, Dreamstime or other places photos as Hanna has observed? Especially questionable is how some images arrived at Freepix? I know she's hinting that they come from SS, but they also come from other places. If someone can see your image on their computer, it's already stored on their computer. Image theft isn't difficult or limited to one agency. Problem is, many have hundreds of partners and we don't know who has access and rights to resell our work.

Have you done a google reverse image search for your photos?  You may be surprised to see them in use in more places than your royalties can account for.

How do you know where they were stolen from or who's an API partner and legal or not. Big mess and they don't tell us much.


duns123

« Reply #44 on: April 19, 2021, 06:50 »
0
It was in the works long before Pavlovsky became CEO, IMO. Getting rid of customer service for contributors, tons of rejections for established contributors, flooding the site with similars, allowing 50 identical keywords until we put up a big stink, smaller and smaller royalties and fewer and fewer big sales...that all started years ago.

Shutterstock was never about helping contributors make a living or being a viable business long term. Its only purpose was to make Oringer, the investors, and a couple of chosen others rich.
Well said and totally true. Can I ask someone on the forum if I can leave SS as a contributor BEFORE I get to the minimum payout? I can't say what I earned so far but had over 60 DLs but not close to the min threshold. I was only there for a few months when they cut the payments last May.
I read in the T&C's that if you close your account before reaching it you lose your earnings. If true not a fair deal at all.
Oh here's a little drawing that I did about them The guy in the pinstripe suit is the CEO of SS. The drawing's not very good but it's funny I think.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2021, 06:52 by duns123 »

« Reply #45 on: April 19, 2021, 22:08 »
+1
It was in the works long before Pavlovsky became CEO, IMO. Getting rid of customer service for contributors, tons of rejections for established contributors, flooding the site with similars, allowing 50 identical keywords until we put up a big stink, smaller and smaller royalties and fewer and fewer big sales...that all started years ago.

Shutterstock was never about helping contributors make a living or being a viable business long term. Its only purpose was to make Oringer, the investors, and a couple of chosen others rich.
Well said and totally true. Can I ask someone on the forum if I can leave SS as a contributor BEFORE I get to the minimum payout? I can't say what I earned so far but had over 60 DLs but not close to the min threshold. I was only there for a few months when they cut the payments last May.
I read in the T&C's that if you close your account before reaching it you lose your earnings. If true not a fair deal at all.
Oh here's a little drawing that I did about them The guy in the pinstripe suit is the CEO of SS. The drawing's not very good but it's funny I think.

If you read it in the T&Cs that you'll lose your earnings then that is exactly what will happen.

« Reply #46 on: April 20, 2021, 03:21 »
0



It was in the works long before Pavlovsky became CEO, IMO. Getting rid of customer service for contributors, tons of rejections for established contributors, flooding the site with similars, allowing 50 identical keywords until we put up a big stink, smaller and smaller royalties and fewer and fewer big sales...that all started years ago.

Shutterstock was never about helping contributors make a living or being a viable business long term. Its only purpose was to make Oringer, the investors, and a couple of chosen others rich.
Well said and totally true. Can I ask someone on the forum if I can leave SS as a contributor BEFORE I get to the minimum payout? I can't say what I earned so far but had over 60 DLs but not close to the min threshold. I was only there for a few months when they cut the payments last May.
I read in the T&C's that if you close your account before reaching it you lose your earnings. If true not a fair deal at all.
Oh here's a little drawing that I did about them The guy in the pinstripe suit is the CEO of SS. The drawing's not very good but it's funny I think.

If you read it in the T&Cs that you'll lose your earnings then that is exactly what will happen.

If you ask Shutterstock to make a payment and close the account, they will pay any amount above $1.00. You don't have to reach minimum payout or lose your earnings.

« Reply #47 on: April 20, 2021, 05:12 »
0



It was in the works long before Pavlovsky became CEO, IMO. Getting rid of customer service for contributors, tons of rejections for established contributors, flooding the site with similars, allowing 50 identical keywords until we put up a big stink, smaller and smaller royalties and fewer and fewer big sales...that all started years ago.

Shutterstock was never about helping contributors make a living or being a viable business long term. Its only purpose was to make Oringer, the investors, and a couple of chosen others rich.
Well said and totally true. Can I ask someone on the forum if I can leave SS as a contributor BEFORE I get to the minimum payout? I can't say what I earned so far but had over 60 DLs but not close to the min threshold. I was only there for a few months when they cut the payments last May.
I read in the T&C's that if you close your account before reaching it you lose your earnings. If true not a fair deal at all.
Oh here's a little drawing that I did about them The guy in the pinstripe suit is the CEO of SS. The drawing's not very good but it's funny I think.

If you read it in the T&Cs that you'll lose your earnings then that is exactly what will happen.

If you ask Shutterstock to make a payment and close the account, they will pay any amount above $1.00. You don't have to reach minimum payout or lose your earnings.

Definitly? REAL?

« Reply #48 on: May 29, 2021, 15:35 »
0
I prefer using depositphotos.com they have more designer-friendly roylaties.

Justanotherphotographer

« Reply #49 on: May 31, 2021, 07:37 »
+9
I prefer using depositphotos.com they have more designer-friendly roylaties.

Errr, no they don't, much worse RPD. Much worse history of treatment of contributors. Very bad idea.


 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
12 Replies
6802 Views
Last post July 01, 2008, 10:40
by sharpshot
106 Replies
24606 Views
Last post December 07, 2011, 16:18
by BaldricksTrousers
31 Replies
11708 Views
Last post June 03, 2020, 06:44
by spike
54 Replies
20560 Views
Last post June 16, 2020, 16:51
by Clair Voyant
5 Replies
3076 Views
Last post June 22, 2020, 13:17
by oooo

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors