I'm an SS contributor, but every time I log in to check sales I find that have clips and images in my cart that I never added. I never purchase anything on SS. Are others having this issue? Is my account hacked?

Hello everyone. Has Pond5 been lucrative for any contributors here? I want to go exclusive for video, but am still hesitant. Does anyone have any insights they would like to share on sales or other?

Getting banned by SS might not be such a bad thing. I haven't been banned personally, but just saying. Why be bothered with a company that doesn't give one iota of respect to contributors? I've deleted my SS account today after 9 years and will just go video exclusive to Pond5.

By saying this is just a hobby for you, you automatically render your justifications for subs mute. I know that some of you wanted to make this your living...you know who you are. You're comments on other forums are not forgotten. Don't give the easy excuse.."oh this is just a hobby." What that really means is that you failed to make microstock your living. That way of thinking is one of the reasons why corporations like SS can take advantage of us.

Quote from: Microstock Posts on April 16, 2015, 14:13
I think they paid out $80 million dollars to contributors last year. How many cents is that?

Just how can you defend subscriptions? Are you saying that you wouldn't want to earn, or deserve, more for your work? Come on...you must be on SS payroll to try and justify demeaning "royalties" with statistics that may or may not be doctored up to look good. This is not exact but with about 60,000 contributors that means the average earnings for each contributor last year was $1333. Ummm....oh yeah then there's taxes. Oh yeah and then the cost to produce images. Wait...and fees from Paypal. Maintenance for equipment... oh well you get the picture.

I guess I was naive when I signed up thinking that SS was looking to license images in a way that contributors and SS would profit together. Wrong...

Oh my god SS is so great! I LOVE watching my total earnings increase pennies at a time. It's so gratifying and like I totally see how good subs are for contributors. The more subs I get the more I want to submit my best work!!! Whooooo hooooooo!!!!! Thanks Mr. Oringer!!!!

Doesn't look appealing to me. No thanks.

If I were in Yuri's position I would have done the same thing. It's easy for everyone to say that he should've done it this way or that way but you aren't in his shoes so you have nothing to base your speculations on. Sure, I admit he should have chose his words more carefully but it is what it is. However, I am seeing merit in his words "professionals dealing with professionals" after all the mud slinging envious comments, and attacks on his English. I see a lot of native speakers of English making mistakes all the time, myself included. He was here offering time out of his schedule for discussion and it was pissed away.  I am not a major player in the microstock industry by far but I too am sick and tired of seeing images that I put a lot of physical (I'm not a studio photographer), mental, and technical effort into, to be in my opinion, stolen for mere pennies. That definitely is not professional on the agency's part. I have had it with micro(crap)stock. Good for you Yuri. Move on to bigger and better things. I'm following my own fork in the trail and leaving microstock to flounder through the blood su(c)king (really? the word * is censored?) mosquito ridden bog.