Author Topic: 123 now my lowest earner (Read 9060 times)

Mantis · « **on:** January 20, 2018, 16:42 »

For the first time in 11 years I did not make payout at 123. I am set at $50 if that tells you anything. I have about 4500 assets there, with a mix of images and video. I was looking at my PayPal account and wondering why my 123 payment was late. Then it dawned on me that I might not have hit $50. Turns out I hit $36 last month and am at $27 for Jan so far. I think I read on here that they are having SEO challenges. Their performance is on par with Canstock, which is currently my lowest earning site.

sgoodwin4813 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 20, 2018, 18:06 »

They've dropped dramatically for me that past couple of years - really since they put in their RC system. I can't believe they're as high as they are in the poll.

I've also had hundreds of images mysteriously disappear from my portfolio with no explanation. Very few sales at all the past few months - if this keeps up I might drop a level and then will have to think about whether it is worth continuing with them.

Mantis · « **Reply #2 on:** January 20, 2018, 19:08 »

Quote from: sgoodwin4813 on January 20, 2018, 18:06

They've dropped dramatically for me that past couple of years - really since they put in their RC system. I can't believe they're as high as they are in the poll.

I've also had hundreds of images mysteriously disappear from my portfolio with no explanation. Very few sales at all the past few months - if this keeps up I might drop a level and then will have to think about whether it is worth continuing with them.

Right, I didn't even think about that. I was making $200 a month there just year ago, then about $100 until just last month when BAM!! Sales dropped overnight to the $30 range. I suspect this is a 123-wide issue and everyone is likely to drop.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #3 on:** January 20, 2018, 20:09 »

Quote from: sgoodwin4813 on January 20, 2018, 18:06

...if this keeps up I might drop a level and then will have to think about whether it is worth continuing with them.

That was the trigger for me to quit - when I dropped a level because of their declining sales ability. Seemed to be rewarding them for effing things up

That was a while back (last year sometime?) and by all accounts they're not staging any sort of comeback.

There had been various stories floating around about Andy Sitt (he and his wife started this and Inmagine) selling the business or taking it public. Don't see any recent updates from last year's news that the IPO was deferred to the end of 2017...

They acquired PIXLR from Autodesk last year and there was grand talk of creating a holistic creative ecosystem that makes great design accessible to all. The product was Flash-based and the thought was that 123rf would update that. I found an article from this month that says they're still working on a transition to HTML5

So if I had to guess, I'd say the founders are looking to get out and can't find a way to do that. In the meantime they're acquiring things and trying to create an appealing narrative to promote how great the business is, effectively ignoring operational details like actually licensing images.

pancaketom · « **Reply #4 on:** January 20, 2018, 21:17 »

They never recovered or doubled sales like they promised when they started the RC nonsense. December was pretty bad but so far this month is just pathetic. (less than canstock pathetic, under 1/10th of Dreamstime, multiple days in a row with no sales pathetic). I think the only sites lower than them are GL, FP, and SF. They used to make it into my top 4 from time to time. I don't know what has happened to them, but it isn't good. I'll have to decide what to do if I drop a level which will happen with a few months like this one.

Last year I discovered 1/3 of my port wasn't showing up. They fixed that in December as far as I could tell, but the sales are worse than ever.

sgoodwin4813 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 21, 2018, 14:45 »

Quote from: pancaketom on January 20, 2018, 21:17

Last year I discovered 1/3 of my port wasn't showing up. They fixed that in December as far as I could tell, but the sales are worse than ever.

So you contacted them and they fixed it? I just shrugged it off when it happened to me but if there's a chance they will fix it then it might be worthwhile to write them.

pancaketom · « **Reply #6 on:** January 21, 2018, 19:22 »

I wrote them about the files not showing up - with details of which files didn't show (it was all the ones submitted before a certain date). I think I got a form reply - something like thank you we will look into it. I checked again a few weeks later and they were still missing. Then the next time I checked they were back. I don't know if they actually fixed them based on my input or if it would have happened anyway. Sales most certainly didn't go up 30%. More like they dropped through the floor.

JimP · « **Reply #7 on:** January 21, 2018, 20:43 »

Sad state of the micro market and agencies. They take 80-85% and put that in the bank on our art but don't give a crap about how they treat us or if their systems work. If you worked in a factory and the job had hazrds but the plant did nothing, you would leave. We work in micro the plants lose work, block us, can't make a search work, there's theft and fraud. But we keep trusting and sending them our work? I'm getting real tired of being insulted.

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #8 on:** January 22, 2018, 02:32 »

Quote from: JimP on January 21, 2018, 20:43

We work in micro the plants lose work, block us, can't make a search work, there's theft and fraud. But we keep trusting and sending them our work? I'm getting real tired of being insulted.

It's the digital era's version of the Tragedy of the Commons, Jim. And however you play it you end up undermining your own interests.