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Selling Stock Direct / alamy and microstock
« on: January 08, 2014, 11:47 »
To talk about an old subject and the evolution of the industry in general.
Nowadays, it is clear alamy and others are simply doing microstock but aren't honest enough to call it microstock. In the case of alamy, they call it "premium" or have these distribution scheme where prices and licensing are microstock oriented.
In an email that ended up public, the ceo, james west, wanted to "cannibalise microstock" with his premium scheme (laughable).
But the reality at alamy even for RM licensing is far from being ideal and now very close to prices seen on some microstock website or even lower.
For example, while the lower price displayed for a RM image for electronic use is supposed to be 15$, they can sell your picture as low as 5$ (discount to the client or screw up, you will never know).
Most of the contributors there don't make money or very little and all contributors see their work sold at discount from 50 up to 80% (even for printed publications). Again, these so called discounts are at the discretion of alamy with no control or certitude that it was a discount or simply alamy screwing you up.
A very tiny minority make a fair amount of money there, always the same people of course as it seems this company is like a small circle of "initiated" "friends" who share the benefits while the majority is just here to participate to the show.
So, anyone telling you that these companies like alamy are better, or macrostock is of a higher kind, or microstock is for amateurs, they'd better think twice, especially when you look at the quality of pictures on alamy and realize how many junk and low quality images you have there compared to microstock websites.
Last but not least, nothing is pink nowhere, be ready to experience stolen images once you sell with alamy, payment problems, and under standard prices with the cheapest excuses you can find and no consideration at all from them.
Maybe it was a good company in the apst, I don't know. But today , it really s....ks.
I'd say, it's better to make a steady income with microstock than hoping for something that will never happen with the alamys of this world.
Nowadays, it is clear alamy and others are simply doing microstock but aren't honest enough to call it microstock. In the case of alamy, they call it "premium" or have these distribution scheme where prices and licensing are microstock oriented.
In an email that ended up public, the ceo, james west, wanted to "cannibalise microstock" with his premium scheme (laughable).
But the reality at alamy even for RM licensing is far from being ideal and now very close to prices seen on some microstock website or even lower.
For example, while the lower price displayed for a RM image for electronic use is supposed to be 15$, they can sell your picture as low as 5$ (discount to the client or screw up, you will never know).
Most of the contributors there don't make money or very little and all contributors see their work sold at discount from 50 up to 80% (even for printed publications). Again, these so called discounts are at the discretion of alamy with no control or certitude that it was a discount or simply alamy screwing you up.
A very tiny minority make a fair amount of money there, always the same people of course as it seems this company is like a small circle of "initiated" "friends" who share the benefits while the majority is just here to participate to the show.
So, anyone telling you that these companies like alamy are better, or macrostock is of a higher kind, or microstock is for amateurs, they'd better think twice, especially when you look at the quality of pictures on alamy and realize how many junk and low quality images you have there compared to microstock websites.
Last but not least, nothing is pink nowhere, be ready to experience stolen images once you sell with alamy, payment problems, and under standard prices with the cheapest excuses you can find and no consideration at all from them.
Maybe it was a good company in the apst, I don't know. But today , it really s....ks.
I'd say, it's better to make a steady income with microstock than hoping for something that will never happen with the alamys of this world.
