That doesn�t sound good at all.

Pond5 was the only real marketplace the industry had.

They could have become the ebay or amazon of the industry.

But that means no interference in peopleś portfolios, no "micromanaging" by inexperienced reviewers.

Now I am really worried where they are going.

They were outselling compared to SS for a very long time with a much smaller budget.

Their marketplace concept was brilliant and unique.

their rejections have become weird.  What they don�t take is the content that will then sell pretty fast on SS.

But the worst are the long review times.

I used to love pond5, but it looks like they are ignoring what is necessary to be done while the management plays with new toys. Reminds me of istock unfortuantely.

The main advantage was that pond5 was a real marketplace, that set them apart from all the other places where you can�t decide on prices or run your portfolio as your own webshop.

I hope they don�t kill it off with too many "exciting" projects.

Quote from: StockGuy on February 25, 2016, 12:31

Pond5 took all the site analytics data to figure out what was selling and bought up and made deals with content creators to get this 200k library to offer a cheaper and bigger alternative to videoblocks offering.  This will destroy contributor revenue.  They will promote videos from this 200k collection videos. For example, their search algorithm will rank the 200k collection videos ahead of contributor videos.  This is the beginning of the end to video contributors.

indeed, it is -- and it may be time to leave P5. They're not selling anything (while identical clips of mine do sell nicely on VB and others), so P5 was never a good idea anyway. Being awarded a "penalty" in their (internal site) search is the icing on the cake for me, even though my P5 sales could hardly be negatively affected anyway

Also, their "webdesign" or what they call it themselves, is bottom-of-the-barrel. That Flash rubbish they're plastering all over the place is ridiculous and shows theya re not aware of the difference between TV and an e-commerce website. P5 might want to teach themselves some basic layout some time...

Finally, they don't even know how to display a proper price in euros: you put the �-sign on the left-hand side of the numeral. Always has been correct, always will be (alternatively, you write "euros" w/o abbreviation or currency symbol). Clip price should read �37.00 (very much like you write a price in dollars).

Seen quite enough of them.

Quote from: leaf on March 03, 2016, 01:19

spam blasted - sorry guys, I was sleeping

I'll see if I can figure out a way to stop it from happening in the future

You're entitled to some sleep without some idiot running amok on the forum.

Thanks for taking care of it 

Quote from: freestar2016 on March 02, 2016, 02:23

Is Pond5 not only for Video? Sorry for my lack of knowledge.

No, but a simple visit to the website would have told you that..

I have less sale since 2016. but I like pond5. The only thing is I don't much like their new logo but it doesn't matter much.

Quote from: ccbcc on February 27, 2016, 11:24

Can't believe that people are just letting him go. I definitely go after people that owe me money. It's probably that attitude that came across clearly in my email to him, because he did pay me. Granted, the amount was far less than some of the numbers reported here.

Side effect of people doing nothing, he will probably go and scam other people knowing how easy it is to get away with.

How do you know people are letting him go? Maybe the ones who are losing a lot of money are looking into filing a lawsuit, in which case they wouldnt be talking about it in a public forum. And dont forget...$12000 is a heck of a lot of money, but think what a lawsuit might cost. I am certain it isnt a case of people WANTING to let him go, but more a problem of unscrupulous people knowing how they can rip people off and get away with it, because the cost of doing something about it is greater than what is owed. Seems like the best plan with these online companies is to not get in a position where they owe you that much money.

Quote from: KnowYourOnions on February 26, 2016, 03:37

Quote from: thepokergod on February 26, 2016, 02:58

Remember Pond5 is also getting 50% of regular sales so it's still in their interest to promote the main collection. The membership files are also available for regular purchase for those who don't want to subscribe.

My opt in process was pretty friendly - files older than a year with two or less sales and below a price point which I was able to define.

To opt out you need 120 days notice I believe.

 

I would be very surprised that your opt in process went unfriendly! 

Here is why...P5 knows you well and promotes you exclusively!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UWaoAB_gDU

Am I going to be a regular target of your anonymous trolling on this forum every time I post in a Pond5 related thread? When you say "promotes exclusively" I guess you mean alongside the 19 other artists they profiled as well as other's whose clips are regularly featured on the homepage.

Disgruntled ex-employee?

Remember Pond5 is also getting 50% of regular sales so it's still in their interest to promote the main collection. The membership files are also available for regular purchase for those who don't want to subscribe.

My opt in process was pretty friendly - files older than a year with two or less sales and below a price point which I was able to define.

To opt out you need 120 days notice I believe.

Quote from: YadaYadaYada on February 16, 2016, 11:26

You need to read what I actually wrote. I said pay us, the rest are just stealing from us. All of them are screwing us. But if somebody sends their photos to anyplace and then complains after about the deal and percentages, what does that say? You walked into a brick wall and now you blame the wall for being there?

You people here signed up and send your work to these places. Then spend all day after day, complaining about them.

Didn't you know what the pay was and the contract when you signed up? Don't you know what the pay is now and the contract? Why do people keep working for the low earners and crooks when there are 4 good agencies that pay back for our work?

You're kidding, right?  The pay and the contracts were way different when a lot of us signed with these agencies.  I don't complain about the (few) agencies that stick to the contracts that I signed up for.  The complaints come when the agencies change the TOS to screw the contributors and there is no negotiations, and your only choice is to pull your portfolio and lose all your efforts and income at once, or leave it and see your income drop from the greedy new policies that we DIDN'T  sign up for. 

And BTW,  the 4 "good agencies" you mentioned are also among the biggest crooks.  Since they account for the most volume, most people put up with their carp, but don't kid yourself they're good guys or your friend.