MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Envato => Topic started by: collis on November 21, 2011, 15:25
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Hello MSG'ers!
A few months ago when we launched PhotoDune, I promised here that we would be discussing our non-exclusive rates after the three month mark had passed. And I'm happy to announce that the Envato board met, and came to a decision to increase the non-exclusive rates up from 25% to 33%. This will go into effect on December 1st and will be across all of the nine Envato Marketplaces, which includes of course PhotoDune. This will be the fourth rate increase and first non-exclusive rate change in our five year history!
As I've mentioned previously our marketplaces are heavily slanted towards exclusive content. In fact less than 5% of our sales come from non-exclusive authors. Since we believe that any rate we offer one marketplace should be the same across all the marketplaces, this influences the size of the increment.
This bump will mean that photo contributors will be earning about a third more off each sale, and you should really be able to feel the difference in your monthly earnings on PhotoDune and our other marketplaces.
You can read about the full announcement over on Envato Notes (our community blog) – http://notes.envato.com/general/non-exclusive-rates-increasing-to-33-on-december-1st/ (http://notes.envato.com/general/non-exclusive-rates-increasing-to-33-on-december-1st/)
PhotoDune Sales, Items and General Update
Gunnar reminded me the other day that last month I missed out on giving an update about our progress. PhotoDune has continued to zip along and the stats keep getting bigger. I'm still in awe of how many photos are out there in the world of microstock photography!
We now have over 400,000 photos up for sale, with the last three months adding 40k, 70k and 100k new photos respectively. So a good solid trend seems to be occurring with contributions growing very quickly.
We now have around 500 authors with at least one sale, and our top author Yuri has just passed his 5000th sale. In fact, in case you didn’t know we have an author ladder where you can see how different authors are stacking up. It’s quite fun to watch as the sales have been mounting up - http://photodune.net/author/top_authors (http://photodune.net/author/top_authors)
On the subject of unit sales, the total PhotoDune sales count for our five months is:
- July Private Beta - 1,760
- August - 4,191
- September - 7,369
- October - 8,793 + 6,396 bundle sales
- November - 14,908
(For November, I've divided the current number by the number of days passed and then multiplied by 30. So it's extrapolated out on a simple base. I think it may actually be higher as we keep getting bigger with each passing week).
We've been doing lots of marketing for the new site with a successful photo and graphic bundle in October that sold close to $130,000 worth. We also ran a big series of photo effects tutorials over on our Photoshop blog Psdtuts+ http://psd.tutsplus.com (http://psd.tutsplus.com) showcasing what you can do with PhotoDune images. And right now we're running a promotion where buyers get 50% of their November spend back as marketplace credit to spend again in December.
Here on MSG we've gotten some great feedback (as well as some healthy criticism!) and in case you hadn't seen I thought I'd share a couple of quotes from MSG photographers:
"... I am very pleased with PDune. They are the most innovative of all the newer sites. They're creatively and aggressively marketing their image collection." - LisaFX (Full Comment - http://www.microstockgroup.com/photodune/photodune-50-credit-back-on-all-photo-purchases-in-nov/msg225369/#msg225369 (http://www.microstockgroup.com/photodune/photodune-50-credit-back-on-all-photo-purchases-in-nov/msg225369/#msg225369))
"... PhotoDune has done me proud, especially for a new agency. Thanks to that bundle, they're my third biggest earner for the year despite having only five months of earnings, and my ninth biggest earner since I started with microstock. Nobody has come out of the gate with numbers like that." - Disorderly (Full Comment - http://www.microstockgroup.com/photodune/photodune-50-credit-back-on-all-photo-purchases-in-nov/msg225403/#msg225403 (http://www.microstockgroup.com/photodune/photodune-50-credit-back-on-all-photo-purchases-in-nov/msg225403/#msg225403))
So hooray for some kind words from Lisa and Disorderly :-)
Stuff We're Still Working On
Of course we're still n00bs in the world of stock photography and we have *tons* of stuff to learn. Right now some of the things we are working on, or are planning to work on are:
- Our reviewers are getting slammed again thanks to the consistent increases in submissions. Just when we thought we were on top of the content, it's amped up all over again. Our valiant Microstock Solutions team is wrestling with the queue as we speak, and I'm certain we'll get it back down in short order.
- We had a spate of upload problems about a week ago due in part to PhotoDune, but largely due to the rest of the marketplaces growing as well. It's been another huge year at Envato, and the platform just keeps levelling up in size. Unfortunately the upload and performance problems were timed with an upgrade to our support system which was a case of super bad timing. So while the support team was busy learning our new system, we hit them with a whole bunch of authors wondering what was happening with uploads. Thankfully the problems are mostly resolved and Drew and his support team pulled some big days and are in control of support again
- I've been seeing a lot of feedback about the way we handle model releases. This is clearly an area we need to work on and is going to need some attention in the new year.
And of course we're always working on more marketing to drive the site along and sell our awesome pool of content. Recently one of our team (Fuad, who is actually my Dad!) went to the Microstock Expo (http://www.microstockexpo.com/ (http://www.microstockexpo.com/)) and polled some of the contributors attending the conference about what was most important for a new agency. The near unanimous response was that marketing of images trumped everything else. This has really cemented in our minds that marketing is the most important thing we can be doing for PhotoDune. Happily it's one of our strengths :)
We're really proud to have jumped into the big world of stock photography, and we're extremely excited by the results so far. We hope that this non-exclusive rate bump will reward those of you who have already chosen to upload with PhotoDune and that we'll be able to continue to deliver good returns to you. Thank you to you guys for giving us a try, we really appreciate your time and input.
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Almost forgot - here's a little graph of our sales on PhotoDune (from the numbers in the post above). Some things are better shown in image form :)
(http://oi43.tinypic.com/2h836yt.jpg)
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What to say!
Thank you,thank you and thank you! You are the best!
Soon, you will be the "main stream" in this business, I know it!
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Good job. Definitely an improvement.
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Finally site which deserves real WoYaay
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Finally. Big thanks to all the people on this forum who constantly reminded PD that 25% was too low, particularly from a new agency. 50% should of course be the standard, but I guess that's a distant dream. 33% is still a welcome move. Well done to those here who held out until they offered something better.
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Collis, thank you for the good news. I am correct in assuming this affects Graphic River as well? I actually like GR and the sales are not bad but it is really difficult for me to find the time to upload because the process is so complicated. Any news on changing the upload procedure to a more universal format? I would be far more likely to upload more images if it weren't so time consuming. I really appreciate the feedback you give here on the forums. Please keep it up.
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A BIG thank you!
I'm very impressed with your relationship with this forum. I wish you continued success.
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A BIG thank you!
I'm very impressed with your relationship with this forum. I wish you continued success.
Absolutely. Thanks also for being so up-front with the sales numbers too. That's amazing transparency for a microstock agency. Take a Heart for your efforts!
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Thank you for the transparency. Only istock has ever given out numbers, and they mentioned roylties paid, not download numbers.
If you keep up a good relationship with the people here, you will always get the best content.
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not bad.. not a 50% but hey very nice considering top agencies, I still believe you guys should bring a ranking in terms of sales..
thanks for hearing us!
I believe many top contributors should thank a lot of contributors on this forum that kept asking for more while they said it was enough
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Great news! PhotoDune is one of the most impressive 'new' acts (new at least in photography).
Also the way you deal with technical issues - e.g. FTP - reading messages on forum and acting quickly is a good sign of an agency which cares for contributors.
And as recent events at other sites have shown, good or bad treatment will quickly create tons of good or bad publicity, so this is a smart move that some other sites should take notice of.
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This is great news, but I am still conflicted.
Did I miss it or has the extended license pricing still not been addressed?
Also, everyone take note that an XXL is only $7 on Photodune. Their prices are way too low and WILL affect your earnings at other agencies. Photodune will become a significant agency, they are very successful in other segments. Now is the time to discuss it.
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Great! I`m in now!
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Great, that's what I waited for (actually, I hoped for 50%, but 33% is a lot better than 25%).
Thanks for listening.
Just created an account, now 5 GB of photos are on their way ;D
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I am happy to see your announcement. I tried to upload my portfolio samples after passing your author quiz. I used FTP, saw the uploaded zip in the portfolio submission page, selected it, wrote a note, checked the box and when I submitted it got a 405 "not allowed" error.
Your portfolio approval process is more cumbersome than any site out there. I don't really know why it doesn't work, but if you can fix it, I'll happily go back and try again.
If I'm going to get 2,000 files uploaded the system needs to work. If now isn't a good time because you're working on the site, I'll hold off until that's done.
ETA: In fairly short order I received an e-mail that my samples had been received - so perhaps the error message was harmless. then I just received a note that I've been approved. I'll try a batch via FTP and see how things are working. If someone went in to fix this, many thanks.
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This is great news, but I am still conflicted.
Did I miss it or has the extended license pricing still not been addressed?
Also, everyone take note that an XXL is only $7 on Photodune. Their prices are way too low and WILL affect your earnings at other agencies. Photodune will become a significant agency, they are very successful in other segments. Now is the time to discuss it.
agree, they need to implement more sizes, after 12MP it goes to the lastest XXL which is 9$
should be something like 16, 20 and over 30 perhaps
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... If I'm going to get 2,000 files uploaded the system needs to work. If now isn't a good time because you're working on the site, I'll hold off until that's done.
Good idea. I've been jumping through hoops for the last 3 weeks to get my very few uploads sorted out.
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That's a nice increase. Its good to have a site increasing commissions, even if it is from a very low level. Hopefully you will see how paying us more makes you more money and some of the other sites will get the same idea.
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Collis, wonderful news!
This is a big slap in the face of the likes of istock and fotolia.. It makes them look even worse than they already are..
Looking forward for a more streamlined upload process for vectors..
Wish you and envato the best!
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Bravo!! This is really exciting news! Envato is a class act, and this is a class move to reward your contributors and attract new talent. Congratulations!
With the great administrative team and successful marketing efforts already working, I expect Photodune will find itself moved into the top 4 or 5 sites by this time next year, if not sooner! Take a heart from me too :D
Also, everyone take note that an XXL is only $7 on Photodune. Their prices are way too low and WILL affect your earnings at other agencies. Photodune will become a significant agency, they are very successful in other segments. Now is the time to discuss it.
I just got a .09 cent royalty on Istock. All time record low from anywhere for me, in nearly 7 years of microstock. I'm not all that worried about $7 prices on PD, for which a 33% royalty would be $2.33.
As they have demonstrated a willingness to respond to market forces, I am sure PD will revise prices if they feel it's beneficial. :)
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Great news! You and us will get more money. I think you will be in Big 4 soon :)
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I don't have anything on pd yet but I wonder if this could be the beginning of a cycle in the micro business. There certainly could be some opportunities to attract contributors this way. Low price kings could eventually under price themselves out of the business.
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thanks for the good news!
And I am impressed with how my sales started to come when I uploaded only 1/4 of my portfolio.
I just hope the total sales at Photodune will grow faster than competition between photographers...
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Collis, thank you for the good news. I am correct in assuming this affects Graphic River as well?...
I'm wondering the same thing. Collis?
Edit: Nevermind. Think I found the answer. Looks like this change affects all marketplaces.
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This is great news, but I am still conflicted.
Did I miss it or has the extended license pricing still not been addressed?
Also, everyone take note that an XXL is only $7 on Photodune. Their prices are way too low and WILL affect your earnings at other agencies. Photodune will become a significant agency, they are very successful in other segments. Now is the time to discuss it.
You can opt of Els. El prices are way too low. If someone really wants an EL of your image they'll have to buy it elsewhere.
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Non-exclusive rates up from 25% to 33%. This will be the fourth rate increase in our five year history!
That's good news collis. Do you honestly think 33% is a fair rate? Where does the other 67% of profits go? Can non-exclusive contributors expect to get 50% of every sale in about 5 more years?
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Thank you Collis
This was a smart move. I am sure Envato will soon realize that they will gain as much, if not more, from this decision as the contributors. Now the next thing that we (or some of us at least) will constantly remind you is the prices that is still too low - but lets leave that for a moment ;)
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I am happy to see your announcement. I tried to upload my portfolio samples after passing your author quiz. I used FTP, saw the uploaded zip in the portfolio submission page, selected it, wrote a note, checked the box and when I submitted it got a 405 "not allowed" error.
Your portfolio approval process is more cumbersome than any site out there. I don't really know why it doesn't work, but if you can fix it, I'll happily go back and try again.
If I'm going to get 2,000 files uploaded the system needs to work. If now isn't a good time because you're working on the site, I'll hold off until that's done.
ETA: In fairly short order I received an e-mail that my samples had been received - so perhaps the error message was harmless. then I just received a note that I've been approved. I'll try a batch via FTP and see how things are working. If someone went in to fix this, many thanks.
I also got the same 405 error message and hope that's just 'by design'.. ;)
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Good news.
Between XL to XXL size is to much why dont you make your XXL size to 20MP.
My portfolio rendered for istock XXL size which is 20MP if i send them to PD they all will be XL which is 7$.
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I'm trying to submit and there is a note on the bottom right of the page saying do not use Winzip to make zip file. Maybe you should say what programs work. Any hints ?
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I'm trying to submit and there is a note on the bottom right of the page saying do not use Winzip to make zip file. Maybe you should say what programs work. Any hints ?
I used Winzip and it worked. Got my submission reviewed and got accepted within minutes.
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This raise is a step in the right direction, but 33% is still too low to bring in contributors on a larger scale, myself included. I don't want to be rude, but I really can't imagine how it's possible you have 95% of exclusive photographers, when other, a lot bigger sites that sell a lot more and have higher prices have 95% of non-exclusive (I just read yesterday IS has only 5k exclusives)
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This raise is a step in the right direction, but 33% is still too low to bring in contributors on a larger scale, myself included. I don't want to be rude, but I really can't imagine how it's possible you have 95% of exclusive photographers, when other, a lot bigger sites that sell a lot more and have higher prices have 95% of non-exclusive (I just read yesterday IS has only 5k exclusives)
No, not 95% of photographers are exclusive. He's said in his blog "Here on our marketplaces, the vast majority of sales are on exclusive content. In fact more than 95% of our sales are generated by exclusive authors."
PhotoDune, is just one of the market places of Evanto. The Microstock market place is different as most people will be non-exclusives, including on PD.
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This raise is a step in the right direction, but 33% is still too low to bring in contributors on a larger scale, myself included. I don't want to be rude, but I really can't imagine how it's possible you have 95% of exclusive photographers, when other, a lot bigger sites that sell a lot more and have higher prices have 95% of non-exclusive (I just read yesterday IS has only 5k exclusives)
No, not 95% of photographers are exclusive. He's said in his blog "Here on our marketplaces, the vast majority of sales are on exclusive content. In fact more than 95% of our sales are generated by exclusive authors."
PhotoDune, is just one of the market places of Evanto. The Microstock market place is different as most people will be non-exclusives, including on PD.
Indeed, my bad. But still the percentage seems oddly high, it looks like they are pushing exclusive content much harder than IS etc (which of course is bad for non-exclusives). OTOH I find that stat weird, since all of the top contributors on their ranking board are non-exclusive (Yuri, andresr etc)
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This raise is a step in the right direction, but 33% is still too low to bring in contributors on a larger scale, myself included. I don't want to be rude, but I really can't imagine how it's possible you have 95% of exclusive photographers, when other, a lot bigger sites that sell a lot more and have higher prices have 95% of non-exclusive (I just read yesterday IS has only 5k exclusives)
No, not 95% of photographers are exclusive. He's said in his blog "Here on our marketplaces, the vast majority of sales are on exclusive content. In fact more than 95% of our sales are generated by exclusive authors."
PhotoDune, is just one of the market places of Evanto. The Microstock market place is different as most people will be non-exclusives, including on PD.
Indeed, my bad. But still the percentage seems oddly high, it looks like they are pushing exclusive content much harder than IS etc (which of course is bad for non-exclusives). OTOH I find that stat weird, since all of the top contributors on their ranking board are non-exclusive (Yuri, andresr etc)
The stat 95% is not referring to PD, but referring to all of the market places collectively. Although having said that, now that they have their microstock market place, which deals with the largest volumes of any of their market places (almost all will be non-exclusives), that 95% stat that they have will go into free fall.
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Thanks very much PD for paying attention to the voice of contributors. I'm still not sure about the low pricing and EL issues, but I'm watching with greater interest due to this positive move on your part.
ETA: Also, all these complaints about the uploading process are off-putting. Surely there are enough negative comments in this for PD to sort out these issues. An easy and happy uploading experience is pretty critical to the biz ;)
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I started uploading my port but was very quickly put off by the needlessly complicated uploading process . Why every new player is struggling to reinvent the wheel when there are so many well working examples ? Also the watermark needs to be brighter , I see many files where it's almost invisible
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Thanks for the good news Collis and also for taking the time to keep us informed. It is much appreciated. I would also like to see 50% royalties, but am prepared to wait a little while for that if you are going to use the 'extra' income for marketing to build the site in the meantime.
I uploaded to photodune late last week and have just had my first batch of images inspected. It was a bit painful I have to say! I have acceptance rates in the upper 80s/low 90s% with these same images elsewhere, so to only have about half accepted at photodune was a bit of a blow.
That said, I was very pleased to get a sale straight away.
I also got the 405 message, which threw me off briefly - it doesn't mean anything though, the submission has gone through, it just seems as though it hasn't. I uploaded through http as I have never managed to get ftp to work and was (as others have said previously) a bit miffed at having to re-enter the title of the image, even though it was in the metadata. If you could find a way to trim that out then it would speed things up a lot.
Thanks again, I wish you every success and please carry on communicating with us, it is much appreciated.
Bridget (StockCube)
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Just to echo what's already been said.
Thanks for the increase in commissions, it's always a welcomed changed and really great to see a site IMPROVING photographers deal as apposed to milking the contributers for whatever is possible (as seems to often be the case with many sites)
Also, thanks for all the news and info about how the site is going, the updates are really great.
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Definitely a step in the right direction. It's great to see an agency being actively involved here and listening to contributors. I'm still not ready to make the jump until the prices are raised.
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Definitely a step in the right direction. It's great to see an agency being actively involved here and listening to contributors. I'm still not ready to make the jump until the prices are raised.
Same here. Sounds interesting, but XXL prices are still too low for me...
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Thank you Collis!
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Slightly off topic, but I was trying to help out a fellow newbie in the PhotoDune forums and post a reply explaining where to find something he couldn't find and when I went to submit my reply I received this error message and my reply was just wiped out!
"Please wait 10 mins between commenting/posting"
What on earth is that about? I had just replied in a different thread to someone who was kindly trying to help me out and then in trying to return the favor I get my knuckles rapped that I have to wait (and retype everything I just typed).
I'm going to be patient, but PhotoDune really needs to fix a variety of things about the upload process, documenting what new users are to do and whatever this "don't be useful for 10 more minutes" rule is on the forums or they'll be overwhelmed by the attempts of new users to start contributing.
The admins won't be around for a few more hours yet (assuming they're all in Melbourne).
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This raise is a step in the right direction, but 33% is still too low to bring in contributors on a larger scale, myself included. I don't want to be rude, but I really can't imagine how it's possible you have 95% of exclusive photographers, when other, a lot bigger sites that sell a lot more and have higher prices have 95% of non-exclusive (I just read yesterday IS has only 5k exclusives)
They don't have 95% exclusive photographers, but I can see it with their tempates etc. The website template designers provide all customer support for their buyers. I can't imagine providing customer support over 15 sites. They deserve a tremendous royalty because it must be a staggering amount of work that continues long after the product is uploaded. Not that we don't deserve a higher royalty, but I don't think Photodune will be providing a whole lot of customer service to their photo buyers so I don't think they need to be greedy on their end either.
I don't think PhotoDune fully comprehend their potential with stock photos. They could feasibly get 10 million photo uploads this weekend if they do it right. I too am turned off by the upload from what others have reported and I haven't checked out the process on their site. Who has time to zip files? 90% of my photos have one or more releases. Maybe between Christmas and New Year I'll have time to look into - or maybe they will have a release manager by then.
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Adding- someone mentioned that you can opt-out of extended licenses.
Yes, that is an option, but my personal expectation is that buyers will just use the file illegally then. These licenses need to be in line with other agencies. They need to recognize that PhotoDune as a royalty free stock photo distributor, and not another site just like the ones that they already have.
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Can some one point me to their pricing structure? I am having trouble to find in on their website.
Thanks.
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JSNover - I had that too when I tried to reply to my post asking for help with the 405 submission problem. I started a thread, then went to my email inbox and found that my submission had gone through ok. When I tried to go back to my photodune forum thread to say that all was well, it wouldn't let me for 10 minutes. A bit annoying, but not a bug.
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Can some one point me to their pricing structure? I am having trouble to find in on their website.
Thanks.
Hi flashon! Here is the link you are looking for :)
http://photodune.net/wiki/account/money-account/payment-rates/ (http://photodune.net/wiki/account/money-account/payment-rates/)
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... but not a bug.
It's not a bug, it's a feature...
(http://macnugget.org/albums/cars/feature.jpeg)
I guess I'd say that if it's intentional, it's a really idiotic feature. Especially the part about wiping out what you wrote instead of leaving it on the page so you can submit it once you've done your 10 minutes of jail time.
Does it have to do with being new to the system and once they know you're not some lunatic spammer you can post as and when you see fit? The issue is that when forums are used for support, it's most often the newbies who have problems and are helping out other newbies - so the time you need it most you can use it least. Not cool.
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Can some one point me to their pricing structure? I am having trouble to find in on their website.
Thanks.
Hi flashon! Here is the link you are looking for :)
[url]http://photodune.net/wiki/account/money-account/payment-rates/[/url] ([url]http://photodune.net/wiki/account/money-account/payment-rates/[/url])
Thanks for the link. However I am still confused. I get it, 33% is my cut, but what are the sale prices?
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(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YWbZbF1OeaI/Tsv6PJzh1kI/AAAAAAAAA4I/-9fJbtFX_fk/s1600/pd.png)
that´s the max
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xs - $1
s - $2
m - $3
l - $5
XL -$7
EL - $24
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Thank you both!
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i try to ftp to folder bulk import/photos, but i realize the system doesn't take up the 'name' and 'descriptions' as the 'title' and 'descriptions' in IPTC data. anyone has similar issue?
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i try to ftp to folder bulk import/photos, but i realize the system doesn't take up the 'name' and 'descriptions' as the 'title' and 'descriptions' in IPTC data. anyone has similar issue?
I'm having no problem with the IPTC data being read from my files when I FTP them. I do my data entry in Photoshop CS5 - perhaps there are some other sources that PhotoDune's extraction software doesn't yet support?
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I think PhotoDune is one of the new promising agencies out there right now!
Thank you for the great news. :)
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Any chance of price increases when rank increases?
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Any chance of price increases when rank increases?
I would like a tiered scheme as well, but rather for % than price, since I think a single price from buyers' point of view is simpler
but for real, please - i.e., possibly before 24999 pictures sold
anyway, for most of us independents 33% from start is better than - say - 20% to 31% for the first 24999 sales (or 99996 quarters of sales)
Any reference to other sites is purely coincidental :)
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([url]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YWbZbF1OeaI/Tsv6PJzh1kI/AAAAAAAAA4I/-9fJbtFX_fk/s1600/pd.png[/url])
that´s the max
I don't want to comment the pricing, but the sizes: I think the XXL size should be smaller. I see that it's the exact resolution of a Canon EOS 5D mk II camera. But the thing gets funny when the new top-of-the-line Canon 1D X arrives, it will be only 5 184 x 3 456. The most expensive Canon won't be enough for Photodune's XXL size...
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the XXL is the max size you have uploaded, I have some with more than 100MP, sizes need to be updated
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The Envato marketplaces seem to have started with very different goals in mind than most microstock agencies, so it's understandable why things are done a little differently at PhotoDune, GraphicRiver, etc. I really doubt that when they evolved beyond FlashDen they ever really expected to be doing business in stock photos, or in the volume of imagery and design assets they are doing now. Collis please correct me if I'm wrong in any of these assumptions.
My point is that Envato has done a lot of growing over the years and so far they have responded well to their rapidly changing business and evolved as they took on new markets. From my experience at GR, things have gone pretty well. I think pricing has changed a bit and I'm seeing vectors priced in somewhat higher amounts now than before. It used to be rare to see many $7 vectors, but now it's more common. And the increased royalty rate is going to be helpful.
Sure I'd love to see prices creep a bit higher, but overall things are going well at Envato for me and it's refreshing to see a company respond at all to contributor concerns, especially when it comes to pay. Because of that I have confidence in Envato, and I'm fine with continuing to upload and support the site as long as they continue to be open to change and working with contributors to make adjustments from time to time.
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Any chance of price increases when rank increases?
I would like a tiered scheme as well, but rather for % than price, since I think a single price from buyers' point of view is simpler
I am thinking more globally for the industry and quite frankly all of our future. I have nothing against Photodune. I understand their strategy to undercut the industry leaders in order to compete. I'm just worried this trend will become like a Walmart and take over the industry. Since Yuri has already sold 5,000 images here people have clearly learned they can buy his shots at a fraction of the price they can elsewhere.
It's not like they are buying a generic version of a Yuri photo. They are buying the exact same product. If we all dump our portfolios there, that's going to be the price structure as all the other sites will need to lower theirs to compete.
Is it possible we could all look back at this thread in 2 years and slap ourselves in the forehead shouting "This is why we now get 33% of a 10 cent commission on an extra large file!?
Mat
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Any chance of price increases when rank increases?
So they can move the goalposts just when you think they are in sight, you mean?
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Any chance of price increases when rank increases?
I would like a tiered scheme as well, but rather for % than price, since I think a single price from buyers' point of view is simpler
I am thinking more globally for the industry and quite frankly all of our future. I have nothing against Photodune. I understand their strategy to undercut the industry leaders in order to compete. I'm just worried this trend will become like a Walmart and take over the industry. Since Yuri has already sold 5,000 images here people have clearly learned they can buy his shots at a fraction of the price they can elsewhere.
It's not like they are buying a generic version of a Yuri photo. They are buying the exact same product. If we all dump our portfolios there, that's going to be the price structure as all the other sites will need to lower theirs to compete.
Is it possible we could all look back at this thread in 2 years and slap ourselves in the forehead shouting "This is why we now get 33% of a 10 cent commission on an extra large file!?
Mat
You have a good point here: prices at PD are a bit too low.
But then, other sites have better prices but too low base commissions and unrealistic goals.
And taking into account all variables (prices, commissions, subs, partner programs, currencies...) it's not easy to find out how much we are really paid at any specific site.
If we were to make decisions based on inner feelings - and only submit to sites with clearly sustainable prices and commissions - only a bunch of minor sites would remain, accounting for less than 5% of total earnings.
But in the end this is a business and we can't ignore sites with good sales, I'm afraid. Each of us must decide how low is too low, and accept anything above even if it's far away from what we think is fair.
What we can do is to sustain fair sites as well, even if sales are near-zero at present, helping to build a better future.
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Is it possible we could all look back at this thread in 2 years and slap ourselves in the forehead shouting "This is why we now get 33% of a 10 cent commission on an extra large file!?
Honestly, who knows what things will look like in two years on any site? My guess is that Photodune will be a major player in two years. Either way, does anyone want to base their business decisions on distant hypotheticals?
I can only speak from my limited experience, but I have been extremely impressed with my contacts with folks at Envato, and also with the regular monthly payouts I receive. They are very good people who treat contributors with respect, and are the most innovative and successful of all the new sites. They also have an actual community, similar to what Istock used to be/have.
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I'm with you, Lisa. Anything's possible, but I can't see an imagined worst case scenario keeping me from acting in my present and perceived future best interest. The worst I can say about PhotoDune and the rest of Envato is that their infrastructure suffers from some growing pains. On the upside, they've been pleasant to deal with, seem to be in this for the long haul and are willing to listen and learn. Oh, and they're making me some money, which is nice.
I don't get the attitude I sensed at iStock and Fotolia long before they began to take action against us. If I do get a negative vibe at some future date, I'll reevaluate. In the meantime, I'll let them tune their pricing and their compensation to optimize their income and mine. Much nicer than optimizing theirs at the expense of mine, as others have done.
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I don't have a crystal ball either, but I would say that the folks at PhotoDune have been unfailingly polite and helpful. Growing pains is about right for the state of software on the site (for uploads, dealing with model/property releases, finding a list of what's pending, what's rejected, etc.).
And this morning I checked and a good portion of what I uploaded as a test batch was approved (was very surprised at the high rejection rate, but as I can't see any rejection reasons for the "hard" rejections I have no idea what they didn't like), plus I had my first sale.
I've opted out of ELs; once I can figure out how to keep them happy regarding content, I think they'll be a good middle tier site for the time being. Things are not spectacular with the established sites so I'm not about to turn my nose up at a solid middle tier site to add to my roster.
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Honestly, who knows what things will look like in two years on any site? My guess is that Photodune will be a major player in two years. Either way, does anyone want to base their business decisions on distant hypotheticals?
Well screw it! You are right. My wife gets mad at me based on hypothetical scenario's and it drives me nuts (short drive).
The feedback is overwhelmingly positive and the glowing review at the Microstock Diary blog have convinced me to give it a shot (pun intended). Definitely going to opt out of EL's but I'm excited to see the potential.
Mat
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I've opted out of ELs;
@jsnover Good move. They've increased the lowest revenue a contributor can receive for an EL from $2 to $2.64.
@y'all They increased their commission from 25% to 33%, because they are nice, because they are good people and they listen? Because they didn't want to be constantly vilified as they were, because to compete they wanted all contributors to be on board which they weren't getting, hence they offered a carrot. iStock got too big for their boots and gave up on being polite both in words and actions (to their detriment), PD like all new agencies are extremely polite with their words and responses, their income depends on being like this, but no agency is truly polite unless they recognise that their role is to be an agent for which they receive a cut, an intermediary for work that belongs to others and take a percentage for being that middle-man. 50% is more than enough, anything less is rude and no matter what money you are making and how many polite words you hear, this shouldn't be forgotten.
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Well, I tried. I uploaded my 10 pics and got a 405 error message. I did get an email confirmation that says it did go through so we'll see.
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@y'all They increased their commission from 25% to 33%, because they are nice, because they are good people and they listen? Because they didn't want to be constantly vilified as they were, because to compete they wanted all contributors to be on board which they weren't getting, hence they offered a carrot.
Shouldn't we organize a Teddybear Award for the cuddliest site around?
By the way, their upload is flawless, no d/c's, IPTC metadata imported in the right fields. My wifi antenna on the roof is glowing red-hot at the moment.
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Is it possible we could all look back at this thread in 2 years and slap ourselves in the forehead shouting "This is why we now get 33% of a 10 cent commission on an extra large file!?
Mat
I can assure you Mat, If someday an agency destroys microstock, it will be fotolia or istockphoto!
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Well, I tried. I uploaded my 10 pics and got a 405 error message. I did get an email confirmation that says it did go through so we'll see.
Are you no longer exclusive at FT?
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My wife gets mad at me based on hypothetical scenario's and it drives me nuts (short drive).
The feedback is overwhelmingly positive and the glowing review at the Microstock Diary blog have convinced me to give it a shot (pun intended). Definitely going to opt out of EL's but I'm excited to see the potential.
LOL! Well, she's your wife. It's what we do. Wasn't there something about that in the marriage vows? ;D
Now that I see so many talented artists signing up with PD to compete with those of us already there, I am regretting my praise of them. As Sean Locke says "Nothing to see here folks. Move along..." ;)
@microstock posts - So what if PD's motivation is financial instead of altruistic in raising their royalty % and treating contributors with respect? Other sites' income depends on it too, you would think, but they still treat us like dog droppings. Credit where credit is due IMO.
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@microstock posts - So what if PD's motivation is financial instead of altruistic in raising their royalty % and treating contributors with respect? Other sites' income depends on it too, you would think, but they still treat us like dog droppings. Credit where credit is due IMO.
Credit goes to all the fantastic photographers and artists who produce such outstanding stuff for microstock and quite frankly agencies should be thanking their lucky stars for having access to such incredible talent, as well as making as much money as they do from it, even the agencies that offer 50%. Very often those who work for and run agencies have little clue about the amount of work that goes into producing images and they should know. Here we are in a situation which is so bad that if an agency increases its commission from 25% to 33%, people think they deserve credit. Believe me they would much rather still be taking 75%, I know that because they tried to already.
Credit goes to companies like Canstockphoto, 123rf and others, which maintain giving 50% commission to those who contribute to them despite having ample opportunity to lower them. Microstockers seem to have a yearning to Woo Yay something, Woo Yay these guys, not PD. PD starts off low (I wonder why) and then increases to not as low as before, and know how to smile and charm, is suddenly propelled into some kind of wonderful agency because their bird droppings are smaller than others. They're still sheeting on us nonetheless. It's a step in the right direction, but they're still 17% away from 123rf, who did it the hard way without being greedy. I give them credit for that.
If their is any concession by an agency it's usually because they were unable to get away with what they really wanted. This mentality of praising agencies who know how to charm and be polite, but at the same time still want to take a massive chunk of the pie from each and every sale, I can not fathom. I really wish I could one day give PD a lot of credit, but I don't think it's due yet.
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This mentality of praising agencies who know how to charm and be polite, but at the same time still want to take a massive chunk of the pie from each and every sale
On the other hand, read Karimala (amongst others) and how little she/they made with her/their own site. How many of the Ktoolers got back their initial investment in kTools? How is Dan's Warmpictures doing?
A shy voice (or even 10,20) somewhere in a large filled sports stadium won't be heard. It takes a lot of muscle ($) to market a site and IT specialists to maintain it and assure the smooth buyer's experience. It takes at least one manager with a very clear mind. It also takes at least one person for customer care and some customers can be high-maintenance. Those kind of people need to be kept on board with a decent and competitive salary that has to be put on the table, month after month. I think we underestimate the cost to keep a high-volume site up and running.
Everybody's darling, Dreamstime, had to go back from 50 to 30%. They also suggested that the level system could be unsustainable for subs. In that context, 33% is a bearable offer if Envato indeed can convince its (non-micro minded) customer base to buy stock at PD. That's indeed their only asset for the contributor, new customers, but will Envato's success in other graphic areas translate into fast raising sales in their microstock Walmart? Because if not, the offer is worse than Dreamstime's with their level system. In other words, the contributor total revenue at PD should reflect after a while that they can deliver.
And of course, work needs to be done on their over-emphasis of sizes and the ridiculous low price of EL's.
It will be a nice experience to observe how total beginners like iRockstock (and Stockfresh) will be doing the coming year compared to PD with its head start in their fight against players in a market that has already been taken.
Just twocents etc...
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without seeing the books I am VERY skeptical of any claims that sites have to drop commissions to be sustainable - especially when they are dropping our % under 20%- except maybe to sustain their bonuses.
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Hey all! Thanks so much for all the feedback, praise, criticism and comments!
I'm about to go on vacation (to Hawaii!!!!!), so am falling behind with everything in my rush to prepare. So sorry about the long time between replying on my own thread :)
So here are some responses to some of the questions/issues people raised:
(1) Do the Rates Apply to GraphicRiver too?
Yes they do! All our rates on the Envato Marketplaces are across the board. The main concentrations of non-exclusives on our marketplaces are in VideoHive (footage), 3DOcean (3d), AudioJungle (music), GraphicRiver (vectors) and all will get the benefit of the rate bump.
(2) Pricing and License Options
In our first few months we've been doing some experimenting with price and license options. Typically with our sites we try not to make too many changes too fast, so we often wait a while before re-evaluating price points, sizing, license options and so on. I'd say that the current settings are going to be in for a while, but we'll be re-examining them some time next year.
(3) Is 33% a fair rate?
This is an interesting question, and I think you can make a good case either way because percentages are only part of the story.
Some industries pay way less - book authors for example get some pretty low %'s even for exclusive deals. While others pay much more, e.g. Apple pays 70% in its app store which I guess is non-exclusive, though where else you would sell is beyond me.
For me I feel that 33% is better than our old rate of 25%. On that I think we can all agree! Even Microstock Posts seems on board with this assertion :)
As I mentioned in my original post, our tilt at Envato is towards exclusive content. Originally when we entered the audio space with AudioJungle, our marketplace was dominated by non-exclusive authors, however over time many have slowly converted into exclusives, and more have started out that way.
I recognize this may be a completely impractical strategy in photography, and maybe I will be laughed off the forums, but I hope that one day in the future we will have a library with a large portion of exclusive photographic content. How exactly we get there is still a mystery to me. But that's what I am working on anyhow!
In the meantime our focus is getting earnings up for anyone who sells on PhotoDune, and so raising our non-exclusive rate is one way we are trying to achieve that.
(4) How can 95% of our sales be exclusive?
To be clear, most of our *photo* sales are non-exclusive. It's everything else that is exclusive mostly.
PhotoDune is just one of nine Envato Marketplaces, most of which are exclusive dominated. And at least for now PhotoDune is pretty little in the scheme of things over here, and hasn't managed to impact this figure yet. Though I hope that will change! In which case I will likely be reporting a larger % of non-exclusive sales in the future!
Actually even the Envato Marketplaces are just part of our sites. We also operate the Tuts+ tutorial network, the AppStorm network of blogs, and a few other sites. So only about half our traffic goes to the marketplaces, with another 10 million or so visits going elsewhere in our network.
We have a large community around Envato, which is one reason why our sales have been growing well so far! :)
(5) What's with the throttle on forum posting?
A couple of people got the 'wait 10 minutes' post, that will go away once you've been on the site a little while. It's because our sites get a variety of unpleasant spam attacks, so we profile new users and limit their abilities, with those restrictions disappearing over time (or when you buy an item, because we haven't encountered spammers prepared to pay for things yet :)
Still a good point about not wiping out the content so you can resubmit in 10minutes. I'll mention that to the guys to get fixed, thanks jsnover for the suggestion!
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Thanks guys for all the posts and comments! I particularly liked Microstock Posts bird poop post, though I really hope that's not how we come across!
Smithore usually gives me some good comments, but I think he's on vacation at the moment. So in his absence, I will make a mental note that when we've won over Microstock Posts, we've finally made it in the world of stock photography :)
Well on that note, I am off on vacation, so will be offline for a while. A few of our other staff have been popping in here now and again, so you should still hear from PhotoDune/Envato staff. Of course you are all welcome to come over to PhotoDune's forums as well ;)
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I slogged through the legal stuff over at PhotoDune and it still says 25% everywhere I saw a percentage for independents, When is this going to change? (or is it actually at 33% now but all of the text still just says 25%?
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I slogged through the legal stuff over at PhotoDune and it still says 25% everywhere I saw a percentage for independents, When is this going to change? (or is it actually at 33% now but all of the text still just says 25%?
Howdy!
The rate change takes effect on December 1st AEDT at 12:01 am. More info here - http://notes.envato.com/general/non-exclusive-rates-increasing-to-33-on-december-1st/ (http://notes.envato.com/general/non-exclusive-rates-increasing-to-33-on-december-1st/) :)
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Thanks for the answer.
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Can anyone tell me, what is the average amount per dowload you receive from PhotoDune? Thanks.
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Can anyone tell me, what is the average amount per dowload you receive from PhotoDune? Thanks.
August 2011 8 Sales $6.65
September 2011 34 Sales $32.50
October 2011 28 Sales $18.25
November 2011 38 Sales $21.75
Total Sales 108 Sales $79.15
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Thanks, I make that 73 cents RPD at present, and rising to about 96 cents from Dec 1, when the increase kicks in. How does that compare with the others, I am IS exc. so can't do my own comparisons.
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Thanks, I make that 73 cents RPD at present, and rising to about 96 cents from Dec 1, when the increase kicks in. How does that compare with the others, I am IS exc. so can't do my own comparisons.
I am a small earner (around 1k/month lately) but let me tell you the top5 agencies rpd (2 years and half on microstock)
SS 0.46$
IS 0.56$ (without PP 1.22$)
FT 0.75$
DT 0.81$
123RF 0.79$
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Thanks, I make that 73 cents RPD at present, and rising to about 96 cents from Dec 1, when the increase kicks in. How does that compare with the others, I am IS exc. so can't do my own comparisons.
Dreamstime: 1.88$ RPD Nov 2011, 1.28$ over 5 years average. 50% subs at 0.35$ so for credit sales, DT should be around 3$ as a non-exclusive. It has to be said that DT exclusives catch about 3-5x more total revenue by the search engine bias and the 50% share on a comparable port. I guess exclusivity weighs heavier on DT than on IS if you make abstraction of Vetta etc.
Horse (equus) : if you play with the idea to drop the IS crown, you need to go all the way and upload to all possible sites, not only PD. If not, you better stick with IS and hope for better weather. ;)
PD will be diluted soon since everybody seems to be jumping on the bandwagon. Veer still makes a lot more as to RPD (for me).
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I recognize this may be a completely impractical strategy in photography, and maybe I will be laughed off the forums, but I hope that one day in the future we will have a library with a large portion of exclusive photographic content. How exactly we get there is still a mystery to me. But that's what I am working on anyhow!
Sounds like a reasonable goal to me. If I may make a suggestion, offering IMAGE exclusivity would probably get you some good exclusive content. Given your impressive sales record, I would be happy to try out some exclusive images on your site to see how they do.
As another suggestion, a premium collection with image exclusivity might be a great option for some of us who would like to experiment with more high concept images, at a higher price point, similar to what Istock exclusives do with Vetta.
Just some thoughts to consider as you are basking in the Hawaiian sun with your Mai Tai ;)
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I recognize this may be a completely impractical strategy in photography, and maybe I will be laughed off the forums, but I hope that one day in the future we will have a library with a large portion of exclusive photographic content. How exactly we get there is still a mystery to me. But that's what I am working on anyhow!
Sounds like a reasonable goal to me. If I may make a suggestion, offering IMAGE exclusivity would probably get you some good exclusive content. Given your impressive sales record, I would be happy to try out some exclusive images on your site to see how they do.
As another suggestion, a premium collection with image exclusivity might be a great option for some of us who would like to experiment with more high concept images, at a higher price point, similar to what Istock exclusives do with Vetta.
Just some thoughts to consider as you are basking in the Hawaiian sun with your Mai Tai ;)
Ditto
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Yep, me too. I'll never be agency exclusive; I don't like restrictions, and am well aware that even the best deal today may turn out to be a millstone around my neck in the future. But image exclusivity is another matter, especially as I get a better and better sense of what kind of content I should create for PhotoDune's customers.
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Actually image exclusivity is an option on all the marketplace sites. You need to create an Exclusive account and upload the images you intend to sell exclusively at PhotoDune to that account. To be clear, this means you will have an exclusive and non-exclusive account, but it will help you accomplish what you are after.
We look forward to seeing your exclusive images Lisa, Warren and disorderly!
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I don't have an account, Josh, but your agency is getting more and more interesting.
Do you accept editorial images?
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I don't have an account, Josh, but your agency is getting more and more interesting.
Do you accept editorial images?
Hi Warren! Thanks for your interest, We're not currently accepting editorial photos. They require different licensing, etc. that we're not yet ready for. It's in the plans, but we're not quite there yet. Please let me know if I can help.
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Actually image exclusivity is an option on all the marketplace sites. You need to create an Exclusive account and upload the images you intend to sell exclusively at PhotoDune to that account. To be clear, this means you will have an exclusive and non-exclusive account, but it will help you accomplish what you are after.
We look forward to seeing your exclusive images Lisa, Warren and disorderly!
Thanks for the info Josh. Will definitely plan on doing that when I get back to work, post studio renovation :)
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In our brief experience with Photodune, Image exclusivity via a separate account on Photodune could makes sense. We're seriously thinking about it, too. From the handful of sales per day we're averaging on Photodune, so far, the majority of the sold files have not sold elsewhere for years. It's too early to tell, but it sure looks promising.
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Actually image exclusivity is an option on all the marketplace sites. You need to create an Exclusive account and upload the images you intend to sell exclusively at PhotoDune to that account. To be clear, this means you will have an exclusive and non-exclusive account, but it will help you accomplish what you are after.
We look forward to seeing your exclusive images Lisa, Warren and disorderly!
Would that entail a whole seperate account, name, email, etc along with applying a second time?
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Actually image exclusivity is an option on all the marketplace sites. You need to create an Exclusive account and upload the images you intend to sell exclusively at PhotoDune to that account. To be clear, this means you will have an exclusive and non-exclusive account, but it will help you accomplish what you are after.
We look forward to seeing your exclusive images Lisa, Warren and disorderly!
Would that entail a whole seperate account, name, email, etc along with applying a second time?
Hi rosta! Yes, I believe you would. This may change in the future, and I acknowledge it might not be the most elegant solution, but hopefully it will work in the mean time for anyone looking for an option to sell some images exclusively :)
@corepics & lisafx, glad to hear you are considering this as an option, and really hope it works out well for you.
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How long is your current review time, if I may ask?
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How long is your current review time, if I may ask?
My account was reviewed and approved within 24 hours.
Mat
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How long is your current review time, if I may ask?
Hey Flashon,
Times can vary depending on how busy we are at any given time, but photo submissions generally are reviewed within 3-4 days and portfolio submissions generally within 24 hours or so :)
-Drew
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Hey Drew,
I've uploaded some pics and added model releases to the folder in my ftp uploader. The model releases don't appear anywhere that I can see in the final submission process. Am I missing something or are they automatically attached to all pics in the batch?
Thanks,
Mat
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Hey Drew,
I've uploaded some pics and added model releases to the folder in my ftp uploader. The model releases don't appear anywhere that I can see in the final submission process. Am I missing something or are they automatically attached to all pics in the batch?
Thanks,
Mat
Heya Mat,
The latter, the model releases are already "attached" to the pics that you uploaded during the batch upload. No need to assign them or anything like that :)
-Drew
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Cool, thanks.
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The latter, the model releases are already "attached" to the pics that you uploaded during the batch upload. No need to assign them or anything like that :)
-Drew
Drew,
I hope you guys will rethink this process some time soon. It would be nice to see what release is linked to the images when I submit them, and to fix the assignment if it's not correct. Also, it's kind of annoying to have to break up my FTP batches by release. If I have 5 photos with one model, 5 with a second, 5 with a third, and another 5 with some combination of those same three models, am I required to upload each combination separately? Or can I just upload the 20 images and all three releases and ignore the ones that don't count?
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I asked exactly that question and was told it would be OK to have images in the batch that didn't use all of the model/property releases attached.
I haven't tested that out - my first big batch with a release was for a single property release. If that encounters no problems (i.e. images are approved) I'm going to test out a batch with four people and one property release where not all the people are in all the shots and see if all those pass inspection.
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Thanks, Jo Ann. I'll give it a try the next time I have a mixed batch.
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The latter, the model releases are already "attached" to the pics that you uploaded during the batch upload. No need to assign them or anything like that :)
-Drew
Drew,
I hope you guys will rethink this process some time soon. It would be nice to see what release is linked to the images when I submit them, and to fix the assignment if it's not correct. Also, it's kind of annoying to have to break up my FTP batches by release. If I have 5 photos with one model, 5 with a second, 5 with a third, and another 5 with some combination of those same three models, am I required to upload each combination separately? Or can I just upload the 20 images and all three releases and ignore the ones that don't count?
Hi disorderly :) This is a good question and I can understand the confusion. To answer your question, yes, you can just upload the 20 images and all three releases and ignore the ones that don't count? The 3 releases will be attached to all of the images in that batch.
Hope that helps!
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How many of the Ktoolers got back their initial investment in kTools? How is Dan's Warmpictures doing?
I cannot make a judgement yet. Building an e-commerce site from the ground up takes time, and a lot of it. Unless you have a list of qualified buyers waiting for you, there will be no sales until people find you. In the case of Photodune, they were already part of the huge and successful Envato network when they were formed. That's a big advantage. But it's a little different in our case as Photodune is going after the microstock market hard, whereas we are competing with Alamy, Corbis, etc.
We make a nice amount on sales per visit. The problem is visits are very low because it takes so long to make headway in Google. The advertising I have tried has probably helped to spread our name recognition, but it has never done much for our sales. The people who buy from us tend to come to us directly, wanting something in specific.
I think people who undertake a new website don't give it nearly enough time or effort to succeed or fail. I've extended our domain the maximum 3 years, and I wouldn't do that if I felt I couldn't increase our traffic by a vast amount. Time will tell. It's too early to declare winners and losers.
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Hey everyone! We've just announced some changes to our marketplace fee structure, as part of a new holistic approach that brings both author and buyer needs into better focus. Our goal is to create a really fantastic experience that benefits both buyers and authors in the long term.
As part of this update, our fees to non-exclusive authors are decreasing which means an increase in net author earnings. For a sale of an item with a list price of $100, a non-exclusive author will now have net earnings of $36 (for comparison, in our old fee structure, they would have received $33). We're working steadily towards a more competitive media offering for photos, footage, and other markets dominated by non-exclusive contributors.
The Become an Author (http://audiojungle.net/make_money/become_an_author) page has a complete and more visual representation of this breakdown, with a fancy chart and slider :)
You can read more about this change on our Market Blog:
- A More Balanced Envato Market (http://marketblog.envato.com/news/balanced-envato-market/)
- Author Rundown of Buyer Services Changes (http://marketblog.envato.com/news/buyer-services/)
As well as our commitment to strengthening our media markets as part of our 2014 Roadmap (http://marketblog.envato.com/news/marketplaces-roadmap-2014/). Thanks!
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Hey everyone! We've just announced some changes to our marketplace fee structure, as part of a new holistic approach that brings both author and buyer needs into better focus. Our goal is to create a really fantastic experience that benefits both buyers and authors in the long term.
As part of this update, our fees to non-exclusive authors are decreasing which means an increase in net author earnings. For a sale of an item with a list price of $100, a non-exclusive author will now have net earnings of $36 (for comparison, in our old fee structure, they would have received $33). We're working steadily towards a more competitive media offering for photos, footage, and other markets dominated by non-exclusive contributors.
The Become an Author ([url]http://audiojungle.net/make_money/become_an_author[/url]) page has a complete and more visual representation of this breakdown, with a fancy chart and slider :)
You can read more about this change on our Market Blog:
- A More Balanced Envato Market ([url]http://marketblog.envato.com/news/balanced-envato-market/[/url])
- Author Rundown of Buyer Services Changes ([url]http://marketblog.envato.com/news/buyer-services/[/url])
As well as our commitment to strengthening our media markets as part of our 2014 Roadmap ([url]http://marketblog.envato.com/news/marketplaces-roadmap-2014/[/url]). Thanks!
Tried to read through those releases but the business gobbledygook made it difficult. :o
What's the low down for a photographer?
Author fees? What are they?
Are we getting 36% royalties instead of 33% for none exclusives?
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Hey everyone! We've just announced some changes to our marketplace fee structure, as part of a new holistic approach that brings both author and buyer needs into better focus. Our goal is to create a really fantastic experience that benefits both buyers and authors in the long term.
As part of this update, our fees to non-exclusive authors are decreasing which means an increase in net author earnings. For a sale of an item with a list price of $100, a non-exclusive author will now have net earnings of $36 (for comparison, in our old fee structure, they would have received $33). We're working steadily towards a more competitive media offering for photos, footage, and other markets dominated by non-exclusive contributors.
The Become an Author ([url]http://audiojungle.net/make_money/become_an_author[/url]) page has a complete and more visual representation of this breakdown, with a fancy chart and slider :)
You can read more about this change on our Market Blog:
- A More Balanced Envato Market ([url]http://marketblog.envato.com/news/balanced-envato-market/[/url])
- Author Rundown of Buyer Services Changes ([url]http://marketblog.envato.com/news/buyer-services/[/url])
As well as our commitment to strengthening our media markets as part of our 2014 Roadmap ([url]http://marketblog.envato.com/news/marketplaces-roadmap-2014/[/url]). Thanks!
envato webpage says:
Non-Exclusive Authors
Our author fee to non-exclusive authors is 55% of the item price.
however, after your last change, on our earnings page we see "xx.xx % of the Item Price is the author fee we're currently charging you". with xx.xx number being HIGHER than 55.
can you please comment on this?
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How long is your current review time, if I may ask?
Hey Flashon,
Times can vary depending on how busy we are at any given time, but photo submissions generally are reviewed within 3-4 days and portfolio submissions generally within 24 hours or so :)
-Drew
What . is up with your HORRIBLE inspection process?
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no..? u earn not 55%. there is a fee. so it are 36%? But i dont know its max or min.
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What . is up with your HORRIBLE inspection process?
Agree
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Are we getting 36% royalties instead of 33% for none exclusives?
Good question
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Are we getting 36% royalties instead of 33% for none exclusives?
Good question
That's what it sounds like to me, but they sure make it confusing with all these fees - why not just list the commission percent like every other site?
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Another question I have is why are Extended Licenses at Photodune only $40 - which to me seems about $60-110 too low, where on Graphic River they are a totally unrealistic price of $300?
Why is a nightclub flyer so much more precious than a photo?
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I looked on their site and it's still confusing. In the example they give of a $100 purchase it works out to be a 36% commission, with a 55% "author's fee" that appears to be constant on the 80% remaining after the buyer's fee is subtracted. If the "buyer's fee" is always 20% then it would work out to a 36% non-exclusive commission to us for all sales - 3% more than before so that will be a nice raise. Unless the buyer's fee varies then we will not know. I assume a variable buyer's fee is unlikely so hopefully it will always be 36% to authors - a step in the right direction. Thanks to Envato for that!
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I just got a sale that normally would net me 0.66, but I got 0.72. So basically I got pay raise of 3%. This must be a dream 8). However, I truly truly appreciate the gesture. I guess it is still possible to get a raise. Well done, Shutterstock should follow this example.
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This is confusing. Author fees are what we pay to envato and that is different than commission percent? Why is the language changed?
If I read right then we get 55% of what's leftover after a 'buyers fee' is taken out. In example the buyers fee is 20%. What is the buyers fee anyways and who gets it? Buyers dont get a fee for buying an image, right? Does the buyers fee go to envato, and then they take another 45% of what remains? Also, does the buyers fee stay the same or can it change? It would help alot if someone explains what is the buyers fee and how it works.
I like envato and want to be happy with this news but I don't really understand?
Also, this is new info. If its good news why buried on the end of 3 year old thread?
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It is a new thread, just that the title is not really clear on what is happening.
http://www.microstockgroup.com/photodune/a-more-balanced-envato-market (http://www.microstockgroup.com/photodune/a-more-balanced-envato-market)
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It is a new thread, just that the title is not really clear on what is happening.
[url]http://www.microstockgroup.com/photodune/a-more-balanced-envato-market[/url] ([url]http://www.microstockgroup.com/photodune/a-more-balanced-envato-market[/url])
Oh. Thank you.