I am extremely concerned about the ongoing developments at StockXpert/Photo.com/JUI and I wonder whether it is finally becoming time to pull my portfolio there...
2) Photos.com Plus/Jupiter Images Unlimited. In my view the aggressive marketing at these agencies represent the most serious threat to microstockers' income we have ever faced. Subscriptions at both of these sites, especially annual packages, undercut all the other agencies we enjoy supporting. I'm increasingly of the mind that we should not be supporting these two agencies at all.
3) Unsustainable. The cheapest subscription packages are almost certainly losing JIU/Photo.com money at the current payout of 30c. They might be happy to fund a loss-leader initially but eventually something will have to change. Either they're going to have to increase prices or reduce our royalties. Judging by the 3c royalties being offered to IS exclusives I think we know which is the more likely...
There is a real danger that JIU/Photos.com will damage the sustainability of other fairer agencies (if they haven't already) or the other agencies will have to act likewise in order to compete. Either way we stand to lose __ big time.
This interests me as I begin to flesh out my own "plan B" - which sites to upload to if I have to stop being exclusive at iStock (I was an independent for nearly 4 years until last August).
One of the reasons I switched to exclusive was concerns about various predatory (to contributor) moves and a belief/hope that I was moving to a site that was in it for the long haul. Watching Getty try to go after SS - and I think SS realizes this if you look at the marketing program they announced yesterday - and thinking that if they were to succeed, that replaces higher royalties with much lower ones for all of us.
I did have my porfolio at StockXpert, but I'm not sure putting it back there makes any sense as I'm fairly certain that if Getty succeeds in pushing through this grab for IS content, the next thing is that they'll change the StockXpert contributor deal as well.
The argument that if you sell subs one place you should do so everywhere doesn't make sense to me - it's about monthly income over time and which sites can deliver it. I gather SS has had a few ups and downs lately, but possibly this marketing push will avoid them becoming a casualty of a rush to the former Jupiter properties.
Show Posts
