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Author Topic: StockFresh is closing  (Read 25057 times)

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« Reply #25 on: September 24, 2020, 18:29 »
+3
Thanks for following up with Peter.

So customers get a refund of balances but unpaid contributors are left out? Not sure why contributors are the group selected to take the losses.

I have a new rule for my "fair agency" list: All contributor balances are to be kept in an escrow account, separated from general funds.

It also makes it clear how important it is for new/small/low sales agencies to have a low payment threshold...

I'd also add Peter and his partner to the "never again" list - never deal with any agency they're associated with. Honeyed words up front; stab in the back on the way out


« Reply #26 on: September 24, 2020, 20:40 »
0
Finally got a reply back:

Quote
"Hello,

Thank you very much for writing.

Regarding the closure of Stockfresh, we are going to pay all contributors who are above the $50 minimum payment threshold, as stated in the Contributor Agreement (https://stockfresh.com/info/ca).

If you are below the $50 minimum payment threshold, you can either
        a) wait for customers to download your images to reach the threshold before October 17 and make a request before November 1, or
        b) contact support to have your images removed from the website without payment at any time, with immediate effect.

If you have any other questions let us know.

Best regards,
Customer support
https://stockfresh.com"

As sales are basically non-existent, there is no way I'll reach $50 before October 17th. Which means that any balance below $50 will not be paid out (if I understand correctly)...Which is very, VERY BAD.

Now you think they are a turd?

« Reply #27 on: September 25, 2020, 11:09 »
+3
I'm quite upset with this
There is noting about termination of agreement / payment due to the site closing:
https://stockfresh.com/info/ca
So I dont consider that SF keeping the amount still due is legal.
I'll see how I can complain about this.
At least I will make sure that the new custommers of the owner new projects (started with our money I guess) knows about how "fair" he treats his contributors
"therefore, for the time being we decided to focus our efforts on other projects" (see the message sent to contributors).
Can you confirm that the person we are talking about is

"Peter Hamza
CEO 10 years
CEO and co-founder at Stockfresh, previously the same at Stockxpert and stock.xchng (both acquired by Getty Images). Loves building communities."
--> https://angel.co/company/stockfresh/people?inFrame=1

The next community members should know about how much he will love to steal from them


« Reply #28 on: September 26, 2020, 01:03 »
+2
I found that Stockfreash is based in Hungary.
I dont know if the CEO is still involved in the acyivity of SF but I intend to claim against the company and those behind.
There are several ways to report internet fraud (*) (I guess we are in this category) in the EU.
This is a general one at EU level:
https://ec.europa.eu/anti-fraud/contacts/fraud-reporting-form_en
The other one through the national police
https://www.europol.europa.eu/report-a-crime/report-cybercrime-online
There are probably other ways to proceed as well, If you have ideas let us know.
There must be also claims options fron non EU countries
I will wait few days before claiming but will do so when the best option is clear-

(*) I know < 50 dollars is not much money, but it is not acceptable. What next? company having buisiness models based on unreached limits?
I guess we are > 4000 contributors (?)  a vast majority below the threshhold (most ask payment when reaching the limit) so say 3000 contributors with an avg of 25 dollars: this is 75.000 dollars
Individaully the fraud is small, but with the numbers it is far from being peanuts.

« Reply #29 on: September 26, 2020, 10:02 »
+3
One additional wrinkle in this story.  I just sent SF the following message:

Quote
I attempted to request payment of royalties on my account.  You now require a Certificate of Residency.  As a US resident, the cost of such a certificate is $85, which coincidentally is the amount of money owed to me.  Additionally, processing of the certificate and mailing it will likely take longer than you plan to be in business.  Is there any less onerous way to demonstrate my citizenship/residency that will satisfy your requirements? 

Thank you for your attention.

« Reply #30 on: September 26, 2020, 12:05 »
+3
One additional wrinkle in this story.  I just sent SF the following message:

Quote
I attempted to request payment of royalties on my account.  You now require a Certificate of Residency.  As a US resident, the cost of such a certificate is $85, which coincidentally is the amount of money owed to me.  Additionally, processing of the certificate and mailing it will likely take longer than you plan to be in business.  Is there any less onerous way to demonstrate my citizenship/residency that will satisfy your requirements? 

Thank you for your attention.

so this is a kind of new threshold in case you were over 50 $....
This seem to confirm that SF is not the "fair" agency we though they were!

THP Creative

  • THP Creative

« Reply #31 on: September 26, 2020, 14:08 »
+2
One additional wrinkle in this story.  I just sent SF the following message:

Quote
I attempted to request payment of royalties on my account.  You now require a Certificate of Residency.  As a US resident, the cost of such a certificate is $85, which coincidentally is the amount of money owed to me.  Additionally, processing of the certificate and mailing it will likely take longer than you plan to be in business.  Is there any less onerous way to demonstrate my citizenship/residency that will satisfy your requirements? 

Thank you for your attention.

Since they added this requirement some time back, I've successfully processed numerous payments by providing an invoice. It's an alternative to the residence certificate and is accepted. You just need to add these details:

TO: Stockfresh.com Kft. Medve utca 24, Budapest 1027 Hungary
EU VAT No.: HU23009701

Hope that helps.

« Reply #32 on: September 26, 2020, 14:48 »
0
Since they added this requirement some time back, I've successfully processed numerous payments by providing an invoice. It's an alternative to the residence certificate and is accepted. You just need to add these details:

TO: Stockfresh.com Kft. Medve utca 24, Budapest 1027 Hungary
EU VAT No.: HU23009701

Hope that helps.

I hope so too.  I'll give it a try.

« Reply #33 on: September 27, 2020, 02:16 »
0
One additional wrinkle in this story.  I just sent SF the following message:

Quote
I attempted to request payment of royalties on my account.  You now require a Certificate of Residency.  As a US resident, the cost of such a certificate is $85, which coincidentally is the amount of money owed to me.  Additionally, processing of the certificate and mailing it will likely take longer than you plan to be in business.  Is there any less onerous way to demonstrate my citizenship/residency that will satisfy your requirements? 

Thank you for your attention.

you don't need to make it as complicated for yourself.. just a utility bill will do..

« Reply #34 on: September 27, 2020, 07:01 »
+2
One additional wrinkle in this story.  I just sent SF the following message:

Quote
I attempted to request payment of royalties on my account.  You now require a Certificate of Residency.  As a US resident, the cost of such a certificate is $85, which coincidentally is the amount of money owed to me.  Additionally, processing of the certificate and mailing it will likely take longer than you plan to be in business.  Is there any less onerous way to demonstrate my citizenship/residency that will satisfy your requirements? 

Thank you for your attention.

you don't need to make it as complicated for yourself.. just a utility bill will do..

Turns out I didn't need to worry.  SF Support said an ID was all they wanted, and under the circumstances, they didn't even need that.  They put in a payout request for me, and that'll be that.

« Reply #35 on: October 01, 2020, 14:11 »
+5
Just received an update from Peter following my reply:

Quote
Hey Colin,

It turns out I was a bit too worried about the financials of the business, and communicated prematurely. Im a developer and this is not my strong suit. The bottom line is that everyone will be able to request their earnings starting Oct 17. Until then its business as usual ($50+ payouts).

I apologize for the confusion, and if you have any questions feel free to email me at any time.

Best regards,
Peter

Good news after all! To be honest, I didn't expect an update after my reply, but it's confirmed: it turns out everyone WILL be able to request their earnings after Oct 17.

THP Creative

  • THP Creative

« Reply #36 on: October 01, 2020, 15:08 »
0
Just received an update from Peter following my reply:

Quote
Hey Colin,

It turns out I was a bit too worried about the financials of the business, and communicated prematurely. Im a developer and this is not my strong suit. The bottom line is that everyone will be able to request their earnings starting Oct 17. Until then its business as usual ($50+ payouts).

I apologize for the confusion, and if you have any questions feel free to email me at any time.

Best regards,
Peter

Good news after all! To be honest, I didn't expect an update after my reply, but it's confirmed: it turns out everyone WILL be able to request their earnings after Oct 17.

I got a similar statement after talking directly with Peter. Good news.

« Reply #37 on: October 01, 2020, 15:20 »
0
That is good news. Thanks for posting updates here.

Peter, if you're reading, thank you for thinking more about it and changing your mind. It's much appreciated.

I'm fine leaving my work there until after the 17th and then requesting the $39.95 (or whatever it is then).

« Reply #38 on: October 01, 2020, 21:11 »
0
Good to hear they are paying everybody out. I was disappointed when they launched that they were just trying mostly to recreate StockXpert instead of building something that was pushing the industry forward. That said, I have respect for all of them running the agency. It is not an easy thing to do. They treated me great, and I was happy with what had been going on recently. I'm pretty much 100% passive now (waiting to see what happens with no real reward for creating more content), but I'd love to jump back in if any of these players have a new and inventive idea. I've run stuff myself, and I know that I'm just not cut out for that.

Mir

« Reply #39 on: October 02, 2020, 03:13 »
0
I received it too and  I never received the first answer you all got.

« Reply #40 on: October 17, 2020, 16:18 »
+1
Just a reminder to anyone with a balance at StockFresh that it's now time to send in a payment request. I did (for $40.95) and it's now pending.

I had to throw together an invoice in Word and upload a PDF of that with the request - as I don't have a TAX ID document - so I'm hoping I've done all that I need to.

You have until Nov 1 2020 to make your request

Mir

« Reply #41 on: October 17, 2020, 16:35 »
0
What is the certificate of tax residence they are requesting?

« Reply #42 on: October 17, 2020, 16:49 »
0
Thanks for the heads up, I almost forgot them already...

« Reply #43 on: October 17, 2020, 17:02 »
+1
What is the certificate of tax residence they are requesting?

I wrote to them about that; a US certificate cost as much as SF owed me.  I was told not to sweat it, that a copy of your ID with an address would suffice.  In my case they didn't even require that much.  They put the payment request in for m and I got the money a few days later.

Mir

« Reply #44 on: October 19, 2020, 05:25 »
0
What is the certificate of tax residence they are requesting?

I wrote to them about that; a US certificate cost as much as SF owed me.  I was told not to sweat it, that a copy of your ID with an address would suffice.  In my case they didn't even require that much.  They put the payment request in for m and I got the money a few days later.

Thanks, I received my payment.

« Reply #45 on: October 19, 2020, 08:48 »
0
I received my payment this morning



« Last Edit: October 20, 2020, 13:20 by Jo Ann Snover »

« Reply #46 on: October 23, 2020, 08:43 »
0
Has any who submitted a payment request after 10/17 received their payment yet?  Mine has been pending since 10/19.

THP Creative

  • THP Creative

« Reply #47 on: October 23, 2020, 08:44 »
0
Has any who submitted a payment request after 10/17 received their payment yet?  Mine has been pending since 10/19.

Yes, I received mine within 24hrs

« Reply #48 on: January 27, 2021, 12:55 »
+2
Stockfresh is now an affiliate site for Shutterstock, i.e. every image on an image page links to the image on shutterstock with a referral link. Not a bad a idea by Peter, he can now earn money from the site without doing anything.

Stockfresh should be put in the "Sites that no longer exist" section in this forum and removed from the list of sites in the sidebar, but that's up to Tyler. :-)

« Reply #49 on: January 27, 2021, 13:33 »
0
I didn't realize they were still around - thanks for posting this.

I did a few searches and found a mixture of watermarks - some StockFresh and some Shutterstock. All the purchases are directed to Shutterstock, regardless of which watermark.

Not a terribly useful way to buy - you can't do anything about the order of search results - so I'm not anticipating this will generate much traffic or revenue (beyond us checking it out!)


 

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