Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on March 29, 2011, 17:10

Quote from: gostwyck on March 29, 2011, 11:12

Willfully destroying the market you sell into is pretty stupid IMHO.

Doesn't this imply that anyone who is submitting to Shutterstock is stupid too?

Taken to its logical conclusion, it means anyone supplying micros instead of the high-price agencies is stupid. It's a revamped version of the old trad guys' complaints. They had a fair point but they couldn't stem the tide.

BTW, Lisa, the fact the market has grown doesn't mean that Shutterstock hasn't destroyed sales at iS. The sales there might have been four times what they are if Shutterstock hadn't appeared on the scene. So maybe we are losing $3 at iS for every $1 we make at Shutterstock. There's just no way of knowing.

My thoughts exactly

I hadn't heard that. Thanks for posting. I haven't been following the news lately other than knowing the problems there.
I admire those journalists who risk their lives so we know what is going on. They have the choice to go or stay and they choose to go. They are truly brave by putting their life on the line for what they are doing.

Banks make their money through interest charges and fees. When someone charges on their credit card the merchant pays the bank a certain percentage of the price in fees. Also if you don't pay off your balance every month you pay the bank interest fees. So they are making money off your credit card as well as interest. A company like American Express, which you must pay off in full each month charges the merchant more for the use of their card, that is why many merchants won't accept American Express, also American Express charges their cardholder a yearly fee to have the card.

Have they even mentioned when this "conference" is going to happen? You know what....they have said "soon" to many times....it'll probably be months before it will actually happen. I don't know what they are thinking and I could be totally wrong...but I really wonder if they didn't just come up with this proposed conference simply to quell the masses for a few more months until the next big announcement comes to light.

Does iStock really think they will calm the masses by doing this conference call with 5 exclusives then have them sign a NDS? Why in the world would they even do that if those 5 weren't able to tell anyone else what is going on? That is so ridicules. I feel sorry for the 5 that do go along with this...they will find their in boxes full of PMs asking what was discussed...If it is a security issue they do not want to tell the community about, then why would they tell any one about it, especially if those could not repeat it?

I agree with a lot of what Perry said. Don't know that any of these would make it.

1) Woman...no copy space and with her being dressed in white in front of white snow really doesn't do much. Just not enough Pop. It also doesn't look real sharp at this size. And there is a logo on the string on the zipper. That would have to be removed.

2) Red building...absolutely no copy space. They would more than likely reject it for bad composition.

3) The benches are a nice composition but the first place my eyes went to was the blur in the foreground, then the eye goes to the benches then right back to the blur. It should lead your eye to the benches not pull it back to the blur. If you could crop that out a little this one might be a possibility.

4) The gazebo in the water looks just like that...a gazebo in the water. It needs something in the foreground. The lighting is also off.

5) The Christmas ornaments won't work. The cropping on them just isn't right and with the number that you have the focus should be on the front bulb and the blur on the rear bulbs, especially since the blurred front bulb is smack dab in the middle of the picture.

6) The composition on this one would never make it. It's a very nice shot but I can't see it being used for anything. And again no copy space.

7) Like Perry said there is no separation between the cards. You can't tell when one card stops and another one begins. They don't appear to be in focus either.

iStock is very strict and as the years have gone by they have gotten stricter. Don't give up just because we didn't find any we liked. You never really know unless you submit, but in my opinion I don't think any would make it through. Think advertising and what the photo could be used for. If you can't think of anything then it will probably not work. You need to crop less also. Some of the sites consider that bad composition.

Good luck and I hope we didn't offend you in any way.

I found this but it doesn't really say US only sales. maybe Zazzle considers the payments as "compensation for services" rather than a commission on sales.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_withholding_in_the_United_States
It's not the IRS website just so you know that.

Withholding on payments to foreign persons

Companies and individuals who make certain types of payments to foreign persons must withhold Federal income tax on those payments.[14] Foreign persons include nonresident aliens, foreign corporations, and foreign partnerships.[15] Payments subject to withholding include compensation for services, interest, dividends, rents, royalties, annuities, and certain other payments.[16] Tax is withheld at 30% of the gross amount of the payment. This withholding rate may be reduced under a tax treaty. This tax withheld is usually considered a final determination and payment of tax, requiring no further action or tax return by the foreign person.[17]

In addition, partnerships are required to make tax payments (referred to as withholding) on behalf of foreign partners.[18] These payments are required when the above type of income is distributed to the partner. Payments are also required quarterly or at year end for business income or other undistributed income. Partnership payments on business income are treated like estimated tax payments, and the foreign person must still file a U.S. tax return reporting the business income.

Purchasers of U.S. real estate must withhold 10% of the sales price from payments to foreign sellers.[19] This amount can be reduced to the anticipated Federal income tax due, upon advance application on Form 8288-B to the Internal Revenue Service. These payments are treated like estimated tax payments, and the foreign person must still file a U.S. tax return reporting any gain or loss.

I'm giving them it a try, it is quite fun trying to "use" you're images, 19 templates and counting.

Incidentally the contributor's agreement doesn't refelct the above announcement, I'm sure it will once the webpage is updated.

Tim's been working on it.

Hmmm...I wonder if the iStock/Getty crew has chosen their funeral plots yet.

Where you think I compare them to microstock is beyond me. Tell me where I said they are a mcrostock company or they are like a microstock company.

And this is not all about me...you're bashing a company that you never even participated with and Tim never said he sent litifeta in, he thanked him. Look for yourself...

"I don't want to cause too much of a stir here in your thread litifeta, but I also thought it was prudent to mention a couple of important things. First of all, thank you for starting the thread and recommending our site. Several of you have registered with us and have started uploading some wonderful looking business card templates."

Also if you had read this thread you would have noticed this link:

http://www.microstockgroup.com/off-topic/new-way-for-cross-promotion!/

It was also started by a contribute and explained the pay structure of ABC. That was a link that was put in this thread.

That pretty well makes my point and you are not worth wasting my time on any more. I think everyone can come to their own conclusion by reading this thread then reading your responses.

pseudonymous....I got one question for you...

I'm a contributor to artofbusinesscards.com and I want to know why you even signed up if you value your illustrations so much? You had the opportunity to read the artist agreement after you signed up and if you didn't, then that is your stupidity not Tim's. No one twisted your arm to continue, so you really have no one to blame but yourself.
If you didn't like it you didn't have to submit. You never even made it live so I don't understand what your problem is. If you read the forum's here you would have known the way they do business. I knew that when I went in and I did it by my own choice, not Tim's. Tim did not twist your arm to join. I have very consistent sales there. Bashing Tim in public forums is a bit slanderous. I personally think you owe him an apology.

Just so everyone knows....you get $5.00 per sale and $20.00 per art sale. Yes it is true you only get $5.00 even if they sale the card multiple times to the "same" customer. You can resale the card to a "new" customer for $5.00 more. I use old rejected microstock or just portions of those shots other wise they would just sit on my hard drive making nothing. It's your choice rather you want to join or not.

I Had my first Zazzle sales. They were a couple of postcards of a brick wall  

http://www.zazzle.com/textured_red_brick_wall_postcard-239047825518085767

-Mark

Congrats Mark....so far no luck here but still working on it..

Edit...meant to ask you Mark...how do you get the "Browse This Store"  as well as the "Product Types" on your side bar. All I can get is "Browse This Store"