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Messages - gcrook
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76
« on: October 27, 2015, 06:05 »
That sounds highly unlikely.What context can one provide for people and crowds after all?Even shopping or working crowds are editorial if a single face is visible,all across the agencies.
That's legality i dont think that context can bypass the laws regarding editorial media.
Maybe the announcement about focus not on the people was literal.
All commercial crowd scenes i've seen are commercial because there has been a blurring filter on the people or it's just people's backs.
77
« on: October 26, 2015, 06:23 »
Videoblocks is the only agency that do withdrawals on all my sales, all other agencies do withdrawals on US sales only... and that's make Videoblocks less attractive for me (33$ per sale instead of 48$)
Why videoblocks is different? (I am suspicious here)
Same here. I contacted them and i learned that im being taxed as a person doing business in the United States regardless of where i might sell my work.It's propably the way they have constituted themselves as a business.Which means that there are ,propably? ...tax incentives for them,but i haven't delved any further.So maybe that's the way they benefit from this marketplace model. Im fine with that really but just so we know what's what,plus it makes it easier for me here to declare my taxes since all income from vb is already taxed in the States..
78
« on: October 15, 2015, 13:32 »
Yeah the thing is that when an agency has 600.000 clips and exactly 1 year ago it had 450.000 you know that things are not going to pick up.
A year ago when i started uploading there i started uploading prores and suddenly half way through the system wouldn't accept prores codec anymore only mjpeg and the rest.
When i contacted them they said they would bring this function back soon and would notify contributors but after months nothing and i guess it's still the same.
I suppose they took these codecs out to save on storage/speed.
So what can i say,they propably dont care about making money, which is both good and bad.
So i dont expect anything from them sadly.
Now that i recall, last year as well, for a period of time i was monitoring the recently sold clips daily.If these were actually the reported sales, daily quota was less than 10-20 clips at most.
Not sure what their daily quota is now.
I should reach payout in a couple of years,hopefully.
79
« on: October 13, 2015, 16:50 »
Yes but this is the unlimited library not the marketplace.They have been doing all kinds of promotions regrding their unlimited library that existed even before the marketplace and personally im not feeling threatened by it having looked at the footage there.
My concern lies elsewhere with them but certainly not their unlimited library.By the way s that library even expanding?
80
« on: October 12, 2015, 09:41 »
In my case Videoblocks has picked up big time and is running second to Pond5, most of my content is on Pond5 but eventually I hope to have it all up on three main sites, SS is completely dead for me for some reason. Just adjusted my prices a bit on Pond5 and am averaging 5-14 sales a day but with only 2000 files on Videoblocks I saw a sudden increase in sale there in October. Hopefully it keeps increasing. The one thing I have going for me is unique content, I have what not everyone else has.
http://www.weathernewsonline.com/
How about editorial footage on vb?Do you see any sales from it?
81
« on: October 11, 2015, 10:21 »
[trolling gently]
Apparently videoblocks had been the industry's best kept secret, and since we all live in caves only a handful of people knew about it and apparently got very rich,until some idiot went about sending pigeon messages to the rest of us and now videoblocks is dead and we are a little less poor and noone very rich.Damnit that internet and all these idiots speaking their minds about the business we are all in.
[/trolling gently]
Thats prettry much sums the logic of some people.Makes you wonder what are forums all about to them,i mean, if you follow their way of thinking to the next logical conclusion.
Perhaps a place to spread misinformation so that they get rich first?
No?
82
« on: October 11, 2015, 08:32 »
6 sales so far, definitely slower than the last month.No refunds -yet-.
83
« on: October 10, 2015, 21:53 »
New look or not,site is -still- slower than a turtle doing pot, and sales almost nonexistent.
I wish they could get their act together.This is the only agency that has failed me completely (1year,1sale,600clips online) and for some reason i like them more than most agencies that do well for me.
84
« on: October 10, 2015, 16:26 »
Leaving all other issues aside, I think you are only looking at a very small subsection of all the reasons why a buyer would request a refund. Sometimes there is simply a change of clip needs. They decide they want a different clip and request an "exchange". Too bad for you, good for someone else. I can think of many other reasons but it's not that important. I don't like VB but the idea of refunds only being evil is not correct. With the exception of "All sales final" outlets, refunds and exchanges do bring in customers and are in fact a proper way to do business.
Edit:It looks like an answer from vb has been given.
Still i'd like to embark.
Of course there are more reasons and all of them are valid.The point is that the product itself is of a such a nature that can be more easily returned or "stolen" wouldn't you agree?
We are not selling fruits off a stand after all we are selling digital products that are presented in a poor manner across all agencies,and the agencies should present each and every one in the best way they can.
Curation is the one,and i agree, quality control costs time and money,so it's practically non-existent,but why doesn't anyone answer the editorial question?After all this is a form of curation we can do for ourselves.
Im still buffled as to why vb doesn't allow us to tag our editorial clips,and the official statement regarding this doesn't cover me.But if it's ok for everyone else, what can i say.
I guess if you assume everyone who returns a shirt has likely worn it at least once, then you will adopt a no return policy.
All I know, is that of all the sales I've made over the years, not that many of them have been returned. I can't say it's a fact, but my guess is way more images and clips get stollen outright than get bought, returned and used. You'd need to a bit of a simpleton to buy a clip, return it, and then use it. It does give a rather strong case for copyright infringement. But then stupidity is not in short supply.
Im not assuming anything.Im just saying that a digital product is not a t-shirt.As long as we understand the huge difference.And this includes agencies as well,which they very well know thats why they benefit so much from it's immaterial nature,and we end up ranting in forums.
85
« on: October 10, 2015, 15:39 »
Leaving all other issues aside, I think you are only looking at a very small subsection of all the reasons why a buyer would request a refund. Sometimes there is simply a change of clip needs. They decide they want a different clip and request an "exchange". Too bad for you, good for someone else. I can think of many other reasons but it's not that important. I don't like VB but the idea of refunds only being evil is not correct. With the exception of "All sales final" outlets, refunds and exchanges do bring in customers and are in fact a proper way to do business.
Edit:It looks like an answer from vb has been given. Still i'd like to embark. Of course there are more reasons and all of them are valid.The point is that the product itself is of a such a nature that can be more easily returned or "stolen" wouldn't you agree? We are not selling fruits off a stand after all we are selling digital products that are presented in a poor manner across all agencies,and the agencies should present each and every one in the best way they can. Curation is the one,and i agree, quality control costs time and money,so it's practically non-existent,but why doesn't anyone answer the editorial question?After all this is a form of curation we can do for ourselves. Im still buffled as to why vb doesn't allow us to tag our editorial clips,and the official statement regarding this doesn't cover me.But if it's ok for everyone else, what can i say.
86
« on: October 10, 2015, 14:40 »
-Refunds have been given to customers for purchased images/clips since I can remember. VB has chosen to adopt this policy. Maybe it's one way of attracting more buyers. Live with it and quite whining.
How exactly can an agency attract buyers since refunds propably mean:
1)Bad video quality and various technical issues that the agency either chose to ignore or has no means to check or simply doesn't care.Would you buy products from a shop that has no means to verify their quality?
2)Agency is new and being taken advantage of from people who want to download and get a refund."The client is always right" mantra doesn't necessarily inspire confidence.
Am i missing something else?
I get occasional refunds from EVERY agency I've ever worked with. As for VB I've had dozens of downloads and maybe three refunds.
Also they do seem to be checking the quality of all incoming videos. While it's true I haven't had many rejected, I have had a few.
I dont think refunds alone is the point of this thread (actually this thread has no point but nevermind) but since we are at it what do you mean every agency?I've never had one from p5 and ss that i know of.Maybe they dont report the sale reversal but other than that how would you know? I had refunds from dissolve though as well as motionelements. How certain are you that they curate that good?I've had 3-4 rejections but that doesnt mean that they curate well.What's the reason for them being the only agency where editorial clips are officially accepted but yet aren't tagged as such? How can a buyer know if some of the people in the background for example are visible if there's no editorial tab?From the horrible low res preview? And that's one example. That doesn't prove in your opinion that their curation process is a bit "relaxed" to put it mildly?
87
« on: October 10, 2015, 11:47 »
As far as i know vimeo doesnt sell clips.It sells films,documentaries etc,meaning complete works.It offers subscriptions,rentals and purchases,similar to a netfilx model,but not stock video unless i've missed some announcement.
Which is impropable because the usual internetic "suspects" would be jumping up and down with joy by now.
88
« on: October 10, 2015, 11:36 »
-Refunds have been given to customers for purchased images/clips since I can remember. VB has chosen to adopt this policy. Maybe it's one way of attracting more buyers. Live with it and quite whining.
How exactly can an agency attract buyers since refunds propably mean: 1)Bad video quality and various technical issues that the agency either chose to ignore or has no means to check or simply doesn't care.Would you buy products from a shop that has no means to verify their quality? 2)Agency is new and being taken advantage of from people who want to download and get a refund."The client is always right" mantra doesn't necessarily inspire confidence. Am i missing something else?
89
« on: October 10, 2015, 10:00 »
Why are we becoming so bipolar with vb really?
Disregard the fact that they are fairly new (for this current model they started) ,and have a subscription,which means that there should have been a wave of subscriptions during September which explains the sudden boost.
But other than that, what were people expecting from vb anyway?
They resemble motion elements in the way they operate unlike say ss or p5,they're simplt behaving like traffic wardens of footage.
They curate almost everything,they dont have the means to handle a big boost in incoming traffic, not the means and the willingness to even separate commercial footage from editorial.
Actually i wouldn't be surprised if these returns were editorial footage.
Still by returning the clips and charging the contributor that means that they operate on a very low level as an agency.
Which of course shouldn't make us have very high hopes for them.
Personally i dont,and if i can have some sales just for the effort of uploading there im good.
After all no agency at this point is very lucrative.Quite the opposite.So let them milk your cows while milk is in demand,and im truly sorry that i have to speak in such a cynical manner.
90
« on: October 07, 2015, 07:21 »
around 10 days? i posted somewhere that I just had my first sale.
Guess I am unlucky if it is not a common problem.
Obviously, if they always pay out everything, they cannot absorb refunds.
I disagree, they should be able to absorb,depending on the circumstance of course. For example if this reversal is due to technical issues they're responsible for selling this in the first place. Of course we wouldn't know that's the thing with digital products.
91
« on: October 07, 2015, 05:58 »
Sorry for the stupid question, but what will happen to those withheld money?
Better start researching this depending on the country you live. Agencies that hold taxes via the American IRS send you a report at the end of the fiscal year stating how much they taxed you and for what amount of total sales.You will -propably- need to have this tax report made official via the American Agency of your country of residence and declare it in your revenue report to avoid double taxation.The rest of the income that was not taxed you need to report it as standard income so you can get taxed from your own country.
92
« on: October 07, 2015, 05:46 »
My one and only sale on videoblocks just got refunded. 
How often does that happen?
That's not good news to say the least.Haven't had that yet at vb. May i ask after how many days did that sale get reversed?
93
« on: October 04, 2015, 16:43 »
Best selling full HD clips on Pond5 are priced between $60-80. Just because some clips are priced much less than that, production companies and TV stations don't buy them.
I wish that was (still) true,unfortunately search engine speaks otherwise.Every search i have been performing recently speaks about prices way below 50 usd at least in the 1st page of results. And the part about tv stations hesitating tro buy stuff due to the low price seems like wishful thinking to be honest. Personally the only reason i (mostly) sell above or waaaay above 59usd is the fact that i believe that this should be the cost of this particular clip.Wrong or not i doesnt matter.But not because of me fantacising about people going "oh high price, this must be good" . It's not like we are selling unique items through out own shop that you only see once you purchase them.There is always something that can fit in a project and is perhaps better than our own, and lately it seems to be getting cheaper too.
94
« on: October 04, 2015, 11:00 »
I guess that every stock media producer is or should be happy as hell.
Cheerful energetic and positive no matter what.We dont want negativity here, oh if only the internet could transfer real smiles and high fives how awesome would that be.
That's a nice philosophy on life -for some-.
For me personally, negativity works best,that's the reason i have done ok in life and i dont want more, what can i say.
Still, some people are, or should have been mature enough to understand the difference between a real "person" and an internetic "persona",or to simply put it ,the difference between a discussion at a pub and a discussion inside a virtual, public, group/forum.
I hate it when people start calling each other by their real names to the point that every post starts with -Hey Mike,-Oh thats right Craig, etc
That's consent and there's enough of that already.
At least negativity is direct and most of the times honest.
95
« on: September 30, 2015, 13:15 »
Looks like that the only counter argument is to only upload at p5 and ss.
SS prices are what they are and i suppose that everyone who is being sarcastic and all about this is uploading at p5 with the same prices regardless?
Because i can only accept this from those who do,and my experience says that there aren't any.
Let alone that this implies that these 2 agencies are holier than holy and everything else is a kind of scam,which is far from the truth.I can personally accept them as a lesser evil at most,which explains why everyone is uploading everywhere else as well,because everything is -apparently- very subjective.
Both of these agencies in their own way have devaluated stock even more than everyone else,but hey let's not let argumentative discussion get in the way of a good punch line.
96
« on: September 30, 2015, 10:02 »
Could we at least agree on the simple fact that there are those who despite their choise to join an agency are -and will remain- sceptical all the way and want to discuss about it?
Yeah right, i just noticed a tumbling bush blown by the wind rolling across a street in El Paso.
I mean, on one hand i see complete repudiation without any willingness to negotiate or discuss this, and on the other hand people who blindly cheer on overlooking facts and other issues,to the point that they shamelessly advertise agencies like they are the s*** without even realising it.
My sales there have been very good so far.Do i at least have the right to NOT feel enthusiastic about it and start spreading thumbs up to everyone cheering them on?
If anything im honestly not going to get any satisfaction off of people disowning them,say after a year if (god forbid) something "weird" happens (like to usually does) ,but i would like to know that certain issues have been discussed in public before hand.Isn't this the only thing we can and should be doing anyways?
Guess not huh?Who said the internet is for discussion anyway?
97
« on: September 28, 2015, 14:05 »
About the taxation i just found out that indeed there is an issue in the front end (dashboard doesn't always display the deducted tax in a sale) hence the payout differences.
They said they are working to fix this.
98
« on: September 26, 2015, 13:58 »
Commissions are not THAT great especially if you get taxed 30% which seems to be the norm for me.If not,its very good, at p5,and maybe a bit better.But still WAY more than everyone else in either case..
Number of sales is very good, might even surpass p5 for this month but certainly not ss or even ds (propably).
Having said that has anyone here who gets taxed for usa sales noticed anything out of the ordinary?
99
« on: September 23, 2015, 20:03 »
Kind of a general question.Depends on the amount of work you do, the size of your portfolio and the quality and subject matter of your footage overall, but more important in my opinion, on the pricing you do on the site that lets you price freely, for example pond5 since it's the only one amongst those 2 that lets you set prices.
So if you keep prices lower than the (temporarily) "established" price which is 79 for hd and 199 for 4K so you can get the same amount of commissions at p5 like shutterstock (let's say 50/2=25 usd ) then you perhaps have more choises including videoblocks.
If not then consider carefully where you will place your port because you are going to get even lower commissions everywhere else and propably regret it for even more reasons that low commissions.
If you are the kind of guy that prices everything below 50 usd and have a small enough portfolio to upload then you should (perhaps) consider dissolve too,maybe fotolia,and clipcanvas (although i doubt you will get sales there) .
100
« on: September 20, 2015, 19:36 »
Stop using slogans like "the right direction to success",we are not living inside an agency advertisement or a miraculous 5 days workshop, and you'll propably get somewhere sooner or later.Where will that be who knows.
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