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Author Topic: Crated  (Read 32475 times)

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« on: April 30, 2014, 19:07 »
+1
A new photo POD site, Crated.com, has just announced itself and supposedly will be running towards the end of May.  This one is curated to the extent that you need to be approved to get in;  it claims contributors will get 80% and have some control over pricing, and it looks likely to be a clean modern design.   And that's about all I know.

Why is this one any more interesting than all the others? Someone recently started a thread on FAA to discuss it, and Sean McDunn soon jumped in and rather rudely shut it down.   This seems especially odd because there have been long-running discussions on FAA about Zazzle, SmugMug and other PODs.

McDunn's censoring of the discussion was accompanied by an oddly defensive post, claiming he's not worried about Crated, it's just like all the others, etc., leaving one wondering why he wouldn't allow discussion of it.

My conclusion is that Crated.com might be one to watch for the future.


« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2014, 19:17 »
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« Last Edit: April 30, 2014, 21:35 by Maximilian »

« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2014, 19:36 »
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http://petapixel.com/2014/04/29/new-online-photography-marketplace-crated-offers-an-end-to-end-platform-like-never-before/

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Crated-art-marketplace/sell-art-online/prweb11794194.htm

The PRWEB release is reprinted here (I don't think anything is added) http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1880081

There's a mention in the press release of a pop-up gallery to show works from the first 100 artists to join... off to read these two and see what might make them interesting.

Getty made photos.com into a very lackluster site - when you compare the options for framing or printing surface they have almost nothing. So their big deal is the images they have of old movie stars or famous people?

FAA has a lot going for it, but doesn't have worldwide fulfillment options. Someone must believe there's a big enough market for stuff to put on walls...
« Last Edit: April 30, 2014, 19:49 by Jo Ann Snover »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2014, 19:44 »
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"CURATION: The artwork is heavily curated to ensure it reflects the high standards of Crateds community of artists."
I have no problem with this, but where can we see the high standards of the community?

How does 'heavy curation' work with "At no cost, sign up now at http://www.crated.com, upload your images and in just a few minutes you can have a free online gallery with ready to support sales, production and distribution."

Just askin'. I'd be interested in a POD outlet which had printing in Europe, to cut shipping costs. This looks like a US company, but there are no "other details" I can find on the site.

« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2014, 21:19 »
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With regard to 'curation' I think it makes sense to have prospective contributors provide a link to some of their work, and if it looks reasonably professional, sign them up - and after that let them upload whatever they want.   It's not practical to screen every image.  I applied, will see what happens.  Hope they're not just looking for more fake Instragram-y cr@p with the camera tilted and the subject half out of the frame.

The most likely outcome is that Crated turns out to be another dream site that has everything photographers want - except buyers.   Good presentation, good content, fair TOS.  But no sales.   How many times have we been there...

I just thought that McDunn's reaction indicated there was something about Crated that he saw as a threat.  For example, Crated says that "your gallery page is designed to look minimalist and highly functional on any device" - which FAA definitely does not.  There are also references to European printing partners, which is a real sore point with FAA right now.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2014, 21:22 by stockastic »

« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2014, 21:40 »
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Seems like the backers have spent some time thinking about the weakness of the existing PODs.  For example scaling images into standard sizes 5x7, 10x14 etc  Uploading on FAA always comes out in strange sizes.

Of course it will take a while to find buyers and get the word out but looks promising.  Curation is a good thing so you don't get lost among all of the family vacation photos.

« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2014, 22:14 »
+2
Curation can be fine - if you can figure out what they want clearly. I have neither the time nor the stamina to play the upload guessing game. Once there's something to look at I'll see if it fits what I do. If it's Photocase or Stocksy, then I have nothing to offer anyway

At a minimum it might encourage FAA to tart up their site a bit. It could use some visual oomph

« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2014, 01:16 »
+3
"All they've done is create yet another POD site and made it look nice"

Um, that's a major selling point, especially to buyers of VISUAL art...
« Last Edit: May 01, 2014, 01:24 by Silken Photography »

« Reply #8 on: May 01, 2014, 07:25 »
+2
At least curation will keep out those who post images with date stamps.  I swear I've come across two people lately on FAA who uploaded images with date stamps and can't understand why their images don't sell.

Ron

« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2014, 11:14 »
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Why do none of these freaken art sites read IPTC ?!?!!?!?!?

« Reply #10 on: May 01, 2014, 11:49 »
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Why do none of these freaken art sites read IPTC ?!?!!?!?!?

FAA does

« Reply #11 on: May 01, 2014, 11:53 »
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Why do none of these freaken art sites read IPTC ?!?!!?!?!?

Yeah I just tried to upload one and saw that right away.  Didn't matter at this time, because the upload never completed :-)   but of course it's a beta site, not expecting things to work smoothly all the time.

I just sent Crated an email, asking about IPTC data, and also whether images would be forced to standard sizes (5x7, 8x10).   I said that both these issues are potential non-starters for me.   And by "potential non-starters" I mean total, absolute non-starters. 


Ron

« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2014, 11:53 »
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Why do none of these freaken art sites read IPTC ?!?!!?!?!?


FAA does


I know, I have 600 images there. You get my point though  :D

http://semmickphoto.artistwebsites.com/

Ron

« Reply #13 on: May 01, 2014, 11:57 »
+1
Quote
Hey Ronald,

At the moment our uploader doesn't grab IPTC data but we have had a bunch of photographers ask for that feature and plan we do on adding it in. The timeline for this is a few weeks though but I agree that it is a super helpful feature to have and would benefit many artists in initial onboarding.

All the best,
Steve

« Reply #14 on: May 01, 2014, 12:01 »
+2
Quote
Hey Ronald,

At the moment our uploader doesn't grab IPTC data but we have had a bunch of photographers ask for that feature and plan we do on adding it in. The timeline for this is a few weeks though but I agree that it is a super helpful feature to have and would benefit many artists in initial onboarding.

All the best,
Steve


Thanks.

They seem like smart guys and will no doubt get IPTC working eventually.  The standard size thing is what worries me - that's probably up to their printing vendor(s).   Many photographers are ok with forced cropping to standard sizes, but many are not, and this has always been a key advantage of FAA. 

FAA definitely needs competition, it's falling way behind the times in important ways.  But if you want to go up against FAA you need to match them on the things they do well, not just attack their weak points.

UPDATE - got this reply from Stephen:
"We do not force print sizes, our system actually offers the prints at unique sizes based on the resolution of the image so that there is no cropping."

So things still sound promising there.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2014, 12:03 by stockastic »

« Reply #15 on: May 01, 2014, 12:35 »
+2
"All they've done is create yet another POD site and made it look nice"

Um, that's a major selling point, especially to buyers of VISUAL art...

LOL.  Yeah, that's all they've done: made it look nice. 

McDunn just doesn't get this part, which is why FAA so desperately needs competition. 
« Last Edit: May 01, 2014, 12:40 by stockastic »

BD

« Reply #16 on: May 01, 2014, 21:50 »
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Why do none of these freaken art sites read IPTC ?!?!!?!?!?

Yeah I just tried to upload one and saw that right away.  Didn't matter at this time, because the upload never completed :-)   but of course it's a beta site, not expecting things to work smoothly all the time.

I just sent Crated an email, asking about IPTC data, and also whether images would be forced to standard sizes (5x7, 8x10).   I said that both these issues are potential non-starters for me.   And by "potential non-starters" I mean total, absolute non-starters.

What is their email? I can't seem to find it anywhere. Thank you!

Ron

« Reply #17 on: May 02, 2014, 01:34 »
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You can reply to the acceptance email, in that email you will get a direct email of Steve as well.

I believe its [email protected] the direct email from Steve I wont share here as that wouldnt be ethical.

http://support.crated.com/hc/en-us

« Reply #18 on: May 02, 2014, 12:02 »
+1
Up and running - looks good, clean and modern

http://crated.com/edwardfielding

« Reply #19 on: May 02, 2014, 12:20 »
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Up and running - looks good, clean and modern

http://crated.com/edwardfielding


I don't see any images - it's described as a "future gallery". Can you only see images if you are signed up/in?

« Reply #20 on: May 02, 2014, 12:27 »
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Must be closed unless signed up --- until the launch.

Ron

« Reply #21 on: May 02, 2014, 12:42 »
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Up and running - looks good, clean and modern

http://crated.com/edwardfielding


I don't see any images - it's described as a "future gallery". Can you only see images if you are signed up/in?
Yes. If you are not logged in you cant see the galleries.

BD

« Reply #22 on: May 02, 2014, 13:37 »
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Thanks! I found it in the acceptance email (:

« Reply #23 on: May 02, 2014, 15:46 »
+2
there is no watermark feature as well (from my research)

« Reply #24 on: May 03, 2014, 03:05 »
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the search engine (results) is awful, it's showing pictures that haven't got the keywords searched for


 

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