An email from PictureNation:

(This sounds like FeaturePics that had to abandon its author-priced model for a subscription model)

Industry watch � pricing and licences

As mentioned in our last newsletter, we�ve been monitoring sales and trends and changes in the market even more closely than usual. Whilst our members continue to get print res sales of �35 and �75, there aren�t enough of these transactions happening.

We�ve always been a �mid-stock� site � floating inbetween the American microstock sites that sell pictures for a dollar or less, and the Alamys and Gettys who sell pictures for hundreds of dollars each. Alamy are totally open about their sales figures � and have reported quite a drop in some of their sectors. Their newspaper image sales are down by as much as 70%. Picture buyers are � like many during the recession � having to cut costs for their publications � and many are turning to the cheaper microstock libraries.

This is significant for us � because our key clients have so far been the public sector, marketing companies, education establishments and, we were starting to make good progress with the newspapers. The downturn has affected them � so is affecting us, and we�re a small and quite new library � not with the income stream of the US giants or Alamy. Alamy have done their own research and found that the newspapers are instructing their picture staff to use, wherever possible, the subscription sites where they can buy images for very little. Alamy are looking at how they will address that. And we have been too.

Watchers in the image industry forecast that more and more images will be obtained from social networking sites, that images are becoming so easily available, and so many available for free, that libraries will struggle. We know that businesses and wary image buyers will always choose to get their images from a trustworthy place where the photographers, like yourselves, have given permission for the images to be bought and used, and not just right clicked off the internet for free, with the risk of copyright breach.

We have been doing our own research and talking to small business owners, printers, web designers, marketing companies, etc�.who all report that they love our site, its simplicity, the licensing, and your images � especially the spontaneity of them � and for the UK businesses they love the UK look of your pictures. But, when they get to our prices they are shocked. They are literally all now using the microstock sites and say their clients will not pay �75 for a solitary image any more. It�s not just the effects of a recession � we are no longer price competitive. And once these buyers start using the cheaper libraries � they won�t go back to the pricier ones. We haven�t lowered our prices since we launched in November 2006.

Our web prices are great value. But our single print prices are too high. We don�t have license options for businesses who want to use our pictures for templates and re-use. This is losing us � and you � quite a bit of business - and the associated PR � and it�s time for us to address that.

We also confuse clients with our language - �subscriptions�. Not our fault � the other bigger libraries have changed their language or introduced subscriptions that have different meaning to ours.

We have to follow the big players sometimes, as they do set the trends. More libraries are now offering a subscription or a credit service. Our PN subscription service is like their credit service. So we think we need to change our language from subscription to credits.

Many of our members sell images on other sites too � which we encourage - and having spoken to some of our members on the phone and by e-mail � we know they are happy to get sales from the microstock sites even for the small amounts that are paid out. Shutterstock only pay 25 cents (about 15p) commission for every download � even high res. But they�re a good, established and popular US site.

To increase sales volume, we need to lower our print prices and we need to offer an extended license option � all of which will increase the purchase options for buyers, give better value for money in a competitive market, and increase your chances of sales.

Some members have images for sale with us and the same images on other cheaper sites, and are getting few or no sales for those images with PN. We�d need to offer a more competitive price. Your commission rate would not be affected and stay at 40%. We pay 40% across the board � before our costs � and we don�t seek exclusivity. You can sell your images elsewhere too.