Could explain why my sales have tanked these last three days, Okay Saturday is to be expected! but Thursday and Friday?

Well being only a Gold Canister Contributer over there I drew some comfort from the protests of the upper tier Contributers who as I say do not seem so vocal since the latest Statement from HQ True most likely they are busy crunching numbers or getting on with the rest of their lives like we should all be doing lol

Just wondered how much personal dialogue and assurances was going on behind the scenes 

Could not help but notice some of the more successful Contributers who were very anti new Anoucement at first are no  longer vocal in the Forums 

Do you think they have neen singled out for personal discussion to get on board or simply have said their piece and thats it ? would be intersting to know what is going on behind the scenes

 re a point raised here, Actually we have seen in the IS Forum and elsewhere that many high end successful talented artists a reevaluating their commitment to IS so if they are planning on just attempting to weed out the smaller less significant contributer they are in for one horrible shock!

Wow missed all of that 

Quote: Over 3 months I assume they would save around $0.5 million maybe more. That's actually not even bad for them considering that they keep running their business technically as if nothing happened, just without brand new images. I'm sure naive buyers don't care.

I can't see how this would dramatically affect IS.:



You could be surprised I can tell you what will effect IS and that's what is happening right now if you read the Forum.

Customers are talking with their feet! perhaps they will listen now, what they seem to forget is that allot of their Custom comes from Family or Friends of or indeed the Contributers themselves I for one have friends there who have spent a pretty penny  

Looking forward till next time we chat

Quote from: hawk_eye on September 08, 2010, 05:37
people are still in there explaining CURRENT royalty structures to one another. how can you get mad about something you don't even understand?

LOL stil trying to work out my loss, but one thing for sure it will be significant as my numbers thus far are almost 40% down on last year

Once upon a time like many Independents IS was my biggest earner but it has been going backwards for some time now despite what, when and how often I upload. Take only this month so far as an example,  SS is triple in $ the amount at IS with Dreamstime and Fotolia not far behind that is a huge dip. Very convenient also dont you think that many are seeing a loss in numbers then this ridiculous insult comes along to rub salt into the wound.

The writing was always on the wall since the Getty takeover, but this is simply to Brutal!

I for one will be taking action in my own small way as it would seem the words and the well being of its Contributers now count for very little and this sort of unacceptable treatment of those who have made IS what it is today will continue as long as they feel they can get away with it. I really do feel that they have gone to far this time

Of course if the past is anything to go by now that this Bombshell has been dropped they will come along with a little sweetener 

All I can say it better be a huge Candy Store!

Quote from: Artemis on August 15, 2010, 13:27
Yesterday i bumped into someone who works for a big production house that buys a lot of stock.
He said they have always used istock, but recently moved over to Shutterstock as istock got way too expensive. He was also complaining about so many images that cost easily $50/image. (Vetta).
Because we're so involved in stock we know what Vetta is about, but apparently not all buyers are aware and the fact that Vetta's are pushed to the front of the best match so agressively doesnt seem to be helping istock... that in combination with the other price raises makes maybe istock for big buyers isnt as interesting as it was anymore.
Of course this is only one company but i thought it was interesting to hear. (and was relieved they prefer shutterstock over TS )

This is interesting as I have experienced the same thing and have spent allot of time assuring friends which deal with Istock to just look further back in the search and the less expensive choices are there, whether or not they are prepared to put the time in of course is another matter, no wonder my sales are still tumbling   This really need to be addressed imo

Have no problem with Vetta Pricing as such but for heavens sake why not have a separate category after all if it really is that good and in demand it should sell itself without hogging the first pages of every search

Shutterstock as usual remains stable and my top earner by a long way

IStock still dropping but hanging on to second position in my earnings chart for the month ahead of Dreamstime and Fotolia

Here's hoping for a smooth run and should the search be tweaked with the changes as someone has already said hope that Files get a fair best match placing on their Merit rather than the status of Contributor. Like Lisa I am way down on Downloads, and if they keep on dropping like they have so far this year sadley I might as well concentrat my main efforts elswhere.

Looking forward to seeing the results and that it is benaficial for all  

Quote from: WarrenPrice on July 12, 2010, 16:51

Quote from: iclick on July 12, 2010, 10:05
To answer your Q it seems to be limping along, the bigger picture of course is that for Contributers sake rather than Gettys it fails

I'm not sure that I would celebrate the failure of any microstock site?  Aren't we cheering for MORE competition; not LESS? 

Sorry let me clarify  I am referring to is Getty's attempts with TS to dominate the subscription market (which used to be a dirty word over at IS) and drive prices down, and indeed away from IS

My sales there of late have been atrocious even by summer slump standards 

To answer your Q it seems to be limping along, the bigger picture of course is that for Contributers sake rather than Gettys it fails

Yeah I tried it   
went to a Rock Concert I would never have got tickets for let alone shoot stage side and get behind the scenes and meet the artists had a proper press pass and all that....

Great stuff!! 

Unfortunately yes way down once again this month (as with last month) by almost 40% in both Royalties and Downloads, more than I expected for the so called summer slump, and worst period for some years for me at IS

Not sure what is causing this downward spiral and finding it disappointing as my new uploads which are proving to be sellers elsewhere are not performing there, oh well 

or perhaps I still claim royalties through StockXpert and only have to use IS if I wanted to  upload new files to TS 

Okay so heres the thing.....

I have $35 still remaining at StockXpert left over from before it's demise and although I am opted out of Thinkstock at IS I allowed (opted in) my Images from StockXpert to be transferred to Thinkstock as they were different from and lower quality than my Files at IS

So unsure if the $35 will just be transferred to IS or if because  I am opted out of TS at istock I cannot make a claim for royalties?

Anyone any idea?

Thanks

Just ordered mine with Fotolia promo on front and £3 postage charge

Thought the postage was free  guess it's because I am a mere Silver contributer 

Interestingly enough for me my other Sites which I submit to, being SS Dreamstime and Fotolia seem to be holding there own with this time last year in fact Fotolia is slightly up.

Just seems to be IS which has fallen from grace for me, know many of my Exclusive pals are seeing reduced numbers also but of course they are cushioned by the price increases.

Here's to the latter part of month 

Like to think I can raise the subject here without getting a slap on the wrist and being told to wait til the end of the month   

Know I am way down for DLs at IS for this time last year by almost 50% against the trend of my other Agencies and with being non Exclusive Royalties are not much better    feels like the lack of exposure is biting or perhaps the only customers hanging around there are the ones looking for Exclusive Files? 

Hopefully just a blip and you Guys are seeing better results

Very Nice, congrats ....

How many issues have you purchased? 

Quote from: Freezingpictures on April 11, 2010, 16:49

Quote from: gostwyck on April 10, 2010, 17:34
I suppose independent contributors can hope for more sales now that their images are so much cheaper!

No so sure about that. As with the vetta images I assume Exclusive + will push the non-exclusive files further down in search..

You got that right, it's getting ridicules over there, can see a time coming when many independents will have to ask themselves if it is worth the effort and time for so little exposure

Yes way down here also

as said it would seem good news for Exclusives however creating yet more divisions within the Exclusive contributers ranks and no doubt pushing independents lower priced content yet further back may prove to be counter productive in the long run,  yet another price hike? there has to come a time when the customer base says enough is enough and talk with their feet, and it's not always going to be TS 

Thank heavens for SS and the steady ELs there right now which is more than making up for my downturn at IS 

Afraid it all smacks of desperation IMO feels like IS is being sacrificed for the GGG (Getty Greater Good ) and we are still in the early stages

Great Portfolio Larry

As said above you could not go wrong by signing up to SS, Dreamstime and possibly Fotolia you will see very good returns there with a nice variation of Files preferred so you would be hedging your bets so to speak and imo opening doors to more possibilities and growth

All the best

Two things that came over for me was that his interaction in the forums did seem rather confrontational to say the least however on a brighter note often entertaining

Plus his skills and love of PS and his willingness to share/help out was commendable