|
MicrostockGroup Sponsors
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
Messages - Artemis
Pages: 1 ... 5 6 7 8 9 [10] 11 12 13 14 15 ... 20
226
« on: January 29, 2011, 12:58 »
PM well received here too! Still have to order the postcards and also a renowned procrastinator so a reminder in a bit wouldnt hurt!
I'd also feel better if my adress wasnt on a website for too long...maybe we all should copy/paste asap so it can go off.
Looking forward to the cards!
227
« on: January 27, 2011, 20:01 »
Yep... thats the only part that's predictable: we're going to get screwed worse...
228
« on: January 27, 2011, 19:08 »
My doom and gloom is based not so much on my experience of the last 2 years - which actually exceeded my expectations - but on the perception that the business is in free fall, with commissions to be cut further, giveaway collections to be expanded, subscriptions to be pushed harder, rejections to increase .......
That, i fully agree with... we're getting screwed, and screwed and screwed by the agencies because we're so powerless and i'm equally fed up with it (so i'm exploring macro options). I hope my post didnt come across as braggy, it really wasnt my intention; as said, i'm sure a lot of peeps do much, much better. But i still think for people with not too high expectations MS still can be a rewarding experience  (Sorry btw for not posting my links; i got a bit bitter about certain agencies and thought it was wiser to remove them; PM'ed ya)
229
« on: January 27, 2011, 18:10 »
Hmm, all this doom and gloom about new peeps not being able to make it anymore, it might also depend on what your expectations are when joining MS. I registered end 2008 and started actively submitting halfway 2009 with the typical 'its there on my HD, might as well make a couple of bucks with it' attitude. But i was really surprised about how much money one actually can make with it, really exceeding my expectations. I'm a mediocre photographer with a small port, but my 204 pics on istock alone makes well over $300/month. All agencies together get me a very nice 2nd income. It's not enough to live from, but more than i ever dreamed when joining and well payed considered how i can shoot more or less what i want when i want, and definitely because the $$'s keep coming while doing nothing for a couple of weeks... in my humble point of view i made it, and more, in MS, but i started with low expectations and never expected to live from it. (i just cant live with the feeling of constantly getting screwed over).
Apart from the vested pro's with well established portfolio's the future of MS might lie in the neverending stream of hobbyists, i still think they might find the return a nice surprise.
230
« on: January 27, 2011, 17:38 »
Next to microstock (which im devoting less and less time to while exploring other macro options) i'm a part time photographer and a part time counselor in a refugee center.
231
« on: January 27, 2011, 17:34 »
Indeed sorry to see you go! Thanks for the excellent communication and swift answers to our questions here, i hope this will continue.
All the best of luck to you in your new role Brian!
(how does one contribute to the macro site btw..?)
232
« on: January 27, 2011, 07:20 »
Ouch! This is the 3rd agency doing this, after DT and FT?
Yet Pixmac keeps claiming it was just a small error on their side...nuhuh.
233
« on: January 27, 2011, 06:53 »
I'm on firefox 3.0.19 (instead of the latest 3.6.*) and my search button isnt working since 2 weeks or so. Reported it but it looks like its not on their 'to fix' list. (in their arrogance they expect the customers to adapt to them instead)
Of course they didnt notify the buyers.
234
« on: January 26, 2011, 16:24 »
My balance just went up but it doesnt show the sale(s) yet, not unusual though as long as the delay doesnt take more than a couple of hours...
I also submitted files today... estimated review time was 19h and they're under review now already.
The sales still havent showed up, strange indeed! (and the images are still under review, but thats probably normal)
235
« on: January 26, 2011, 12:17 »
My balance just went up but it doesnt show the sale(s) yet, not unusual though as long as the delay doesnt take more than a couple of hours...
I also submitted files today... estimated review time was 19h and they're under review now already.
236
« on: January 26, 2011, 08:14 »
I believe the UK has a tax treaty with the US so if you fill in the W-8 form no taxes should be witheld from your sales. This link probably is handier than digging through the taxforum on SS: http://submit.shutterstock.com/tax_center.mhtmlIts from Shutterstock, but taxforms are the same for all agencies and you can find detailed info here on how to fill it in correctly.
237
« on: January 26, 2011, 07:44 »
Do you submit to Fotolia only? Many other sites require you to fill in taxforms as well (SS, DT, Veer, BigStock,...). How to fill it in depends a bit on where you live and whether you operate as individual or company. The Shutterstock forums has a tax-section in which it gets described clearly how to fill in the forms (per country). Maybe you can take a look there: http://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=18
238
« on: January 24, 2011, 12:47 »
In my humble opinion Dreamstime belongs in this list too. The only downside is their 'similars issue'. (I've never been hurt by it much because i usually pick only 1 or 2 shots from a shoot (and the times i felt it wasnt fair i shot a message to support and it got reversed) so i am slightly biassed here). Apart from that issue they have always been very transparent and open for our suggestions. They constantly are trying to improve their site for customers and contributors and i feel like i've always been treated very well and fair there. Their image level system (as far as i know) seems unique in the industry and works very well (level 4-5 images pay a good sum). imho they fit the 'fair category' well
239
« on: January 24, 2011, 08:17 »
At least they seem genuinely bonafide; i mailed them last night to ask to remove my pictures since i opted out of partner programs on Bigstock a long time ago and promptly got a reply: We follow the strict rules of protecting the copyrights of all the images from BigStock and its contributors. Our server is connected to BigStock's servers. The images are not stored in our servers. if you have chosen to "opted out from API or resellers", your works should be not accessible via our website. What you see may be some "caches pages", our customers actully can't purchase and download your images. these caches pages will disappear probably within a few weeks. if you find you can still find your image thumbnails in our website after a few weeks, please contact us again, we will check with BigStock, and fixed it.
Please be noted, we don't keep the copies of images without warter marks. All the original images are stored and called from BigStock servers. and, We protect your copyright as BigStock. don't worry about it.
Finally, we really hope you can opt for API or resellers in BigStock, so that your works can be purchased in China, which means more chances of realising the value of your works.
appreciated
240
« on: January 23, 2011, 19:47 »
Grrrr, i opted out of all partner programs over 6 months ago and still i find my pictures on sites like these. This one without a doubt comes from Bigstock. (i have a different username + smaller portfolio there)
241
« on: January 23, 2011, 12:43 »
Well if this cut is live right now?? must say Im not seeing any differance at all. Maybe lots of people are worrying for nothing?
Seriously, no difference? I used to get $3 to $3.30 for a large; since the cut $2,60 is the most i got, and usually less with a $1.60 low. Xsmall used to be $0,30, now i get between $0,15 and $0,26. All in all i had a great january in n of downloads, but royalties will be about 30% down if the trend goes on. Maybe they forgot to switch the button on your account?  I wished they had at least to decency (ha, haha!) to swallow their own discounts 
242
« on: January 22, 2011, 16:54 »
Has anyone alerted IS/Thinkstock/whoever? I have not.
I really feel for the model, so i dropped Yuri a line.
243
« on: January 22, 2011, 16:18 »
244
« on: January 22, 2011, 07:15 »
I must say; upon my request to delete my account, Fotolia offered to pay out even though I have not reached minimum requirement yet. That is a completely different tune to when I closed my account at 123RF. Too bad about Fotolia, really, my images had just started to sell really well there.
Go back to them!! there is nothing wrong with FT! they got plenty of selling power and this cut in commissions, well thats just a few bucks, no more, worse is the carte blanche to all other agencies to do the same. Thats whats damaging, not the money.
Upload to them again, youre silly deleting an account for nothing really.
There is nothing wrong with FT?!! Imho they're about the worst. They ban people and close their accounts when things are posted in their, or other forums which they dont like. They make a lot of sneaky changes and when contributors ask about that the reply is: "why? because we can" (that helpdesk reply is still floating around here somewhere). They have absolutely zero transparency and your commission part depends on where you registered (euro vs dollar). And the list goes on and on. This all BEFORE the istock fiasco. They and their incredible arrogance are the first one i ditched, and im still very happy i did.
245
« on: January 20, 2011, 16:12 »
A good start would be to get rid of the 'a few pennies is better than nothing' mentality.
I just finished my own website (still need to think of a business name, urgh) but i'll do my small part by setting up a section talking about 'fair trade' and 'to avoid' agencies. Maybe if more bloggers would do it google would pick up some of it. It definitely wont make much difference, but every customer away from the worst agencies is a minor victory in my book.
Edit: or someone far more eloquent could put such post on their blog and we could promote it on the social networks, though issue is the mixed interests. I can imagine istock exclusives (rightfully from their perspective) not being too happy with such initiative...
246
« on: January 20, 2011, 13:49 »
If you're above base level there you might consider just deleting your portfolio instead of closing your account. (i did it that way, in the highly unlikely case they ever come to their senses no bridges are burnt forever...)
247
« on: January 20, 2011, 08:26 »
I encourage everybody to direct customers away from IS and FT to agencies that provide you and the customers a better deal
And if that actually worked then those sites would have a huge amount of leverage to also cut your commissions.
There are too many contributors. Too much competition and too many images. There is way more supply than demand and until that flip-flops contributors are at a disadvantage in almost every way.
Some people keep saying this is a community and competition doesn't matter. It's common sense. The more people that need to share a loaf of bread, the less each of us will have to eat.
Exactely! Add to add that some of the competition (as seen in another thread here) are willing to submit to sites that pay $0,02 commission as long as the end balance yields up.... the future looks bleak, very bleak...
248
« on: January 19, 2011, 02:59 »
...and the longer it takes the more damage Pixmac's name takes. If they're straight in their shoes it shouldnt take long, eh? 
249
« on: January 19, 2011, 00:51 »
250
« on: January 18, 2011, 16:46 »
Just a very wild guess because i'm opted out of those, but maybe its a partner program sale?
Pages: 1 ... 5 6 7 8 9 [10] 11 12 13 14 15 ... 20
|
Sponsors
Microstock Poll Results
Sponsors
|
Show Posts
- (Info: no model release required 
)
