To a degree... this thread has no real specific direction nor can I answer with effectiveness. It's been quite hard to deal with this thread and noting the large amount of views in less than 3 weeks, I myself have felt some pressure.

We are not "another" start up, we are something else and something else is expected. My staff are gradually trying to acclimatize our early adapters to what we KNOW works, but it takes time and some humbling on our part to get the message across without upsetting the talent involved.

I want people who actually are members of StockTal to understand, we are here to stay. We have money behind this project, and our prime goal is to sell your work and make you money.

Im thankful for all the comments and appreciate all the assistance, but we can handle the StockTal business. What we need is smart, cooperative people getting behind us, so we can actually generate a new paradigm for the industry and disrupt big business that take everything and give nothing.

Im over seas right now and have been advised by my co founders to stop posting here. This is my last post on this thread. I wish you all well.

We are selling NOW, I want everyone interested in StockTal to know that. It's early days but your efforts are absolutely not in vain.

Follow our submission guidelines to the letter and watch what happens.

And no, we don't expect anybody to upload 20,000 images. Make 100 correct submissions and discover the how it works.

Categories has been a cause for confusion and we are sorry for this on this thread. No need to choose 3 categories. BUT choose 1 relevant category. It's crucial. I cant tell you why, but I can tell you it's violently important.

We do not reject submissions without one relevant category chosen (yet) but it will be implemented in the near future.

Thanks again for your kind patience with SockTal.

Valo you are of course now my favorite poster on this thread and I adore your special "take" on things.

Cascoly, Its hard to say what the problem is. We try to understand all submissions. But let me take a look at your account and I will make certain everything is correct. Please stand by mate, we have everything under control.

gcrook? have i got that right? We have capacity for video, but low interest right now, this will be re-implemented soon.

Ubermansch, canva is a stunning success I and wish them well. Such a fast and quick roar into hyper now in under a year shows me what the contributor earning 30 cents can do to help such a fast growing company. Well done to both their contributors and the company itself!  They should definitely be in the middle earners thread at "least" on msg.

Thank you everyone for the comments.

Please keep in mind this is early days and the results are more than acceptable. The beta version of our (and I mean "OUR" yours and ours) stocktal site is heading to 1.0 but we presently have other priorities that need to fit into place. We are negotiating ad blocks with people like adroll and others, creating quality contacts and reaching out to key people at google, yahoo and bing to realize their requirements for the site.

Time has passed quickly and the launch is approaching and the deadline looms. Thank you for all the private comments, compliments and encouragement, (it does make a difference) With thousands of people now viewing this thread within the space of less than a few weeks, its understandable our support staff are busy. We try to answer every single comment even if its just a compliment. I have read many of the comments myself sent and thank you for the intense support.

To the posters above, I ask you to be patient, support try hard to competently answer all requests as promptly as possible and we will be adding more support staff soon.

If you will think outside of the box and recognize what stocktal is you will realize we are changing the business from the ground up. We are not a start up, we are a new beginning.

Thanks again for the wonderful experience on msg.

Also Ubermansch, your "go slow" is over.

Thanks.

My time was allocated for this today, the questions are great. The comments are great. Thank you all.

Jack Reynolds
Co founder
StockTal

Jack - Once images are reviewed and approved, do you allow the approved images to be deleted (physical deletion) or can they only be disabled (to prevent them from being sold going forward).
Thanks.

pixol,

you can do anything you wish, they are your works. Deleting images requires no review.

Hi Jack,

Is that why I got the speeding ticket? No category choice? Non original titles and keywords?

ok but why do others upload stuff that has no category. You deserve all karma dude, its just right. But please tell me why I got a slow down ticket?

Hi Darren, your work is amazing, a little dated. Curator's chose to slow you down for various reasons. No biggie mate, keep your submissions down to 1 gig per day.

Shadysue

Not sure what you're referring to and now reassessing your opinions regarding our TOS. Thanks for your efforts.

Shadysue

Hi,

I went through your system as though I was going to buy a file, and at no time did it mention VAT.


You're from the US? wouldn't show up for you even if we did continue with it.

Its gone plain and simple. Nothing to be concerned about about further.

We would like to thank Tyler and the team for allowing us to advertise on MicroStock Group and hope our advertising does not annoy people too much.

Hi Anton,

Yes I agree. WHEN we have 10 million images this makes sense, but many visitors "expect" a categories section and an empty or low accuracy categories section is a liability.

Is a lay-persons money for an image any different to a producer working at FOX network for the same license? They pay the same price either way. This industry is changing and many people don't recognize this..(quite yet)

People make websites and even video for youtube that has NOTHING to do with the professional, clicky world of old media. They need content at a reasonable price and royalty free. The odd RM sale is ok but these people are not the core audience anymore.

Compliments on the work BTW very inspiring imagery!

One last comment for today before lunch.

The categories thing was mentioned several times. Somebody made the point that if we had 10 million images, who would rifle through the category to find just the right image.

I agree completely except for one thing. We need you to help us fill out the categories, just choose one category. So far most of the contributors are at least choosing one relevant category and several have already simply made a subcategory for their images. Its simple to do.

The way we are going, from 100k to a million is only a few weeks away. By filling out the category and making it accurate, you give yourself a better chance of selling, for the buyers that do actually like to browse cats. Otherwise its a lucky dip on the on site search, that depends on your titles and keywords.

We are doing our part but we need some cooperation from the founding members of StockTal. We are doing this together.

Having said that, the quality of many of the images is simply stunning, crisp, clear, vivid colors amazing sky's and concept shots. It's a pleasure to browse these beautiful items. My favorites are in the landscapes section, uplifing!

We try and accommodate everything because we really don't know what sells. We are constantly surprised by selling images. Why decline them when the artist had an idea and somebody buying that image understands that idea, even if curators don't like it. We don't judge the image for commercial appeal or utility to the market because its a mistake to do so.

The curators view people who refuse to do a title, keywords etc or add at least one category at this early stage as un cooperative. "They seem to just want to dump a large file on us and run"

We have already closed several accounts without further explanation and hope not to have to do too much more of this.

Thank you for listening to this appeal.

they are supposed to be based in Australia,
Stocktal 15 Winterton St 250 Hallam 3976 Melbourne Victoria AUSTRALIA
 so one would assume they speak English.
last time i heard they do down-under 

That, we certainly do etudiante_rapide But if I reverted to an Australian accent on this forum, "there'd be not a squeak in the house mate, gobs open, minds ponderin, you get me?"

Actually, where do I start, The tax has been removed. Frankly it had me confused too since we are marketing globally. It was simply to be equally shared between talent and StockTal, but we can survive paying taxes from the gross revenue, not a big deal.

Also the free images "hook" has been changed to 10. The idea is that buyers with an account will more likely make a purchase from StockTal. Also our address is now on the footer of every page as suggested.

Now to Miss Snover, flattered that you took an interest in StockTal Jo Ann
Yes we are keeping it at 78% no plans to change that at all, but we did segregate the account should something unforeseen occur, which means even if there was a change, all members with epp keep their percentage no questions. Just a systems contingency to give the account a special name.

In the blurb about applying to be a contributor, you describe the requirements for the 10 images submitted to include "Must be an original inate image directly outputed from your camera." If you mean a RAW file straight from the camera, that's a unique (not in a good way) requirement. Every image I submit has been edited, and I wouldn't consider showing anyone the straight from the camera version.

This wording has been edited. Really doesnt make sense.

I see a few vectors on the site, offered in a ZIP format, but nothing in the contributor quality guidelines about what format/version you accept, if you generate the preview for it. There's also nothing in the description for the buyer of what format the vector is in (it should say, perhaps something like the info shown for video clips).

You can upload "any" file to the system as long as its zipped. pdf, sga, whatever is required. Also it is up to the experienced talent who submit such a file, to know to make the file format clear in the description. The main criteria for buying such a file is to know what it is. Those few vectors are eps files, why he wouldnt have disclosed this in description is confusing to me.

Our main interest is photography right now, we are still in pre-launch and its a case of first things first.

Photos (top bar) is plural, not possessive; drop the apostrophe

Good spot. Fixed.

I saw a picture that showed the license plate of a car parked on an Azores street

One got through. Have had no luck finding it but thanks for mentioning it. There's an APB out on the image.

Unfortunately we are no closer to resolution with making large images fit our size criteria on the fly. All I can say is that it makes sense and Im fighting for it.

More later, a sincere thanks to all for the kind words and also the criticisms. Our urgency to address these concerns has been stepped up.