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Author Topic: Keep 100% of sales. No middlemen (graphpaperpress)  (Read 9968 times)

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« on: March 11, 2014, 13:05 »
0


« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2014, 13:14 »
+1
the email from them below

There are better ways to sell
your photography online.
Weve always kept photographers and their work at the core of our business. We are photographers. Our friends are photographers. We believe photographs, like any art or product, have a value that should not be manipulated or diluted without the consent of their creators.

This is why Getty Images' decision to make 35 million images available for free has enfuriated photographers globally. Unexpected changes like these affect the livelihoods of thousands of photographers, many who depend on services like these to make a living.

We truly believe in the products we build because they enable photographers and artists like you to set your own standards of value. So what is the value of your work? Honestly, we don't know. And neither does Getty. So why let them decide?

Sell on your own terms and keep 100% of your earnings using our Sell Media E-Commerce plugin.

It's your work. You should be able to determine its value.

Ron

« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2014, 13:17 »
-1
Got the same email, deleted it, already have a Symbiostock for that.


http://semmickphoto.com/

« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2014, 13:20 »
+4
I tried them out a long time ago (before symbiostock) and purchased several of the add-on features.  It was buggy and I couldn't make it work properly.  That was quite a long time ago tho so maybe things are more stable now?

« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2014, 13:32 »
0
I tried them out a long time ago (before symbiostock) and purchased several of the add-on features.  It was buggy and I couldn't make it work properly.  That was quite a long time ago tho so maybe things are more stable now?


Stable for me. It is bluehost i should dump. No more or less difficult to implement than SY was, or Ktools, for that matter.

« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2014, 13:49 »
+3
It sounds like another choice for us. GOOD! - I stick with my Symbiostock site, though.

Ron

« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2014, 13:51 »
0
It sounds like another choice for us. GOOD! - I stick with my Symbiostock site, though.
Oooh dont say that, you'll be voted down !  lol :)

Ed

« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2014, 13:55 »
0
I tried to integrate them with my Photoshelter site.  I couldn't even get the basic template operational from them.  They use Page.ly on the back end.  I got double billed and I couldn't really get any help from them.  I ended up getting my money back (which I appreciated) and went with a Photoshelter Beam template instead.

« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2014, 13:57 »
+1
It sounds like another choice for us. GOOD! - I stick with my Symbiostock site, though.
Oooh dont say that, you'll be voted down !  lol :)

Are you trying to stir up crap, Ron?  ;)

Ron

« Reply #9 on: March 11, 2014, 14:00 »
+4
The people voting these normal comments down are stirring up crap. You cant make a joke, or an honest comment on this forum without receiving the judgement of a few angry people.

« Reply #10 on: March 11, 2014, 14:03 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 23:41 by tickstock »

Ron

« Reply #11 on: March 11, 2014, 14:07 »
0
Great, sold an EL this month and a small size, kept 96% of the sales, after PayPal fees. Its right up there with the middle tier in terms of earnings.

« Reply #12 on: March 11, 2014, 14:09 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 23:41 by tickstock »

« Reply #13 on: March 11, 2014, 14:15 »
+9
  The problem with self-hosted sites is the same problem with any start-up site. How do you draw buyers to your site in great numbers? That's where the top four agencies have the advantage.

« Reply #14 on: March 11, 2014, 14:16 »
0
I tried to integrate them with my Photoshelter site.  I couldn't even get the basic template operational from them.  They use Page.ly on the back end.  I got double billed and I couldn't really get any help from them.  I ended up getting my money back (which I appreciated) and went with a Photoshelter Beam template instead.


I didnt use their theme template, it had hardly any back end customization features so i went the photocrati route. I am happy with the results,
.

« Reply #15 on: March 11, 2014, 14:20 »
0
  The problem with self-hosted sites is the same problem with any start-up site. How do you draw buyers to your site in great numbers? That's where the top four agencies have the advantage.


Yeah its a problem. Seems like if one could get a few customers who consistently buy, the 100% of the sale might make up for the lack of lots of customers and getting paid peanuts.

« Reply #16 on: March 11, 2014, 17:26 »
+1
My personal opinion: graphpaperpress is far worse than symbiostock.. it's not even comparable for me.. symbiostock is the most practical solution that is truly "ready" out of the box.. if you are not going to change the appearance radically,  then it's only minor tweaks with symbiostock..

Graphpaperpress was a pain in the a** when I tried it..

« Reply #17 on: March 11, 2014, 17:32 »
+2
I haven't been able to get interested in Symbiostock because I get the feeling the developer is backing away from the project and there's no one to pick it up.  So it may work today, but at some point in the future there could be big problems and no one to deal with them.  I realize it's working fine for some people now but I'm afraid it might ultimately turn out to be an expensive (in terms of my time) dead end.

So if there's someone offering a comparable system, maybe not as good but with an assurance of future support and development...
« Last Edit: March 11, 2014, 18:01 by stockastic »

« Reply #18 on: March 11, 2014, 18:30 »
+1
  The problem with self-hosted sites is the same problem with any start-up site. How do you draw buyers to your site in great numbers? That's where the top four agencies have the advantage.


correct -- that's where symbiostock has several built-in advantages

-- the networking feature automatically builds backlinks from other sites, and your images get seen on many other sites

-- symbiostock was designed to promote SEO, and you can enhance that thru several plugins.  I had a smugmug site for over 2 years and never had more than 5% of my images indexed (a harder thing to do than getting your pages indexed).  With sym, I quickly got over 70% of 6000+ images indexed  (one factor is how well your images may already have been indexed thru ms agencies)

http://cascoly.com/symbio/list.asp?list=66  shows the alexa stats for sym sites -- notice the large number of sites linking in

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #19 on: March 11, 2014, 18:40 »
0
the email from them below

There are better ways to sell
your photography online.
Weve always kept photographers and their work at the core of our business. We are photographers. Our friends are photographers. We believe photographs, like any art or product, have a value that should not be manipulated or diluted without the consent of their creators.

This is why Getty Images' decision to make 35 million images available for free has enfuriated photographers globally. Unexpected changes like these affect the livelihoods of thousands of photographers, many who depend on services like these to make a living.

We truly believe in the products we build because they enable photographers and artists like you to set your own standards of value. So what is the value of your work? Honestly, we don't know. And neither does Getty. So why let them decide?

Sell on your own terms and keep 100% of your earnings using our Sell Media E-Commerce plugin.

It's your work. You should be able to determine its value.

Is it just a range of paid WordPress themes to which you can add an E-Commerce plugin?

« Reply #20 on: March 11, 2014, 18:49 »
0
Yes, the built in community aspect is why I'm getting a symbiostock site with a little help ;).

Been thinking about it for awhile now and with all the crazy deals and uncertainty.

« Reply #21 on: March 11, 2014, 19:43 »
+2
I used the sellmedia plugin for a year and one of their themes. I like it at first and my test sales worked but my real sales never worked. I always had to send the zip file to the customer. I switched to symbiostock this year and so far I love it! I've had one sale and and worked! And it's a lot easier to set up for someone like me who knows very little about web stuff.

« Reply #22 on: March 12, 2014, 05:02 »
0
Ron, none of your posts has got anything to do with the topic this thread... Youre just touting Symbiostock and your own site  ::)

« Reply #23 on: March 12, 2014, 06:47 »
+2
I license traditional stock photos from my Photoshelter site. My photos get indexed and about half my sales are from google searches, the other half are from photo editors going directly to Photoshelter's home page and searching. Most of the time the buyers call me to arrange for licensing so I am making good contacts as well.

Not a huge volume of sales but at $100-400 per photo it adds up nicely. I've considered symbio and other platforms to set up a micro site, but don't imagine the volume would make it worth the trouble.

http://www.photoshelter.com/referral/MA2CA7TC7J

stocked

« Reply #24 on: March 12, 2014, 08:00 »
+1
  The problem with self-hosted sites is the same problem with any start-up site. How do you draw buyers to your site in great numbers? That's where the top four agencies have the advantage.
Correct the top four have a 10 years advantage, had there been Symbiostock 10 years ago it would be a major player too! This long time advantage of the top four means you have to be patient and you shouldn't expect miracles in a half year time. But Symbiostock has many advantages so I do think guerrilla marketing and networking with other photographers together with the perfect SEO implantation in the Symbiostock theme will succeed.
One should think of unique selling points, like a specific market niche maybe your specialized in food photography or you can offer specific images of your living area etc. to make it for buyers more attractive.

stocked

« Reply #25 on: March 12, 2014, 08:11 »
+2
I haven't been able to get interested in Symbiostock because I get the feeling the developer is backing away from the project and there's no one to pick it up.  So it may work today, but at some point in the future there could be big problems and no one to deal with them.  I realize it's working fine for some people now but I'm afraid it might ultimately turn out to be an expensive (in terms of my time) dead end.

So if there's someone offering a comparable system, maybe not as good but with an assurance of future support and development...
this is not correct AFAIK he said he will it make compatible with every Wordpress update and that is enough for the time being because it is already a complete product!
Personally I'm quite happy the constant updates has come to a halt for a while so I can concentrate on marketing and fine-tuning my site plus upload more content. As I said the product is ready-to-go and will be updated if necessary because of new Wordpress versions. Just give it a go you will be impressed!

« Reply #26 on: March 12, 2014, 08:48 »
0
Back to the original topic (not symbiostock...plenty of other threads to discuss that). If it has been a while since you looked at GPP and sell media, you might want to take another look. There was just an update to the plugin a week or so ago, so i think improvements are being made. And i know they have been adding themes.

« Reply #27 on: March 12, 2014, 09:50 »
0
Ok, I'm always looking into self hosting options. From what I can tell it's $79 a year for one theme and access to support ends after the first 12 months. If I want plugins it goes to $149 and if I want the whole package it is $399 (with this one I get live support). The themes look nice and that is considerably cheaper than what I paid for my custom site.

Cathy which program did you purchase? Also since I know zero coding and just a little bit of wordpress will I be able to do this on my own? What does access to support mean and how is that different from live support? Finally looks like I'm looking at another $99 to use the sell media plugin?

So for a website that I would consider functional for me I am looking at $498 for 1 year plus hosting and domain costs?

I'm all about information and $500 for a site is relatively cheap. I'm tempted to build one just to be able to compare sales between my custom site, Symbio, and this.

How are peoples sales using this program? Illustrators if you use this please let me know what you think.
I'm genuinely interested in answers to these questions.

« Reply #28 on: March 12, 2014, 11:57 »
0
there is zenfolio for 140$ a year with unlimited storage and 90% of the sales

raw/psd/other storage for 8.5 cents/GB

you don't even need to buy a domain if you don't want

« Reply #29 on: March 12, 2014, 13:40 »
0
I have found all these replies helpful and informative, great topic!



My Very Best :)
KimsCreativeHub.com

« Reply #30 on: March 12, 2014, 14:01 »
0
there is zenfolio for 140$ a year with unlimited storage and 90% of the sales

raw/psd/other storage for 8.5 cents/GB

you don't even need to buy a domain if you don't want
The problem with using a U.S. based service like PS, Zen or Smugmug is the withholding taxes if you are not from the U.S. But anyone looking into this - please do make sure that is still a fact before it sways your decision -  it was when I was last considering these sites about the same time the agencies started withholding.  In most cases you earn real income from these sites, not royalties. 

« Reply #31 on: March 12, 2014, 14:05 »
0
there is zenfolio for 140$ a year with unlimited storage and 90% of the sales

raw/psd/other storage for 8.5 cents/GB

you don't even need to buy a domain if you don't want
The problem with using a U.S. based service like PS, Zen or Smugmug is the withholding taxes if you are not from the U.S. But anyone looking into this - please do make sure that is still a fact before it sways your decision -  it was when I was last considering these sites about the same time the agencies started withholding.  In most cases you earn real income from these sites, not royalties.

you have that in most agencies anyway and you don't have 90% "royalties", you can put the price you wish as well, again it comes down to attract buyers first...

« Reply #32 on: March 12, 2014, 14:17 »
0
Ok, I'm always looking into self hosting options. From what I can tell it's $79 a year for one theme and access to support ends after the first 12 months. If I want plugins it goes to $149 and if I want the whole package it is $399 (with this one I get live support). The themes look nice and that is considerably cheaper than what I paid for my custom site.

Cathy which program did you purchase? Also since I know zero coding and just a little bit of wordpress will I be able to do this on my own? What does access to support mean and how is that different from live support? Finally looks like I'm looking at another $99 to use the sell media plugin?

So for a website that I would consider functional for me I am looking at $498 for 1 year plus hosting and domain costs?

I'm all about information and $500 for a site is relatively cheap. I'm tempted to build one just to be able to compare sales between my custom site, Symbio, and this.

How are peoples sales using this program? Illustrators if you use this please let me know what you think.
I'm genuinely interested in answers to these questions.

WOW! I didn't know about that price tag  :o. While you are probably right that this is still relatively cheap it would be a deal breaker for me. So far, my sales barely justify the app. $300 I have/will put into my Symbiostock site to run it for 3 years. That includes everything: theme, paid plug-ins, hosting, domain.

Of course, I am looking forward to getting enough sales that I can justify spending $500 on a second site just to see how it works out  8)

« Reply #33 on: March 12, 2014, 14:28 »
0
My information may not be right. That is how I interpreted the info on their website but I am waiting for someone to confirm my conclusions. I think you can get away with around $250 but I'm not sure what you do or don't get in that package. I assumed I would want everything so I opted for the entire package. Also I am really interested to know what happens after 12 months.

« Reply #34 on: March 12, 2014, 16:27 »
0
I did not spend near what you are saying Chromaco...

photocrati photography theme - $79
http://www.photocrati.com/simple-pricing/

Sell media plugin, free:
http://graphpaperpress.com/plugins/sell-media/

watermark plugin - $29
http://graphpaperpress.com/?download=watermark

magnifier plugin - $10
http://graphpaperpress.com/?download=magnifier

I wanted the advanced search, but not necessary - $29:
http://graphpaperpress.com/?download=advanced-searc

and heres a plugin for anyone who uses photoshelter
http://graphpaperpress.com/plugins/photoshelter-official-plugin/

I think I had a coupon for a discount for the theme, but even if not, I didnt spend much more than I spent on SY.

I did not use a graphpaperpress theme or buy a package. I went a la carte. It wasnt any more difficult for me to build than SY was.

It's just another option. If you think networking is the way to go, try SY. I found it was useless and I always hated having the multiple moving slideshows (sometimes 8 or 10 or more) on my search pages. I have found the support for GPP to be good. Not sure what happens after a year...I am only a couple of months into it. I even had some customizing done for a very fair price.

Quote
Ok, I'm always looking into self hosting options. From what I can tell it's $79 a year for one theme and access to support ends after the first 12 months. If I want plugins it goes to $149 and if I want the whole package it is $399 (with this one I get live support). The themes look nice and that is considerably cheaper than what I paid for my custom site.


Actually there are some free themes. Go here to see for yourself:
http://graphpaperpress.com/themes/onesie/#buy-theme

The higher prices include 49 themes, support and plugins depending on what you get. Go look around their site, you can get a better idea.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2014, 16:40 by cathyslife stockphotos.com »

« Reply #35 on: March 12, 2014, 16:48 »
+1
Thank you, So about $160 then. I'll have to find out if generic WP sliders and plugins work with these themes. Also what happens with the support after 12 months is very important to me because I really don't know anything about coding. I'll spend some more time on their site.
I would hate to spend $160 and find out I wasn't savvy enough.

If I feel like I'm not wasting my time I will probably try this out. I am always looking for options other than sub sites. Break even would require around 1 sale a month. I assume you feel like this is possible for you to achieve.

Does anyone else have any feedback about these options?

FWIW- I think the Symbiostock network benefits aren't necessarily working as far as referring sales but I do absolutely think they help with my SEO. Also I really like that there is a community behind me if something goes awry.

« Reply #36 on: March 12, 2014, 17:41 »
0
snip
FWIW- I think the Symbiostock network benefits aren't necessarily working as far as referring sales but I do absolutely think they help with my SEO. Also I really like that there is a community behind me if something goes awry.

I agree to all of those.

Ed

« Reply #37 on: March 13, 2014, 13:04 »
0
there is zenfolio for 140$ a year with unlimited storage and 90% of the sales

raw/psd/other storage for 8.5 cents/GB

you don't even need to buy a domain if you don't want

I was on Zenfolio for two years prior to moving to Photoshelter.  They had great service and I liked the support I received when I needed it.

The reason I left is because I wanted to license stock - they weren't really set up to do that.  You could set prices for Royalty Free images and manipulate the system with multiple price structures but there really wasn't a solution for selling rights managed.  Photoshelter is integrated with PhotoQuote - much more user friendly.  Photoshelter also allows you to upload to your site, then FTP images out (FTP occuring from their server) which is an AWESOME feature if you work with agents that receive images via FTP.

When I looked at Graph Paper Press integrated with Photoshelter, it was because I really liked the look and feel of Gavin Gough's website.  My experience was not that great.

« Reply #38 on: March 13, 2014, 14:52 »
0
I have been with Photoshelter prior to Symbiostock. It wasn't worth the $300+ per year at all. I liked the PhotoQuote RM feature, though. I hope something like this will be available as a plugin for Symbiostock as well at some point.

Does Graph Paper Press have some sort of automatic RM options pricing?

The FTP feature was nice but self-hosting allows you to do the same via SSH script. I use that all the time from my Blue Host shared server and find it more reliable than the sometimes buggy (?) Photoshelter feature. If anyone wants to try, I've explained the details here: http://www.microstockgroup.com/microstock-services/lightburner-is-paid-now%28/msg322403/#msg322403.

Millionstock.com

  • Architecture; Arts; Historic buildings, Landscapes

« Reply #39 on: March 14, 2014, 08:06 »
0
I'm happy with my Symbiostock site


 

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