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Messages - Old School
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1
« on: February 07, 2023, 14:16 »
Matt said 250-5999 downloads for 2022 and 20 accepted asset uploads qualify for minimum Bonus.
My Adobe stats seems to show 378 downloads for 2022, and 25 accepted uploads, which sounds as if I might qualify. How does one find out if they actually DO qualify for the Bonus Program? And if so, what's the process? I see no Blue Banner on my Contributor Account portal page, so does that mean I somehow did not qualify?
I've searched everywhere on all my Creative Account pages and Contributor Account pages and can't find any reference. Also, love how the "Help from a real person" link launches a virtual assistant that seems to know nothing about the Bonus Program. Interesting.
2
« on: March 15, 2018, 10:36 »
Thank you all for taking your time to respond. Truly.
I get it now. I've been doing it the best way all along ever since 2007, and I'll pass the reasons on to my new tax advisor. Also, after contacting SS with the question about why earnings, payment, and 1099 were all different, they explained that they 1) only report and 1099 when they PAY, and 2) since acquiring Bigstock their 1099's include those earnings. So I was about to report them seperately and find I can just exclude Bigstock PayPal earnings. SS 1099's them, and that alone saves me paying on $500+ US bucks I was about to double report.
All good. Thanks to all.
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« on: March 14, 2018, 21:25 »
Help. Just help.
I can't find a ref or post that is specific to what I need, so if anyone can help, PLEASE, I'd truly appreciate the feedback.
I've been a microstock contributor for 10 years now, and a US citizen, paying US taxes.
This year I had to change tax advisors. She turns out to be very strict and apparently I might have been reporting taxes incorrectly ALL THIS TIME. Yikes. Sigh.
I've just been reporting payouts, either by 1099 or by actual non-1099 payouts to PayPal for the tax year, for each agency I'm signed with.
The new advisors says I have to dig into earnings and report the actual EARNINGS, paid out or not, to the penny, for the year for each agency, paid out or not.
The trouble is that some agencies make it pretty difficult to find that information. If Ive earned enough, some send 1099s. If Ive not earned enough, the money may sit until I request a payout, or until Ive at least earned the minimum to MAKE a payout request.
WORSE, some agencies show as many as three DIFFERENT amounts for a given year. At Shutterstock for 2017 this is how my records look:
My Shutterstock 1099 for 2017 = 1617.10
A download of my actual shutter stock earnings for 2017 = 986.70
The actual payout to PayPal for the year (requested and paid earnings) = 1,114.96
Jeeze. The 1099 is the one that's important, of course. But what are all these variables? Why did I get a 1099 if I actually earned 986.70? If I hadnt earned enough to get a 1099, would I have reported the ACTUAL earnings as SS reported? Theyre different amounts! (I did leave a message with SS begging for their view, but still.)
Now I realize no one here can give me legal tax advice, but I'd truly appreciate it if a few microstock contributors have a moment to explain how THEY'VE been reporting and paying taxes so I can take the info to my tax advisor. That's what she's asking for. Examples of how other US citizens are reporting and paying taxes for microstock earnings.
Thanks a TON to anyone who has the time and interest to reply! Just thanks.
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« on: February 29, 2016, 12:50 »
For anyone interested, I started in Microstock in May of 2007.
Today I have an average of 1321 unique still images across seven agencies: iStock, Shutterstock, Dreamstime, Fotolia, 123RF, Canstock, Bigstock, and some old Stockxpert legacy. Its an average because of variance in acceptance/rejections between agencies, with the low as 990, and the high as 1829. In all there were 2097 unique images uploaded.
At the highest point I was averaging roughly about $8000 per year (2009) with probably less than one third the images I have today. iStock was then the highest payer for me.
Last year I earned $3,788.62 for the 1321, so that comes out about $2.86 per.
Each year, actually each month, the total income drops. Theres just too many images out there anymore, and everyone pays less and less. I may have also just reached a limit on my competitive ability, talent, and patience.
So I quit uploading more than a year ago. The only agency that still pays for me is Shutterstock where I usually still earn more than $100 monthly, but out of the blue they began rejecting about 60-70% of my uploads about two years ago. About a third of my Shutterstock earnings are from extended sales, which may now also be in jeopardy.
Ironically, iStock (now Getty) was my biggest earner, but in the old days limited uploads to a painful extreme. iStock takes everything now, but no longer earns all that well.
So it just doesnt pay, for ME, to do anything more than sit back and collect until the trend one day winds down and runs out. It just takes too much time and effort to shoot, process, keyword, upload, and log. I probably only make a few dollars an hour for new image uploads, which actually dont sell as well as the solid old standards I uploaded years ago. Either the agencies that accept well dont pay, or those that pay hardly accept. At least for me.
This is a personal comment with respect to my own circumstances, and probably doesnt apply to everyone.
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