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Messages - zeljkok

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1
My AS port is less than 2000 landscape/travel stills & can't compete with some of people here, but today was a nice surprise.  This is most likely same customer, interesting 2 downloads of same image within few seconds, first normal sub then probably something enhanced.   

Anyone interested, this is quite famous Mt. Robson and Berg Lake, one of most iconic back-country areas in Canadian Rockies

2
Off Topic / Re: Selling on Fine Art America
« on: Yesterday at 14:37 »
My experience is similar:  25 free images held for 5+ yrs with only one single digit sale.   I closed my account;  not worth IMHO

3


The question I have for the people that got heaps of refunds, were your earnings for November oddly high (by about the same amount as the refunds)?

Pretty shoddy on the part of Getty all around.

That's really good question.   Went and checked: Nov '23 was my 3rd best month last year on iStock, but nothing out of proportion.

Accounting certainly appears shady, but I don't think it's deliberate - whole system is set up in such a bad way it is easy for all kinds of mistakes to creep in.  Biggest thorn to me is 15% royalty which is downright disrespectful. 

4
One more thing that comes to mind from all this:   Level of communication between their departments.    It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure people would be unhappy and want to know what happened.   Calvin Jay comes in and posts that vanilla "IStock Royalty Statements" thread before royalties are published.  He probably wasn't even informed about refunds.  Why didn't someone tell him what is going to happen and to post bit of explanation ahead of time.   There would still be grumbling but at least more transparency compared to this debacle now.

5
This is all Uncle Pete fault for starting thread too early  ;D

I gave that a plus!  :)

Always a good sport  :D

Seriously, this is not even so surprising.  iStock Platform is so inflexible and outdated.  Once a month reporting (anyone else doing that??) , bloated and completely unnecessary "managed keywords" system,  open a ticket if you want to modify keyword (????), standalone heavy "Deep Meta" (when everyone is doing lightweight Web Front End), List goes on.   It's like having an old car;  change brake pads, but now battery won't start.  Replace battery, but ignition fails.  Etc.  It's time for a new Car

6
This is all Uncle Pete fault for starting thread too early  ;D

7
You have to download statement, then drop into that archaic Deep Meta;  click on "Gross Royalty" column to sort ascending and negative will swim on top (see attachement)

Looks like Everybody got negative sales.  For me its all same amount, most in Nov '23 and same client (someone from Washington US)

IMHO whole iStock platform is so outdated, with unclear accounting practices and this is just another example.

8
Shutterstock.com / Re: Monthly earnings and downloads
« on: March 13, 2024, 23:11 »
For me SS is on rebound this year. Both Jan and Feb more than 2x compared to 23
Mar already almost twice more than Mar 23 and better than Adobe. I upload only stills

9

But well, sometimes, not so bad surprises can happen, I just got 150 for an exclusive licence of an old image.

Well done.  I got EL on Shutterstock today, nowhere as good as 150 of course, but still positive surprise, almost forgot that was possible

10
For some time I've been toying with idea of keeping only Alamy and Adobe and closing all other accounts, including SS.  This is an interesting dilemma, and I don't think there is straight cut answer that applies equally to everyone. 

11
Dreamstime.com / Re: $100 payout minimum sucks!!!
« on: March 09, 2024, 19:41 »
I tend to agree with Liz.   In my view outstanding balance, be it 1 USD or 99 USD, should be paid out when contributor requests that his account is closed.

12
Dreamstime.com / Re: $100 payout minimum is a flat-out theft.
« on: March 07, 2024, 14:47 »
Dreamstime won't go out of business, but 100 is indeed too high considering that even Alamy has $50 threshold which can be reached with single sale.  They do pay you though;  last time I waited (for no specific reason) till balance was ~450 and no problems, they even said "thank you".

In my view largest reason for slow sales is virtually no QA.  Everything is accepted which caused swamp of sub-standard images much larger than elsewhere.   

13
I find DT upload straightforward, but I upload 20-25 images / month at most.  Pop-up if description is less than 10 words ("Ooops ... Give yourself a chance") is bit annoying.  I think Caption /  Description being 2 separate fields is not necessary;  single field, like SS or Adobe do is better (and faster)

For me worst by margin is iStock, with that managed keyword concept.  "Landscape" is not recognized, but "Landscape - Scenery".  Or "Equirectangular Panorama" instead of "Panorama".   Etc.  Although their support told me once non-recognized keywords are still indexed, just not expanded into whatever managed mapping system does in the back end.  Don't know if this is true or not. 

14
Adobe Stock / Re: 2023 Adobe Stock contributor bonus plan details
« on: February 21, 2024, 18:13 »
For what it's worth:

I had "Photography Plan", billed monthly.   After redeeming contributor code, both plans were showing as active in my Profile;   first with redeemed code with 2025 expiration,  second with next monthly billing March 5th '24.   Both appeared identical in terms of features.

I went and cancelled monthly billing plan, it is now showing as invalid after March 5th. (You are offered 2 months free not to cancel btw).   Only unknown at this point is if Photoshop will get confused after March 5th.


An interesting behaviour today running Photoshop 1st time after cancelling monthly plan.  PS greeted me "Welcome to Photoshop" and offered tour.  It means that in the background it switched to Contributor Promo, even if monthly plan was still active till March 5, and thought I was new user.   

I honestly think this is a gift.  12 months x 14.95 USD = you do the math.  There will always be critics about anything in this world, and even if there is business case about promoting company software, to me it is also gesture of contributor respect, something I don't see at other agencies.   One can argue "you don't have to use Photoshop", but once you try and get used to it, it is really hard to go back to anything else that might or might not be free.

15
Adobe Stock / Re: 2023 Adobe Stock contributor bonus plan details
« on: February 20, 2024, 18:27 »
For what it's worth:

I had "Photography Plan", billed monthly.   After redeeming contributor code, both plans were showing as active in my Profile;   first with redeemed code with 2025 expiration,  second with next monthly billing March 5th '24.   Both appeared identical in terms of features.

I went and cancelled monthly billing plan, it is now showing as invalid after March 5th. (You are offered 2 months free not to cancel btw).   Only unknown at this point is if Photoshop will get confused after March 5th.

16
Shutterstock.com / Re: Is Shutterstock dead?
« on: February 18, 2024, 20:41 »
SS used to be my best earner, now it's second last.  Freefall coincided with start of new payment scheme couple of yrs ago.   Oddly enough for Feb '24 SS is looking to be #1 (ahead even of Adobe).

I don't think SS is dead, or will be anytime soon, but certainly appears far from where it once was.

Do you sell video? And if so are you still seeing any high(er) priced video sales?

^This is where I'm seeing the biggest earnings collapse.

No video, just stills.  But one difference I am noticing compared to before is many more "Single and Other", far less subs.  Still avalanche of 10 cents, but every once awhile $$ sale comes in.  Not too often though

17
Shutterstock.com / Re: Is Shutterstock dead?
« on: February 18, 2024, 14:03 »
SS used to be my best earner, now it's second last.  Freefall coincided with start of new payment scheme couple of yrs ago.   Oddly enough for Feb '24 SS is looking to be #1 (ahead even of Adobe).

I don't think SS is dead, or will be anytime soon, but certainly appears far from where it once was.

18
Alamy.com / Re: your biggest sale on Alamy? and when was it?
« on: February 17, 2024, 14:17 »


This morning I had a nice surprise too


Very nice!  Alamy is totally unpredictable.   I had good run first half of last year, then like someone just pulled the plug in 2nd half. 

Alamy Rank is super important there, and CTR has big impact on the rank.  My CTR plunged since July/August and this can't be a coincidence.  It's now rebounding again, we'll see what happens.

Rkz91:  Alamy shows gross sale amount.  What you get paid depends on the tier you are in.  Most people that have semi regular sales will be in 40% tier nowdays

19
Alamy.com / Re: your biggest sale on Alamy? and when was it?
« on: February 16, 2024, 22:07 »
$$$$ sale, 2 years ago

Wouldn't you like to find that one in use? Seems like an installation on a business/commercial property or public site.

Thought crossed my mind more than once.  It says in usage field "Indoor, Wall Decor".  But old Canon 6D image was taken with is just 20 Megapixel, can't make very large print out of it.  So it's bit of mystery.   Perhaps it has some sentimental factor because of that "Trail adopted by John Tomlinson" table,  which is not there anymore. 

I fully expected it was a mistake and there would be a refund.  But it cleared within a month.  Interesting enough, photo was simple point and shoot, taken for documentation of my hiking exploits.  At the end I didn't even use it for hiking page

https://autumnsky.zenfolio.com/usa/san-diego/iron-mountain

Used different shot I thought was better (1st in gallery) which was uploaded for stock too,  never got even 10 Shutterstock cents.   So you never really know much in this business

 







21
Dreamstime.com / Re: Any tips for good keywording on Dreamstime?
« on: February 01, 2024, 15:13 »
For DT   Title / Description Fields are of largest importance.  Whenever customer search phrase is reported for me it's almost always something I had there.  This approach promotes accurate description of the asset, so it might be worth spending bit extra time.   Not all agencies index text fields though.   To my knowledge Alamy does, but IS, SS and AS don't.

22
Adobe Stock / Re: Adobe Stock Review Time
« on: January 25, 2024, 14:53 »
Mine is now ultra fast too.  Last night uploaded 6 (3 editorial, 3 non-editorial).  All 6 accepted by the morning

Maybe algorithm is pushing down the queue ports with more/recent QA failures?  Alamy has something similar in place with their "QA Rating"

23
Adobe Stock / Re: I can't find my approved images on Adobestock
« on: January 25, 2024, 14:47 »


Doesn't work for me, it shows the Featured Collections.


Scroll down, it's below Featured Collections.  It's way easier than manually manipulating URL. Firefox, Mac


24
Adobe Stock / Re: I can't find my approved images on Adobestock
« on: January 24, 2024, 15:22 »
or just click on "Contributor Account" on Top Menu Bar, then "See my Public Profile" which will open in new Tab.

Sorting is interesting (in Public Profile View):  Not most downloads, not Chronological but something third

25
Dreamstime.com / Re: The Dreamstime levels system
« on: January 24, 2024, 15:11 »
For what it's worth my DT experience is similar;   low earner, but keeping steady and not declining.  I also find them friendly, with these contests and very simple upload interface.   SS on the other hand is in a freefall ever since new payment scheme started few yrs ago. 

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